One

Micah

Cam slid past me the moment I unlocked the hotel room door, heading straight into the bedroom and flopping face-first onto the mattress with a groan, his shoes still on.

Shaking my head at his dramatics, I closed and locked the door before following him inside. I had my shields drawn up tight—a hotel was one of the worst places for a telepathic psychic—so I couldn't tell what was going on in his head, but I could make a fairly accurate guess. Cam had never stopped me from reading his mind, and after all these years, I was intimately familiar with its inner workings. Usually, I tried to stick to the psychic link I'd created between us, the one where Cam could 'say' things directly to me. It was especially useful when he was in his dragon form, and after working on it for years, we'd finally managed to make it two-way so I could talk to him too.

"I give up," he declared rather dramatically—which was the norm for him—as he turned onto his back, proving me right once again. His green eyes flashed with annoyance as he gazed at me, running a finger through his messy black hair. "This is what, the thirteenth country we've been to? They aren't here either."

We had traveled a lot since Cam turned twenty—he was six months younger than me—and we were lucky our dads could afford it and didn't mind financing our search. But I had a feeling it was time to stop. We'd been going at this for so long, and we had nothing to show for it. A small part of me couldn't help feeling a little grateful for that, which then made me feel guilty.

"You know what I think?" I asked as I climbed onto the bed beside him, after removing his and my shoes, and settled cross-legged near his head.

Without missing a beat, Cam slid his head into my lap, and I smiled as I started running my fingers through his dark hair.

"How would I know? That's your superpower," he snarked, his eyes bright with humor, and I chuckled.

"True that. Well, I think it's time we go back home. Maybe we've been going about it all wrong. Everyone we know found their mates in Mistvale. Maybe all we need to do to find them is go back home."

Cam stared up at me. "You really think so?"

"I do. If you want, we can ask Alden for a second opinion." Cam was a little partial to Alden, the unicorn who lived in Mistvale, and I wasn't going to waste that. It was hard to change Cam's mind when he set it to something, and he listened to very few people. Thankfully, Alden was one of them, and he was also one of the saner members of our clan.

"Nah. I was ready to give up anyway. I miss home," he said, and I hummed as I continued brushing his hair with my fingers. I missed home too. I missed my dads, my brothers, and even our crazy clan.

We'd returned home every once in a while, but we hadn't been back for almost a year now, though we still video called our family every other day. I missed Mistvale. I missed the rain, the air that always smelled of storms and fresh grass, the people .

"Let's skip tonight's call and surprise them by showing up in person instead!"

I raised a brow at him, wary of whatever was cooking in his head. "You do realize it's going to take a little more than," I paused to glance at the clock, "five hours to get home from here, right? We haven't even checked to see when the next flight is."

"The next flight," he replied as he sat up, a wide grin that spelled trouble taking over his face, "my dear Micah, is whenever you need it to take off."

"No," I said flatly when I realized what he was talking about, and his grin instantly turned into the most convincing pout.

"Please? Come on, my shields are perfect now. Nothing can go wrong."

I scoffed. "The last time you said that, a seagull crashed into us and sent us falling fifty feet into the ocean," I reminded him, and he grinned sheepishly.

"I'll focus on flying a hundred percent this time, I promise." He peered at me with his bright green eyes, beseeching.

Groaning loudly, I fell back onto the mattress, deciding some drama was warranted at this moment. "I hate you."

"Yay!" Cam cheered before climbing on top of me. I raised a brow at him as he leaned down to press his lips to mine, pulling me into a kiss that made all my ire disappear.

When we'd first realized we had two other mates out there, we'd vowed to wait until we found them before getting intimate with each other. We'd thought it was the right thing to do, that our mates wouldn't want to miss out on any of the special moments.

But then word had somehow gotten around—though really, was there any doubt about how everyone knew?—and Joy, Quill, and Tate, a polycule in our clan, had sat us down and assured us that no matter who our mates were, they would never be disappointed by the fact that we'd been there for each other when they couldn't be, or that we hadn't tried to 'bury our teenage horniness' for their sakes, as Quill had put it.

While I'd been embarrassed as all hell during that conversation, it had been immensely helpful. We'd realized that if our other two mates were together, we would want them to be happy without feeling guilty. After all, there had to be a reason Fate paired us up early, right?

"So, are we making out or flying home?" I asked when I pulled back so we could catch our breaths.

Cam got a thoughtful look on his face before he ducked down to press kisses down my throat. "Making out, then flying home."

Smiling, I tugged him up and claimed his lips again, turning us around so he was under me, his legs on either side of mine.

I hummed as our erections pressed together, rocking my hips a little to enjoy the sensation.

Cam pulled away from my lips to glare at me. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but no. We're not having sex right now. Because if we do, I'd want you to take your time with me, and then we'll be late."

I chuckled at his disgruntlement, though I was glad he was truly ready to head home. As much as I'd enjoyed seeing all these beautiful countries with Cam—Japan had been my favorite—I was ready to go back to Mistvale too. No matter how beautiful the places we visited were, they would never feel like home.

"Give me one more kiss and then we can pack our stuff," I offered, and he grinned.

"Deal," he said, before pulling me close once more.

Cam

Nothing was more freeing than flying through the clear skies with Micah. I could go anywhere, do anything, as long as I could fly and I had Micah with me.

But right then, I had a destination. A small, beautifully rainy town called Mistvale. Home.

It'd been a while since we'd been home, and I hated that. I'd let the search for our mates consume my mind so completely that I'd ignored everything, including the people I loved more than most things.

I still talked to most of them every day, but it just wasn't the same.

What are you thinking about? Micah's voice in my head brought a smile to my face, though I'd been told my dragon smile looked more like a grimace. A deadly grimace, which I didn't mind so much.

Over the years, Micah had honed his mind-reading skills so that now, along with reading someone's mind, he could also send thoughts and words into their mind. While he usually tried not to read my mind—despite my repeated assurance that I didn't care—we had what we called a link, a place in our minds where we could trade words without revealing all our thoughts. Micah had helped me create mine, and those few months had been the only time in my life I'd ever willingly meditated. Seriously, how did people stay still for that long when they weren't sleeping?

Uh, how boring meditation is? I answered his question, and his soft laugh floated through the evening air. Our call with our dads was scheduled for eight, so we had about three hours to get home. I was confident I could make it as long as there weren't any complications. Like rabid seagulls, or low-flying planes. The usual stuff.

Why am I not surprised? Anyway, do you remember whose house they're going to be at tonight? Micah asked, and I racked my brain for an answer. To make things easier for us, our dads usually got together at one of their places—along with my sister Amelia and Micah's brothers, Miles and Mateo—for these calls, but I had no clue where they were going to be tonight.

No idea. But you can easily find out where they are once we get there .

That's true. I'm really excited to see them, especially Mateo and Miles. They're so big now!

I smiled at Micah's enthusiasm and the way he talked about the twins like they were still kids and not twenty-three.

Micah was such a sweetheart, always had been. He was also the only one who could handle me. Sometimes, I worried our other mates wouldn't be able to handle the chaos that I created daily, that maybe the reason Micah and I met so young was so he could learn to deal with me, but I put my faith in Fate. She'd never led anyone in Mistvale wrong, and I was hoping the same would be true for Micah and me.

The rest of the flight passed by in a blur of conversations interspersed with comfortable silence, and soon enough, we'd crossed the border into Mistvale. I wondered if DD—my 'dragon dad,' as I fondly called him—could sense our arrival, and whether he would keep it a secret from the others. Maybe I should've texted him earlier to tell him not to tell Dad and the others. It would suck if he ruined our surprise.

Being as quiet as I could, I landed on the balcony of my dads' place. Neither of us had technically 'moved out' yet. All our things were still at our dads', but now that we'd decided to move back, we'd probably need to find a place.

Micah leaped off my back once I'd landed, then pulled off our bags and the harness so I could shift back.

"That," I declared as I stretched my arms above my head, "was a marvelous flight."

"We didn't get attacked or get lost, so I'm calling it a win," Micah agreed, and I grinned as I wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close.

Smacking a kiss on his cheek, I sighed. "So, are they here?" I asked, and Micah focused for a second before shaking his head.

"Looks like they're at my dads' place," he said, and I pulled back, sliding my hand into his.

"Let's drop our bags in my room for now, and then we'll go surprise them."

Micah nodded, and we each picked up one of the bags. After the long flight carrying them, I was supremely glad I'd let Micah convince me to pack light. Not that the weight was much for my dragon form. I could easily carry five times as much.

Since the majority of the residents of this house were dragons, the balcony door was rarely locked, and I grinned when it opened without trouble.

We made the way down the hall to my room—I'd moved into a bigger room on the second floor a few years ago so I could have my own, much smaller balcony—and ditched the bags just inside the door before heading downstairs.

The house felt eerie, all quiet, and our steps seemed to echo in the place. My stomach growled as we reached the landing, and Micah chuckled.

"Looks like the flight made you hungry. Want a snack before we head over?"

"Nah, I'm sure they have food there. I can wait for a few more minutes."

"As you wish." Micah shot me a smile, and we left the house to walk the few blocks to Micah's parents’ place, my excitement mounting with every step I took.

Who would I hug first? Probably Ames. Then Dad and DD, at the same time. Then Cass and Gus, my fathers-in-law. Fathers-in-matehood?

I couldn't wait to see the look on their faces! It was going to be epic.