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“He’s right, princess,” Marco said, standing a short distance away. “It’ll take time to get full control over your powers, just like it’ll take time for us to become full mates. And I promise I’m more impatient about the latter.” Hechuckled.
Nate shot him a frown and reached to rub my shoulder. “You should be proud ofyourself.”
Proud of myself? When I couldn’t even manage to get halfway to what they all did soeffortlessly?
I pulled away from him, scrambling to my feet. “I don’t need coddling,” I said. “I need to figure thisout.”
Aaron ambled over to join us. West and Kylie had hung back, my friend looking concerned but uncertain. This was one challenge she couldn’t meet withme.
“I think you’re pushing yourself too hard,” Aaron said in his mild voice. The evenness of it, paired with that faint rasp, seemed to file down the sharp edges of my emotions. “I know some mental exercises that might help with that for the next time you try. You could take a break, andthen—”
“No break,” I interrupted. “If you’ve got something to teach me that might help, let’s do itnow.”
He paused, but then he nodded. “All right.” He glanced around at the others. “We’ll need to be undisturbed forthis.”
Marco saluted him. “Enjoy your mind games, eagleboy.”
Nate drew back, his expression worried. I didn’t know what to say to him to make him feel better. My sense of failure jabbed deeper into my chest. I turned to Aaron. “Let’sgo.”
He motioned for me to follow him. At the edge of the clearing, close to the village’s nearest buildings, a circle of beech trees formed a small, sheltered glade. We squeezed between them. Aaron sat down cross-legged in their midst, so I copied him, sitting across fromhim.
“Is this some kind of mediation you want me to do?” Iasked.
“Something like that. To begin with, you could focus on your breathing. Feel it traveling into and out of your lungs. Let it fill your chest fully before you expel it. Get a sense of control over it, and of how by moderating it, you can moderate youremotions.”
Apparently he could tell that my emotions were in severe need of moderation. I sucked in a breath, shaky with frustration. My hands balled at my sides. No, that definitely didn’t fit the exercise. I had to give this a realtry.
Maybe there wasn’t some artificial block inside me that was keeping me from my dragon. MaybeIwas the one holding it in, holding myself too tight and tense aroundit.
I inhaled more slowly, letting the air flow into my lungs. My ribs expanded. The breath shuddered on the way out, and I gritted my teeth. Why couldn’t I get even thisright?
“Hey,” Aaron said gently. “Comehere?”
He beckoned me over. I swiveled and scooted backward so I could lean against his folded legs. He set his hands on my upper arms, his thumbs tracing light arcs over my biceps. The warmth of his presence soaked into my back, even though there was at least a foot between our bodies. That bond, that tug. The tie that marked us as mates. I wet my lips, trying to push aside the swell ofdesire.
“This isn’t something anyone masters on their first try,” Aaron said. “Relaxing is one of the hardest things someone like us has to do. Try again? In and out, slow and easy. Focus on the feeling of my hands, and try to let any other thoughts wisp right byyou.”
His thumbs continued their careful arc back and forth over my skin. The thoughts they were provoking were a totally different kind of frustration from before. But I followed his instructions, closing my eyes. In and out. Like the to and fro of his caress. Slow and even. Nothing else needed to matter except for that and the heat of histouch.
Another breath slipped from my lungs, and I realized I was doing it. The tension had seeped out of me. Disappointment no longer ached behind my sternum. I didn’t know if this was going to help me bring forth my dragon, but it definitely hadn’t hurtanything.
“Thanks,” I said. “I guess I neededthat.”
I heard Aaron’s smile in the shape of his voice. “Sometimes we shifters can get too caught up in the animal side of our natures. I think it’s important to remember we’re so much more than that. Our minds matter too. As enjoyable as certain animalistic impulses mightbe.”
A little mischief crept into his tone with that last sentence. I shot him a glance over my shoulder, and the slightly wicked smile he gave me then sent a wash of heat over me. So my Disney prince had a bit of an edge to him, didhe?
The attraction burning between us loosened a memory—one from not that long ago. “Marco said something... He said in time we’d become ‘full mates.’ I thought we were already mates. Is there something else we need todo...?”
Aaron’s smile turned wry. “There’s no hurry,” he said. “You shouldn’t take that step until you’re fully comfortable with the idea, with each of us. The mate-bond isn’t confirmed until it’s consummated—that is, until themates—”
“—have sex,” I filled in for him. “Ah.” My cheeks flared. “Yeah, I’m not sure how long it’s going to take before I’m ready for that. I... never havebefore.”
Because that wrenching, clawing feeling had always gotten in the way before. But I didn’t feel that with any of the alphas. I wanted to open myself up to them. At least, I thought I did. There’d been so many upheavals and revelations in the last couple days—how could I really be sure what I wanted? What was best forme?
What was best forthem?
“You knew you were bonded without even understanding it,” Aaron said. His hands smoothed over my shirt to lightly massage my back. “It’s possible to be intimate with someone you’re not bonded too, but part of you is always going to balk. I won’t pretend I haven’t had desires and pursued them, to some extent, but the same feeling always held me back. Being that close with anyone else just didn’t feelright.”
