“Mine,” I growled, pinning him to the ground, my face inches from his. The word tore from my throat, raw and primal, my dragon ready to burst free. I could feel the heat coursing through my veins and scales rippling across my arms.
The shock on Zarek’s face would have been comical in any other situation. His eyes widened, pupils contracting sharply before flooding with violet light as his dragon responded to the challenge.
“What the actual fuck?” Atlas’s voice seemed to come from far away.
Kade stood, depositing Reese on the bench. “Lucan, stand down.” His command cut through the haze of territorial fury.
I blinked, the red tinge slowly fading from my vision as I realized I had my forearm pressed against Zarek’s throat. With effort, I pulled back, pushing myself off him and stumbling to my feet.
“Sorry,” I muttered, shame flooding in to replace the adrenaline. “I just?—”
“Just what?” Zarek growled, getting to his feet and brushing dirt from his clothes. “Lost your damn mind?”
“That’s the knife I gave her,” I admitted, the words spilling out before I could stop them. “She’s my mate.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Zarek’s anger didn’t decrease in the slightest, Atlas’s mouth hung open, and Kade’s eyebrows had nearly disappeared into his hairline.
“Mate?” Atlas finally broke the silence.
Reese looked from me to the phone still clutched in Atlas’s hand. “Liz didn’t tell me where she got the knife, but I didn’t think to ask.”
Liz.Her name echoed through me, setting off a cascade of warmth.Liz, Liz, Liz.
“I didn’t know her name.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I know her scent. I found her camping last night. It didn’t go well.”
“You were naked, and she assaulted you.” Zarek sounded ridiculous, and I kept him in my line of sight. If he even took a step toward town, I wouldn’t hesitate to toast his ass.
“She slept in her car last night.” Kade held up his hands when I growled at him. “I told her she couldn’t camp in her car, like I would with anyone else.”
I’d scared my mate so badly she’d hiked all the way back to her car in the middle of the night to sleep. I was really nailing this mate thing.
Zarek’s eyes hadn’t shifted back. “Did you go get the knife last night when you realized she was your mate?”
I hesitated for a second too long, and Zarek was on me, grabbing my shirt and pulling me closer. This was exactly why I hadn’t told him the night before.
“Zarek.” Kade’s voice held no room for compromise. He needed to back off immediately, or he’d be answering to Kade’s dragon.
Zarek reluctantly let me go, and I smoothed down my shirt, trying to come up with something plausible. If I lied, he’d immediately fly to our hoard and check how old my scent was.
“That campsite by the nearest clearing had her scent. I grabbed the knife when we went to check the hoard.”
“She was near our hoard!” Zarek clenched his fists.
Reese stood and walked around the picnic table, ignoring that Zarek was one breath away from snapping. “I don’t thinkthat was her. She said she’d only been camping five nights, but she mentioned she’d been at a few different campsites.”
We’d been on patrol for weeks after discovering footprints and pistachio shells near the entrance of our hoard. I’d assumed when my dragon had scented her at the campsite that it was the same person.
“I have to get back to work.” Zarek turned and stalked off toward the lake.
My shoulders relaxed slightly, but I was still on edge. Zarek was going to be an issue, even if we could prove my mate hadn’t been near our hoard. He was incredibly possessive of it, and it had progressively gotten worse over the years.
His dragon didn’t do well without a mate.
Reese took her phone from Atlas. “Well, she texted that she’s on her way, so you’ll have a chance to make a better second impression, and we can ask her some questions.”
“Right now?” Panic and excitement warred in my chest. “What am I supposed to say to her? ‘Sorry I terrified you in the woods, but good news, we’re destined to be together’?”
“Maybe leave out the destined part.” Kade kept his eyes on Zarek until he disappeared into the trees. “And maybe wear clothes this time.”
