Things were right with his world.
They’d left Colorado and returned to California with the Huracáns. From there, at Rune’s suggestion and Zhuron’s agreement, Jiǎ and the rest of Rune’s men had taken the mates who had been rescued from the Alaz mountain. They’d gone back to the mountain in Argentina, fixing it up again. In fact, especially after they learned that Rune and Hadyn planned to visit frequently so that Hadyn could help teach the women to control their dragon sign, Chaghan and Qara had decided to join them for the same reason. What had once been a safe house and a hiding place for runaways was now a known safe haven for mates. Run by fucking rogues.
He never would have pegged that.
Contentment stole into his chest, leaving him warm and fuzzy and not remotely interested in moving from this spot. He feathered his hand up over Hadyn’s hip, scooping it around her belly to pull her in tight to his chest, giving a low hum in his throat, because this…this right here…was perfection.
A moment he’d never believed he would get.
His mate. His team. Relative safety. Yeah, the dragon shifter world was still falling to shit, but at least his part in it had become…easier.
With an answering hum, Hadyn turned over in his arms and wrapped her body around his. She opened her eyes, and his heart kicked at the sight of the black and green blended so beautifully there. “Evening,” she murmured with a sleepy smile.
He’d pulled night duty, and when that happened, she didn’t tend to sleep either, so they’d taken a nap after several rounds of his favorite part of the day. A luxury.
“Evening, love.”
“We’d better get going,” she said. “We told everyone we’d meet them at the winery at eight.”
They stayed in his private cabin any time he wasn’t on duty. He’d only just found her, and sharing wasn’t really his thing, despite that fantasy of fucking her as the others watched.
Rune groaned, then rolled her under him. “Not yet.”
With a grin and a chuckle, she gave in. Making love with this woman was becoming his own favorite addiction.
Finally, after another round in the shower, she managed to get them both dressed and outside into a nearby clearing cut in half by a small stream.
Automatically, Rune shifted first, just in case. Not that he needed to worry. Maybe because she’d been raised by dragons, Hadyn didn’t have to fight who and what she was—and because of that, everything about being a dragon shifter seemed to come naturally to her. This was where he’d first taught her to shift, and she hadn’t shown even a hint of losing control. Not the first time, not any time since.
Hadyn closed her eyes and let her dragon out. In a silent rush, her body changed. Not the slightly jerking motions of a new dragon, but smooth and practiced.
Her soul stayed in place as her physical form shifted around her essence—everything human about her, including her clothes, absorbed into her new shape as she grew, hunching forward as legs and arms adjusted in proportion and aligned to stand on all fours. Eyes opened, glittering black and green, she centered on him as she finished out the details of becoming a dragon. Onyx scales so like his, but in the sun a secret flash of green could be seen in each scale. A long tail trailing behind her, curling around her feet, razor-sharp teeth, not yet fully-developed spiked ridges along her back laid flat like he’d taught her for stealth.
The most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
With a secret smile for him alone, she spread out her wings and launched into the sky. Not even a burble or falter. Sheer animalistic perfection.
He could watch her for the rest of his life and die a happy man having done nothing but that.
“Come on,” she called.
With a happy rumble, he followed, quickly catching up. Since night was still an hour away or more, to hide themselves from anyone on the ground, they spiraled up to a high altitude and let their belly scales camouflage them, then tipped their wings to head to the Huracán mountain.
Home.
There they’d use one of the cars to meet everyone at the winery. In the summers, first Sera, and now Delaney, brought in food trucks and live music. This was the first time the team had deemed it safe enough to enjoy it. The first time they’d been together like this in years—minus a few heart-heavy losses.
Almost an hour later, Rune relaxed in a deck chair beside Hadyn, surrounded by their team. Levi was holding his and Lyndi’s baby—a healthy boy they’d named Deep, which was as it should be.
“Can I hold him now?” another of Lyndi’s orphans asked. They seemed to ask every five minutes, but so far, Levi hadn’t let any of them near baby Deep.
He wasn’t the only one, either. Every time they asked, Drake would stare at them until they walked away, usually mumbling something about checking out the old forge or the vines or something.
Lyndi and Hadyn both laughed at Cami, who was imitating Drake’s glower. “Look at that face,” Cami said with a teasing laugh. “It’s beautiful tonight, we have wine, food, music, and each other. Why the face?”
Drake just grunted.
“I think he’s being a protective uncle,” Lyndi said, sending her brother an affectionate smile.
“I think he needs to get laid,” Rivin sniggered.
“Yeah,” Keighan tacked on. “We haven’t heard much hanky-panky from your side of the mountain lately. Getting too old, man?”
Sera, sitting nearby, rolled her eyes, though she was chuckling. “On that note, Blake, do you want to go catch fireflies? I thought I saw a few sparks in the orchard.”
As she ushered her son away, Aidan—like Rune, no longer running, reinstated to the team—also got to his feet, shooting the two white dragon shifters an unimpressed stare. “Seriously?”
To their credit, they both shot him twin chagrined grins. “Sorry.”
“What?” Hall dropped his chair to both legs with a thud. “Did you just…apologize? The world must be coming to an end.”
“Or they’re finally all grown up,” Kanta said. The sarcasm coming from the peacemaker only making them all laugh.
Rune included. Gods, this felt… so right.
Beside him, Hadyn gave a deeply contented sigh that made him want to wrap her up and hold her forever. “Do you think things will remain calm?” she asked, looking around them.
Through their link he could feel her—not worry exactly, more like being so happy in this moment she didn’t want anything to happen to make her lose it.
He knew the feeling.
“Probably not,” he said. “Dragon shifters aren’t easy.”