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Blakely was still hung up on him. She still blamed me for ruining her life—though she’d been the one to throw a major wrench in mine, first.

I sipped my coffee down to the dregs while my thoughts went in circles. I was about to step inside for another cup when the glass door slid open.

“Hey, Harley,” Stephan said in a soft voice.

My worries eased as soon as I saw him. He looked relieved and settled, and he had a folded blanket under his arm. I set my cup down on the deck railing and stepped right into his open, waiting arms. His body was warm and steady against mine, and I leaned my head against his chest to hear the soothing rhythm of his heart.

He threaded his free hand gently through my hair. “You all right? What’s on your mind?”

“Just thinking about Blakely.”

“She won’t cause us any more trouble, Harley.”

“It’s not that, it’s…” I pulled away enough to gaze up at him. “My head’s all a mess.”

“Let’s go on a walk,” he said.

I nodded. It was a beautiful day, and some fresh air would do me good. He took my hand and led me off the deck into the woods right by the water.

“So, what’s got your head in a mess?” he asked, squeezing my hand once, encouragingly.

The sunlight dappled the trail in front of us. “I have a bad feeling about all of this. If Blakely didn’t give up when you banned her from the club, why would she give up now? She’s got nothing left.”

“You feel bad for her,” Stephan said with a soft smile. “I could tell in the clubhouse.”

“How can you not? She looked so pitiful.”

“It’s pretty easy for me to not feel bad for her, considering she tried to kill you.”

“Well, other than that, it’s sad.”

Stephan laughed and squeezed my hand again. “I’d forgotten how empathetic you are. No wonder Dylan’s dragon is so sensitive.”

That made me look up at him. “You think my personality affects his dragon? But I’m a human. And he looks exactly like you.”

“There’s a lot of you in him,” Stephan said. “More than I think you even realize.”

“Do you think Blakely will come after him?” It was a thought I was almost too scared to put into words.

“No,” Stephan said with a low growl. “I think you’re right that she has even less to lose. And I think you’re wise to see that her decisions are a little crazed. I don’t take that lightly, either. My guys are going to keep an eye on her. If she even gets close to you or Dylan, there will be hell to pay. And trust me, she knows that.”

I nodded. I imagined Stephan made that extremely clear on the drive to the police station. His promise eased my nerves, but at the same time, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this would keep happening. Every time I thought we were safe, some new threat popped up. Stephan was trying to make the clan legitimate, but was that even possible?

Or would we always be flying against the wind?

“Here we are,” he said. “Remember this?”

We stepped into a small, lush clearing. The trees surrounding the clearing were dense, giving it a feeling of privacy, and sunlight dappled the thick green grass. The lake water lapped gently at the narrow strip of sand between the water and the grass.

“It’s our place,” I murmured.

“Still here. And still ours. No one else knows about this place.”

“You never brought anyone else here?”

“Never. It was too special.” His ears turned red. “It was only ever for you.”

He pulled me into the clearing and spread the blanket out on the grass. My heart skipped. Had I traveled through time? I might as well have been twenty again, dizzy with desire and desperate to be close to Stephan. My knees quivered as I sank onto the blanket. His hands found my waist and guided me onto my back. He hovered over me, forearm propped by my head, and his hazel eyes held mine steadily. This close, I could see the gold flecks that were always present—the reminder of his dragon, always rumbling beneath the surface of his skin.