Chapter 10

Vander’s dragon was in love with the feel of their mate riding them. His senses seemed to be heightened even more with Willow on their back. The minute she’d put her hand on him, their energy and power had merged.

The coordinates Vander had given him came into view.

“Where the hell are you, brother?” Vander’s voice appeared in his head.

“ Quit your bitching, I’m landing now, ” he replied.

His brother would be a little upset at his tardiness. Feno always rode him hard for being late, and now it was he who was late. His dragon made his descent to the ground. He made the landing as gentle as he could since he had the most precious cargo in his life on his back. He lowered his head so Willow could slide to the ground.

Once she had dismounted, he pulled back on his beast, demanding for the change. His bones rearranged themselves as his beast disappeared and the human form appeared.

“That was amazing,” Willow exclaimed and jumped in place.

He tried not to look at her bouncing. He waved his hand, using his magic to clothe his naked self.

“Wow,” she murmured and took in his new clothes. “That’s a handy trick you got there.”

“Clothes never make it through the change. Thankfully, the gods saw fit to give dragon shifters this ability.”

She smiled. He stalked to her and grabbed her hand. Putting her behind him, he peered around the area. He wasn’t too familiar with the place. He walked toward the base of the hill and found his brother making his way toward them.

“Finally.” Vander chuckled. “As much as you bust my balls for being late, you show up late for a favor that you asked of me.”

“Fuck off,” Feno growled, bringing Willow out from behind him.

He wanted her to meet his brother because family was important to him. As the elder Kelmyar, it was his job to rib his brother, and because of it, his brother was a better man, and dragon, for it. The banter between them was always of love. It was his job to ensure that his little brother, and their best friend, Jodos, be kept in line.

“Vander, I want to introduce you to Willow, my mate.”

A wide grin spread across Vander’s face. He came forward. “I finally get to meet the woman who will be strong enough to put my annoying big brother in his place,” he joked.

“Nice to meet you, too.” Willow laughed, offering her hand.

Vander drew her into a strong hug.

“No handshake. This moment calls for a hug!”

Feno growled at the sight of his brother hugging his mate. He didn’t have anything to worry about since Vander had mated with Faye. Vander was just a natural flirt. Before Faye, he could, and did, have as many women as he wanted. The minute he’d met his mate Faye in the hospital after an accident, all of that changed.

Feno came to the conclusion that he didn’t appreciate any man touching Willow. His dragon wanted to rip his brother’s arms out of their sockets, and that was a feeling he had never felt toward his brother.

“Get your hands off my mate,” he growled, taking Willow from Vander.

She laughed, and Vander winked at her.

“I can’t properly greet my future sister-in-law?” Vander smiled at Feno. His damn brother had the nerve to wink at him.

“She’s beautiful ,” Vander said through their mental link. “Congratulations, brother.”

“Thanks.” His voice even sounded gruff in his head.

“Ignore my brother’s growl. It’s worse than his bite.” Vander chuckled and glanced back at Willow.

“I don’t know. I actually like his bite.”

She grinned back at his brother who rolled his eyes but barked out a laugh at her response.

Feno shook his head at the two of them.

“I like her, Feno.”

Feno could see the sincerity in his eyes.

“And from the smell of you two, I know exactly why you’re late. Let me show you what I found.”

Feno’s eyes narrowed on his brother’s back. Vander turned and walked away to lead them up the hill. If looks could kill, his brother would be in the ground. His eyes flew to Willow, and he found her cheeks bright red from embarrassment.

“My brother’s an ass,” he muttered.

He grabbed her hand and trailed behind Vander. He could remember a day when his brother was late to a meeting with him and Jodos because he had been with Faye.

“I love you, too,” Vander shouted.

Willow chuckled.

He blew out an irritated breath. He couldn’t even argue. He was man enough to admit that he loved his younger brother, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t kill him.

* * *

Willow’s embarrassment faded the longer she was around Vander. The two brothers resembled each other, only the color of their eyes were different. Where Feno’s were hazel, Vander’s were blue.

She immediately liked Vander and his sense of humor. They walked through the woods that were on the side of a hill, and he spoke of his mate and their child who was due soon. She smiled at the excitement that lined his voice as he spoke of Faye. Willow couldn’t wait to meet her future sister-in-law. It would be good to finally have a sister.

“You and Faye would get along great,” Vander announced. He brought them to a halt.

She could feel the jealously rolling off her mate behind her, and she turned to find Feno scowling at his brother. She moved to Feno and rested her hand on his chest, gaining his attention.

“Why are you scowling at your brother like that?”

“He talks too much.” His eyes went to Vander before turning to her. “I don’t like that he makes you laugh. It should be me.”

She smiled at her jealous dragon. She could remember hearing that dragons could be very possessive of their mates.

“You do make me laugh,” she whispered, not wanting Vander to hear her. “You also have a wicked way of making me orgasm more than anyone else has.”

His chest rumbled in pleasure at her words.

“Are you happy with me? Pleased that it’s me as your mate?”

His eyes searched hers, and the smile disappeared from her lips.

“You could never know. I figured that if I ever met the other half of my soul, he would have to be powerful. My dream mate would never be able to live up to you.”

Her eyes rose to his, and pleasure flashed in his eyes. She rose to meet his lips to kiss him properly?—

“Come on, lovebirds. You haven’t had enough of each other yet?” Vander called out.

They paused.

“I’m going to kill him,” Feno muttered, his intense eyes locking on his brother over her shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve been saying that for centuries and you’ve yet to do it, old man.” Vander chuckled.

“It’s all right, big guy,” she murmured. “We have forever.”

He nodded and brushed past her to follow Vander. A smile lingered on her lips as she followed behind them.

It had to be the jealous dragon in him asking the questions. When she was younger, her grandmother would tell her tales of dragons, and she’d always thought that they were made up. Grandmother had explained how a dragon would love their mate for all eternity, be protective, cherish and spoil her.

She stumbled as she thought back. Was that her grandmother telling her then that her mate would be a powerful dragon shifter?

Willow closed her eyes. A gentle breeze blew past her.

Her grandmother was wiser than Willow ever knew. When she rescued her grandmother, she would hug the elder woman until she couldn’t squeeze any more.

They came upon a campsite that had been cold for days. Feno and Vander walked around it, trying to find clues. Willow looked up. The moon was out, even though they had at least another hour of sunlight.

“Wolf shifters have been here,” Feno growled, bending down to the ground. He trailed his fingers through the loose dirt and glanced around.

“Do you recognize any of the scents?” Vander asked.

“They’re faint. I’m having a hard time catching the smell. The wind is ruining what little scent is left.” Feno stood.

“I know a way to tell if my grandmother was here,” she announced. She stepped forward and knew that the spell she would have to use would work much easier with Feno present. Even Vander would be able to help her. With the help of two dragon shifters, she would be able to pull it off. She wouldn’t even need the moon’s power.

“How?” Feno turned to her.

She kicked off her sandals and walked around the dirt. Using her Earth magic, she would need to be one with the earth and not have any barriers between her and the ground. Her power trickled up her body, and she opened herself to the world around her.

“It’s a spell my grandmother taught me when I was younger. It was one I was to use if I was ever lost from her or my uncle. It was useful when we went out at night and the moon was at its highest.”

“What do you need?” he asked.

She moved toward him and smiled. “You by my side to act as my conductor.”

“I’ll always be by your side,” he vowed, his eyes searching hers.

She smiled. Vander rolled his eyes and chuckled. Feno shot him a glare, but his younger brother just ignored it. She turned around and reached into her satchel that lay against her hip and drew out a dagger.

“You and knives,” Feno muttered.

“I’m looking for someone who’s a blood relative to me, so I have to use a few drops. Don’t tell me you’re squeamish around blood?” she teased him with a wink.

“Of course not. I just don’t like the thought of you cutting yourself.”

She studied the campsite in front of her. The signs of a fire were at the middle of the area. Footprints marred the land before her.

She muttered in the ancient language of her people, calling on the elements to help her. Piercing the tip of her finger, she squeezed out two small drops, offering a bit of herself as payment.

Her skin tingled, and a rush of her power surged from the tips of her toes and coursed up through her body. The air around them became electric. Feno placed his hands on her, letting their energy mesh together. Pulling away from her mate, she closed her eyes and opened them again, and this time, the campsite was active with a bunch of rough-looking characters. A few were even in their shifted forms, walking around as wolves.

They were a rowdy bunch, but she didn’t have much time. The scene before her sped up, and like a beacon, a flash of light appeared. The earth was showing her the answer to her question. It used the offering of her blood to signal the traces of someone who shared blood with her had been there, had bled there.

Her grandmother had suffered an injury.

Anger grew in her chest at the thought of someone harming her grandmother, but then a calming came over her. The scene of the camp rushed past her, as if someone spun it around to allow her to see the other side.

Delia sat on the ground against a log, rope tied across her chest, keeping her hands to her sides. Willow watched her grandmother wiggle in place, and with no one seeing what she was doing, cut herself on a jagged rock in the ground, leaving a few drops of her blood.

Willow smiled. Her grandmother was a sharp woman and must have remembered the spell she had taught Willow.

The scene faded from her eyes, and she slumped against Feno’s hard chest, her breaths coming fast and hard.

“Are you okay?” Feno asked gently, turning her in his arms.

She nodded and stared over at an impressed Vander, who then eyed her with concern etched on his face.

“I’m good. She was here, and she did as I knew she would. She left her blood here for me to find her. We’re not that many days behind her.”

“You’re grandmother knew we’d be tracking her,” Feno murmured against the crown of her head. He pulled her to him. He wrapped her in his arms and squeezed tight.

“I saw one of the shifters,” she announced, easing back from him to gaze up into his eyes.

“Really?”

“Yes. One of them was the drunk you fought at the bar.”