2.

Cameron

W hy Lee had to tell her, I don’t know. We don’t need her to worry. Thanks to his big mouth, Peggy decides to come with us. I don’t blame her, but I don’t like it, either. The three of us head down the street of Fablestone. There are houses on either side of us, but I barely notice the dragon cubs playing in the yards as we scurry along. Lee is on a mission.

“Start talking,” I say once there are no more children in sight. I don’t need them to worry about the possibility of war coming to our world. Not again. Still, the sooner Lee gives us the information we need, the sooner we can solve this problem. I just want to get back to my regularly scheduled evening: dinner, drinks, and enjoying my wife. That’s it.

Saving the world from monsters isn’t exactly my idea of fun. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Thunderstorm safe, of course. They’d do the same for us. I just wish we lived in a world where we didn’t have to worry about our clan’s safety at every turn.

“Three dragons have disappeared from Clan Thunderstorm,” Lee says. “Ryker called me this morning. Yesterday, they just had suspicions. They thought this was going to be a low-key operation that we could take our time on, but then I got the call.”

“He called you?” We don’t have cell service in Fablestone. Getting calls basically never happens. There are rare exceptions, of course, but this usually includes someone climbing to the top of their roof and holding the phone high in the air. It’s all very dramatic.

“Yep,” Lee says. “Called me on the satellite phone. Then he sent me an email for good measure.” He shakes his head, and somehow, he starts walking even faster. Peggy is struggling to keep up. Hell, I’m a shifter like Lee, and I’m struggling.

“Slow down, brother.”

“There’s no time to slow down.”

We walk in silence, heading straight for Wilson’s office. Undoubtedly, we’ll meet there to plan our next move. Today was supposed to be simple, but this is anything but.

“Do they know who took the dragons?” Peggy asks. I can scent her fear. We all thought dealing with poachers was behind us. We thought that when we destroyed Lucky, we’d be able to move forward without ever worrying about poachers again.

“No,” Lee says. He doesn’t slow his pace. He’s wearing clothes, which means he walked to my house. He didn’t fly. He’s upset. As dragons, we can’t shapeshift when we’re scared. I don’t need to ask Lee if he’s scared. I can smell the fear wafting from his pores. Whatever Ryker had to say, it was bad.

“Have you already gotten the others?” I ask. We’re going to need backup. We’ll want Donald to care for the dragons who were taken. If they’re injured, they’re going to need his wisdom and care. Lawrence is essential, and so is Wilson, our clan leader.

“Wilson is waiting for us. He’s gathering the others.”

“Everyone’s coming into play, huh?” Peggy asks. She keeps up with us easily. We’ve been living together for a few years now, and even though she’s a human, she’s learned to adapt to life among the dragons. It hasn’t even seemed hard for her.

“Everyone,” Lee says. He keeps walking. He clenches his hands into fists. “Cameron, Peggy, I don’t know how deep this thing goes or how bad it really is. All I know is that we’re going to be in trouble if we don’t move fast.”

“Luckily, we’ll move fast,” Peggy says.

A few more minutes and we’re gathered in Wilson’s office. He’s there, along with Donald, and Lawrence. Peggy is the only mate with us, which surprises me, but she notices immediately.

“Where are the other mates? They’re going to want to go,” she says. This is one of the qualities I both love and hate about our mates. They’re determined. They’re brave. They’re also weaker than the dragon shifters. Luckily, Peggy starts rifling through a trunk at the side of the room. She’s searching for weapons to bring with her. If she’s going to come, she knows she needs to be armed.

“This mission doesn’t have a place for mates,” Wilson says. He looks to me, raising an eyebrow.

“She’s fine to come,” I say.

“Natalie is taking care of the babies,” Donald says, explaining where his own partner is. He recently had twins with his wife, and their new dragon shifter infants are keeping them busy.

“The babies are with my mom.” Natalie’s voice cuts into the conversation, and we turn to see her standing in a tight-fitting tank, along with a pair of jeans. She may have recently had babies, but she still dresses like her normal self. I love that. When Peggy and I have kids – and I hope it happens soon – we’re going to need to make sure we don’t lose ourselves in parenting.

“Good,” Donald says. He kisses her. “I want you here.”

“And I want to be here.”

“And I want to get started,” Lee snaps. Wilson rolls his eyes, but gestures for Lee to begin. Lee opens a laptop on Wilson’s desk and spins it round. “Here’s what we know.” There’s a map on the screen, along with a list of coordinates. “Here are the places where the dragons went missing.”

“They form a triangle,” I say, noticing the little pattern.

“Clan Thunderstorm lives in the center,” Lee says.

“Son of a bitch,” I mutter. It really does sound like Lucky is back, but how could they be? Their base, their buildings, and their leadership has been destroyed. Not only that, but they’ve been gone for years now. It’s been four years. None of us has had to worry about them for a very, very long time.

“It’s not lucky,” Peggy says. “It can’t be.”

“She’s right,” Lee says. He looks up at each of us in turn. “This is a new threat, but it’s no less terrible.”

“What are we going to do?” Nicole asks. She stands up a little straighter. She’s human, but she’s not going to back down from a fight. None of our mates will. They’re all completely dedicated to the clan. They know that they go where we go, and we go where they go.

“Whatever it takes,” Wilson says. “Let’s start with a visit to the clan.”

“You want us to visit Thunderstorm?” I ask. We never visit Clan Thunderstorm, and they never visit us. We’re all dragon shifters, sure, but we keep to ourselves, just as they do. Even after Lucky was destroyed, we mostly kept to our own devices. We like to stay in the quiet, in the solitude. We don’t like to bother anyone. Wilson nods.

“Good,” Lee says. Obviously, he agrees with Wilson’s decision. “They’re waiting for us. We leave at dawn.”

“Can I bring these?” Peggy holds up a couple of knives. Wilson sighs.

“Yes,” he says. Then he frowns. “I’d better bring some for Sabrina.” We all know that every one of us is going to have our mates with us – whether or not bringing them is a good idea.