Page 62 of Cam's Treasure

The sound of a loud bark made me jump, and Ember's eyes widened.

"Oh, we didn't ask. Are you okay with dogs? And cats?"

While I'd never actually interacted with either—there weren't any in the water, and most of the ones in Ravenshire were familiars to some mage—I didn't have any strong feelings about them, so I nodded, curious to see what kind of pets they had.

Cam unlocked the door, stepped inside, and then something immediately slammed him against the wall.

My eyes widened, but then he laughed, and I realized he wasn't in danger.

"It's okay, Jodi. We're back. Did you miss us?"

As we stepped inside, I realized Jodi was huge. The top of her head reached my sternum; that's how tall she was. She was bulky as well, covered in thick muscles and white fur with black spots on it.

Her dark eyes turned to me curiously, and I smiled. "Hello."

The dog stared at me for a moment longer, then rushed at me, and it was all I could do to not fall on my ass as she jumped up to lick at my face, making me laugh.

Cam

Watching Kai with Jodi had me smiling so widely my jaw would've hurt if I was still human. And how cool of a name was Kai? He didn't even pronounce it the usual way. He said his name the way you'd pronounce 'Kite' without the 'te' at the end, with a hard e sound. It made his name sound exotic, and I wondered if it was a selkie name.

Leading the way deeper into the house, I waved Kai toward the couch, and he settled gingerly at the edge, probably worried about his wet outfit.

"Oh. You should change into some dry clothes before you catch a cold."

Kai frowned at me, then shook his head. "It's okay. I can't really—" He cut himself off with a scowl, then sighed. "Never mind. I think you're right."

"Come on then. You can try some of mine." While Kai was a few inches shorter than me, I didn't think my clothes would be too big on him. They'd certainly fit better than Ember's, and Micah's didn't seem like they'd suit his tastes. His linen shirt and regular-fit pants were pretty masculine. I'd get something from Micah's side of the closet if he asked for it.

Leaving Micah and Ember to wait for Raph—I hoped Ember's quiet comfort would help Micah relax after the whole Ravenshire revelation—I led Kai up the stairs and into the main bedroom.

While Ember hadn't officially moved in yet, he'd started staying in our bedroom with us when he stayed the night. I wondered if our moving plans would be delayed by Kai's arrival, determined not to let them. As long as nothing else happened, it was still doable.

Digging through the cupboard, I pulled out a soft flannel shirt and some sweatpants. They didn't really go together, but the sweatpants had a drawstring he'd be able to tighten if it was too loose.

"Thanks," Kai said in a soft voice as he took the clothes from me, and I pointed toward the bathroom.

"The bathroom's over there if you'd like to clean up. Take your time, okay? We'll be downstairs."

Nodding, he headed to the bathroom as I left the room and made my way downstairs to find Ember sitting on the middle of the couch with Micah curled into his right side, his arm securely wrapped around Ember's belly.

Sighing, I fell into the couch on Ember's other side, throwing my arm over Micah's as Jodi peered at us from her spot on thefloor beside the couch, clearly trying to determine if there was enough space for her to squeeze in. There wasn't.

"We need a bigger couch," I grumbled as I adjusted myself in the small space, and Micah gave a startled laugh, then shot me an amused look.

"That'sthe first thing to pop into your head after we find our final mate?"

"What? I'm practical."

That really set him off, and Micah howled with laughter as he buried his face in Ember's chest, who shared a look with me, the corners of his eyes wrinkled with concern. Yeah, I was worried about Micah too. He never talked about Ravenshire much, and when he did, he had nothing good to say. Finding out Kai had been hurt by the same people who'd once hurt Micah must be doing a number on him.

It'd unsettled me too, and the urge I'd felt before to teach the mages of Ravenshire a lesson for what they did to Micah had only gotten stronger with this new revelation. We'd get Kai's coat back for sure, and when we did, I'd make sure to teach those assholes a lesson about what happened when they messed with people who were loved by a dragon.

Micah, Kai, Raph, Cassian, Aeron...and Fate knew how many other people had been wounded by those bigoted fools, and enough for enough. It was time they paid for all they'd done.

"Shhh, you need to calm down, Cam." Micah's voice broke me out of my revenge fantasies, and I blinked, then met his dark eyes. "You can fantasize about avenging our honor later. Right now, Kai needs us to be calm and trustworthy. He can't sense the mate bond, which means we have to win his heart the old-fashioned way. Are you up for that?"

My meandering thoughts hadn't gotten that far yet, but he was right. While getting Kai's coat back was a priority, so waswinning his heart and proving to him that we were his mates and only wanted the best for him.

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