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As appealing as that image suddenly was. Exactly how many guyscouldyou get it on with at the sametime?
I was feeling a little hotter than I could blame on the sun when the other three alphas returned with their haul. They tossed the grocery bags in the back with the rest of the gear and piled in. I’d taken the front passenger spot since I was the one with the best idea where we were going—as shaky as even that was. Aaron, who’d spent the most time eyeballing the maps, took thewheel.
“The road goes about a quarter of the way up the mountain before taking a sideways route around it,” he said. “Let me know if you sense anything along the way that tells us which direction we should take, or where we shouldstop.”
I nodded. All thoughts of bedroom-type activities faded into the back of my mind behind a jittering of anticipation. I didn’t know what was waiting for us in the mountains, but based on the way Mom had talked in the vision she’d left for me, I was sure this was the end of the path. I’d have my answerssoon.
Aaron turned the car toward the mountain with the dual peaks, the one that matched the carving on the obelisk. The carving had shown a flame between those peaks as well. I guessed that was how the sun must look as it rose and flared between them. And maybe the image hinted at the power Mom had said was hiddenthere.
“You’ve done all that reading into shifter history,” I said to Aaron. “Do you have any idea what kind of ‘power’ my mother could have been talkingabout?”
He shook his head. “The dragon shifters have always kept some things to themselves. It’s such a close bond, from mother to daughters over the centuries, just that one line that all of shifter-kind revolves around. It makes sense that they’d have theirsecrets.”
Such a close bond. Mom and I had always been close, for sure. We’d only had each other the nine years we’d lived in hiding together in New YorkCity.
But we hadn’t bonded over our dragon shifter natures. She’d locked all my memories of that part of our lives away, along with my powers. They were only just starting to trickle back in. I had to assume she’d only been trying to protect me, but now that I needed my powers, I couldn’t help wishing she’d found anotherway.
A nagging sensation crept over my skin as the road rose to follow the slope of the mountain. It was more than anticipation now. A faint pull tugged me toward the slope, urging me upward. As if I were being called by someone who knew me and wanted to welcome meback.
“Dragon shifters do seem to have excellent taste in dramatic scenery,” Marco remarked behind me. The high mountain range that surrounded Sunridge spilled out all around us, starklymajestic.
The road wove back and forth as it climbed the mountain, and then veered sharply to the left. We’d only driven a few seconds longer when the faint pull I’d felt turned into a pinchingtug.
“Stop,” I said. Aaron glanced over at me and hit thebrake.
“Did you see something?” hesaid
“Not yet, but there’s something here. I canfeelit.”
He pulled onto the shoulder a short distance along the road, where a low fence surrounded an overlook. I hopped out of the SUV the second it had stopped moving. My sneakers thudded against the pavement as I hurried across the road. I followed the steep rock face on the other side back to the sharp left we’dtaken.
Here. The pull urged me upward. I gripped the uneven surface of the rock and hauled myself up the steep slope. I might not have full command of my shifting abilities yet, but I’d had a shifter’s strength and agility with me my entirelife.
After what would be a quick scramble up the rock face, the slope evened out. A shallow hollow ran through the stone, slanting slightly upward. The second my gaze rested on that hollow, the nagging sensation crept deeper, into mylungs.
That was our path. I knew it down to mybones.
My alphas had gathered at the edge of the road beneath me. I jumped back down. The exhilaration of the leap wasn’t quite as thrilling now that I’d experienced actual flight. Damn, I couldn’t wait to get back into dragon form. It was too bad I’d only been able to hold it for a few minutes that first time. I’d have to work on myendurance.
“We need to go that way,” I said, pointing. “Farther up themountain.”
West eyed the slope and grimaced. “Good thing we’re only bringing the onetent.”
Marco gave him a light punch to the shoulder. “Quit grumbling and help me pack up, wolfboy.”
My heart sank a bit as they sauntered back to the SUV. All four of them were following this path for me, because I said it was important. But I really didn’t have a clue what was waiting for us upthere.
“I don’t know how far we’ll have to go,” I said. “It could be a longtrek.”
“We’re prepared for that,” Aaron said with a reassuring smile. “Your mother led us here for areason.”
Nate squeezed my shoulder. “We all believe in you, Ren. Even West, no matter how grouchy he’s being about it. Your instincts won’t lead uswrong.”
I turned toward the tallest of my alphas, drawn to the solid heat of his body. Nate seemed to know exactly what I needed. He wrapped his brawny arms around me in a hug, ducking his head next tomine.
The brush of his cheek against my temple set a flare of a completely different kind of need through me. I eased back just enough to raise my head and bring my lips tohis.
Nate leaned into the kiss, returning it firmly but tenderly. The heat of him washed right through my entire body. Oh, yes, a very large part of me was looking forward to gettingcompletelyacquainted with all of myguys.
