Page 17 of Dragon's Desire (Dragon Shifter's Mates 3)

I shook my head with a smile she couldn’t see. I sure wished it felt as easy as she made it sound.I’ve been making progress. I’ve got two official matesnow.

Woohoo! Now we’re talking. Was the second one Nate or Marco? Or did you manage to thaw out the chillywolf?

I outright laughed at that, flopping back on my bed. The chilly wolf. Yeah, that was an appropriate description for West. Other than the rare occasions when he suddenly turnedscorching.

Nate, I replied.Things are still a little tense with the other two.Although less so with Marco after this afternoon’s conversation. It wasn’t enough to completely make up for the callous way he’d talked about me, but it got us partway there. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to completely trust him—and my body’s reactions to him—until I’d seen how he acted when we were among hiskin.

And how was it? Don’t kiss and tell doesn’t apply to besties, you knowthat.

Not in Kylie’s book, anyway. But there was only so much I was willing to commit to writtenrecord.

It was good. Really good. I think I’m getting the hang of this matething.

Oh, my little Ren, all grownup.

I wrinkled my nose at the phone, but the comment was fair. I hadn’t gone all the way with any guys in the entire time I’d known Kylie before now. Even when I hadn’t known I was a dragon shifter, something inside me had felt that bond to my destined mates. Something that had gotten out its claws anytime I got too hot and heavy with aguy.

But that was fine. I’d take even West over any of the boys and men I’d met beforenow.

A knock sounded on the door. Nate’s rich baritone carried through. “Ready to go,Ren?”

“Pretty much,” I called back, shoving myself upright. “You can come in.”It’s party time,I wrote to Kylie.Morelater.

I met Nate in the sitting room. It was hard not to stare at his impressive form packed into that formal suit. I was still wearing the same gown from this afternoon. After a brief escape from the growing crowd, I felt ready to face the official celebration. Everything before this had just been a warm-up.

Desire kindled in Nate’s gaze as he took me in. He wrapped a brawny arm around my shoulders to pull me close to him. I closed my eyes and leaned into his kiss. He felt more relaxed now. Less rage simmering beneath the gentle exterior. But I knew if anyone ever threatened me again, the grizzly would be back in aninstant.

“Orion is locked away and on the tranquilizer,” he told me when he pulled back. “The guards have been carefully monitoring everyone else who’s arrived. I don’t think you need toworry.”

“I know you’re taking every step you can,” I told him. My stomach twisted. “Is it really necessary to lock Orion away? I mean, he hadn’t done anything really wrongyet. Maybe he never wouldhave.”

“He tried to lie to us,” Nate said. “He let the rogues’ ideas get into his head. We can’t trust him. And I’m not wasting one of the guards Icantrust following his everymove.”

“Fair enough,” I said. But it still didn’t sit right with me, treating someone like a criminal for just thinking about taking the wrong path. Not much I could do about it right now, though. “And has Aaron turnedup?”

Nate shook his head with a frown. “His idea of ‘night’ might be different from mine. I’m expecting him to show upsoon.”

The twist in my stomach tightened. “If something happened tohim—”

“Hey.” Nate tipped my face toward his and kissed my forehead. “You don’t need to worry about that either. I don’t know where he is, but I know if he were really hurt,you’dknow it. You’re his mate. That connection will take time to grow, but if anything were really wrong, you’d feelit.”

Great. I could assume Aaron wasn’t on the verge of death, but there were so many ways his expedition could have gone just somewhatwrong.

I bit back my frustration and took Nate’s hand. “I guess we’d better get outthere.”

Dinner was being served in the courtyard—a much less formal affair than the banquet at Aaron’s estate. I sat with Nate at a table at the head of the yard, Marco at my other side and West beside him. The empty chair where Aaron should have been sitting niggled at me. Alice caught my gaze from the other side of it and frowned insympathy.

As attendants brought us plates of food, the other revelers moved from serving table to serving table. They stacked their own plates and then started eating standing up or sitting on the benches scattered around the fringes of theyard.

There were at least twice as many people as when I’d been out here before, but the atmosphere still felt subdued. The music playing had a slightly mournful sound to it even though the melody should have been lively. I guessed we all had too much on ourminds.

While we ate, the other shifters also drifted past our table to make their greetings. A lot of them smiled more brightly at Nate than at me. Well, they’d known him a hell of a lotlonger.

One elderly badger leaned his chubby hands on the edge of the table and fixed me with a beady stare. “Word is you’ve got special powers beyond compare,” he said. “Going to sort out all those rogues right quick, areyou?”

Maybe I’d been a little hasty making that speech at the funeral yesterday. “I’m going to do my best,” Isaid.

“We won’t have any peace here until that poison is rooted out and destroyed,” he said with a firmnod.

---