Chapter Ten

I woke in the morning to the sound of silence. It was such a relief. While I was grateful for the storm because it brought me my dragon, I was equally grateful for it to be gone. I got up, trying not to wake Stone, and went to make some breakfast. We still didn't have full power, but that was okay. That was going to be rectified soon enough.

Yesterday had been remarkably fun. My mate and I walked around the property to see how bad the damage was and take care of any immediate safety issues. There was a lot of work that was going to need doing when the storms were completely through, but it would be a fool's errand to tackle them before the weather had completely cleared.

At one point, Stone brought out his dragon to help move a tree that had fallen and was wedged against a cabin. His dragon was gorgeous and matched the color of his eyes. I wasn't sure if that was a dragon thing or not. I'd not known any other than him, but it was stunning and suited him. Now, when I looked into his eyes, I could see his beast, and I loved it.

There was a crap ton or five to do. But the second swath of the storm came in and put an early end to our day. I didn't mind. I couldn't think of anything better than being "trapped" with my mate in the cabin. We talked some more about dragony things and mates, but also about my dream walking. We also discussed really important topics such as hobbies and favorite movies. It was the perfect way to pass a rainy afternoon. And we found an even better way to spend our night.

But, now it was time for me to get back to work. I was going to be busy until the sun set. And even with that, I definitely wasn't going to get it all done. As long as I made a dent and the property was safe, I'd be happy with that. What I wasn't going to be happy with was being away from my mate all day. It had been one thing to ask him to go for a walk with me so I could assess the damage. It would be quite another to ask him to act like an employee.

I talked to my boss via text. He was pissed that the drive was partially washed away, as if I could do anything about that. He mumbled a few times about selling the "headache" and being done with it. It wasn't the first time he mentioned it and wouldn't be the last. He was all about the profit, and he saw things like this as personal attacks on his goals. It was weird.

Before I started cooking breakfast, I checked my phone once again for news. I visited all the local groups and news sites as well as checking out social media. The pictures of the surrounding communities were awful. We'd really lucked out here, protected on our mountain…my boss's mountain. The mountain.

Many roads were still blocked in multiple places, power lines were down closer to town, which would get first priority over our lack of utilities, and a lot of the dirt roads were completely washed away. It was far worse than the original reports I got yesterday.

Unlike my mate, I needed cars and roads to get places. Most of the people who were here also needed them. The authorities announcing they had closed the road to all unessential traffic meant that no one with the exception of my mate, was able to go anywhere—at least without leaving their vehicles behind. We were all stuck.

I crossed my fingers and toes that I had all the supplies I needed for today's work. I had a sneaking suspicion that everything was exponentially worse than it was during my walk with Stone yesterday. Last's night's visit from Mother Nature had been especially windy, and the rain pelted down so loudly a couple of times I thought it was hailing. There was bound to be more damage.

I cooked the eggs, the smell of the buttery goodness wafting through the small cabin. Either I was too loud or the food smelling too delicious because my mate came over to me just as they were finished. Stone wrapped his arms around me from behind and nestled into where my neck and shoulder met. I must have woken up my mate.

"Good morning," he murmured, pressing his lips to the spot right below my ear. "I missed you."

"I've been up ten minutes max." I turned off the flames and rotated in his arms so I could hug him and hold him close. "But I missed you too."

"What's going on today? What are your plans?" he asked, holding me in his arms.

"Today is going to be awful." I sighed. "There's going to be a lot of cleanup here. I normally don't mind, but you're here. I don't want to leave you. I need to get my work done. Other people are counting on me. This isn't some paperwork I can blow off." I was for sure trying to convince myself more than Stone.

"I'd love to help you. I'm not great with fixing things, but I'm strong. And if we need to move things like trees, my dragon's right here for you." He winked at me, probably remembering the way I ogled his naked body right before and after he shifted. It wasn't like I was rude about it—Stone was just—Stone. Looking away wasn't an option. "I can hand things to you like a boss."

"Are you sure?" I loved the idea, but in no way, shape, or form did I want my mate to feel obligated. He didn't work here. I did. If anything, he'd already helped far more than he should've.

"Yeah. I'd love it," he said.

We had our breakfast and then went to look at all that needed to be done. Just as I suspected, it was a lot more than the last time. Even with the two of us, it was going to be more than a day's worth of work. Possibly even a week.

A couple of the guests offered to help, and, while it was probably out of compliance with insurance regulations or whatever, I gratefully accepted their offers. I planned to give them part of their rental back. My boss wouldn't like it, but oh well. It wasn't as if he was willing to send a crew.

It was nice, almost feeling like I was in a pack like this. That was another thing I never had as a child, but thought it would've been nice. Maybe I was projecting my expectations of what a pack might feel like, but we all worked together like a family, and that felt very pack-ish to me.

We got a lot done and worked late into the evening before exhaustion took over. I cooked out on the fire pit and had brought out all the fixings for s'mores. Unlike what my boss wanted, I brought them all out—every last package of chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers I had. Hard work deserves a sweet little reward.

The guests, Stone, and I ate until our bellies were full and our hands were sticky. It was wonderful, but not as wonderful as when we shut the cabin door after the fire was out. It was just the two of us again. We chatted, explored each other's bodies again, and fell asleep in each other's arms. It was the perfect end to the day.

Until the middle of the night when my mate woke up with a start, sitting up and pulling away from my arms.

"Are you okay?" I asked, even though it was clear that he wasn't. He was sweating, breathing fast and hard. His heart was beating so loudly that even I could hear it with my human ears. He was the opposite of okay.

I wrapped my arms around him. "What's going on? Talk to me." This wasn't a dream I was part of, and not knowing what it was made it exponentially more difficult to figure out how best to help him.

"I need paper, please," he finally said.

"Okay." I jumped out of bed and went to find a little pad and a pencil from a junk drawer and brought it to him.

He started sketching. "I dreamed about my brothers. I saw them. I never could do that before. Do you think that's because of you?"

"I don't know." I wished my grandmother was still around. She'd understand this all. "But whatever the case is, we have a direction now, don't we?" Or at least something to look for. His artwork was pretty clear. I had a feeling it wouldn't be too terribly difficult to google.

"Yeah. But you have your job and everything."

"We'll figure that out. Family comes first. Always."

"Not always." Stone pulled me into a hug. "But from now on. Definitely from now on."