I could still see the goat in my peripherals, circling us all …stalking.
Keegan cleared his throat and stood gingerly, using Danny’s arm for support. “I have an announcement tomake.”
Dee and the other shifters were present as well, milling around, drinking beers and chatting. They stopped what they were doing and listened with raptattention.
Keegan eyed Nadine and Gear holding hands. “I’ve had a long-standing rule of no dating or sexual relationships within my pack. I felt it was a distraction and they never endedwell…”
Roxy tucked a stray curl behind her ear and swallowed hard, looking atDominic.
“I was wrong,” he said. “I’m doing away with that rule. You’re all adults. You can choose what to do with your life. Just don’t come crying to me if it doesn’t work out, and you're stuck in the packtogether.”
Dee raised her beer. “Here, here!” she cheered, and everyone cheered along, clicking their drinks andlaughing.
Logan sidled in beside me. “I guess we don’t have to keep our love a secret any longer,” he joked with awink.
Laughter bubbled up inside of me, I was about to speak when out of the corner of my eye I saw Dominic stalking slowly, and purposely, towards Roxy. She was frozen to the spot, leaning against the base of one of the large trees, staring at him as he approached. Only a few of us noticed—Sophie, Nadine, Logan, and I. Everyone else was chatting and having a goodtime.
Dominic wove silently through the crowd until he was a few feet from her. She opened her mouth and said something. I couldn’t tell from this far away, but he didn’t stop walking. He just crashed into her, taking her in his arms, one hand behind her head, and kissed herpassionately.
Oh. My. God.I grinned. It looked like Keegan’s rule had been holding back more than onecouple.
“Owwwoww!” Sophie yelled, in her annoying immatureway.
Dom and Roxy broke away grinning and I looked toDylan.
“Welcome to our crazy pack.” Iwinked.
He lifted his glass and nodded tome.
Logan leaned in. “Can male dragons be in heat? Because I think I am,” he whispered in my ear, and laughter erupted from me again, which turned to a shrill scream when he scooped me up and started walking away withme.
“Let me at least say goodbye to everyone!” I chastisedhim.
His eyes were smoldering and he shook his head. “Nope.”
I grinned. “You’re going to carry me all the way up thewaterfall?”
As if in answer, his grip tightened; he pressed me to his rock-hard chest and my belly warmed. God, loving Logan was soeasy.
* * *
The next morningwe awoke ready to meet this alchemist. Last night, after we’d gotten home, I’d told Logan everything Isaac had said. He agreed it was at least worth trying to get my staff fixed, especially if it would help my dragon and keep my druid energy grounded to Mother Earth. We informed Keegan and he thought it was best to go in with a small team since we had to assume the druids knew about the busses we used now. Also, Isaac assured us his friend hated him but not skyborn, so he wouldn’t be a threat. Eva had sold our scales last night after we’d left the party, so Logan would have to pull one there as payment. Again, Isaac assured us this man was a friend of the skyborn. In the end, we piled Danny, Keegan, Dominic and Sophie into my car while Logan and I headed out with Isaac in Tony’scar.
As we set out in our mini caravan, I learned that the man lived in Lake Tahoe, only a few hoursaway.
“So how did you meet this guy?” I asked Isaac, making small talk while we drove out of the city and towards the California-Nevada stateline.
Isaac chuckled. “I met him right after Faery was destroyed. A lot of the supernatural creatures that had gotten out formed a bit of an alliance, so we could call on each other if we needed help navigating this new world of humans. He and I were in thealliance.”
I perked up. A supernatural fae creature alliance. Logan nodded as he switched lanes. “Eva mentioned something about the alliance. She said it fizzledout.”
Isaac was looking out the window at the passing trees. “In the beginning it was strong. We had yearly meetings where we got together and offered help to those in need, or just gave support to those still struggling to acclimatize to the new world. The best part was that it believed we should integrate into this world, with the humans, and everyone was very anti-druid—the bad ones ofcourse.”
“Of course,” Isaid.
“Well, Rufus and I became fast friends. We both mourned the loss of Faery but enjoyed and respected this newworld.”
“And he’s an alchemist?” I wondered if it was like I thought it was. Could he turn dog poop intogold?
