Now she could go home.
Now she could stop running.
Now she could put down roots.
Deep roots.
Chapter Twenty-Two – Leo
She’s not here,Leo’s bear said as he ran down the trail to Estelle’s cottage.
No, she’s not,Leo replied.
There was no car in the driveway. No sign of movement. Only the faint scent of her lingered on the breeze.
We need to find her,his bear urged, but Leo stood frozen, staring at the empty space where her car should have been.
She had gone without a word.
The thought landed hard enough to hollow him out. After everything they had shared, after everything they had only just begun to build, she had still left.
No,his bear growled.She wouldn’t. Not like this.
But the cottage stood silent, no light in the windows, no sound from inside. Leo’s chest tightened until drawing a full breath hurt.
I gave her space,he thought bitterly.And she used it to leave.
Wait,his bear said suddenly.Something’s wrong.
Leo paced the gravel drive, fighting the urge to break down the door and search for anything she might have left behind.
“Estelle,” he said into the empty evening. “Why?”
But then he sensed it. Something stirred deep within him.
His bear went completely still.Dragon.
Our dragon.Leo turned sharply, searching the darkening sky. Then he saw it, a flash of midnight blue catching the last of the light as something vast banked between the peaks.
His breath caught.
She came back,his bear said, almost in disbelief.
Relief hit so hard Leo had to lock his knees to stay upright. He stood rooted as the dragon, Estelle, circled once above the clearing, then again, before angling downward in a slow, controlled descent behind the cottage.
Leo ran.
He cut through the trees, branches catching at his sleeves, his bear driving him on. He burst into the clearing just as she landed, the force of her wings bending the long grass around her.
For one still moment, they looked at each other across the clearing, Leo with his heart trying to pound out of his chest, Estelle in her dragon form, midnight blue and shimmering in the fading light.
Then came the familiar pop and crackle of static, and Estelle stood before him.
“You’re here,” he said, the words rough in his throat. “I thought...”
“I know what you thought,” she said softly. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
They moved at the same time.
