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“No,” Aaron said. His expression shuttered. “That was a more complicated situation. I think it’d be better if we waited to discuss that once more of your memories havereturned.”
He obviously took me for a much more patient person than I was. I opened my mouth to push for answers, but West raised his voice at the samemoment.
“None of that matters anyway. Those decisions belonged to the old alphas—the ones before us and the ones before them. We’re in charge now. We can make up our own minds about how we do things. And that includes whether wedoyou.”
The edge in his voice made me grit my teeth. Some mate he was turning out to be. I swiveled around, my eyes narrowing. “Is that how you show the wolf ‘loyalty’ you’re supposed to be knownfor?”
My jab hit the mark. I could tell from the way his shoulders stiffened. But his voice was firm when he bit out hisreply.
“One more on the long list of things you need to learn, Sparks: Loyalty given blindly is worthless. I’m loyal first and always to my kin. To you? I haven’t seen any reason to be sofar.”
“Well, you’re not exactly inspiring a whole lot of confidence so far either,” I snappedback.
“All right.” Aaron held up his hands in a gesture for peace. “Let’s table this discussion, all right? This is a strange situation for all of us. We’ve got a lot more getting to know each other to do before anyone decidesanything.”
He squeezed my shoulder. “Which is why I’ve been thinking we should see what we can do about activating your powers. Maybe once you have more of your dragon senses at your disposal, you’ll find it easier to follow the path your mother seems to have left foryou.”
I jerked my gaze away from West’s, willing my shoulders to come down from around my ears. “Okay. Something to actuallydosounds good tome.”
“Good. We’ll eat, and then we’ll see what we can unearth inthere.”
His smile settled my nerves a little. But as I pulled out my chair to sit down, the pancake smell trickling into my nose again, something else he’d said earlier twisted around mygut.
You might be the lastone.
The last of the dragon shifters. That could only be true if Mom was no longer around. I’d known there might be a permanent reason she couldn’t come back, but I’d never let myself follow that line of thought very far. The alphas had clearly thought it,though.
Maybe she hadn’t come back because she was dead. Because something, wherever she’d gone, had killedher.
Chapter 9
Aaron
The musclesin Serenity’s back flexed under my pressing fingers. I eased my hands in a slow line between her shoulder blades, fighting to focus only on the task at hand and not how much I wanted to touch every other part of her as well. She felt like a live wire beneath her silk shirt. So much power bottled in that slim frame. It wasbreathtaking.
“Picture the wings waiting there, folded tight, longing to unfurl,” I said, keeping my voice quiet and even. I thought of the sensations my own body went through, as the only alpha who knew what it was like to transform into a winged creature. “Immerse yourself in that sensation. Send them the strength they need to breakthrough.”
My dragon shifter grimaced where she was kneeling on the back lawn. Her pale fingers had dug into the long grass. The rising summer sun was baking the yard, creating a warm green smell that mingled with the tartly sweet scent of herbody.
“I’m trying,” she said. “I’m trying everything you’re saying. It just doesn’t want to come.” She let out a sound offrustration.
I couldn’t imagine what it was like, having so much power coursing through your veins and not being able to release it. Maybe I was pushing her too hard. The thought made my chest constrict. At least West hadn’t followed us outside. His constant criticism couldn’t be helpingthings.
“Hey,” I said. I sat down on the grass beside Serenity and slid my fingers up her jaw to turn her face toward me. She looked back at me, frustration shimmering in her amber eyes. Frustration and a heat that deepened when I let my thumb graze hercheek.
God, how could I not answer that longing? The same heat coursed through me. “It’ll be okay,” I told her. “You’ve got a lot of years of lost practice to make up for. It’llcome.”
Then I leaned in and kissedher.
I let my lips brush hers lightly at first. She’d only just found out the full truth about our connection. She hadn’t seemed unwilling, but she hadn’t leapt for joy either. It might be toosoon.
No. She leaned into me, pressing her mouth harder against mine. The heat I’d felt before flared throughme.
This was her. My dragon, my mate. I hadn’t known for sure I’d ever get the chance to meet her, let alone get this close to her. Every inch of me, including the length hardening in my pants, clamored to make that true in every meaning of theword.
I tugged her a little closer, angling my lips in a way that drew a gasp from hers. I wasn’t going to make a spectacle of us here on Marco’s lawn, even though we were alone for the moment, but I wasn’t going to let the other three get in the way of this partnership either. They could grumble or preen or hang back in chivalry all they wanted. Serenity needed a mate who was here for her right now, in every way sheneeded.
I’d never wanted anything more than to be thatman.
