Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

T hree or four days had passed since Alena had run into her mystery man. She had hoped her bear would have settled down by now, but if anything, she had gotten more restless with every passing day.

What is going on with me?

Today will be great! she told herself. She needed to just get out in nature. Yes, that would do the trick. And spending time with her niece at the same time? What could be better?

With excitement bubbling up inside her, she pulled up to Archer and Ruby's cozy cabin near the edge of town. She was babysitting Abi today, and the precocious seven-year-old had begged to go on a hike to Widow's Peak. Needless to say, Alena hadn't needed much convincing.

As soon as she knocked on the door, it swung open to reveal Abi grinning from ear to ear. "Auntie Lena! You're here!"

Alena scooped her niece up in a big hug, her cheery presence instantly brightening her mood. "Of course I'm here, silly bear! We've got a big hiking adventure planned, don't we?"

"The biggest!" Abi squealed. She wiggled free and dashed back inside. "I'm all ready, let me just get Rainbow and my backpack!"

Ruby appeared with a warm smile. "Thanks again for taking her out today, Lena. You know we can hardly keep her out of the forest, and I know she's been dying to explore Widow's Peak."

"My pleasure," Alena said as Abi bounded back over, her stuffed unicorn under her arm and a tiny purple backpack bouncing on her shoulders. "Someone's gotta keep this little wild child entertained. And honestly, I am probably looking forward to it even more than she is! You know I'll take any excuse to get out on the trails. And I have been meaning to head up there specifically, so it all works out!"

"I'm not that wild," Abi protested with a pout. Alena just grinned and ruffled her golden locks.

"Are you still working on mapping out all the trails around Misty Vale? How is that going?"

"Of course I am. Duh! And I want to work on Widow's Peak next! Someday, we will have maps up all over town, with trailheads all around so no matter where you are, you won't be too far from nature's majesty," Alena said grandiosely and with a flourish of her hands. "It amazes me that so many tourists come here and don't even get out into the mountains."

Archer came up behind them, slipping an arm around Ruby's waist. "Are you going on about ‘the healing power of nature' again, sis?"

"I was just getting there," Alena confirmed, smiling gamely.

"Maybe someday, this nature center you are always talking about will actually happen."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she retorted, feeling a mild heat come over her face.

"I'm kidding, of course it will. I know it's your dream." Archer paused for a moment, his eyes softening. "You know Mom and Dad would be proud of you."

The unexpected reference somehow caught her off guard, and she began to well up a little. "Is it me, or is it awfully dusty in here?" she quipped, trying to make light of the feelings that still surfaced in her from time to time when she least suspected it.

"Oh, sorry, sis. But I mean it, they loved this town and these mountains."

"Well, yeah, where do you think I got it from? Dad used to take me on those long walks all through this region."

"Yeah, they loved Misty Vale," Archer said.

"Sometimes I really miss ‘em, Arch. I can't believe it's going on, what, fifteen years since the accident?"

"Almost, yeah," he said. "Anyway, they would be proud."

"I am sure they are," Ruby added with a kind smile.

"Thanks, Ruby. Anyway, I will make it happen. Things take time. And remember, it's not like I am working on this full-time. I still have to pay my rent!"

"I told you, you could be making three times what you make at the diner if you came and worked at the bar on the weekends."

"Archer, I love you, but you know that's not my scene."

Archer put his arms up in surrender. "Hey, just trying to help." Turning to his daughter again, he mussed her hair. "You behave for your aunt, munchkin. And be careful up there, you hear? That trail can get tricky."

"I will, Daddy. We'll be super careful, I promise! And Auntie Alena knows the trails really good. She's an expert." Abi linked her hand through Alena's. "C'mon, Auntie, let's go!" She was practically vibrating with anticipation.

"‘Well,' she knows the trails ‘well,' kiddo," Ruby corrected the girl's grammar with a smile. "Okay, we'll see you ladies later," she called with a little wave. "Have fun!"

As Alena and Abi drove through the heart of Misty Vale on their way to the trailhead, Abi sang to herself happily, holding Rainbow up as if she were flying. Finding a good spot for the car, Alena parked for the relatively short walk to the trailhead that led up the mountain.

They began walking through the downtown area towards the trail. Suddenly, they heard raised voices coming from a nearby construction site. Alena paused, her bear senses on high alert. Two men, one tall and broad-shouldered, the other lean and wiry, were engaged in a heated argument. As they drew closer, Alena realized with a start that they were a bear and a dragon.

"Look, I'm telling you, if we don't reinforce this foundation properly, the whole structure could be compromised," the barrel-chested bear said, his voice tight with frustration.

The dragon scoffed, his eyes narrowing. "And I'm telling you, the plans are totally up to code. You think we just throw up a building like this without any planning? I think I know what I'm doing."

"I'm not saying you don't, but if you guys got up from behind your desks other than to come down here once a month, you might have noticed the soil changes across the property! The plans need to be revised!"

"So what, you're calling me lazy and stupid? Is that it?" the Dragon hissed.

"More like you're just an asshole, actually!" the bear growled, his fists clenching at his sides. "Think you're so much better than the rest of us, don't you?"

"Oh, jeez, here we go. You fuckin' bears, always complaining! You are so ungrateful. Do you know how much money I have on the line? Money that I would hope you are glad I am paying you, too, I might add! Your type are so ungrateful!"

"My type? What the hell is that supposed to mean? I have had it with you fucking elitist prick dragons!" Now the bear was really getting amped up, and a few others had come up behind him to back him up.

"You bears are all the same—all brawn and no brains."

With a roar of fury, the bear lunged at the dragon, his fists flying.

Before engaging him, the dragon hissed to the others, "I dare you to join in. I will incinerate the lot of you. I don't care who sees."

With that, the dragon retaliated, and soon, the two were engaged in a vicious brawl, shouting obscenities as they traded blows. To Alena's horror, other dragons who had been passing by squared off against the bears as well.

"Filthy dragons!" came a scream from somewhere in the growing crowd as a handful of others joined the growing melee.

Alena's eyes widened in shock as she saw fur and scales rippling beneath their skin, a few of the bears and dragons both dangerously close to shifting in broad daylight. It would only take one shifter losing control for all hell to break loose.

God, it can't come to that. Can it?

But she wasn't about to stick around to find out.

She quickly scooped up Abi and hurried away from the scene, before it became dangerous. And of course, she didn't want to the little girl to witness anything that could upset her.

"Auntie Lena, that was a bear and dragon thing, wasn't it?" Abi asked, her voice small, but matter-of-fact. Alena hugged her close, her heart aching from the child's innocence.

"It sure was, kiddo."

"Well, I find it boring," the little girl professed. "Boooooring!" She resumed flying Rainbow around.

Aleana wasn't sure if this was a cover or if Abi really had been unaffected. She smiled back at the kid as they finally reached the trailhead.

"You're right. Super boring!" she replied. But Alena's mind raced with the implications of what they'd just seen. Things were hardly cooling down. Quite the opposite, it seemed.

But as always, she did her best to just breathe in the pine-scented air and focus on the beauty around her. Despite what they had witnessed, Abi was soon skipping alongside Alena as they made their way up the winding path into the forest. The little girl chattered a mile a minute about all the usual things that filled little girls' heads.

Alena's focus on the moment didn't last long, though. Even though Abi's boundless energy and wonder were infectious, Alena was still finding her mind wandering back, not to the altercation they had witnessed, but to the charismatic stranger from a few days before.

Charismatic? He didn't even speak. What are you even saying?

Whatever the word was, he'd had an effect on her. That was all she knew. She did her best to refocus on the here and now again, and that meant the path in front of them.

They trekked deeper into the lush pines, the path eventually growing steeper and more rugged.

Ugh.

Alena was a little annoyed to see an errant plastic bag caught up in the branches of a tree as she passed by. It looked to be rather ‘fresh,' if you could call trash so, and she absently grabbed it and stuffed it in another bag she had in her little pack just for that purpose. It was something she and her dad used to do on hikes. Strangely, it always made her feel closer to him.

Abi was darting ahead and returning, exploring the forest. As usual, Alena's bear instincts kicked in, hyperaware of their surroundings as they ascended along what was a rather precarious cliffside trail. A few times, she had to steady Abi or reach out a hand to help her niece over a rocky outcropping.

Finally, they crested the peak, and Abi let out a delighted gasp at the sweeping vista of Misty Vale spread out below them. Even Alena had to catch her breath at the majestic view—from up here, the colorful rooftops of the downtown seemed to speckle the lush valley floor like wildflowers. All around them, snow-capped mountain peaks soared in the morning sunlight.

"Wow," Abi breathed, her blue eyes wide with wonder. "Isn't it pretty, Rainbow?" She hugged her stuffed unicorn close.

"‘Wow' is right!" Alena echoed. It was easy to forget just how awe-inspiring the views up here could be. Alena wrapped an arm around Abi, drinking in the peaceful tranquility of the vantage point. While the pull of the mystery man still gnawed at her, all the tensions back in town were all but forgotten, at least for the moment. A light breeze ruffled Alena's hair, stirring the soft scent of pine and earth.

As if reading her thoughts, Abi gazed up at her with those big, soulful eyes. "Do you like it up here, Auntie Lena? You're bluer."

"Bluer?" Alena replied, taken aback by the strange comment.

"You know, your light. Aura, I think you call it. It's calmer," Abi said matter-of-factly.

Alena chuckled, squeezing her niece's tiny shoulder. She might be seven, but she still had that crazy preternatural intuition, a gift from her fae side that Alena didn't fully understand. None of them really did. And with her mother having died in that car accident, there really was no one to ask.

"You know me too well, munchkin. It's just… nice to get away from everything for a little bit. All the usual town drama, you know. Up here, it's just… peaceful."

"Hey, look!" Abi cried excitedly.

"What is it?"

"The Dueling Stones!" she said enthusiastically.

"Dueling Stones?"

"Yeah… it must have been right here that Henry and Reggie fought over Kiki! Before Henry fell off the cliff and died, of course," she added, pointing at a small half-overgrown clearing that opened up just off the trail and bordered right along the cliff face. Two large granite slabs were set on end at what Alena figured was about one hundred feet or so.

"That's kind of dark, don't you think, Abi?"

"It was a long time ago," she said nonchalantly. "Kiki really liked them both."

"Apparently, she did. I just hope when she comes clean about it, it will help simmer things down. Maybe it will even put an end to this ‘boring' feud for good," Alena said hopefully.

"Maybe," Abi agreed lightly as she ran along the field, holding Rainbow out as if she were flying.

Or is Rainbow a he?

"Do you really think Kiki will come forward and tell them how she kinda started it?" Alena wondered, unsure as always about asking such a question to such a little girl. It was hard to really know just how much Abi even understood some of the things she seemed to just know. And sometimes, Alena didn't really want to find out.

"When she's ready, she'll tell them," Abi said happily as she continued flying Rainbow. "Don't worry, Auntie, or your aura will go all green and red again. Everything works out! Don't you see? Always and all the time, even if you don't see it!"

Alena smiled, maybe not completely convinced. "I'll just have to take your word for it, I guess, honey…"

The two continued along the ridgeline around the peak, Abi constantly skipping ahead to point out interesting rocks or wildflowers, or to ask her to hold Rainbow from time to time. Once, she found a perfect vantage point overlooking the ruins of some outbuilding around the old Grand Lodge that had not been rebuilt. And of course, there was the Grand Lodge as well, in all its glory. It lay far below, nestled amongst the trees on a lower peak but still above the town.

As Abi ran on with Rainbow, Alena was just about to yell for her to back away from the slope, when she felt a sudden knowingness. Or was it a heat? A light. It was all of that all at once. She whipped around and looked up in the sky, but there was nothing there. Suddenly, her mind was back on the mysterious stranger.

God, why now?

She had no idea. It's wasn't that it was necessarily unpleasant to think of him. It was actually quite pleasurable… but it was like a maddening itch she couldn't scratch at the same time…

She had been vaguely keeping an eye on Abi when the little girl's high-pitched shriek pulled her completely out of her reverie. As she whipped her head up in the direction of the scream, she caught sight of Abi just as she disappeared from view, toppling off the edge of the cliff face.

Oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my god!

"Abi!"

One minute, Abi had been scampering ahead of Alena, seemingly on steady ground. The next, she had gone over the edge. Alena ran closer, and she saw that the earth seemed to have given way beneath the little girl's feet. Abi hadn't even been that close to the edge. A huge section of ground had just given way.

In a blind panic, Alena threw herself onto her belly on what was now the fast-crumbling edge of a sheer cliff face. Facing her own fears, she peered over the edge and was rewarded to see that while in a dire situation, Abi was within sight and very much still alive, now clinging to a small outcropping some fifteen feet below. Beyond that lay a rocky ravine far, far below.

"Aunt Alena! Help me!" Abi's tearful wails pierced Alena's heart like a blade even as her chest constricted with panic. Her wise little niece was suddenly just a scared little girl. Alena's inner bear roared with a surge of protective rage, demanding she get to the little one now .

Knowing she definitely could do nothing to save Abi in her current human form, and driven by pure instinct, Alena ripped off her top and pants and shifted into her full grizzly form faster than she ever had before, not even bothering to remove her panties and bra. The sound of ripping fabric was easily drowned out by the thunderous surge of adrenaline and single-minded focus that flooded her senses as the change overtook her. A roar built in her chest as her body contorted, bones realigning and reforming as sleek muscles knitted over a powerful new frame. Coarse fur burst from her skin, and her face elongated into a thick snout filled with razor fangs.

When she opened her eyes again, they were those of her bear—golden and feral. With a mighty shake, she flexed her ursine form, feeling the raw power thrumming through her. A series of grunts and snorts escaped her, the sound of her human thoughts struggling against the bear's instinctual drives.

Abi. Protect. Save.

The single thought blazed through her mind as she turned back toward the precipice. Tensing her haunches, she tested the ground. But the edges crumbled even worse than before beneath her immense weight, rocks and dirt spilling away in a terrifying avalanche.

Abi's piercing shriek only intensified. Alena's bear howled as she realized every step she attempted was sending rocks crashing down toward her niece. Acting on pure desperation and animalistic ferocity, Alena ran along the edge of the cliff in search of some means to reach Abi, but she knew it was in vain. Despite the immense strength of her bear, she was powerless now. She had failed to keep her safe.

Just then, a massive shadow erupted over the ridge, blotting out the sun in a rush of wind and power. A deafening roar shook the very air itself as an immense dragon materialized from the sky.

And the feeling that had overcome Alena a few minutes ago returned, but even more forcefully.

The beast hung in the sky for a moment, its back against the sun, so all she saw was a silhouette. But before she could even comprehend what was happening, it was in a dive. It swooped and spun and then dove until it pulled up just above Abi, where, with a delicate touch that seemed in contrast to its brute strength, the magnificent beast carefully plucked Abi's tiny form from the rocky ledge. Clutching her protectively against its chest, the dragon beat its wings powerfully to gain altitude as it rose back up over the crest of the cliff's edge.

As Alena watched in stunned disbelief and perhaps a little awe, the mighty beast began to fly over her head. It seemed as if it were about to set the girl down when Alena locked eyes with it. With him .

It was the man. She felt it in every cell of her body as a surge of electric heat suddenly pulsed through her. It was like she was suddenly awake for the first time in her life. Looking into the beast's eyes, she knew he felt it, too. Her mysterious stranger was behind those eyes.

Perhaps he also knew it. Rather than set the child down immediately, he flew just over a stand of trees instead. Though Abi was now out of sight, with her keen bear senses, Alena could hear that the dragon had set her down. She heard Abi's voice as she spoke to him. Did she sound cheerful?

"Thank you very much, Mr. Dragon!" There was a brief pause before she continued. "Of course I'll be fine. I understand. Oh, well, then you should go say ‘hi'!"

What in the…

Before she could complete her thought, Alena looked up to see the red and gold beast flying back toward her from over the trees.

In an instant, he was landing right in front of her. She felt the wind from every beat of his wings blow against her face. The dragon landed with a tremendous thud, his powerful wings kicking up a swirl of dirt and debris. Alena's bear roared in response, fur standing on end as the massive beast towered before her. He was so powerful, part of her wanted to flee, but a deeper, more primal side was rooted to the spot, drawn to him like to nothing and no one before.

Their gazes locked, and it was as if the world froze for a suspended moment. Alena felt an electric spark arc between them, scorching through her veins with the same jolting intensity as their initial encounter on the street. The shock almost forced her to shift, but she held out in bear form. She knew without a doubt that this was the man—the virile, captivating stranger whose existence had been occupying her thoughts in a maddening loop, but part of her was still afraid. He could destroy her in an instant.

My charismatic stranger is a dragon.

Her bear rumbled with disbelief but also with an undercurrent of excitement and longing that she couldn't fully process. In that instant, the dragon began to shift, scales melting away to reveal sinewy muscle and tanned skin.

Oh, god.

In a blink, Alena followed suit, shifting back to her human form in a crackle of energy. Tufts of fur receded, bones compressed and reshaped to curves and soft skin as she let out a harsh exhale. She blushed furiously, knowing that she now stood as naked as him, completely exposed to his gaze. But she wanted to be.

Her breath caught in her throat as she shamelessly drank in every detail. His tousled dark hair, those enthralling azure eyes, the chiseled contours of his face and body. This was her stranger in all his naked glory. She couldn't help but let her eyes sink below his waist, and she drew a breath at the sight of his impressive manhood. A pulse of pleasure erupted in her core. She drank in every detail until their gazes met again.

He's a dragon!

The thought repeated in her mind.

How is this even happening?

For a long moment, they simply stared at each other, twin expressions of amazement and uncertainty writ across their features.

Alena felt her own heat rise again as he looked down, first at her bared breasts, and then even lower, to the patch between her legs.

Thank god he had set Abi down so far away. And no wonder.

Still, Alena made a move to grab her clothing, but for the moment, she just held it up to cover herself. He seemed to have no such fear. But she knew he would shift back in any moment and be gone.

The air itself seemed charged, electric, somehow amplifying the roar of Alena's pulse in her ears.

It was the stranger—the dragon—who finally found his voice.

"It's you…" he rasped, his eyes roving over her again appreciatively. "But how? Why?" He shook his head, his own feelings apparently mirroring her own. He finally let out a breathless laugh, and he looked in the direction of the copse of trees over which he had set Abi no more than a minute ago.

Alena swallowed hard, fighting to keep her composure under the weight of his molten stare. "And you're… a dragon." The words felt absurd leaving her lips.

He inclined his head slightly. "Guilty, I'm afraid. And you, a bear." His lip quirked in a roguish smile. "A rather lovely bear, I might add. But still a bear."

Heat blazed across Alena's cheeks, a strange fluttering blossoming in her belly. "I could say the same about you. A dragon who—"

"Saved your young one?" he supplied with a wink. "A youngling is still a youngling, be they bear or dragon."

"She's not my—" Alena began.

"Auntie Lena! Wasn't that cool!" Abi's voice cut through their charged interaction like a bucket of ice water on a fire. Alena could hear her coming through the trees just over a rise.

Both Alena and the dragon started, eyes going wide as they seemed to come fully back to the reality of the situation.

She quickly put her legs into her pants as she frantically began to dress. "I'll be right there, honey!" she called to the little girl who was still out of sight.

"Look," the dragon murmured urgently, his previous bravado seeming to slip ever so slightly. "My kind and yours… we're not exactly friends…"

"I know," Alena breathed, heart sinking as she took in his meaning. Dragons and bears, lifelong sworn enemies.

"This cannot be," he said, stating what she also knew to be true. But despite his words, she could see pain etched upon his face at having to speak them.

"Can I at least know your name?" she asked, even as she could tell he was about to shift.

"Is he still here?" came Abi's voice, even closer now.

"I think you know my name. My family's name, at least. To tell you more would just torture us both."

"Livingstone," Alena exhaled flatly.

"Yes. I must go… It's better this way." He glanced in the direction from which the little girl's voice had come.

"Yes, you're right," Alena managed to say, even as her bear raged within her.

"Yes. It's better if we just… forget we ever met."

With a final smoldering look, his body began to shift back into his dragon form. Scales erupted from his flesh even as bones cracked, and his body transformed once more into the awesome beast that had saved Abi. He beat his great wings and began to rise.

Just then, Abi came through the scrub.

"Bye, mister dragon!" She waved. "Bye!"

Alena just stood slacked jaw, as equally floored by Abi's apparent resilience or nonchalance as by the weight of all that had just been revealed to her.

"Did you see how the dragon saved me? Wasn't that amazing!"

"Oh, I saw him, all right. And he is amazing," Alena admitted, feeling her senses alight once again. She managed to muster a tremulous smile as she pulled her niece in for a fierce hug. "Are you okay, munchkin? God, that scared me half to death. I'm sorry. I don't think I could have ever forgiven myself if something had happened to you."

"I'm okay, I'm okay, Auntie. Don't worry!" Abi assured her breezily. She patted Alena's arm comfortingly."

"Hey, what about Rainbow? Did you drop her?"

"It's okay, Rainbow will be all right. Unicorns are magical, you know. She'll find a way to get home. Don't you worry," Abi added.

This kid…

"If you say so. But if you want, we can get you a new one on the way home."

"Nope. There's only one Rainbow, and she'll come back."

"Okay." Alena wasn't about to argue if Abi was all right with it.

Blinking back sudden tears, Alena buried her face in Abi's blonde hair. She felt her bear whimper plaintively within her, frustrated and mourning the loss of the tantalizing connection with her dragon.

My dragon? And what connection? You don't even know him. You haven't lost a thing.

But deep inside, not even that deep, she knew that wasn't exactly true. Her bear certainly knew it.

Still, Abi was alive and unharmed. That was all that mattered. Alena had to be grateful for that.

As they prepared to head back down the mountain, she turned to Abi.

"Hey, um… I don't want to tell you what to say or anything, but maybe it's best if we keep this between us. Especially the part about the dragon."

"I may be seven, but I'm not stupid, Auntie. My dad hates dragons."

Don't I know it.

"But I sure think that dragon likes you."

Great.