She looked at me with those perfect violet eyes, full of curiosity and doubt. “You say that with utmost confidence. Like you know the answer but won’t tell me. How can you be so sure, Caz?”
“Because very few can shift into their dragon so soon after it awakens. Most take months to achieve the first shift from human to dragon and back. Some longer than that. Your dragon is growing stronger. When you were under great duress, it spiked its power. You just have to keep at it. Keep growing.”
She didn’t like that answer. I went to her, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tight. “It’ll be okay, my love.”
“Yeah, I guess.” She squirmed in my arms so she could look up at me. “How long did it take you after your dragon woke up?”
“That doesn’t matter. I am not everyone,” I said. “I don’t count.”
Anna wasn’t having any of my evasion. “How long?”
I tried to resist, but the irritation that came through our mate bond when I didstopped me.
“No secrets, remember?” she pointed out when I frowned in confusion at the strength of her emotions.
“That isn’t why I was trying to keep it to myself!” I rushed to tell her. “I want no secrets from you, Anna. I also don’t want you comparing your journey to mine. We don’tknowwhat will happen with you. This is a first for everyone. You have to remember that.”
“I just want to know,” she said.
I shrugged, not seeing a way out. “A minute or so, I think.”
Her jaw dropped. “What?Less than a minute for your first shift?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. That is impressive.”
I just stood there.
“Whatever,” she said a few seconds later, blowing it off.
“How can I make it better? I didn’t want to upset you,” I said, pulling her into a hug. I caressed her head, tucking away wayward strands of hair and trying to reassure her that I didn’t think less of her in any way.
“You didn’t upset me, Caz. Oh, maybe I’m jealous. But that’s not the same thing.”
“Are you sure?”
She laughed. “Very. But if you want to make me feel special, you could …”
“It would be my pleasure,” I growled, picking her up over one shoulder and turning to runawayfrom the chalet instead of into it.
Anna laughed wildly—until I tore her clothes from her body, at which point her noises became decidedly more enjoyable.
Forty-Eight
Anna
“How yadoing?” I asked, poking my head in through the door to Milly’s room. “Got energy for a visitor?”
Milly had fallen asleep the second she was in bed and had only this morning awoken. I’d hurried to get dressed and rush down from the “penthouse” suite to see her when Ella had come knocking.
She was sitting propped up by a bunch of pillows, still frail and weak, but at least she was in clean clothes now, courtesy of Ella, who was sitting on the other side. Milly’s eyes were alert and focused on me with ease as I came to the bedside of my oldest friend, finding her hand and giving it the gentlest squeeze I could.
“I’m not going to crumble to pieces from a strong gust of wind, Anna,” she ordered. “Don’t treat me like I’m some desiccated old book. A few good meals and sleep in beds like this, and I’ll be right as rain in a few days.”
“Caz said it could take you a week or more to really start getting back up to speed,” I replied. “You’re a lot weaker than you think. But Ipromise, if the wind picks up in here, I won’t stop it from knocking your stubborn ass to the floor. But Iwillbe shouting ‘I told you so’ at the top of my lungs when I pick you back up.”
“You’d only pick me back up to drop me again.”
