Page 166 of Gift from the Stone

He’s seething. His thoughts are running wild with every possibility of what she could’ve seen. He’s not even attempting to keep me out from his mind, but he’ll need to lock that shit up before we get home and she hears the things he’s freaking out about.

“No. I just didn’t want you to be alone,” he grunts.

The five minutes wouldn’t have killed me, but I appreciate his concern for keeping us all together. It’s what we all need right now.

Stepping out the gym doors, I don’t bother taking the hundred or so more steps to the transport zone. I grab his shoulder and transport us right from there to our back lawn.

As soon as we step out, I sense her before I even see her. My body draws me straight to the back patio where she’s cuddled up in Caspian’s lap. All that’s visible is her head as he has her so blanketed by his shadows.

Draken’s less than a foot away, sitting beside him with his knee bouncing uncontrollably. He’s about to fucking snap because Caspian won’t give her up.

Fuck, they’re going to start a fight and upset her even more.

“Caspian,” I warn, narrowing my eyes at him.

I don’t know what happened when they went to the palace, but since he got back last night, he’s barely been able to keep his hands off her or at the very least, he’s stayed within a foot of her.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m fucking ecstatic they’re finally breaking through their barriers, but he’s got to think about the rest of our needs as well. Not just his own.

He sneers at me momentarily before giving Willow a kiss on her forehead and passing her off to Draken.

He positions them to where she’s straddling his lap, and she buries her face in his neck. Neither of them speaks, but there are quiet purrs falling from both of their chests. I’m shocked still for a second as I feel the bond in my chest vibrate with the sound.

I can feel their calming command. The one they’re passing between themselves. I feel it.

I take a few steps toward them and kneel on her side. When I place my hand on her back, the feeling in my chest intensifies, and it’s as if all my worries melt away.

Incredible.

“What’s incredible?” Draken asks, looking down at me.

“How did you hear that?” I ask instead.

“You just said it in my mind,” he answers like I’m an idiot.

“I heard it too, but I thought I was just picking up your thoughts,” Willow says, sitting up to face me.

I don’t know what the fuck is going on. It was just a thought.

“I could feel the two of your purrs in my chest. My bond was vibrating with it. So I laid my hand on you, and I felt soothed,” I admit.

“That’s what our purrs meant. Our dragons were comforting each other. Did either of you feel anything?” Willow asks Corentin and Caspian.

“A little. My bond didn’t vibrate like Tillman is saying, but I didn’t feel as out of control as I did a minute ago,” Corentin confesses begrudgingly. By his shifting and the way his pants’ pockets are expanding and flexing over his fists, he didn’t want to admit that.

“I felt you, Primary,” Caspian says.

“What were you thinking about when you purred, little wanderer?” Draken asks.

“That I wanted to feel better. I wanted everyone to not be so worried and upset with me.” She sniffles, laying her head back to his chest.

“No one is upset with you, sweetness, not at all. But I believe your ability just upped the ante,” Draken says.

“What do you mean?” Willow asks, popping right up.

“I think you pushed your purr down your bond, not just out at me. They all felt it, and typically, only another shifter would’ve been able to,” Draken tells her with a huge smile.

“What?” she breathes, then turns slowly in his lap to look at the three of us.

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