“I don’t like the sound of this,” Dash said. “We need to get to these bikers, we need to speak with them somehow and find out what their true interest is here and why.”

  “Agreed,” said Striker.

  Dash looked down at Amelia who was watching them all with interest, and he reached over and touched her hand. She turned hers over so their fingers could connect, and he felt so grateful to have her there with him.

  He sensed his brothers look at each other, and when he looked over at them, he could see that they were pleased at these most recent developments with him and Amelia. A dragon finding his mate was an exciting event, and they would no doubt be able to see the change within him.

  “Well, thanks for finding me and letting me know,” Dash said. “At least we are on top of things and ahead of the game. We can find out what is happening soon enough I’m sure. And hopefully, put things right.”

  Striker and Zane agreed before they rose to their feet and they all took turns to hug. They then turned to Amelia and smiled at her warmly.

  “Welcome to Misty Vale Amelia,” Zane said. “I think you’re going to be very, very happy here.”

  When his brothers had gone, he looked at her and she was smiling. He could sense her happiness and it was only making him feel even better too.

  They really had found something special, and now that she had met his two most powerful blood brothers and they had approved, he knew that things could only get better from here.

  Chapter 13

  After a whirlwind few days, Amelia finally found herself back at the B&B flopping down onto her bed and sighing a very satisfied sigh. She had never been this happy before, and she loved the fact that she had settled into Misty Vale life so well.

  Now, she had a day or two where she wasn’t going to be nannying Nora, but she still was going to be spending time with them, Dash had already said he didn’t want her to go too far.

  She loved the fact that he was so protective over her, and everything she had learned about the town and its supernatural residents had only made things even more intense. She breathed in deep and smiled.

  How could she ever have seen any of this coming?

  She rolled over and grabbed her cellphone and tapped it to life and noticed that she had a text message from Jane, the young lady in the beauty parlor who had given her a pamper and spruce up.

  J: Hey Girl! It’s the freaking weekend, fancy getting that night out? I can show you what Misty Vale is all about xx

  Amelia smiled and began to type her reply. She did deserve a night out after all the work she had been doing and all the stuff that had happened to her over the past few years, what with Toby and his obsessive control.

  A: That sounds like a great plan! How about tonight? Xx

  She had only hit send and a few seconds had passed when she had a reply.

  J: Perfect! I’ll swing by the B&B around 8? See you then! X

  Amelia grinned and held her phone to her chest. A new man, a new job, and now a girl’s night out on the horizon. Life in Misty Vale was pretty damn perfect.

  She jumped up and walked over to her closet, looking inside, and scanning all the clothes she had in there. She didn’t have a whole lot that was suitable for a wild night in a club, but a few drinks around some of the local bars, she could probably manage.

  She moved her pants around on the hangers and settled on some skinny jeans that she could wear with some high boots, she also chose a black tight t-shirt, some earrings and her new cute leather jacket with the fur collar.

  She laid them all out on the bed and then she reached for her phone again and started to call Dash. He answered on only the second ring.

  “Hey there,” he said smoothly, his voice was like silk and it made Amelia’s bones quiver.

  “Hey,” she said, feeling a heat creep up her chest. She wanted to be with him, to hold him again. She couldn’t shake him from her thoughts, and it was so hard.

  “It’s been almost a full ten hours since I’ve seen you,” he said. And Amelia couldn’t help but be brought back to that morning when she had woken up in his arms, completely wiped out from a night of passion. They still hadn’t sealed their union officially, but Dash was very good with his tongue… and Amelia couldn’t get enough.

  “It’s been a long ten hours,” she said mischievously. “I’ve been missing you.”

  “Me too,” he said. “I’m still at work, but I’m looking forward to finishing up and getting home. How are things at the B&B?”

  “All okay,” she said. “It’s quite nice coming back for a little while to sort out my things, I feel like I have emails to catch up on and laundry.”

  “You can always bring your laundry here,” he said. “You can spend as much time in the house as you need, you don’t need to wait until you’re heading home with Nora.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Of course, I’m sure,” he half laughed. “I’ll take care of you.”

  She smiled and felt warm inside. She liked it when he talked like that. It made her feel so loved and appreciated.

  “Well, thank you,” she said. “I will definitely take you up on that.”

  “Good,” he said. “No point in you clashing down to the laundromat with your things when I have a super laundry room right here that is barely ever in use.”

  She laughed. She could only imagine.

  “So, I’ve just been speaking to Jane,” she said. “You know the lady who runs one of the beauty and hair salons on Main Street?”

  “I think so,” he said. “I’m sure I would recognize her anyway.”

  “Well, we’re going to go for a few drinks tonight,” she said as she pinned the phone to her ear using her shoulder and looked through her make-up bag. “She offered to show me around to some of the bars and I quote “What Misty Vale is all about.”” She laughed, and Dash did a little too.

  “Oh, well, that sounds fun,” he said, but she was sure she could hear a tinge of something in his voice, as if he didn’t truly feel that way. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy exploring.”

  “I haven’t been in a bar for over two years pretty much, so I’m sure I’ll find it interesting if nothing else. But it’ll be nice to see Jane.”

  “Sure,” he said.

  There was a pause and Amelia felt a little worried, was he angry with her? Or was she just overreacting and expecting that of him because it’s something Toby would do? She thought for a moment, if this was Toby, then he would have screamed at her down the phone and called her all sorts of names, and then he would have turned up and physically forbid her from leaving the house. She had to be overthinking.

  “What are you and Nora up to tonight?” she asked to break the silence.

  “Well, once I’ve finished up here at the office I’m going to collect her from school, take her across to the golf club quickly for some dinner and then I thought I would bring her home for a movie and an early night. She’s exhausted at the moment, I think all the excitement of having you around has kept her up so late she needs to catch up.” He laughed and so did Amelia.

  “She has been going to bed pretty late,” Amelia smiled. “But it has been so lovely just all being together.”

  “It really has,” Dash said, his voice warm. “So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked.

  “I’d love that,” Amelia grinned. “Even though I’m officially off the clock.”

  “There’s no clock anymore,” Dash mused. “I just want you to feel at home here.”

  “Oh, I do,” she said.

  “Good,” he laughed. “We’ll have a good evening with Jane, and I will text you later on.”

  “Okay, babe,” she smiled. “Give my love to Nora, and I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

  “See you tomorrow babe,” he said, and then she ended the call.

  She sat back on the bed and smiled, but something was nagging at her. She was sure that as soon as she had said she was going out with Jane his tone had changed slightly. But he had still been so loving, maybe she had imagined it.

  She felt cross at herself for being so paranoid and tried to shake it off. She had to stop self-sabotaging… Dash was not Toby.

  She shook her head, jumped to her feet, and headed toward the bathroom. It may have only been midafternoon, but this woman wanted to take her time getting ready and enjoying every moment. She may even treat herself to something from the mini bar if she was feeling fancy enough.

  She laughed and turned on the shower, when she stepped under the warm water she felt as if she were being completely revived again after the intensity of the past week. She had spent so much time with Dash, and her body was exhausted, but his power still throbbed through her and was making her feel more alive.

  Once she had finished, got out and dried and moisturized, she sat down at the desk and started to do her make-up. She had never enjoyed doing it until recently, she had always had this stigma surrounding how she felt because of her mother, but today she was going to enjoy getting dolled up and going to meet her friend. Dash had seen her both with and without make-up and he had always made her feel beautiful. It was so encouraging to feel that and to feel wanted and adored.

  She just wished she could shake the nagging sense of doubt that he hadn’t liked the idea she was going out with Jane. She scowled at her reflection and tried not to let it take her over. She couldn’t let herself feel dark like that, she was all about the light now. The darkness of her past was firmly shut away.

  By the time it was approaching 8pm, Amelia had had so much fun getting ready, doing her make-up, styling her new and improved hair, having a cheeky mini bottle of wine from the very old mini-bar in the bedroom and listening to music as she danced and got herself even more in the mood.

  She had thrown the curtains open wide and let the view of the mountains take her through to the end of the day, she had watched it go dark slowly and as all the little twinkling lights had started to pop up over the mountainside. She really did love it here. She was starting to feel as if it was impossible that she had ever lived anywhere else.

  She put on her boots and slipped on her jacket before she had one more spritz of perfume and grabbed her handbag. She would wander down to the lobby, say hello to Maude and wait for Jane to arrive.

  Downstairs, it was quite busy as a few people were checking in after a coach had just rolled into town. Amelia smiled and waved at Maude, and as she turned around, she saw that Jane was bouncing through the doors with a massive smile on her face.

  “Wow!” she beamed. “Look at you! You look like a million dollars!”

  “Why thank you,” Amelia smiled. “You look fantastic yourself.”

  The two women hugged in greeting and then they headed straight back for the double doors and out into the night.

  It was the first time that Amelia had properly been out on Main Street late when it had been so busy and full of people clearly heading out to have fun. It was wonderful to see how little groups of tourists, or romantic couples, even some that were clearly younger groups of skiers were all making their way to some of the bars or to the restaurants for dinner.

  “So, where are we heading?” Amelia asked Jane, who had her arm linked with hers as they wandered along and past some of the bars.

  “On a night like tonight, the best place on Main Street is a little bar called Archer’s… it’s a sports bar and will be full of music and fun, plus the beer is pretty good too.”

  “Oh, I see it,” Amelia smiled and pointed up ahead to a wooden building that had been made to look like a log cabin on the outside. There was a large blue sign over the door that simply said ARCHERS, and already from where they were walking Amelia could hear the music and the chatter of a large crowd coming from inside.

  Jane approached and pushed open the door, and when they both stepped inside Amelia felt a wave of relief wash over her. This felt good. The whole place was full of warmth and cheer, and she smiled as she looked at the rich wooden tones that enveloped the walls and the tables. There were pool tables on one side of the room, a jukebox next to them playing out a random selection of songs, a long bar that ran down almost the full width of the main room and lots of booths and tables on the outside of the room and in the center. It felt like a real bar. The kind of one she hadn’t been in for some time. Jane led her over to the counter and they sat up on the high stools and just being there was making Amelia so happy she couldn’t take the grin from her face. She felt as if she had regained another part of her, and it was wonderful.

  “What can I get you ladies?” the bar tender said as he approached them and slung a bar mop over his shoulder.

  “Well, I’d love some sparkling wine… what do you think Amelia?” Jane asked as she placed her purse down on the counter and smiled.

  “Perfect,” Amelia grinned. “I don’t think I could stomach any beer.”

  The bar tender nodded and headed away to one of the refrigerators.

  “That’s Archer himself,” Jane said in between chews of gum. “He owns this place, obviously, and his family are a founding one too. Misty Vale has all this history, it’s pretty wild.”

  “Oh really?” Amelia asked with wide eyes as her gaze traveled to the bar tender. “I’m learning a bit about it, actually,” she continued, but she didn’t want to say too much. She had her loyalty to her man, her dragon, and she didn’t know if Jane had any idea of what was going on in her town. Dash had said that it was all just thought to be legend, so without Jane hinting that she knew anything more than that, then Amelia was going to stay quiet.

  Archer returned with a bottle and two glasses and when he popped the cork Jane gave a little cheer and clapped her hands. The ladies poured themselves a drink and settled into chatting. It felt so good to be out and about with a friend.

  “So how has everything been going?” Jane asked with raised brows. “What’s it like working for the elusive Dash Livingstone?”

  Amelia couldn’t help but grin. She tried to hide it, but it was going to be impossible. It was so strange to hear people talking about Dash like this, he seemed to be infamous in Misty Vale, and whereas this had initially made him super intimidating, now she knew the real him and all that came with it, it just made her love him more.

  “It’s been pretty good,” she said with a nod. “I can’t complain.”

  Jane had a suspicious look on her face.

  “That sounds to me like you may have been doing a lot more than nannying,” she teased.

  “Dash is pretty incredible,” Amelia said. “I’ve never been this happy before.”

  Jane gasped a little and then a wide smile spread across her face.

  “Oh my god,” she said as she clapped her hands together again. “This is wild. And also, how lucky are you, he’s like Misty Vale’s most eligible bachelor. Although, I have to say, most people around here find him pretty scary.”

  “Oh, he can be,” Amelia said with a laugh. “But once you really get to know him… there’s much more to him than that. I think the word I’m probably looking for is misunderstood, but at the same time, it would be foolish to ever underestimate him… he’s very powerful.”

  “Oh hell, I’ll bet!” Jane laughed. “Damn girl, you are lucky!”

  Amelia smiled coyly and nodded. She couldn’t pretend she didn’t feel that way, even if she still had the feeling that he was wasn’t happy about her going out nagging at her.

  “Well, I think we should drink to that!” said Jane.

  The ladies grabbed their glasses and chinked them together.

  “To the start of a wonderful night,” Jane said. “And to many more to come.”

  Chapter 14

  Dash was lounging in his office, sipping whiskey, and going over land proposals for a potential new hotel to be built in Misty Vale, when his phone started to blow up.

  Zane’s name exploded onto the screen again and again with a flurry of messages, and when he reached for it to read them, he didn’t even get a chance to tap them open before he was being called by Striker.

  “Hey brother,” he said. “What’s up?”

  “Well,” Striker said with an ominous tone. “It appears our biker friends have been getting into bed with the bears when it comes to business.”

  Dash felt his dragon stir and rage. It was not what he had wanted to hear, and now they were going to have to do something about it.

  “What are they planning?” he asked. “And do we know any more about them?”

  “As far as I can tell, they came to town after hearing about the Oktoberfest, but it looks as if they’ve been having business meetings with Archer and some of the other bears. Maybe they’re going to have a hand in running it this year, but what I don’t like is the fact that it seems to be secretive. We should set up a meeting with the bikers, see if we can get them onside for some of our work too, see what they’re really all about.”

  “Agreed,” said Dash. “There’s no harm in testing the waters, seeing what sort of business they’re in.”

  “Exactly,” Striker said.

  They ended the call and Dash felt shaken up. He hadn’t had a great day when it had come to his emotions, even though he didn’t like to go there too often. Amelia was doing things to him, and he had fallen for her so fast and hard, it felt as if his old hurts were starting to force their way to the surface. His ex-girlfriend, Nora’s mother, had been such a party girl that it had ultimately been the thing that had lured her away. He knew Amelia was just having a drink with a local girl around town, and he didn’t want to appear, in any way, fazed, but it had awoken something in him, and made him remember old pains, as much as he hated to admit it even to himself.

  “You’re a fucking moron,” he breathed to himself as he held the phone under his chin.

  But this stuff with the bears was starting to weigh heavily on him too. How was he going to deal with a potential blow up between the two shifter clans of Misty Vale? They had lived with a known peace for some years now, but it had always been on shaky ground. With his new life with Amelia unfolding, his daughter, and all of his businesses, it felt as if he had the weight of the world bearing down on him.