“I already talked to Mom,” Dawsyn said. “They’re getting dressed and coming downstairs.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “When did you talk to her?”

  “Pack members can communicate telepathically,” she said. “I thought dragons could do that as well.”

  “Only when we’re shifted,” I replied. “Unless we’re blood family and then we can do it anytime, no matter the distance.”

  Dawsyn’s eyes widened. “Can you contact Knox?”

  It hadn’t even occurred to me to try. “I don’t know, and there’s no reason to until he no longer has a tie to you. Antagonizing him before then doesn’t seem like our best move, considering all the destruction he’s caused.”

  What I wouldn’t have given to tear him to shreds before when I’d had the chance. If Dawsyn hadn’t been with me, I would have killed Knox without thinking twice. Instead, the bastard had nearly done the same to my oldest friend.

  And I wouldn’t soon forget.

  Roman and Cait joined us, and I was surprised when Beatrix never followed. Unsurprisingly though, Dawsyn’s parents ignored me while hugging their daughter and checking her over several times.

  “What happened?” Cait asked, eyes wide but full of love for her daughter.

  “Did you kill whoever took you?” Roman asked gruffly before Dawsyn could answer the first question.

  Dawsyn squeezed both of their hands. “Why doesn’t everyone sit down, and we’ll explain.”

  The fact that she said “we’ll” eased some of the tension in my chest. Tension I was sure wouldn’t completely disappear until Knox was no longer a threat to my mate.

  Roman’s eyes landed on me, finally. “Thank you for bringing her home, where she belongs.”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to that because, at least for the time being, I’d felt Dawsyn had made it clear that she was going back to Drago with me.

  Once everyone sat, Roman at the head of the table, Cait to his right, Dawsyn on the left with me next to her, and Embry across from me, Dawsyn spoke first.

  “I’m glad to be here,” she started. “But I first want to say that while coming back after those few weeks away has shown me things I hadn’t been able to see before, it doesn’t mean I’m staying.”

  Roman’s hands curled into fists on top of the wooden table. “What do you mean? Where else would you go?”

  “I have unfinished business in Drago, and I intend to see that through before deciding what the future holds for me.” She kept her head up and stare strong as she spoke to her father.

  They had a brief power struggle before Dawsyn looked down. I had a feeling she’d only done that to ease the strain that was starting to drown the room.

  “What is this unfinished business, sweetheart?” her mother asked. “Maybe we can help. Cillian said that we might be able to enter his realm, yes?”

  I nodded. “Not at the moment, but we can change that again with some advanced notice.”

  Dawsyn squeezed my leg under the table, then began to recount all the events leading up to this moment, starting with her being taken from her dorm.

  Her parents tried to interrupt her several times, but she held strong and finished everything before answering any questions.

  By the time she was done, my rage was nearly uncontainable as I pictured her alone and starving in the cell Knox and Estelle had kept her in.

  Part of me wished her wolf had ripped out my grandmother’s throat on the way to freedom, so that I wouldn’t need to face my traitorous grandmother. I was still undecided on how I was going to handle her when the time came.

  It was hard to think that the same woman who had cared for me after I’d thought both my parents were dead was the same one working for Knox and who kept my mate locked away.

  “So, you’re still bonded to this man?” Cait asked first.

  I suspected it was a question Roman wanted answered as well, but his jaw was wound so tight, I doubted he could speak at the moment.

  “Yes,” Dawsyn answered. “I’m hoping the two of you know how to break a mate bond. If not, maybe GiGi can help?”

  Cait frowned. “Beatrix couldn’t help…out in a different situation. After a while, I just assumed it wasn’t possible. Serene might also be a good person to ask. She’s nearly senile now, but she still has her moments.”

  Embry scoffed. “She’s been ‘nearly senile’ for a couple decades now. Let’s ask Beatrix again. She may not have helped before, but that doesn’t mean it was because she didn’t know.”

  “But you’re going to return back the pack after this Knox person is no longer an issue,” Roman said, though it sounded more like a question even through his clenched jaw.

  Dawsyn’s hold on my leg increased. “I don’t know, Dad.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked with a growl.

  “I mean Cillian is my fated mate. The pack is my family. That will never change, but I can’t promise this is where I will return.”

  Roman shoved his chair back, sending it tumbling over, then glanced briefly at his mate. “This is why I never wanted her to leave. I told you we’d lose her.”

  Chapter Twenty

  DAWSYN

  My father storming out of the dining room wasn’t what I expected would happen. Did I think he was going to be happy that by finding my mate I might leave the pack and never return as an official member? Of course not, but I also didn’t expect him to turn his back on me.

  Mom also stood up, but she didn’t leave the room. She came over to me and crouched until she could stare directly into my eyes. “He’s only scared. Don’t for one second think he’s angry with you.”

  “I know.” And I really did, but that didn’t mean I was okay.

  Mom turned her attention onto Cillian next. “What are you doing about the problems in your realm?”

  “We’ll be coordinating an attack now that we know where Knox is,” he said. “But I told Dawsyn we had to come see you first since I’d promised to update you today and we also need to break the connection she has to him. He can track her, thanks to the bond.”

  She frowned and glanced at Embry. “Get Beatrix back in here.”

  “Already here,” the witch in question said. “I was waiting for the worst of that conversation to be over. Didn’t feel like hearing the alpha’s pity party.”

  Nobody laughed except GiGi.

  “Can you break the bond I have with the dragon shifter?” I asked her as she sat down in my father’s recently vacated seat.

  Her lips thinned, and she rolled her eyes. “Of course I can.”

  “Just like that?” Mom asked, a grin playing on her lips. “Of course you can? Why didn’t I get the same answer when I asked all those years ago?”

  “Because you didn’t need my help. You needed to get your head right,” GiGi lamented, then turned back to me. “You, on the other hand, don’t belong with that lizard. We’ll need to go to Spell House to break the bond, though.”

  I shouldn’t have been surprised by that, even though I was disappointed. I knew getting back to Drago as soon as possible was important, but leaving without talking to my father wasn’t going to sit right with me. I already felt that deep in my bones.

  Give him until morning and he’ll see things clearer, my wolf said. I hoped like hell she was right.

  “What about this attack?” Aunt Embry asked. “How many people do you have fighting with you and how many will you be going up against?”

  Cillian’s mouth turned down slightly. “We don’t know how many Knox has with him, but we have at least thirty dragons who will fight with us.”

  My aunt shook her head and looked at Mom. “We need to go with them. Call the others. We can’t let…”

  The emotions choking at Aunt Embry made my throat tense and eyes burn.

  “I’m going to be fine,” I promised. “Knox might have kidnapped me, but that was before…” Yeah, I should have led with this part, but they could be mad about that later. “I learned I have Moon Goddess energy.”

  All four of them had their eyes on me. Though Cillian was already aware of this revelation, he likely didn’t understand the importance of it.

  “What do you mean?” Mom asked, moving back to her seat.

  GiGi smirked. “She means that you passed on some of that moon juju to her.”

  That wasn’t how I would have described it, but… “When I escaped from the underground tunnels I’d been kept in, my wolf shifted and as we ran for our lives, she glowed a silver color.”

  “I saw it with my own eyes,” Cillian said. “She radiated power unlike any I’ve ever felt, and she was incredibly fast.”

  “Can you do anything different?” Mom asked, lines deepening around her eyes and mouth, still not seeming very happy with this news.

  “Not that I’m aware of, but I do feel stronger and more capable,” I said. “With Cillian and the others, I’m not afraid to go against Knox and whatever dragons he has with him. They won’t be able to shift in the tunnels. As long as I stay in there, helping however I can, then there won’t be nearly as much danger for me.”

  Aunt Embry drummed her fingers over the dining table. “You’re sure they can’t shift underground?”

  “I mean, they literally could, but they’d be stuck instantly,” I answered. “The hallways aren’t wide or tall enough for the size of dragons I’ve seen so far.”

  GiGi raised a brow, looking at my mate with renewed interest. “Just how big are you?”

  Before Cillian could respond, I cut in. “That’s not the point of this conversation. I need you all to trust that we can handle this part, and if we can’t, then we’ll let you know. For now, I’m only here to make sure you know I’m alive, with my mate, and okay. Or at least I will be as soon as I’m no longer tied to Knox.”

  Three of the most important women in my life shared a look I didn’t like. Then, it was GiGi who spoke the words I’d already been fearing.

  “Your connection to Cillian may not come back just because the one with Knox goes away,” she said.

  I recalled the burning of the tether I’d felt to him. The sorrow and agony as it turned to ash, floating away too quickly for me to grasp on to the pieces.

  I swallowed thickly and nodded, but before I could speak, my wolf reminded me of something.

  Our spirits have a history, she said. It doesn’t matter that we broke the bond. There will be a way to fix it.

  I had no way to know if she was right or just speaking positively, but I chose to believe her and relayed that information.

  Cillian grabbed my hand with wide eyes. “You can speak to your wolf?”

  “You can’t speak to your dragon?” I countered, having assumed he already knew this information, but also feeling slightly stupid that we hadn’t discussed it yet. In our defense, a lot had been going on.

  “I can feel his emotions and, after all these years, can usually sense what he wants, but there are never any verbal exchanges,” he answered, voice still filled with awe. “We were really mated before?”

  “Our animals were. My wolf is certain of that fact,” I replied, offering him a smile.

  “We’ll have to talk more about that later,” he said, nodding toward the others who were staring intently at us.

  Right. My family was a bunch of nosey bastards. Still, I loved them with all my heart.

  “It doesn’t matter if you’re not sure that our connection will come back,” I said. “I know it will. I’d like to stay the rest of the night here and then head to Spell House in the morning. Then, we’ll need to get back to Drago just as soon as the tie to Knox is cut.”

  “Is the fight happening that soon?” Mom asked, a crease between her brows.

  “Possibly,” Cillian answered. “But I also left behind a friend who was badly injured, and I’d like to make sure he’s healing as he should be.”

  “One who was injured making sure Cillian could get me to safety,” I added with a pointed stare at each of them.

  “Fair enough,” Aunt Embry said.

  My mom’s lips thinned and shoulders sagged. “Says the one who doesn’t have to convince her father of the same thing.”

  Embry grinned widely. “Just get naked and then tell him. It’ll be fine.”

  It didn’t matter that I was an adult and fully aware that they had sex. At no point in my life would it be okay for people to talk about it in front of me.

  I stood up and pulled at Cillian’s hand. “Well, that’s enough for us. We’re going to my room.” I glanced at GiGi. “What time should we be ready?”

  “I need to get back to my grumpy man and make sure he knows I haven’t vanished on him.” She chuckled. “I do that often. After appeasing him,” her brows waggled, “I’ll be back here around seven.”

  For fuck’s sake. I also had no desire to hear about my grandmother’s sex life.

  Cillian laughed beside me as I groaned and waved a goodbye to my mom and aunt. I led him back down the hallway and to the stairs that went to the second floor where my room was.

  He leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “You’re adorable when you’re embarrassed.” His fingers brushed my cheek. “You get this blush that I want to see more often.”

  There were plenty of ways I could tell him how to make that “blush” appear more often, but that probably wasn’t the best topic of conversation under the same roof as my father, who already wasn’t happy with my life choices.

  As we went up the steps to the second floor, I saw Cillian turn back. “What do those other stairs go to?”

  “The pack library,” I answered. “We can check that out if you’d like.”

  “I think I’ve spent enough time in one library over the past month to last me a lifetime,” he muttered.

  “And to think the book was never even there.” I stopped, and he bumped into my back. “We never did ask Beatrix about the siphoning spell you asked her to work on.”

  He nodded and placed his hand on the small of my back. “I know. I’m not sure we actually need it now, but if she’s willing to hand the potion over, then I’ll gladly take it.”

  My head swiveled to look up at him. “What do you mean?”

  “My grandmother had made me believe that there were larger forces at play this whole time,” he said. “In reality, it was the two of them stealing power from other dragons and twisting that power into something they never should have had access to themselves. I don’t need a spell to rip Knox’s head from his neck.”

  I wanted to ask what his plans for Estelle were, but I knew that if it was Beatrix who had betrayed us, I wouldn’t know what I’d be willing to do until I was forced. I’d have to decide in the moment.

  For now, Cillian didn’t need those kinds of thoughts circling inside his head.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  CILLIAN

  Walking into Dawsyn’s room, in a house that she shared with her parents and whoever else in the pack might sleep there, wasn’t at all the same as bringing her into my home. Not that there was anything wrong with her still living with her parents—I’d gathered that was typical for a wolf pack—but still. I wasn’t going to be touching her. Not when I already knew her father was pissed off about…everything.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me?” she groaned.

  I shook my head as I adjusted my pillow. “Not even a little bit.”

  “It’s not like I’m going to seduce you. We’re only going to get a few hours rest.”

  My brow raised. “You say that now. Just be thankful that I’m sleeping on the mattress.”

  “You mean on the comforter with all of your clothes still on,” she grumbled.

  Dawsyn was tucked in under the navy-blue blanket, and I was content right on top, with a foot of space between us.

  “If your parents walk in—” I started to say, but she cut off.

  “I’m a grown-ass woman. They know I’ve had sex.” Her huff of annoyance was everything, even if the topic of conversation wasn’t one I wanted to partake in. Hearing about her past sexual partners was something I never needed to know about. Not unless she wanted them dead.

  “Go to sleep, Dawsyn.”

  She made a grunting noise, then rolled onto her side, back to me. “You’re…not fun.”

  That might have been the case, but she’d just proved my point. If I’d have gotten ready for bed like I normally did, we wouldn’t have gotten any sleep.

  Not that I needed it.

  I’d had a few hours back in the cave and that was more than I’d had in one go since Dawsyn had been taken.

  Though, it wasn’t long before the steady thrum of my mate’s heartbeat and her soft breathing lulled me to sleep right next to her.

  A short time later, the sun peeked through her sheer curtains, and I was the first one awake. I took a moment to take in her room with more light and noticed the wolf paintings on the wall, all of the same wolf that looked just like Dawsyn’s. There was no signature on them, but they were stunning, and I wondered if she’d painted them herself.

  She stirred next to me, and I leaned over, pulling her closer to my chest. “Good morning.”

  The smile she offered me nearly stopped my heart. “Morning.”

  I leaned down and kissed her softly. “Feel better sleeping in a real bed?”

  I hated that I couldn’t properly provide for her yet, but that would change. Just as soon as I ripped Knox’s heart from his chest.

  She shrugged. “I’d have felt better with your arms around me.”

  If only she knew how much I agreed with her.

  Dawsyn slid out of the bed, wearing boy-short underwear and a white tank top. She stretched her arms toward the ceiling with her back to me and then…bent over.

  I threw myself back onto the bed, stole her pillow to cover my face, and groaned loudly. “You’re not nice.”

  “You started this. I’m just finishing it.”

  I’d done no such thing. All I’d tried to do was be a gentleman in her parents’ home.

  “I’m going to take a shower,” she said, but I didn’t take the pillow from my head until I heard the click of a door shutting.