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“You’ll survive.”

I sag against the tree and scrub a hand down my face. My dragon sulks over our mate stopping a perfect kiss to have a conversation. I can’t say I disagree.

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” I admit. “I can feel him. He’s right there, just… not responding.”

“He came out when I spoke to you last night.” She studies me. “Your wings extended the moment you heard my voice.”

She’s right. I couldn’t find them at all until she called out. They burst out of my back on her command.

“He feels guilty,” I tell her. “For hurting you. I feel guilty too.”

I hate how Aya’s scent goes soft and sweet with pity. “Ezra…”

“I almost killed you.” I can hardly get the words out. “My dragon almost killed our mate. He’s never going to forgive himself for that. Neither am I.”

She stays quiet, watching me until I want to squirm.

“Try to shift,” she says.

“What?”

“Right now. Try to shift for me.” She backs up and waits.

I shake my head. “Just let me take you back to the cabin. We can⁠—”

“I’m not letting this go until you shift.” She plants her feet and lifts her chin, stubborn and beautiful and so fucking infuriating. “Do it, Ezra.”

I scowl up at the sky, but I love how hard she pushes me. She refuses to give me any room to wallow. Aya is the strongest wolf I’ve ever known, and she’s mine.

“Fine.” I close my eyes and reach for my dragon. His heat sits low in my gut where it always does, but he won’t come forward no matter how I coax him. He only pulls deeper inside me, too ashamed to face our mate. Nothing happens. My fingers stay blunt and human.

When I open my eyes, Aya hasn’t moved. Sometimes she understands my dragon better than I do.

“I know what you need,” she says.

I lean in while my dick perks up. “Oh really?”

I reach down to adjust myself in my pants before my zipper gives out. A whiff of her heat cycle would take what little control I have left. But her wolf calling to me isn’t enough. I need Aya pulling on the bond too.

I lick my lips and taste her from the kiss. I’m literally drooling for her.

She doesn’t answer my question. She grips the hem of her dress. She drags it up inch by inch and bares the smooth brown skin of her thighs. My dragon wakes up.

Wait. No.

She shows me her panties, a tiny scrap of fabric that hardly covers anything. She hooks her thumbs into the waistband and peels them past her hips.

I don’t even try to hide what I want. My dick throbs. If she sat on my face for hours, I’d be more than fine with it. Hell, I’d worship her with my tongue until she begged me to stop.

She bends over to slide them down her legs and steps out. I moan out loud and drink her in. My dragon paces and pushes at me to close the distance.

She walks toward me with her panties dangling from her finger. I’m frozen against the tree with nothing in my nose but her.

“You want these?” she teases.

I whimper like a dog begging for a treat. “Aya. Stop fucking with me.”

She smirks at me, and it’s the most maddening thing I’ve ever seen. She can have whatever she wants.