She looked up for a moment and smiled at Noam, and his heart seemed to stop. Oh, she was lovely, wasn’t she? She was beautiful. She had big, brown eyes and frizzy red hair he wanted to run his hands through. She was white, and she was there with a little boy whose hair was just as untamable as hers. Instantly, he realized that he recognized that little mop of brown hair. The boy turned, grinned, and waved.

  “Mr. King!”

  “Hello, Rory,” Noam said, walking over.

  “Mr. King! What are you doing here?”

  “I came for a cup of cocoa,” Noam told him. “What about you?”

  “I’m doing homework with my mom.”

  “Hello,” the woman said, giving him a little wave. “I’m Heather.”

  “Noam King,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Peppermint hot cocoa!” Noam turned when he heard his order being called. He went up to the counter, grabbed it, and came back to Heather and Rory.

  “It’s great to meet you, too,” Heather said kindly. “Rory told me all about his day at school. Apparently, it was the very best day ever,” she chuckled.

  “I’m glad to hear he had fun.”

  “I did,” Rory said.

  “I know that moving to a new place is never easy,” Noam said. “My dad was a military man long ago, so we were always moving from place to place.”

  “It’s tough, I know,” Heather said sympathetically. “My late husband moved around a bit, too. I didn’t really want that for Rory, but...well, hopefully we’ll settle down soon.”

  Noam was instantly smitten with the woman. Okay, so maybe Christmas miracles did happen. He’d met her, hadn’t he? She was lovely, and she was sweet, and she was adorable. She was human, but he’d never cared about things like that. His sister was mated to a human, and that had never mattered. Debbie and Quinton were happy together, and Noam knew that when the time came for him to claim a mate, a human could be a lovely choice.

  Her.

  His inner-dragon called to him, begging him to choose.

  Her. She’s our mate.

  Noam swallowed. He rarely talked to his dragon anymore. Sometimes it just seemed too hard. He was worried, he knew, that if he gave in to the urge to talk to his dragon that it would say something he didn’t want to hear.

  “I hope you settle here,” he found himself saying. Heather seemed just as surprised as Noam that he’d said that.

  “Well, it does seem like a nice place,” she said.

  “Sit with us, Mr. King!” Rory piped up. He pointed to a nearby chair. “You can pull a chair over. I don’t think Marcy will mind.”

  “I don’t mind,” the barista called out, laughing.

  “How do you know her?” Heather whispered to Rory.

  Rory only shrugged and went back to his homework. Noam laughed a little. Rory was a friendly kid. He didn’t seem to have any trouble getting to know people. Wasn’t that nice? Usually, it seemed like people struggled to get to know others.

  Unable to resist, Noam grabbed a chair from a nearby table and pulled it over. Then he sat down, cocoa in hand, and turned back to Rory’s mom. She was a lovely woman, he thought, and she was brave. Raising a dragonling on her own couldn’t be an easy task. Noam had been a handful for his own parents, and that was with two of them to keep him and Debbie in check.

  “He’s always meeting people,” Heather turned back to Noam.

  “That’s a good quality to have.”

  “I agree. I was always so shy when I was little,” she said wistfully.

  “I can’t imagine that,” Noam chuckled.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just that you seem really friendly,” he explained.

  “Thanks,” Heather smiled at him. Oh, she was lovely. His dragon seemed to be fighting Noam from the inside, begging to escape. Noam was overcome with the desire to shift into his dragon form and just fly away, but he couldn’t do it. Not just yet. He needed to be normal. He needed to have a normal conversation.

  “So what made you choose Rawr County? I’m not complaining. There are some wonderful towns here.”

  “But it’s a bit off the beaten path for a human, you mean?” Heather’s eyes twinkled.

  “I didn’t call you a human.”

  “Are you?”

  “A human?”

  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  “My late husband, Weston, wasn’t human either,” Heather said. “He was a dragon shifter.”

  “A cool one,” Rory piped up, looking up from his math homework. He grinned a lopsided little smile and then went back to working on his addition practice.

  “I believe it. He must have been a cool guy to have such a cool kid,” Noam told Rory.

  “He was definitely a cool dragon,” Heather agreed.

  “But you’re not a shifter,” Noam pointed out. “Usually, shifters marry other shifters.” There was no rule about it. That was just what usually happened.

  “Not always, though.”

  “Not always,” Noam agreed.

  “We met in college. He said we were mates.”

  “Sounds romantic.”

  “Oh, it was,” she chuckled. “What about you? Are you married? Well, mated?”

  “Nope.”

  We could mate her, his dragon whispered to him. She could be ours.

  There was no rule that a dragon could only have one mate. There was nothing that said a shifter could only mate once. The mating bond was something that lasted until one of the shifters died, and unfortunately, Heather’s husband had passed away. It was perfectly believable that she had been Weston’s mate, just as it was believable that she could be Noam’s mate.

  But Noam hadn’t planned on taking a mate for Christmas.

  He’d just been planning on surviving the school play.

  When he looked at Heather, though, he wondered if she could feel what he felt. Did she realize that his dragon was calling to her? Would she ever be able to want him back?

  Chapter 4

  Heather knew the moment Noam walked into the coffee shop that she was in trouble. He was tall, with dark brown skin and deep chocolate-colored eyes. Oh, she could lose herself in those eyes if she wasn’t careful. His eyes actually seemed to twinkle when he’d spotted her. In that moment, she’d forgotten her own name.

  Then Rory had said hello, and she’d come tumbling back to reality.

  Noam King was the principal at her son’s school, but there was something else magical about him. He was kind, she thought. He had been good to Rory. Heather’s son had been excited about his first day at school. She’d ducked out of work to pick him up on his first day with a promise that he’d be allowed to walk over to the clinic the next day with his new friend, Paul. Rory had been excited about that, and he’d been excited about his teacher, and he’d been excited about Mr. King.

  Principal King.

  Noam.

  Now, as Heather sat sipping her cup of tea across from the shifting principal, she wondered what she’d gotten herself into. Oh, he was delicious, wasn’t he? She found herself thankful that he wasn’t mated, but then she felt bad for thinking that. There was no rule that said she couldn’t date again. She’d been single for many years since Weston passed away with only the occasional date. It had never felt right, though. Every interaction she’d had with men had felt forced and awkward, but nothing about this felt forced.

  It felt natural and wonderful and fantastic.

  The conversation flowed easily. Noam told her all about his decision to become a principal and she explained that she’d been a receptionist at a dental clinic for several years. She’d quit on a whim to come here, and she felt bad about it, but her boss had been wildly understanding and kind about the entire thing. His niece had been wanting a job at his office, apparently, and she was able to start the same day that Heather left.

  “And what about your job here?” Noam asked her. “What do you think of it?”

  “What do I think of it?” That was a hard question, Heather thought. Being asked to put her feelings into words had never exactly been easy for her, but especially not with this gorgeous man looking at her like he wanted to eat her alive. You know, but in a good way.

  She wiggled nervously in her seat, unsure of how to answer. She wondered how he managed to make her so uncomfortable or nervous like this. The last time she’d felt like this, it was when she’d met Weston, and he’d proudly proclaimed that she was his mate and that they were destined to be together.

  Could that be happening again?

  Could Noam be her next mate?

  It felt crazy, she thought, to fall in love with a shifter once in a lifetime. To fall in love with two seemed impossible. Besides, they’d only just met. It had been less than an hour since he’d walked through the door, and already she felt like she’d known him an eternity.

  “I like it,” she finally said. “I’m at the clinic.”

  “I think you know my sister.”

  “Who’s your sister?”

  “Debbie King,” he said.

  “The nurse?” Heather laughed out loud. Yeah, she knew his sister. Debbie had been wildly helpful and wonderfully patient with Heather all day. It wasn’t easy working at a new place, and Heather had made a couple of mistakes. It hadn’t mattered to Debbie, she’d taken Heather under her wing, guided her to the right choices, and helped her with each and every step she’d needed to do.

  “Yeah, the nurse.”

  “She’s nice,” Heather said.

  “Your son is friends with hers,” Noam said.

  “Paul, right?”

  “Yep,” Noam nodded. “That’s my son. Funny he and Rory should get along so well.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because Paul is the only other dragon shifter student in the school.”

  “Are there a lot of shifter kids in the school?” Heather asked carefully. She wanted to blurt out that it was a dream come true to know there were other shifters around, but she didn’t. She was trying so, so hard not to be a total weirdo.

  “Quite a few.”

  “So, what’s the difference between a shifter school and a regular school?”

  “Is this the set-up for a quippy joke, or are you actually asking me?” Noam cocked his head, as though he was trying to figure her out.

  “I’m really asking.”

  Heather had been hoping to find a place where her child could belong. She just hadn’t expected to find it here. She’d viewed Rawr County as a blip on the radar. She’d thought that this was a place where they’d hang out for a short while and get it all together. She hadn’t actually planned to put down roots here.

  But maybe that had been wrong.

  Maybe this was the place where they’d actually get comfortable, where they’d find a way to belong as a family. She looked over at Rory. He was such a sweet kid. He deserved to be happy, and even though they’d only been in town for a couple of days and he’d only been at school for one, he was already happier than she’d seen him in a long time. Did Rory already know that his friend was a dragon? Could they sense these things?

  “The biggest difference is that most of the teachers are also shifters,” Noam said.

  “So they’re ready for anything.”

  “Pretty much. Most of the time, kids don’t shift in elementary school, but there are always exceptions.”

  Like Rory.

  Rory had shifted at the age of eight, and even though it had only happened the one time, Heather knew it could happen again. She wondered what she would do if that happened. Would she be able to help her child? She had tried so many times to remember all of the things Weston had told her about shifters, but she couldn’t remember everything.

  In some ways, she felt like a total failure for that.

  “Sometimes, students just feel lonely,” Noam shrugged. “Having a teacher who understands what that’s like can be helpful.”

  “Everyone feels lonely sometimes,” Heather said carefully, “but I imagine that it’s different when you’re a shifter.”

  “I feel lonely sometimes,” Rory looked up. Heather reached for her son and patted his hair gently.

  “I know, pumpkin.”

  “My teacher said that’s normal.”

  “It is,” she agreed.

  “What do you like to do when you feel lonely?” Noam asked. Heather looked over at Noam, surprised he’d asked such a question. She wasn’t sure why it was surprising to her. Noam worked with kids. He obviously knew a lot about them, and apparently, he wasn’t uncomfortable asking them hard questions about their feelings.

  “Lots of things.”

  “When I feel lonely, I like to go exploring,” Noam said.

  “Where do you explore?”

  “I like to go to the mountains.”

  “Can you fly?”

  “Yep.”

  “Are you a dragon?”

  “I am,” Noam nodded.

  Wasn’t that interesting? Heather hadn’t wanted to ask, but her son hadn’t been afraid, apparently. Noam was a dragon. He could fly. She wondered what he looked like when he shifted into his dragon form and flew away.

  “Me too.”

  “Well,” Noam said, sipping his cocoa, “I think that’s pretty cool.”

  “I shifted once, you know,” Rory said.

  Heather noticed that the barista wasn’t paying them any mind, which was kind of cool. She liked this town. She liked this place. There had been a few different shifter children who had come into the clinic that day, and they’d all been really calm and comfortable. One of the kids had even shifted into a little bear and then back into a little boy, and nobody had even batted an eye. Dr. Bear had just shrugged and said, “it happens,” like it was the most ordinary thing in the world.

  Now Rory was talking – really talking – about being a shifter. Heather was so curious. She and Rory had talked briefly about his shifting abilities, but he hadn’t said much. Now he seemed almost proud, and that kind of warmed her heart. She wanted Rory to feel proud of his heritage. She wanted him to be happy with who he was.

  This was something special that Weston had given him: a legacy that nobody could take away. Rory was a dragon just like his dad, and if he grew up to be half the man that Weston had been, then Heather thought she would be pretty happy about that, indeed. Now she saw that Noam seemed just as comfortable as Rory was with this conversation, and she leaned back to listen.

  “What was that like?” Noam asked.

  “It was cool.”

  “Did you have a hard time shifting back?”

  “Yeah, at first,” Rory admitted.

  “So what did you do?”

  “I closed my eyes, and I thought really hard, and then I changed back.”

  “That’s what I like to do, too.”

  “Is it hard for you to shift back?” Rory’s eyes got wide.

  “Not anymore,” Noam said. “When I was a small dragon, it was harder. Over time, you’ll get used to it, though.”

  “Because practice makes perfect?” Rory asked helpfully.

  “Because practice makes perfect.”

  “I want to change again,” Rory said.

  “Well, now that you’ve shifted once, you can probably do it again.”

  “How?”

  Heather’s heart suddenly felt like it was constricting. These were questions Weston should be helping their son with. She hated that she didn’t know. She hated that she wasn’t sure how to help her son. Most of all, she hated the fact that the person here was a stranger.

  She had been dumb to wonder, even briefly, if Noam could be her mate. That was silly. She wasn’t in college anymore. She wasn’t some lovestruck teenager. She was an adult, and so was he, and they all needed to act like it.

  Noam seemed to sense her discomfort, though, because he pushed his chair away.

  “Those are some great questions, kiddo, but I think I’m going to let you ask your mom, okay? It’s getting late, and I should get going.”

  “Aw,” Rory crossed his arms over his chest, pouting.

  “I know, buddy,” Noam smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, though, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Noam turned his attention to Heather. He looked at her with heat in his eyes, and suddenly, her entire body felt warm. She felt like she was on fire. Oh, that was a dangerous sort of feeling.

  “It was wonderful to see you,” Noam said. “I hope we do this again sometime.”

  Then he got up and walked out of the coffee shop, and Heather sat there, staring at the door. What the hell had she gotten herself into? And why did she feel like she was the one who could fly?

  Chapter 5

  The next few weeks flew by. Noam’s life and schedule became completely consumed with the school play. It was supposed to be a simple holiday experience for the students, but like all good plans, it quickly got out of hand. By the time the week of Christmas rolled around, Noam realized that he’d somehow been talked into hosting not only a Christmas play, but a Christmas marketplace.

  Somehow, word had gotten out that the teachers in Rawr County schools had chosen to forgo gift exchanges this year in lieu of donating the “present money” to The Little Paw. Both the high school and middle school had followed suit, as well as the other nearby elementary schools. People really loved the idea, and it had grown.

  Now the elementary school Noam looked after was going to be hosting something else, too: a Christmas marketplace. He’d never hosted anything like this before, but all of the teachers, as well as Debbie, assured Noam that it was a totally normal and wonderful thing to host. He found himself actually starting to look forward to the event, and that was a strange feeling for him.

  Maybe it was the promise of cookies.

  Dragons loved cookies, and there were going to be plenty of them at the marketplace. All of the parents of 1st graders had promised to bake cookies to sell. They were going to be bringing gingerbread cookies and chocolate chip cookies. One dad even said he was thinking of making sweet little sugar cookies that were shaped like bears and decorated to match.