CHAPTER ONE

“T his is feeling really off Ashton.” His brother Will commented as they continued down the path. Ashton paused and looked around and he too felt the unnatural stillness of the forest and didn’t know what to make of it. It was odd but he had to keep going.

"Are you sure that Harley came out here? He could be anywhere, you know." Will was making sense, but Ashton knew what he knew, and he was certain that Harley had gone into the woods.

"His backpack was gone, as was his down jacket and his heavy boots. He only uses those things for hiking and camping." Ashton paused for a minute as the shame of what he'd caused washed over him. "He was hurt and angry and wanted to get away fast. This is the path he usually takes when he hikes, and there are camping sites along the way. I'm sure he came here, and I have to find him. I have to apologize and make this right.”

"That whole thing was pretty rough on him," Will remarked, shaking his head, and again Ashton felt like a complete asshole. "You guys have been friends since middle school." He added.

"Don't rub it in. I accept the fact that I handled everything horribly, but luckily, I came to my senses before signing my life away in that marriage contract."

“You weren’t listening to anyone.” Will kept it up but Ashton knew he deserved it. “Dad tried to tell you, and I tried to tell you. Harley tried to get along with her and worked so hard to not offend anyone and in the end got kicked in the teeth for his effort.”

“I’m going to make it right with Harley. I just have to find him first.”

“You broke his heart, man.” Will would not stop pushing that knife deeper.

"I know, I know. Could you stop beating me over the head with it? I'm the worst friend there ever was, and I know it." He cried out in exasperation.

"Not the worst, but definitely in the top ten." Will snickered and kept walking.

“The last group has reported in, and the forest appears to be free of the infection. The Charmer arrived and completed a walkthrough of the twenty-mile section and stated the woods were clear." Saphir Rath reported as he stood with his brother, King Bazil Rath, on his balcony, looking over the far side of the mountain. It was a beautiful site filled with clean, fresh air and gave a sense of nature's supremacy. The King often stood there when seeking insight and clarity.

"I saw the Charmer." He stated, and Bazil turned to regard him fully. His interest was clear, so Saphir continued. "He was so far beyond my expectations, and I was expecting a lot. I encountered someone uniquely positioned between the earth and the heavens, and he drew strength from both. He started out as this young guy barely five and a half feet tall in a baggy tracksuit and then turned into this being of light and power containing a force that you could feel in every molecule of your body."

“I understand that he is mated to a vampire.” Bazil inquired.

“Yes, a soldier in Hadden’s army. One of the most miraculous beings of our time mated to a simple soldier, Fate is so unpredictable. That mating makes the Charmer a member of the Hadden Coven." Saphir smiled. "Some people have all the luck."

“Nikolas Hadden has been through a lot and yet has never compromised his morals, ethics or character and the universe has rewarded him.” King Bazil respected Master Hadden and the Hadden Coven even thought their contact over the decades had been minimal. They were different species living different lives and they crossed paths rarely.

"I hope we can all get back to our lives now that the threat has been defeated." Saphir appreciated the need to band together to rid the land of the growing malevolence, but that was over, and it was time for them to return to business as usual. "The shifters to whom we've provided protection should be able to return home soon." Another annoyance of his was having too many non-dragons living under their roof.

"I have Roan running that front. He will look into their needs and process them as soon as possible. It's important that they return to their lands and rebuild their communities." The King did well appointing Roan to the job. Roan was a fierce warrior, and he often fought at Saphir's side, but the man also had the heart and intellect of a diplomat. He always has the right words for the right occasion. He'll get people situated and on their way without issue.

“Roan is a good choice.” Saphir voiced his opinion and Bazil nodded. “I’m sure everyone is eager for things to get back to the way they were before the terror.” Saphir added hoping to soften his own desire to have the visitors gone but Bazil saw through his attempted and laughed.

“You’re not the only one to want the visitors to be on their way. Dragons are not social creatures by nature, and we prefer our own company. Although I am grateful for solidifying our alliance with the Pittsburgh Coven. Hadden is powerful and connected.”

“And now he owes us a favor.” Saphir finished the sentence for his brother.

"Exactly," Bazil stated.

"His car wasn't in the lot." Will be brought up for the tenth time. "I don't care how you try to explain it the fact his car was not in the lot tells me he is not here."

"And like I told you ten times, someone could have dropped him off, or he took a cab." The tension between them was getting thick. Ashton stopped and turned to him, intent on making himself clear. "I've known Harley forever, and when he's upset, he goes hiking or camping, and this is his location of choice. He isn't answering his phone, and he's not at the apartment. I've tried everywhere else, and he's not there, so he must be here."

"Okay, but I honestly do not believe that he's out here." Will wasn't berating him. He was just telling him his thoughts, so Ashton calmed down and took a deep breath.

"If he's out here, I need to find him. Harley isn't good on his own when it comes to things like camping. He has a short attention span and tends to forget things, and then he gets flustered, and I'm afraid of what might happen to him. He's upset, and he's on his own, so I'm worried." Ashton came completely clean about how he was feeling, and Will understood.

"Let's find him." Will took his phone out and tried to call Harley, thinking that he might answer him since he had nothing to do with the issue between him and Ashton, but they were starting to lose service.

Ashton glanced over at him. "My phone isn't working either." He commented. "Service is spotty from here on." He sighed and then stopped and took a long sip from his water bottle. "I'm thinking you may be right. We would have come across some sign of him by this time if he were here." Ashton was so certain, and now not so much. "I'm sorry. I guess I took you on a wild goose chase."

“Would he have veered off the trail for any reason?" Will asked and Ashton shrugged. “Has he camped here much?” Ashton shook his head. “Let’s go off trail for a bit and see if we pick up any sign of him and if not, we can head back and start checking the hotels.”

“Okay, good idea.”

They were off trail and had gone a good half mile when they noticed sign that someone had been through that area. The ground and grass cover were disturbed in places. “Do you think it was him?” Ashton asked Will who was the more experienced tracker. He nodded and then added.

"It was probably a couple of days ago, by the looks of it. This isn't current. I would guess this is from Friday, and he wasn't alone."

“Who was with him?”

“No idea.” Will walked over to an old stump and sat down. “Let’s go home. He might go back to the apartment expecting that you would have moved out. Give him time, and he'll answer your calls and talk to you. He's just hurt, so give him time." Will was making sense, and Ashton had to concede that it was unlikely that Harley would still be out in the woods.

“Is Ally staying with her parents?”

"I gave her the tickets and the cash we had for our honeymoon, and she's off to New York with her friend Jordan."

“How upset was she?”

"Her family was angry, but I think she saw it coming," Ashton remembered the moment when he told her that he wouldn't marry her, and it was weird. "She was shocked at first, as expected, and then she looked relieved. I think we were both doing it for the wrong reasons."

“You made the right decision. She was not a nice person.”

“Yeah, I figured that out finally, but I wish I’d come to my senses before I hurt Harley.”

“Hurting Harley made you come to your senses.” Will reminded. “She was pulling you away from a lot in your life and Harley was the last straw.” Will was stating the facts. “If Harley hadn’t been the last straw then she would have started on your family pulling you away one by one until you had no one.”

“You make her sound really bad.”

"She was evil, Ashton, and self-centered. Nothing you did would have ever been enough, and no one in your life would have been appropriate. She needed you alone and miserable."

“She wasn’t my mate.”

“I know.”

“I thought it would be okay, and we’d work. I was so deluded.”

"You don't have to explain it to me I'm just glad you didn't go through with it."

"I'm going to wait for my mate," Ashton announced abruptly.

"Me too." Will patted him on the shoulder. "We're young, we have a lot of time."