Pax pushed himself up to sit and brushed the crap off his hands. “And what does this have to do with the tattoo, which is right now blistering my skin.”
I’d been concentrating on Pax and had ignored the heat radiating from my shoulder.
“The tattoos… the two matching tattoos are a sign.”
“You already said that.”
I explained that in the shifter world, fated mates were common. And the universe showed the matched pair a sign.
“The tattoo?” His voice was at screech level ten.
“The tattoo.”
He scrambled up. “You’re telling me the universe used magic to decree that you and I should get married.”
The word decree held a lot of weight, and I didn’t like it.
“Sort of, but there is free will involved. And we call it mating.”
Pax turned back along the track, yelling not to follow him. “And don’t do the scaly-winged thing either.”
We can’t let him leave.
That’s exactly what we’re going to do.
This was worse than I’d imagined. I really thought that he’d have questions and a healthy amount of fear, but my mate wanted nothing to do with me. I sank onto the grass and sobbed. I flung dirt over my face so Pax and I matched.
All the years of waiting and I’d joked about my mate doing scientific research on penguins, but there’d been a kernel of hope inside me. But now that was gone, and I was alone. No one else would ever take his place if he couldn’t accept me for who I was.
I gave him a five-minute start and headed after him, but I used the woods as camouflage, hiding behind bushes and fallenlogs. I watched as Pax put his foot on the gas and the car complained as it hit the ruts in the road.
Go after him.
No.
I was empty inside, and the heat from my tattoo, instead of being hopeful, was a reminder of what I’d lost. I curled up on my side with my knees pressed against my chest. The years I’d waited for my mate had been filled with work, family, and love while I waited, along with a dose of frustration. But now there was nothing. I was a shell of a person with a beating heart.
My dragon didn’t wait for permission to shift, and he shredded my clothes and soared up and over the trees. We should be flying away from town, but I didn’t have the energy to tell him what to do. Without looking where we were headed, I guessed we’d be going to Pax’s.
All I could tell my beast was to stay up high. If our mate’s yard was suddenly cloaked in shadow created by dragon wings, Pax might leave town, never to return. And the town’s human residents might film my beast, and the shifter community would be in an uproar.
My dragon and I peered along Pax’s driveway. There was no car parked in front of the house. I directed him to follow the road out of town that our mate would have taken. He flew for miles, but Pax’s car wasn’t on the highway.
We eventually gave up and went back to the clearing so I could pick up my truck. Being a shifter, I kept a bag of spare clothes in the trunk, and I must have put them on because I was wearing them while driving to town. The world had lost its color and everything was in shades of gray.
Not bothering to wipe away the tears, I stared at the windshield, and my vision blurred. The rest of my life stretched ahead, much like the road. There’d be no bumps or turnsor pulling over. Just straight ahead with no joy and endless monotony.
I shouldn’t have driven past his house, but it was as if the car had taken control and I found myself at Pax’s gate. He was there, but he’d parked the car in the garage. June rarely did because the old roller door was heavy, and just like her, Pax hadn’t yanked it all the way down.
Was he curled up in bed weeping or sitting at his computer and arranging for the house to be sold? But I suddenly knew exactly where he’d be. I stared at the turret that poked its tip proudly into the sky. He’d be up there, with his back to the wall, wishing June was here to give him advice.
I’d have to leave him be for tonight. But in the morning, I’d wrench myself out of this stupor. I needed a grand gesture. But what?
NINE
DRAY
I arrived at dawn in my truck and pulled out a camping chair and an old cooler, plus a sign. After propping the latter against the porch steps where Pax would see it, I stood back and read it.
