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“I wish there was another way.”

“So do I, but there isn’t. I know I have to do this.”

“It scares me,” I admitted. “I’m scared of what killing him will do to you.”

“I am, too.” He turned and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “I lost my brother years ago. My head knows that, but my heart still sees the boy I grew up with. Sometimes I wish I could kill those memories so this would all be easier. But if I did…”

“You’d be losing part of yourself. You can’t do that.”

“It’s a lose-lose situation.”

“You don’t have to carry this alone, Steph. I want you to talk to me about it. All of it. And I know Hawk is grappling with the same thing.”

“He’s probably hurting more than me. I can’t ask him to hold me up through this.”

“But that’s exactly why you should .” I tipped my face up to look at him. He was watching the moon, but the sorrow on his face broke my heart. “You need to lean on each other. There’s no one who can understand what you’re going through better than him.”

“That’s true,” he murmured.

“You two need each other,” I said. “Don’t hide from that.”

We sat quietly. The owl called again, and I cuddled closer to Steph.

“Thank you for listening,” Steph said eventually. “You were right. I needed this.”

“I can’t fix anything, but I am pretty good at listening.”

He smiled, then he tapped my chin and guided my face up to face his. He kissed me. It was a slow, deep kiss, full of passion and warmth, and I lost myself in it.

He pulled away, but kept his hand on my cheek. “I love you,” he whispered against my lips.

“I love you,” I echoed and surged forward for another kiss. Under the moonlight with the whisper of the lake lapping at the sand, I knew this was where I belonged. I knew there was no other man in the world for me than this one. This leader, this hero, this dragon.

“Can we go flying?” I whispered against his lips.

He smiled. “You want to?”

I nodded. It’d been too long since I’d seen his gorgeous, sage-green dragon. I loved all of Steph, and that included his dragon. I wanted to feel his dragon’s cool scales and muscular body, and I wanted to feel the mountain air whipping through my hair as we flew.

Steph stepped away and peeled off his shirt and jeans. I didn’t have much time to admire his naked body—strong shoulders, tattooed chest, perfect thighs—because he shifted nearly instantly like he’d been waiting to do it. Like he needed to shift as much as I wanted to see him.

It was like one long exhale. His dragon surged forth, and sage-green scales filled my vision for a dizzying moment before he settled into the shape. Magic crackled in the air around us, prickling at my skin.

His dragon was so magnificent with its long, sleek neck, sharp golden eyes, and powerful claws digging rhythmically into the earth like a cat kneading its paws.

He stretched out his wings with a happy chuff, then raised his head to the sky and took a deep inhale.

I knew his senses were heightened in his dragon form, and I wondered what he smelled on the air.

I inhaled deeply, trying to catch a trace of it, but my human senses only picked up the greenery of the trees.

Steph lowered his head, and I stepped closer, running my hands over his snout and up across his browbone.

His eyes fluttered closed as I stroked his neck, then under his chin.

“You’re like a big dog,” I hummed. Steph flared his nostrils and bared his fangs playfully.

I pressed a kiss to the top of his snout and felt his warm breath wash over me.

Steph dropped to his belly on the ground and pulled his wings in.

A rumble sounded from his chest. It was so deep I felt it vibrate through my bones, and it sent a low thrum of heat through me.

Drawn to him like a magnet, I stepped closer, then climbed onto his broad back.

I leaned close and wound my arms around my neck, then pushed my face against his scales.

It was so cool and smooth against my skin.

His muscles rippled under my hands, and I marveled at the strength of him.

More, I marveled at how safe I felt.

Steph chuffed a curious noise as he spread his wings.

“Yeah, I’m ready to fly, babe.”

Steph beat his wings once, twice, then we soared into the sky.

I cuddled close to him, holding on tight as I lost myself in the sensation of flying.

There really was nothing like it. The air whipped through my hair and over my skin, and I felt every beat of Steph’s wings, every inhalation under his ribs, every pulse of his strong heart.

He flew low, just over the surface of the lake.

On the downbeat of his wings, the very tips skimmed the lake’s surface and sent droplets soaring in an arc and shining in the moonlight like stars themselves.

This was how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I wanted my weeks and months interspersed with moments like this—pure calm and glorious beauty.

Pure love.

I was ready to be his mate.

I wouldn’t ask him tonight. Not when we were both drained, and not right after a shift, when his dragon was still close to the surface. It had to be the right time.

I pressed my lips to a gold scale tucked amid all the gorgeous green on his neck.

Soon. I’d ask him soon.