“Do you think we share a common ancestor?” I squeezed his hand tighter, wanting to erase that agony which flashed across his eyes. Talking about his mate had cost him something, brought him back to a dark time in his life.

The gentlest of grins graced his lips. “All supernaturals share common ancestors, but possibly you and I are a little closer.”

I pulled my hands free, and when his sadness didn’t disappear I opened my arms and wrapped them tightly around him. I clutched him hard, trying to squish free those horrible memories. He returned my gesture and I felt him rest his chin on top of my head. We stayed like that until groans from the alley had me pulling back to see what was going on. The female shifter was starting to pull herself up, her friends still down for the count. They would think twice about taking me on again, and word would spread of this. Somehow, it always happened that way in these communities.

“Let’s go back, I need some sleep.”

I leaned heavily into Louis, and he took a lot of my weight as we strolled from the alley. It spoke of how absolutely drained I was, both mentally and physically, that I didn’t even notice the food piled high on the plates of the supernaturals eating on the street. We also ignored the many eyes which followed as we walked.

“Why didn’t the Compasses come after me?” I said, in a sort of slur. I fought for clarity.

Louis quickened our pace and gathered more of my weight into him. “I convinced them to stay behind while I checked on you.”

I let loose a few peals of laughter. For some reason the possibilities of how he convinced them were endless and amusing.

“I’ll just bet they appreciated that.”

The sorcerer joined in with my laughter. “Braxton especially was appreciative.”

The thought of my dragon shifter sobered any humor. What the hell was I going to do about him and all of these feelings plundering my soul? And lady parts.

Seeing Maximus with a mate had opened up something inside of me. I’d been so resolute in trying to keep everything the same, not risking the pack dynamics, but things had changed anyway. Change was going to happen and I didn’t want to miss my moment with Braxton because I was afraid. What if I waited too long and never had a chance? He could meet his mate tomorrow. The dragon king could rise and kill us all. The only certainty we had was right now and something told me that five minutes with the dragon was worth any minutes without him.

Louis tipped his eyes down to meet mine. “Just talk to them, Jess. There wasn’t a supernatural in Stratford who didn’t know how much they loved you. They will never leave you.”