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It was just hard to ignore the unceasing tug of the bond inside me. I was pretty sure the pull was getting even more insistent when it came to the two guys I hadn’t consummated our bond with yet. Apparentlyitdidn’t care that I had perfectly good reasons for taking my time with Marco andWest.
I leaned to the other side of my seat. It was easy to spot Nate a couple rows up. His dark brown hair, thick as his grizzly bear pelt, showed over the back of his seat. He had at least a few inches on all the other guys, all of whom were far fromshort.
My hand dropped to my seatbelt. But before I could go over and ask what the bear shifter had found out with his phone calls, the plane jerked again. A calm voice filtered from the speaker on theceiling.
“You all should remain seated for the next ten minutes. We’re coming in for our landingnow.”
Okay, I guessed I wasn’t going anywhere yet. I tried to relax in my seat, but my heart was thumping now, and that had nothing to do with West a few inches away beside me. A glance out the window showed a stretch of rocky, desert-like landscape bleeding into a dense forest in the thin light of the emerging dawn. Nate’s estate—the center of operations for the disparate kin who didn’t belong to the canine, feline, or avian groups—lay in one of the wilder parts ofCalifornia.
And because they’d known I was coming there, the rogues had gone after his advisors.Andtheir families. If any children had been hurt because ofme...
My chest tightened, and my fingers curled around the armrests. No. I couldn’t think like that. I was doing my best. Any violence committed was totally on the rogues. If they had such a big problem with dragon shifters, they could have brought it uppeacefully.
I knew all that, but it didn’t completely loosen the twist of guilt around myheart.
My ears had started to pop with the change in air pressure when my phone chimed with a text alert. I wriggled it out of the pocket of my jeans. It had to be Kylie. At least talking to my best friend would take my mind off whatever disaster was waiting for us down there while I couldn’t do anything to fix ityet.
Hey, girl. Didn’t hear from you yesterday, just wanted to make sure you survived that big to-do the other night. And that they survived your gorgeousness in thatdress!!!
Shit, had I really not talked to her at all yesterday? Between an assassination attempt, a confrontation with the faerie monarch, and the farewell party, I’d hardly had a chance to breathe. But Kylie had no idea what might have been going on here. Whether I might have found myself in more trouble. I hadn’t told her the more dire parts of my adventures, but she’d seen the danger that could come with my role before I’d insisted she stay behind. Along with the rogue attack that had left her clawed up, she’d witnessed a skirmish between my alphas and a bunch ofvampires.
Now I had double the guilt weighing on me. I quickly typed an answer.Sorry! Crazy day. Yes, everyone survived the dress, including me. We just left for Nate’s estate inCalifornia.
Oh, wow, Cali! You definitely have to invite me over there sometime once you’ve settled in. That’s at the top of my States To Visitlist.
I smiled.Of course. Right now, though... Probably not the best time.I hesitated, debating how much to tell her.You know the guys who attacked us in the shifter village? Some other rogues from their group broke into the estate lastnight.
Oh, shit. Is everyone down thereokay?
I don’t know yet. But I’m definitely glad you’re back in Brooklyn away from all thechaos.
Kylie sent back an emoji blowing a kiss.You know I’d have your back no matter what, no matter where, Ren. Just say the word, and I’mthere.
I did know that. That was exactly why I wasn’t telling her about the recent attempt on my life. It meant a lot to me that Kylie cared about me that much—until I’d met my alphas, she’d been the only person other than my mom who had—but I didn’t want to put her in any more danger than I alreadyhad.
I started to text back asking what she’d been up to when the plane took a sharper dip. My seat vibrated as the wheels hit the runway. Stones rattled against the jet’s undercarriage. It slowed to a halt almostimmediately.
My gut knotted. We werehere.
Sorry, I wrote to Kylie.I’ve got to go now. Shifter business. I’ll catch up with you morelater.
Don’t worry about me!she replied with a line of hearts. As if I could helpworrying.
But for now I was definitely more worried about what was waiting for us on the estate. Seatbelts clicked open all through the plane. We hustled out of our seats and down thesteps.
The dry, hard-packed earth of the runway was lined with tall redwoods. Their tangy smell washed over me along with the chirping of an insectchorus.
A contingent of shifters I assumed were Nate’s kin had come out to meet us. They were definitely a varied bunch. A muddle of scents tickled my nose as we approached the group. My dragon senses identified them on instinct: black bear, stoat, mink, elk, armadillo,manatee.
Nervous energy wafted off them, easing slightly when they saw their alpha in our midst. Nate strode to the head of our group, his jaw set and his eyes dark. But his kin’s gazes drifted away from him to settle on me. A prickle traveled over myskin.
When I’d met some of West’s canine kin in one of their villages, and when I’d arrived at the avian estate, almost all of the shifters had been friendly. Not just friendly, actually—they’d seemed awed to be in my presence. Fawning over me, wanting to touch me and hear me speak. It’d been a littleoverwhelming.
I couldn’t say I missed the pressure of that kind of welcome. But this one... I wasn’t sure these shifters were even happy I was here. Their eyes seemed to evaluate me as I came to a stop beside my newly consummated mate. Nate rested a hand on my back in acknowledgement, but his attention was completely on hiskin.
“You made it here quickly,” said the black bear shifter, a shorter but equally burly man who looked to be around forty. His short black hair stood up in a high buzz-cut. “It’s good to have youback.”
“We came as soon as we heard,” Nate said. “Anything new to report,Thomas?”
