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PART I

PROLOGUE

HARLEY

Ten years ago

“Another win, Ace!”

“Hell yeah!”

“Congrats!”

The voices overlapped, shouting to be heard over the music blasting from the speakers. It was late evening, and the party was just starting to kick into gear. That was something I’d learned over this summer—the Lakeview clan really knew how to party.

It’d been a perfect summer. More perfect than I ever imagined. When I flew out here to visit my mother, I’d thought I would spend a quiet few months hanging out at the lake and escaping the sticky Atlanta heat.

I hadn’t expected to meet a man like Ace.

No, not a mere man—a shifter. A dragon shifter.

Shifters were rare, but dragon shifters even more so. They were notoriously secretive, too, and didn’t really venture outside their clans. At least, that’s what I’d thought. The Lakeview clan seemed to run the entire town of Lakeview, but they weren’toverbearing about it. Sure, I knew they had their hands—or claws—in certain unsavory businesses, but overall it seemed like they had things under control.

And bythey,I meanthim.

Stephan. Ace, as all the other dragons called him.

Their leader. Their alpha. The man I couldn’t keep my hands off.

He was tall, muscular, and tattooed, with thick blonde hair, a square jaw, and hazel eyes that flashed gold when he touched me.

Where the hell was that man? The whole clan was in the clubhouse tonight, celebrating some big deal. I didn’t know what it was, and when I asked Ace, he said I didn’t want to know. Instead, we’d headed to the clubhouse to celebrate. The place was like a big, comfortable bar, with a little dance floor and some ratty old couches, and bedrooms upstairs where clan members could crash. I was on the dance floor, surrounded by big, tough dragons. It should have intimidated me, but I’d never felt more at home. Although, I still wanted to be with Stephan. I always did.

“Harley!” My best friend, Cassidy, wriggled through the crowd with two drinks in her hand. “Come on, I need some air!”

Laughing, I followed her out of the crowd and onto the porch overlooking the lake. The night air was cool and refreshing, and the floorboards vibrated from the music thumping through the glass doors behind us.

“Ta-da,” Cassidy said. “Fancy mocktail for you.”

“Soda water with bitters isn’t exactly fancy!”

“Yeah, well, I think if I asked for something actually fancy, the bartender would’ve bitten my head off.” She grinned. “So? Are you going to tell him tonight?”

“I think so,” I whispered.

Cassidy’s eyes widened. “Seriously?!”

I nodded, then rubbed my belly with my free hand. “I know I should be scared, but… It feels so right, you know?”

“I definitely don’t know,” Cassidy said. “If I got pregnant over my summer break, I’d freak. But I’ve never had anything with a guy like what you have with Ace.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it? Things are so easy with him. It really feels like this is where I’m meant to be.”

“And he feels the same?”

I nodded. “He told me something.” I lowered my voice, and Cassidy leaned in to hear me. “He said I was his ‘fated mate’.”

“Whoa. A dragon can be fated to a human?”