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I pass shifters headed out to the market or the Academy. We trade nods, but I don’t slow down to talk.

It’s quieter out here than in House of Zorah, with the cabins spread farther apart. I know these paths from living here for a while as a pup, when my mom left the pack. Now I’m back on purpose to hunt down a dragon.

His scent reaches me through the trees. I break into a run, and branches slap at my scrubs.

The cabin sits in a clearing up ahead. It’s small but solid, with fresh paint on the shutters and a new roof. There’s a porch out front with chairs on it and a garden along the side someone’s been tending. Since when does Ezra pull weeds?

I skid to a stop at the edge of the clearing with my breath coming fast. My wolf pushes up until my canines prick at my bottom lip. Then the front door opens, and there he is.

4

EZRA

My dragon won’t quit pacing, and I haven’t gotten a lick of work done with him carrying on like that. As soon as her wild-berry scent drifts in from the edge of the community lands, he stops and pushes me toward the door. My mouth is watering by the time I get it open.

I step out onto the porch. There she is, coming up the road with her dark hair loose around her shoulders, still in blue scrubs from the medical center.

She freezes on the path when she spots me. I can smell her wolf wanting to bolt back into the trees, and I itch to chase her down.

My mother must have told her. I figured the news would reach Aya eventually, since a future alpha can’t walk away from his clan without Wintermoon running its mouth. Valek has only ever tolerated my father for my sake and his sister’s. Now he won’t so much as accept my mate. I’m done putting up with it. There’s a limit to what I’ll take before I want to burn it all down to feel the heat leave me.

She starts walking again, slower than before. I keep my face straight, but my dragon is losing his goddamn mind. All he can think about is waking up next to her every day for the rest of our lives. He’s wanted her temper and laugh since her scent first hit us.

Aya hesitates at the bottom of the porch steps and grips the strap of her bag. She feels the pull too. My dragon and her wolf strain toward each other against the short leash we’ve kept on them for years. A wrong move from me could snap it.

Backing off was her idea, since she knows what happens if I don’t. I’ll breed her and claim her until we forget what being alone ever felt like, but she isn’t ready for that yet. She asked for distance to finish her training and figure out who she is outside the mate bond. I’m giving her that, even though I’ve counted every day.

“Hey,” she says with a foot on the bottom stair and her eyes on the ground. I know exactly why she won’t look up.

“Look at me.” It comes out rougher than I mean it to. After a week of wondering if she even noticed I was gone, I’m not in the mood to be gentle.

Her scent jumps when she snaps her silver eyes up to mine, and there goes my straight face. I’ve been living on the memory of them. With her close enough to touch now, I have to lock my knees to stay where I am.

“What are you doing here?” I aim for annoyed and don’t even convince myself.

Aya stares me down. “You aren’t really annoyed with me.” She taps the side of her nose. “I can tell in your scent, remember?” My dragon rolls over for her on the spot.

She’s not wrong about that. She reads me better than anyone, even when I’d rather she didn’t. I love it when she throws my heat back in my face. If I push too far, her wolf rises up to meet me. Her scent sharpens with irritation. It’s all I can do not to kiss it off her mouth.

“You left your clan,” she says, and I almost laugh at the accusation. That’s rich, coming from the wolf who’s been running from me since she was a pup. “You’re future alpha. Why?”

I take in the curves under her scrubs and breathe her in until my pants get tight. “It’s clan business, Aya,” I answer. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

She lifts her chin at that. “Is it about me?”

I want to go down there and grab her. I stay put instead. “And if it was, it’s still clan business. Nothing for you to be worrying yourself about.”

That’s the wrong thing to say. She draws her dark brows together and winds up for a fight. I put my hands up to stop her.

“Are you here to visit me, check up on me, or are you just here to give me another lecture?” I ask. Her scent flares at the change of subject. “Because frankly, I’ve heard enough, and my decision to leave the clan is final.”

Aya glares up at me with her fists balled and nothing to say. Her wolf is close to the surface. I can hear her breathing hard through her nose while she fights for control.

“I’m working with Amari to build a planetarium for my father,” I go on as the edge comes off her scent. “And hopefully one day I’ll offer galaxy tours there with him.” I smirk at her. “And our babies.”

She drops her eyes. I love that I can still do that to her after all these years. I hook a thumb over my shoulder. “Now, if there’s nothing more, or you don’t need anything from me, I’d like to get back to it.”

She doesn’t move. I walk into the cabin and leave the door wide open behind me. I know I’m being an asshole. But I’m not stupid enough to close it on her. She’d kick it off the hinges and come for my throat.