As we fly to the city, I can feel my tiger purring on my back. If I turned my head, I would expect to see him curled up like a cat. I’m pretty sure he’s not, but that’s what it feels like. ‘I love riding on your back, Zephyr. It’s so different from the others,’ Ishir saysin my mind, making me growl. I don’t like my rider having ridden on another’s back, he’s MY rider. ‘Yes, I am now. But I wasn’t always, and it was never comfortable for me. Necessary, yes, but I never purred for them, my little dragon,’ he says seductively. ‘You know I’m not little, right?’ I ask him. I mean really, even in his tiger form, I’m much larger than he is. ‘Shall I sink my teeth into your neck again, Zephyr? I only need to be large enough to claim you, and once you’re in your human form, let’s not talk about how, what was Merethyl's word, dainty, you are,’ he says, making me shiver at the thought of his canines in my neck. ‘You like that?’ he purrs. ‘Yes. I like the way you claimed me. I like the mark

I love that I’m pregnant again. I’m not sure how Ancalagon will feel about it, and knowing that my gestation will only be three months, I’m sure I’ll start showing any day. It’s a very short amount of time for a human birth, although, technically, this is a shifter/dragon birth, just in human form. It also means I have to start thinking about what we’re going to do with a young, human child that is completely dependent upon us. Will I have to separate from Ishir? Will he want me to stay home and take care of our child while he continues to go hunting for these missing hybrids and the other missing humans and shifters that he normally searches for. “No. That’s not what I want. I would like for you and I to talk about a way to bring our child or children with us as we search. It won’t be easy, and maybe we need think about not having children back to back, although the thought you having four our my kittens in the next year makes me very happy,” Ishir says, answering the thoughts in my

I can’t believe that Oliver hurt this sweet little girl. I hate him even more than I did before. He doesn’t care about anyone other than himself. He truly is the monster that he claims that we are. “Ishir is the tiger’s name. He is my mate, my rider. Would you be okay if he came out to sit with us?” I ask Nova. “Will he hurt me, Zephyr?” she asks, her big green eyes looking up at me. “No, little one. He won’t. He finds missing children, like you. He helps them to find their families or for those without families, he helps them find a safe place where they can live,” I tell her as Ishir makes his way toward us. Nova snuggles into me. “You smell good,” she says. “What do I smell like to you, little one?” I ask her. “Snow. I like the snow,” she says. “I think she smells like freshly fallen snow,” Ishir says, cautiously coming out of the bushes. “Yes!” she says, but she’s watching Ishir cautiously. I lean in and sniff her hair. Beneath the dirt and grime, I can smell the fire on h

I had wanted to help test the paralytic, but now that I can’t shift, there is no choice. Everett wanted us in our dragon form, and my little one is now far enough along that I can no longer shift. When Ishir puts me back on the ground, I put my hands on my stomach and look up at him. “I’m so worried about having a live baby. What if something is wrong and we don’t know it?” I say. “I can check you. I’ve checked both Tana and Merethyl. I am a doctor after all. I was a human doctor before I became a doctor for shifters,” Everett says. “He checked me when I thought I was a dragon,” Merethyl says, coming over and putting her arm around me. “I know it’s not the same, my body was made to birth live babies, but I trust Everett. And, he can show you an image of your little girl.” My head whips over to where Everett is still checking Avani, now in his human form. “You can do that?” I ask. “Yes. Since we anticipate that your child will be born more quickly than the others, it’s probably a

When Everett prepares to leave the room, I go to Zephyr, kissing her temple as she wraps her arms around Nova. ‘Are you okay?’ I ask in the mind link. ‘Yes. Are you leaving?’ she asks me. ‘I want to go with Doc. I want to hear what he thinks about Nova away from where she might overhear,’ I tell her. ‘You’ll let me know?’ she asks. ‘Are you getting attached, my little dragon?’ I ask her. ‘Would that be a bad thing?’ ‘No, but I think being here, among her peers, is better than her being with us out hunting Oliver and the scientists and looking for more like her. This is a better life for her. You know that Kaylani and Everett will take good care of her.’ I can tell she knows I’m right, but as she look down at Nova in her lap, I hear her thoughts, wondering if I might be interested in living out here. She looks up at me with her big, blue eyes, and i know there will never be a time in my life where I'll be able to say no to this woman. Not when she looks at me like that. I'm doo