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“We’re sorting it out. After this, all the clan businesses will be legit. We won’t have any more threats like this.”

“What does ‘sorting it out’ mean?” she asked. “How do you stop him?”

I thought suddenly of Michel telling me Sean wouldn’t stop until he was dead. “We dragons have our ways.”

Harley unwound her fingers from my beltloops. I expected her to step away, but instead she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down into an embrace. My heart hammered in my chest as her body pressed against mine. She buried her face in my neck, and her warm breath danced over my skin. My body felt electric. My dragon growled, purred, thrashed.

We were desperate to claim our mate.

I couldn’t. But fuck, I wanted to. I was desperate to press my teeth to her perfect, unblemished skin and hear her sigh in pleasure when the bond was finally fulfilled.

“Thank you for telling me all of this,” she murmured. “And for keeping us safe.”

“I’m hungry,” Dylan called from upstairs. “When’s dinner ready?”

Harley released me and nearly jumped backward, like she hadn’t realized exactly what she was doing. “Come set the table!”

I grinned. “Dragon instincts. He knows when the steaks are done.”

Dylan scurried down the stairs. He bounded into the kitchen and pulled out the plates and grabbed the silverware, then rushed to set the table. Harley and I followed behind him with the rest of dinner, and we set it all out on the table. We made our plates, and Dylan immediately tore into his steak with the shocking hunger only a pubescent boy possessed.

“Slow down, Dyl,” Harley said with a shake of her head. “Take a few breaths between bites. What video game are you sucked into now?”

His eyes lit up. “It’s so cool. It’s this big open-world exploration game…”

Harley propped her chin in her hand and smiled. She listened attentively as Dylan launched into a long, winding explanation of the complicated video game. I tried to keep up, but there were so many words and concepts thrown around, it was like he was speaking another language.

Harley looked so sweet like this, with her soft blue eyes focused on her eager son.

That was the first thing I’d noticed about her all those years ago. I remembered it vividly. It’d been mid-morning, and I’d been exhausted from a long night of flying with my clan. I’d stopped at the local café for a coffee before an even longer day of clan errands. As soon as I’d stepped into the shop, my dragon had jolted into alertness.

It’d felt like someone had grabbed me by the ribs and hauled me forward. The rest of the world dropped away.There she is. My one and only. My mate.

Then she’d turned around, and I’d fallen into stunned silence. She was laughing at something her friend said. Her blue eyes had locked onto me, and her lips parted slightly.

Had she felt the same way I did? Like the world had stopped?

She’d looked so young, so innocent. Untouched. She shouldn’t have been in a place like Lakeview. She shouldn’t havegiven a guy like me the time of day. But my dragon knew she was meant for us, and before I could think better of it, I’d introduced myself.

Ten years later, she still had that air of innocence around her. She was older now, curvier, with more pain in her eyes and more weight on her shoulders, but still the same stunning woman who’d hooked me in with a single look.

“You should play with me sometime, Dad,” Dylan said. His plate was clear, even though he’d had seconds in the middle of his long explanation.

Harley smirked at me, like she knew I hadn’t heard a single word my son had said.

Shaken out of my reverie, I laughed. “I don’t know, Dyl, I’m not exactly a video game expert.”

“I’ll teach you. It’ll be like you teaching me to shift.”

“All right, you’ve got a deal.”

Dylan blinked a few times, slowly, like a cat in the sunshine. “Not tonight, though. I’m tired.”

“Eating enough meat to feed a small army will do that,” Harley said. “Let’s go get you ready for bed, okay?”

“I’ve got the dishes,” I said.

The three of us stood up from the table in near-unison. Harley led Dylan upstairs, and I cleared the dishes. I listened to them speaking in low voices as Dylan got ready for bed. My dragon was relaxed, soothed by the knowledge that both my mate and my son were safe in our home, and the lingering feeling of Harley’s arms wrapped around my neck.