Chapter 14

Aldryn

The drive was getting tiresome, and I could tell that my mate—I thought of him as such now—was growing weary. He had been on his phone a lot, making calls and doing as much research as he could without setting off too many alarms by asking about dragons. He had spoken with his friend Leonard more than once, and the two had been exchanging emails as well. I couldn't keep up with all the information he had found.

When we came into a small town with barely even a stoplight at the center of it, I knew it was time to stop for the night.

I sat at the stop sign a little too long, taking in all that surrounded us.

"Everything all right?" Eli asked.

"Yeah. There's just something about this place," I replied. "Do you want to stop for the night?"

"We can do that," he said.

I found the local motel, a small place with just a couple of rooms and not even any digital signage. There was simply a sign that said "vacancy" with a flipper to indicate whether there was any or not. When I stepped inside the office, a man was at the front desk. He smelled of wolf and smiled when he saw us.

"Shifters," he said. "We don't get that many newcomers around here. Welcome!"

I grinned. "We're visiting. My mate and I are on a road trip."

"Need a place to stay? Silly question, right? Of course you need a place to stay, you walked into a motel office." He laughed at his own joke.

"Yeah. Do you have anything that we could rent out for a while? A week, maybe two. I don't know how long we'll be here."

He took in the look of Eli at my side. "Actually, if you want something a little more long-term than just a motel room with barely any amenities, I have a house that's for lease. It's furnished. You would at least have a kitchen and stuff." He handed over his card. "I have references if you need them. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I just emptied out my last renter, and I hate to see the house sit empty."

He named a price that we would be crazy to pass up. Something about the situation just felt right. I trusted my gut.

"We'll take it," I said.

Eli raised a brow and looked at me.

"Is this okay with you?" I asked quietly, though the other wolf could probably hear me.

Eli nodded. "Yeah, I trust you."

"Great. The house has a big main bedroom, a spare bedroom, and open-concept kitchen/dining area."

"That's awesome. Where can we get groceries or other things we may need?"

"Anything you need will be available at the local store. It's just past the stoplight going west. Twenty miles down the main road is one of those big box stores."

"Perfect."

I wasn't sure why I was content to stay here, but it felt right, and I was running with it.

He handed us the keys and directions to the house. When we got back into the car, Eli looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I think so. Don't you?"

He nodded. "I trust him. He seems nice."

"I didn't sense any ill will, either."

I laced my fingers into his and made the quick drive to the rental house. It was a cute little place with a small front porch. Inside, it was clean, homey, and just a little empty.

"This feels a little crazy," Eli said.

"It does, but I'll be more comfortable here, in a house, than in a motel room."

"Same," Eli said. "You sure you want to stay here and not keep traveling?"

"Yeah. I think… I think we're close. It's hard to describe." I pulled him into my arms. "Thank you for coming on this journey with me."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. It's been fun, although I'm exhausted."

Immediately, my dragon roared to the surface. My mate needed to be cared for. Now was our chance to prove ourselves worthy of him. "Why don't you go lie down? I will head out to the store and grab everything we need."

"I should help."

"You should rest. I'll be back soon."

I led him to the bedroom and made sure that he crawled into the bed. "I'll lock the door behind me. You have your phone in case you need me?"

He nodded. "Thanks, Aldryn."

"Close your eyes, love. I'll be back shortly."

His eyes were shut, and he might have been sleeping before I even walked out of the room.

When I arrived at the store, I couldn't believe the number of things that were there. We didn't have these types of discount stores in our area, but I had heard about them. Shifters tended to purchase from each other whatever homemade goods we had available. Our pack definitely preferred to keep things internal, which was great until we needed something that our own pack couldn't provide.

I grabbed a cart and began filling it. I found some of Eli's favorite foods and went slightly overboard with that. We would be stocked up on granola bars, fruits, and peanut butter.

When I hit the Home Goods section, something inside me snapped. I wanted to provide everything for my mate, everything for him to be comfortable. I grabbed new pillows, fuzzy blankets, one of those neck warmers, a face mask—all the things. I didn't know what use we would have for four different fuzzy blankets of varying colors, but something inside me told me that my mate needed them, deserved them. And I wanted to provide him with all of the comforts that I could.

I winced when the total rang up but didn't bat an eye as I swiped my card. I had money, and we could use it even if we only stayed a few weeks. Wherever we ended up, we would take these things with us.

I arrived back at the house; I had only been gone for less than two hours. It was quiet when I entered, and I began unloading the food.

I switched on the oven and began preparations for dinner. I had opted for mac and cheese with bacon, knowing how much my mate loved it. I had also grabbed some of his favorite fruits and cut them up, putting them on a plate for him. Then I made my way upstairs, with two of the fluffy blankets tucked under my arm. He was just waking up when I came in.

"What's all this?" he said.

"Just some comfortable things for you. Here, I have an orange and some papaya."

"Papaya? You spoil me. You know I love papaya. It's not even in season." He grabbed one of the cut-up pieces and moaned as he put it in his mouth. "The place is fully furnished. We didn't need more blankets."

I shrugged. "Something told me to get them."

He grinned. "Your dragon instincts are really coming to the forefront, aren't they?"

I thought they were more like mating instincts, but I didn't wish to scare him off with that kind of talk.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"I'm fine. I was just tired. Feeling better now. Find anything interesting out there?"

I shook my head. "Something about this town feels right. The man we had rented the house from sent me information about the local pack, he's a member. Some sort of advisor, but not a Beta. We could let them know that we're in the territory."

The oven timer beeped.

"Do I smell cheese?"

"Yep, macaroni and cheese for dinner, and I have bacon going as well."

"You spoil me."

"That is my intent," I said. For always.