Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Nathan

The flight was uneventful, which should have been a good thing. But I felt on edge the entire time. I didn’t like the lack of information. Runa said she’d give me a few days, and then suddenly she was demanding we leave and everyone went along with it. There had to be a reason.

She fell asleep around halfway through the flight, so I couldn’t ask her. And my dad was out of it as well, enjoying his high and snoring. Aiden and Andrew sat apart from the rest of us, which only made me more suspicious after the last conversation I overheard them having. I wanted to move closer to listen in on their discussion, but I couldn’t move with Runa’s head pillowed in my lap.

Laurie noticed and tipped her head like she was listening before shaking it. “Nothing bad,” she murmured as she kneeled beside Runa to check on her. “Their assistant’s birthday is coming up and they’re discussing how to celebrate.”

My brows drew together tightly. “You can hear them?” Even with shifter hearing, I couldn’t hear them over the rumble of the engine.

“I can,” she said brightly. “I’m not a healer by birth. My family line had strong connections with the air spirits. Like Runa, I can hear them speaking to me. I can also hear farther away because of it. You’re safe, Nathan. You and Runa both. We wouldn’t allow her to go back to those mountains if she wasn’t. Our mission, given to us by the spirits, was to keep the last remaining member of the Sampson coven alive.”

Which put them firmly on my side, because that was my goal as well. I didn’t realize how badly I needed people on my side until she said it. I had my trepidations, that would probably always be true, but they’d done nothing but help Runa since the moment they showed up. They kept her alive. I could probably trust them to keep doing that from here on out.

“Do you trust him?” I asked, shooting a scowl towards the dragon and his mate.

Laurie lifted her shoulders, pursing her lips. “The spirits haven’t warned me away.”

I bit back the urge to make a face. I still felt like the spirit thing was weird. Not that I’d say that out loud. I didn’t want to end up tossed by a rogue gust of wind again. Especially while we were on a plane.

Aiden stood at one point, heading for the cockpit. He wasn’t in there long, but I was suspicious the entire time, and I glared at the dragon’s back until he returned to his mate. He leaned, whispering something to the man, before making his way down the aisle to where the rest of us were seated. My hand twitched on Runa’s shoulder, fighting the urge to pull her closer.

“We’ll be landing soon. Twenty minutes or so. Once there, a few cars will be waiting for us, driven by my assistant and his mate. It is a two-hour journey from the air strip to home. Will she be able to handle the journey, or would a hotel be better for the night?”

Laurie looked to Martha, both having a silent conversation on what they believed was best. Part of me wanted to head straight to the mountains, where Runa would be out of sight and away from people. But I didn’t want to push her too hard, either.

“Perhaps a hotel would be better,” Martha suggested. “She’s dealt with a lot today, and two hours in a car will be difficult for her. Is there a hotel closer?”

He dipped his chin once. “Two, in fact. The closest one is near the airport, but the city is bigger and more crowded.”

My shoulders went up immediately. No part of me wanted to be in a city.

“What’s the other option?” Laurie asked.

“Our luxury B&B in Ridgeview. The construction is near completion and a few rooms are ready for use. We haven’t had the grand opening yet, so there will be no others besides ourselves in the building, but it is an hour from the airport.”

My hand twitched again. I wanted to demand the second option if we couldn’t make it to the mountains, but I wasn’t the authority here. The witches were. They knew better than I did what Runa could handle.

“I can handle an hour,” Runa said sourly, pushing herself upright. “I’ll get no rest in the city proper.”

Relief flooded me, and I couldn’t help letting out a slow breath. Runa shot me a knowing look, but didn’t mention my reaction. She glared up at Aiden instead, daring him to fight her on her decision. He didn't. He just nodded.

“Alright. I’ll let Christian know. I’m assuming you want him as your driver?”

A dark look took over Runa’s face, and her scowl deepened. “No. He can be spared from coming near me again. As can his mate. We’ll drive separately.”

Martha frowned at Runa but didn’t ask. Instead, she turned to Aiden. “That might be for the best. The car will be big enough to fit five of us, right?”

A muscle in Aiden’s jaw ticked like he was annoyed, but he kept his opinions to himself. “Yes. That will be fine. I’ll let them know.”

He stalked off without a backward glance, the air vibrating a little with his irritation. He only settled when he was seated beside his mate again. I tracked them, wishing I could hear them like Laurie could, but it became clear they weren’t being malicious when they cuddled each other. Aiden buried his face against Andrew’s neck and Andrew laughed at the affection, twisting to avoid it and resting their foreheads together instead. Ticklish, maybe?

“It’s hard to hate them when you see them like that,” Runa murmured beside him. She, too, was watching the couple, though her expression was less suspicious than I felt. More guarded, maybe.

“Hate is toxic,” Martha scolded. “You should know better than that. You need to let whatever is between you go. You’re family now.”

Runa’s expression morphed into a deadpan expression. “I’ll get right on that.”

Laurie snickered, covering her mouth with her hand when Martha glared at her. The conversation shifted to easier topics, about the mountains where Runa lived and the shifters who resided there. I hadn’t met many of them. I hovered around my dad and spent a lot of time shifted and checking the area the last time I was there. I wasn’t exactly excited to meet them. But if it was where Runa chose to live, I’d have to eventually. Despite my tiger’s protests.

Thanks to the time difference, it wasn’t yet dark when we got to the hotel. I felt better being able to see and check out my surroundings. I brought Runa inside first, getting her comfortable before leaving her in the care of the witches while I headed outside. I needed to check the area, and make sure there were no signs of shifters who didn’t belong there. I only made it as far as the lobby before Aiden joined me.

“What do you want?” I demanded when he approached.

“I assumed you’d want to check the territory. I can tell you which scents belong to the shifters who live and work in this town. I like to check the territory as well, after the last attack on my compound.”

My spine stiffened, and I stared at him incredulously. “Last attack? What the hell are you talking about?”

He gestured to the door. “I’ll discuss it with you outside. There are not many staff yet, but I don’t want to be overheard.”

I followed him outside, glancing around suspiciously. If the compound was attacked, then Runa wasn’t safe there. Why the hell would she ask to go back? Unless she didn’t know?

“Andrew says I’m being unfair to you. Leaving you in the dark,” Aiden said as they stepped into the treeline on the east side of the building. The back was against the lake, with trees on either side, and the front was a long, winding driveway with no places to hide. The treeline was where he wanted to go first, too.

“It seems like a common theme,” I growled in response. No one liked to tell me things anymore. They didn’t want to set me off. Runa was only giving me half truths. She still didn't explain why she was so insistent that I got her pregnant on purpose. Or why we had to return so quickly, despite how angry she’d been the day before. Even my dad kept things from me now.

Aiden hummed in acknowledgment. His eyes scanned the forest, narrowed and suspicious. Like I was. Maybe we actually had something in common after all.

“So, tell me, then. About the attack.”

Fury flickered over the dragon’s face for a moment. My hackles went up, but the response wasn’t directed at me. Aiden glared at the forest, his hands clenched at his sides as he took a moment to breathe.

“Have you heard of the Dragon Council?” he finally asked, his voice tight with anger.

“Yes.” They were the law for dragons. They made the decisions on how dragons should live to best keep their secrets and what behaviors were acceptable. They requested military intervention if they felt a dragon was too far gone to move to a facility and a threat to the secret that kept us all safe. My team was called when they reached that point. When they could no longer be saved and there wasn’t a crew strong enough to handle the problem themselves.

Aiden raised an eyebrow at me, but I wasn’t willing to explain why I knew. He didn’t need to know. I wouldn’t be able to protect Runa if he took issue with it and sent me away.

He seemed to accept my silence and moved on, staring out into the forest again. “One of the council members, Jasper, had always been a radical. He believed he could cure our declining numbers. First, with surrogates. When that didn’t help, he started a campaign to have dragons find females to mate with. He thought that connection would encourage more dragon babies. And he took issue with those of us who didn’t take to females like he did.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he meant. Apparently, there was homophobia in dragon culture, like there was everywhere else.

“I wasn’t the only one,” Aiden continued. “There weren’t many, maybe a dozen at most, but Jasper took issue with it. He started shunning those who didn’t agree with his views, banning them from interacting with other dragons. I was the first he did this with, but certainly not the last. Because I was older and the most well-off, it didn’t affect me. I couldn’t say if that was true for each of our kind. But we made it work. I lived alone for years, keeping the children I made through surrogacy at a distance because my lifespan meant I’d outlive them and it hurt too much to watch them die. That is until I met Andrew.”

His tone, which had been tight with anger, softened when he spoke of his mate. “He changed my views. Even after my own son attacked him in hopes of forcing my hand to give him the company, he encouraged me to reconnect with my family. He made me want to be better.”

He paused, and I felt the air rattle with his growing anger as memories overtook him.

“Jasper didn’t realize his campaign was actually setting him up for failure. When dragons find their mates, their lifespans shrink to match the other half of their hearts. I will not live thousands of years anymore. I will age and die with my mate. As will all dragons who mated. Most of us are okay with that. I’d rather live one short life with Andrew than forever pumping out dragon babies for the council. But Jasper realized those who were mated were limited on time to create more babies and he grew angry. Resentful that his idea backfired and actually pushed forward the timeline of our extinction. In a desperate bid to fix his mistake, he went after dragons like me, in same-sex relationships. He thought if he murdered our mates, he could force those dragons into opposite-sex pairings to create more dragon babies. He wanted his campaign to save our kind. To make himself a hero. And he was willing to murder innocents to get there.

“I don’t know how he found me. My mountains were bought under a corporation to keep our identities hidden. But it doesn’t really matter. Jasper came for Andrew, attacked my compound, and very nearly succeeded in taking my mate from me.”

The air went hot in a flash as pain and heartache swept through Aiden. I took a wary step back, but he didn’t shift. He seemed lost in the memory now, and his voice cracked when he spoke again.

“I never… I thought I was keeping him safe by leaving him behind. My mountains were a safe place. Seeing him broken and lifeless in front of me very nearly broke me. Had Runa not stepped in to save him, I do not believe I would have lived through the heartache of his loss.”

He turned around to face me, and I could see the honesty in his face when he said, “I owe that woman everything. She saved my mate. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to repay her for that debt. I know you don’t trust me. I have trust issues myself after the attack. But I need you to hear me when I say I will never purposely put her in danger or cause her harm. Not after what she did for me.”