She nodded. “As good as any.” It would give her a distraction from thinking about Ajax and how much it had stung to hurt him.

  Troy nodded. “Barn. Now.” Then he turned and began to stride across the porch and over toward the barn.

  Boots clacked on the porch as another man stepped out of the shadows. “I’m coming too,” Jack said.

  Olivia followed them curiously, wondering what on earth they needed to talk about right at this second.

  16

  “So is this about the mission?” she asked. “I thought you said there were no new updates. The poison doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore.”

  “We’re still looking into it, but yes, the issue does seem to be resolved,” Jack said. “Then again, perhaps this is merely the calm before the storm.”

  Olivia looked over at Troy, who was leaning coolly against one of the horse stalls, folding his arms.

  Jack shook his head, closing the barn door behind them. “But this isn’t about that.”

  Olivia frowned, unsure of what else they would need to talk to her about. “Then what is it? Do you—”

  “We were planning to come get you, tell you it was time to come back to Dallas.” Troy’s words reverberated in the empty barn. “But now we aren’t so sure we should.”

  Her stomach felt like she’d dropped a rock in it. “What do you mean?”

  “That basilisk that punched Clark for you,” Troy said, leveling narrowed eyes at her. “What’s between you?”

  Jack grinned. “Seems like you’ve been maybe having some fun on vacation.”

  “Shut up,” she said, waving a hand. “It’s merely casual.”

  “That didn’t look casual at all,” Troy said darkly. “That looked like mating behavior.”

  “I told him not to go there,” she said. “I told him my job is number one, and I’m not looking for some shifter with a line about—”

  “It’s not a line,” Troy said firmly.

  She glanced up at him. “What do you mean?”

  Troy frowned. “I don’t like the guy, but if Ajax thinks you’re his mate, I don’t think it’s a line.” He let out a heavy breath. “I know you’ve met some bad shifters, but not all of us just offer to be anyone’s mate.”

  Jack nodded. “Olivia, when it’s the right person, being a shifter’s mate is amazing.”

  “What about marriage?” Olivia asked. “I mean, I’ve never been interested in that either, but at least it’s based on love and respect, not some animal concept that—”

  “I guess she doesn’t know about Vegas weddings between people who barely know each other,” Jack said glibly.

  Troy narrowed his eyes even farther, to slits. “You don’t believe he loves you? Is that it?”

  Olivia went quiet, thinking for a moment.

  “Olivia, if he’s your mate, it would be a huge mistake to leave him,” Jack said. “And he could always come work with us. He’d be an asset. The two of you together—”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know if he’s my mate. The whole idea is ridiculous.” But just thinking of him made her heart ache, and the urge to go to him again was stronger than ever.

  “We’ve never seen you act around anyone else like you act with him,” Jack said. “We came just to see how things were going in general, but when we saw you, we knew something had to be happening.”

  “You look ridiculously well,” Troy said. “That can only mean one thing.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “That man loves you.”

  She looked at the ground, nudging a few stray pieces of hay with her foot. “It has been a week. If he does have feelings, and I do too, they can wait. And they aren’t more important than the job.”

  “As shifters, we have to disagree,” Jack said.

  “I’m probably just the first human he’s had a chance with,” Olivia said. “He’ll probably have another ‘mate’ a month after I’m back in Dallas.” The thought made her murderous for some reason.

  “Olivia, you’re being silly,” Troy said. “The situation is as plain as the nose on your face. So stop running from it. We can’t control what timeframe love happens on. Besides, not all shifters just try to mate any attractive woman. Look at Jack and me. We’re waiting for the right one. We’d rather be alone if it isn’t her.”

  Olivia had to admit he was right. She’d seen it in their actions.

  “In reality, I’m sorry you’ve been given such a poor opinion of it because shifter mating is really a beautiful thing,” Troy said. “Just because a shifter knows quickly, that doesn’t mean his feelings aren’t real. Humans divorce all the time. A shifter will literally die for his mate. Every cell in his body commands it.” He nodded solemnly. “I don’t like the guy personally, but he has honor. He would be a good mate.”

  “I don’t want a mate,” Olivia said, rubbing her temples.

  “That won’t change you having one,” Jack said unhelpfully. “Listen to your heart, Olivia.”

  But her heart was too confused to know what to do next.

  Was it really possible he could deeply care about her so quickly? Not just gunning for a mate?

  Not being like the other shifters, even if he still wanted to mate her?

  “He said we could be casual,” she said as if she could defend herself. “He said it would be fine.”

  “He probably tried,” Jack said. “But if a shifter has a mate, they can’t help it. That doesn’t mean you have to be with him. But it’s not like he meant to let you down.”

  That made her feel guilty. “I get it, I think,” she said.

  “Look, there are some shifters who are deranged about mating,” Troy said. “I won’t say there aren’t. But I doubt he is anything but honestly crazy about you.”

  She looked up doubtfully. “How do you know? How do you know it’s not just limerence? That good feeling at the beginning of a new relationship?”

  “I don’t,” Troy said. “But the way he threw that guy through a door tells me he has those feelings in him.”

  “That’s just jealousy,” she said. “Any man can be jealous.”

  Troy and Jack looked at each other, silently saying something between them she didn’t understand.

  “Why do you even care about this so much?” she asked. “We should be talking about the mission, not my love life. You’re my bosses!”

  “We’re also your family. You’re our family, and as such, we won’t hold back in talking about things like this with you,” Jack said. “Put it this way. Why do you always ask us how things went with a potential mate?”

  Olivia blinked. “That’s obvious. Because I want you two to be happy.”

  Jack nodded, smiling. “Exactly. Troy and I have been searching for over a hundred years for our mate. And we’ll keep searching, because as disappointing as it is when it doesn’t work out, it will have all been worth it when it does.”

  “But how do you know? How will you know when you find her?” Olivia shook her head, panic rising in her. How could anyone be so certain about something so permanent?

  “Because our hearts will tell us,” Troy said. “Just like yours is, if you weren’t ignoring it. Doesn’t Ajax make you happy?”

  Olivia paused. It was true. This week with Ajax had undoubtedly been one of the happiest in her life, but she’d never thought it would continue past that.

  Could everything just change that quickly?

  Her heart was pounding so hard just thinking of him that she felt she had her answer, though it made her feel as if she were falling downward very fast with nothing to catch her.

  “I… Yeah, I think he does,” she said faintly.

  Jack nodded, pleased with her answer. “It’s clear on your face how you feel about him. I know you’re stubborn, Liv. We’ve known you for twenty years, and in that time, we’ve worked, fought, and practically lived with you. We know you have a self-destructive streak a mile long when it comes to your own well-being. You think you owe the world for failing your partner. But you’ve already done more to give back than anyone could expect. Now it’s time for you to accept some happiness for you. Be brave for yourself this time.” Jack nudged her gently with his elbow. “We’ve seen the way Ajax looks at you. The way you look at him when you think no one’s watching. He intends to love you more than you’re even comfortable with, and I think you know that.”

  Olivia just stood there staring, dumbfounded, at the hay on the floor again.

  Could they really be right?

  Something deep within her wanted to believe them. It was the same part that she hadn’t been able to stop from falling for Ajax in the first place. Her feelings had only grown since the day she’d met him.

  “We’re heading back to Dallas tonight,” said Jack, walking over and putting a hand on the barn door. “There are things that need to be taken care of, but we both think you should stay.” He grinned. “Work things out with your basilisk.”

  “He’s not my basilisk.” Olivia felt her cheeks heat and looked away as Jack opened the door, and Troy moved to follow him out but stopped halfway, giving her a serious look.

  “The Olivia I know has fearlessly faced the most evil of shifters. Facing the possibility of love?” He shook his head. “It’s hard, but we know you can conquer that too.”

  She squeezed her fists tight, eyeing the door as it closed behind Troy.

  He was right.

  Olivia could do this. She had worked all her life to help others, fighting, worrying, sacrificing, but now, all she had to do was go to Ajax and get to the bottom of how they both felt.

  Give him a chance to talk about his feelings.

  Her heart welled up with feelings as she finally accepted it.

  She cared about him, loved him. She didn’t want to leave Dragonclaw if not with him.

  Maybe this can work.

  At the thought, warmth began to swell deep within her, so much so that when she stepped out into the cold night air, she didn’t even feel its chill.

  All she felt was confidence that she was making the right choice in taking this leap of faith.

  Now she just had to find Ajax before she lost her nerve. Her eyes narrowed as she looked toward their shared home, where she noticed there was a light on in the window of their—or his—bedroom.

  That has to be where he is.

  She jogged across the main plot of Dragonclaw, through the door, and up the stairs to their room, ready to talk to him. When she opened the door, she frowned, taken aback.

  There was no one inside.

  Confused, she looked around, and a small cardboard box in the corner of the room caught her eye. She walked over to look at it and found a small notebook inside.

  It was the same one he’d had on his desk the first night they had met.

  Odd.

  She opened it, and her heart dropped all the way down to her toes when she read the first line on the first page.

  “Mate research: Tactics for winning over human females as mates.”

  Her stomach churned as everything went dark within her, and she continued to stare at the words in front of her, flipping a few pages forward.

  The book was packed with notes and journal entries and research. It had taken no small amount of time to produce.

  She slammed the book shut, feeling like it had burned her.

  She felt like throwing up, thinking about how happy she’d been a moment ago.

  He’d been studying to do this, to do everything to perfectly convince her to be his, all while holding himself back enough to make her fall for him.

  Dammit, he’d almost gotten her to agree to mate him.

  She thought back over the week, pain lashing through her as she realized how perfect he’d been.

  And now it was clear it was all some kind of twisted plot.

  This was worse than even the random shifters asking to mate her.

  Because he’d played the long game. Used this sick research to make her fall for him. All because he was clearly desperate for a mate.

  Any mate.

  Her lip curled with disgust, and she suddenly felt sick because she’d been so completely and utterly fooled by him.

  And she would never forgive him for it.

  17

  Ajax walked out onto the porch to look for Olivia again, hoping to be able to talk to her.

  She was his mate, and even if they’d argued, he wasn’t done saying what he needed to say.

  He needed her to know his feelings were real, that this thing between them was more than just a shifter infatuation.

  When she didn’t return, he decided she must have gone back to their place. Panic filled him as he just hoped she hadn’t left with the dragons.

  But he hadn’t seen any cars leave the ranch yet.

  When he reached their small guest home, he saw the lights were on and sighed in relief that she was home.

  He wasn’t looking forward to having to argue more, but he couldn’t allow himself to back down either.

  Not when he knew what they could have.

  He would just apologize about the Clark thing, promise it would never happen again, and show her for the rest of his life that he could do better.

  The door swung open as he was stepping up to it, and Olivia stood in the doorway, looking furious.

  She’d been frustrated when he left her, but now she looked angry enough to kill.

  He froze, staring up at her. “Olivia, I—”

  “What is this?” She held up a book in her hand, and he realized it was his mate research journal.

  Shit.

  “I can explain,” he said.

  She kept the book in her hand but folded her arms. “Go ahead, then.” But he could tell from the cold look in her eyes there wasn’t anything he could say.

  He should have thrown the damn thing away.

  “Olivia, when I came up to the surface, I did want to find a mate, like the dragons have. I did do research, but—”

  She chucked the book to the side. “You did great research! I fell for all of it! The dating, the sex, the compliments, the ‘I’m not like other shifters.’” She shook her head, looking furious with herself. “All so I can go and fall for one who’s more calculating and weird about mating than them all!”

  He stared at her, unsure what to say back. Yes, he’d done research, but it had never been to trap and hurt her.

  “Olivia, I stopped using that already. It has nothing to do with you—”

  “It’s full of research on human women! On love. On manipulating them!”

  “Other males do. I was merely noting it, but I have no interest in using the same tactics.”

  “Of course you do,” she said, tapping her foot. “I guess like every shifter, all that matters is having a mate. You don’t care how it happens.”

  “I do care,” Ajax said, trying not to shout. “Olivia, I know you have problems with shifters and mating. But do you really think everything we have is fake?”

  She looked at the ground darkly, and when her eyes met his, he hated the pain he saw there.

  The pain he’d helped put there.

  “I’m sorry about Clark,” he said. “I shouldn’t have lost it. But if you’d just accept that I’m your mate—”

  “I’ll never accept that,” she yelled at him, tears in her eyes. “I don’t know what it means, and I won’t mate someone who has been studying women like they’re aliens while telling me he’s fine going slow and taking things casually. Ajax, I have a job!”

  “I know,” he said, hands tightening into fists. “And we could help each other. Olivia, we could be so good together.”

  Her eyes flashed with anguish as she studied him, and he could tell that somewhere in her, she had fallen for him as well.

  “I was about to come find you and tell you I was ready to at least consider mating. Consider seeing you longer to see if we could be compatible in human ways. Dammit, I was coming to love you, Ajax!”

  “The journal doesn’t mean you have to stop,” he said. “Olivia, please—”

  “Troy and Jack defended you,” she said, surprising him. “They said to give you a chance. I was about to—” She cut herself off, turning away from him. “Now I don’t know what to do.”

  “Did you read the whole book?” Ajax asked.

  She whipped around again. “No, I couldn’t bear to. So clinical. So obsessed with finding anyone. It didn’t matter who it was—”

  He stepped up to her this time, closing the space between them in a second and trapping her against the side of the house by the door, his hands falling heavily on either side of her head. “If you think it didn’t matter, you truly don’t know me at all.”

  Then he pushed off the wall and strode away from her, back toward the main house.

  At this point, he had no idea what to do. How to prove anything to her. And he was getting too heated just at the suggestion that his feelings might not be real.

  “Ajax,” he heard Olivia say behind him, her voice small and weak, as if she were second-guessing herself.

  He turned back to look at her, feeling as lost as she was, not knowing what to say.

  They were made for each other. Anyone could see it.

  But why did finding a mate seem to work for every shifter but him? Why did his mate have to find that journal and take it out of context?

  Why hadn’t he just told her he’d been desperately searching for a mate before but had already given up when he met her.

  He’d never done anything for her based on the rules of that stupid book.

  He simply wanted to make her happy, even more so now.

  He was about to run back to her, talk to her again, try to convince her one more time, when he felt the ground start to shake.

  Hard.

  Olivia grabbed the doorframe as the ground quaked violently beneath them, rattling the house.

  Ajax turned back to the ranch house to see several of the dragons flowing out with their mates.

  In front of them, Gunnar and Diesel were moving fastest, running over to Ajax.

  Ajax ran to catch up to them, knowing his mate would be safe at the house because this wasn’t an earthquake.

  There was only one thing this could be.