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For a moment, she stood there, confused by his response, only for her body to shudder at her anxiety.

She recalled that she had a right to be concerned about her younger sister, but she had something precious that solely depended on her.

It didn’t escape her comprehension that she carried the key that unlocked new life for the Drahk on multiple levels.

If something happened to this baby, she wasn’t sure what that would mean for all the other women who were trying to conceive with their mates. Yes, she needed to take care.

Ladon’s heavy footfall echoed behind her. Once she was through the archway, her feet skidded in the dirt as Kai saw another guard with dark skin and long dreads extending to the center of his back, standing at the forest’s edge. His sword was on his back, signaling he was on duty.

“What happened?” She stomped toward the man.

Before he could answer, the ground below their feet rumbled as a giant, royal Egyptian blue-scaled dragon landed in the clearing around the building.

Its long, thick, snake-like neck extended out toward her.

Unlike Aodh’s dragon, this one had only two horns on its head and several on its tail; it banged on the ground.

“Liekki.” Kai didn’t know how she recognized the beast before her, but she did.

In a blink, Liekki shifted to his male form with his ever-present cocky smile as he strutted toward them. “Kai, Ladon. Zmei, when did Morlie leave?”

Kai found it strange that Liekki didn’t ask what was happening but spoke to the guard as if he knew.

Zmei, the man with the locks and shaved sides, pivoted to the side and looked back at them. “I was headed to the great hall for the evening meal when I spotted the human female dash into the forest,” Zmei began. “I scanned the area but didn’t see anyone after her.”

Liekki nodded as he moved closer to Zmei and stared along the path. “Any sign of her stopping or coming back?”

“None, Liekki.”

“Morlie!” Liekki’s bellow shook the trees before them. Then, he stood still as he peered into the dark forest.

Why were they just standing there? “Aren’t you all going to do something?” she raged.

“How far has she gone?” Aodh’s voice came from behind her.

Kai turned and glanced over her shoulder and spotted Aodh’s build as he passed through the building doorway.

She’d been so fixed on her sister somewhere in the woods alone that she’d forgotten about his arrival.

Heat caressed her skin and surrounded her like an embrace that tightened her stomach. She rested a hand there.

A breeze rustled the trees as a shadow crossed over them, blocking the multiple lights surrounding the building. Kai glanced up and spotted a dragon flying lower over the treetop in the distance. Edjer.

She’d only met the Thunder’s security team leader a couple of times in passing, but like Liekki, she identified the massive green dragon with the golden belly above. Right now, she needed to place all her concerns on Morlie, but she made a note to ask Aodh about the sudden recognition.

She fixed her gaze back on the guard.

Zmei, who stood at the edge of the forest gazing into it as if it offered secrets to all mysteries, exhaled, “Morlie has crossed into the Lupine lands.”

“No!” Kai rushed forward and grabbed Zmei’s vest, shaking it until he faced her. “You need to go after her, Zmei. Gather a team and get my sister,” she demanded.

The large man didn’t attempt to pull away from her grasp but met her gaze with disquiet. “Aguya, if you will it—”

“Mate.” Aodh moved beside her but didn’t order her to release the guard. However, his low, rough tones drew her attention to him.

She faced him as her fists still clutched the guard’s clothing.

“You are Aguya. Mistress of Fire and carry the seed of the Mckenna. Your words have power and become law, and law becomes an action for our Thunder,” he cautioned, his voice a low rumble.

His words were clear. Aodh wanted her to understand something she hadn’t comprehended or processed throughout the day as people addressed her respectfully and favorably.

She knew it had to do with her recent pregnancy but never locked in place that her position in the Thunder had significantly shifted. She needed to consider what she said.

“Aodh. She is my sister.” Kai released Zmei and lowered her hands to her side. She didn’t know why she felt like she needed to clarify it at that moment. It didn’t seem as if they understood her anxiety about Morlie running. Was she ill? Sick? Possessed.

Things hadn’t been right for her sister for some time since they had returned from the council. How Morlie fixated on the trees made Kai wonder if something had been done to Morlie at the meeting before she could get to her. Kai wanted to scream at herself for not inquiring about it.

Kai studied Aodh. He had been there; he would have told her if someone had placed a spell on her sister. Wouldn’t he?

She cast her doubt in him away. Turning her mind back to the situation at hand, she went on. “What if she gets hurt if they attack her? If I don’t do something, who will protect her?”

Aodh’s gaze flicked to the forest and then back to her as he touched her arm. He held it firm. “She isn’t alone.”

“What?” Kai stepped closer to Aodh. “What do you mean? Did someone go with Morlie? Eilidh or perhaps one of the others?”

“No. Morlie is with Chanin. He will protect her and keep her safe. It is his responsibility as her mate.”

“He came for her,” she growled. It pissed off Kai that she’d listened to her sister and requested the personal guards’ removal. She gritted her teeth. “Why didn’t the patrols stop him?”

“Because he didn’t break any laws, mate. Chanin didn’t cross into our territory. Morlie went out.”

‘Morlie went out.’ Those words echoed in her mind and caused her throat to tighten with emotions.

For whatever reason, her sister had run away right into the arms of the wolf Alpha.

Her eyes filled with tears, but she kept them at bay.

She wanted to rage and call out all the dragons in the land to get her sister and bring her back. Drag her back if they had to.

But would that be for Morlie’s benefit or yours ?

Her brain was playing devil’s advocate, and she hated it.

She recalled one of the last conversations she’d had with her sister.

Morlie had pressed her to understand that she was strong enough to make her own decisions.

Morlie stated she was happy for Kai, who had Aodh and now had a baby, but Morlie wanted something for herself.

Was it fair for her to take that away from Morlie if her sister had a slim chance of a life for herself?

“What do you want us to do, Kai?” Aodh’s steady hand cupped her face and cleared the fog of thought. “I’ll give you the lead to command a flight of dragons if you wish. Regardless of the outcome.”

She met his gaze. Her mate. His markings glowed a moss color that matched the low flames flickering in his eyes.

This was the second time he’d had her back in a precarious situation.

If she ordered the Drahks to rush the forest and not to return until they had stormed the wolf-shifter territory and brought Morlie back, they would.

However, it would break the treaty laws and be an act of war.

Do I want to be responsible for destroying the tenuous preternatural balance ?

Her father had once talked to her about going off to war, how many soldiers didn’t come home, and how leaders needed to be mindful of when and where they sent their warriors off to battle.

The ache in her heart at the loss of her parents and now her sister stole her breath. She closed her eyes and exhaled to release some of the tension and to shore up her resolve toward the decision she needed to make.

Blinking, she cleared the water from her gaze and met Aodh’s calm stare again. “Let her go.”

His stare was intense, but he didn’t ask if she was sure. Instead, he pulled her into his big, strong arms and held her. She drew in his strength and allowed his calm, patient fortitude to be her armor and help her to get through this moment and fill the hollow pockets in her soul with love.

Love?

She buried her face in his chest and inhaled the roasted-cinnamon surrounding him.

Kai accepted the quiet declaration of her emotions toward the fierce leader of the Drahks, but for now, she set her feelings for Aodh in a lockbox inside her heart.

They had come together out of necessity, her for her sister’s care and him for a mate to plant his offspring.

They both had gotten what they wanted. She would keep a tight binding around her emotions until she knew that this was something more for him.

They were doing well together, and she was satisfied now.

Kai took a moment to lift a prayer to both the human’s God and the shifter Great Spirit that Morlie would not only be okay, but she would thrive with the Lupines. Then, before she said Amen, she added that she wished to see her sister again.

“Are you okay?” His voice came through like Thunder, vibrating his chest.

She leaned back and offered him a small smile. Her heart was elated by the situation, but she grabbed hold of the wisp of peace and squeezed it with both hands. “I will be.”

Once again, the scale-like etchings along his skin were black, and the fire banked in his eyes. Aodh’s hands stroked along her spine. “Come with me to feast on the meal Tana took to our suite. Besides, I still have a hoard to show you.”

“I’d forgotten with all the excitement, but I am eager to discover it.” She shivered as his fingers traveled down her arms until he held her hand.

When they turned away from the building and placed the forest behind them, she realized the others had left, including the enormous dragon patrolling the sky along their border.

She wasn’t sure at what point Aodh had dismissed them, but now that she knew her pregnancy had amassed her authority over them, she’d have to learn to tread lightly and not react so quickly through her emotions.

She wanted to prove herself worthy of power.