No, that would have been a disaster and we would have lost Hannah’s trust. His cougar was right. This was the best way even if Hannah was seated next to him in the truck, not saying a word.
“Are you warm enough?” It was a lame question, but it was a neutral one.
“Yes. Thanks.” She glanced sideways at him, chewing her bottom lip. “If this dragon is real, how do we ride him?”
“Kelos’s dragon will bend his front leg. We climb on it and then we clamber onto his back.” O’Malley chuckled. “Just don’t ask about a saddle.”
“There is no saddle?”
“No, no bridle either. Although, he does have horns along his back. We kind of sandwich ourselves between them and hold on tight.”
She leaned her elbow on the door. “I don’t know if I prefer you to have made the whole thing up or if I want this to be true.”
“Dragon flight is the fastest, most direct route to your brother’s last known whereabouts.” O’Malley longed to reach out and take her hand and tell Hannah it was all right and that he would never let her fall. However, she was too uncertain about him right now. Nothing he said would help soothe her fears.
She sat up straighter in her seat as he turned off the road and drove up the trail that led to Kelos’s house. Hannah stared into the twilight as if expecting to see a dragon standing in front of the house waiting for its passengers to arrive.
Instead, they were met by Kelos and Amber, who were standing together, wrapped in each other’s arms. O’Malley experienced a twinge of guilt that he was stealing Kelos away from his mate.
“Hi.” Amber raised her hand but didn’t leave Kelos’s side.
“Hi. Thanks so much for doing this.” O’Malley got out of the truck and went around to the passenger side where Hannah remained with her seatbelt still firmly buckled.
“No problem,” Kelos said as he and Amber came toward the truck.
“He’s really a dragon?” Hannah hissed, not knowing Kelos could hear her.
“He is.” O’Malley shot a look over his shoulder. “He doesn’t look too scary, does he?”
“He doesn’t bite.” Amber stepped forward to greet a nervous-looking Hannah. “I’m Amber. And I also know how crazy this must all seem to you.”
“I’m Hannah.” Hannah took a step away from O’Malley. He wanted to reach out and grab her, pull her back to his side, but he let her go.
We thought finding our mate was hard but letting her go is even harder. His cougar stretched, his attention fixed on Hannah.
“Kelos.” Kelos stepped forward to stand by Amber’s side. “And my wife is right, I don’t bite. Not anymore at least, but there have been times…”
Amber dug him in the ribs. “Not helpful.”
Hannah laughed nervously. “You’re not joking, are you?”
“No, I’m not but that was in the days when people were less civilized.” Kelos grinned and Hannah relaxed.
“It’s all a shock, that’s all.” She waved her hand around her head. “I’m just trying to process it all.”
“It took me a while,” Amber admitted. “When I found out about Kelos, it was a surprise. To learn I was also his mate…” She slipped an arm around Kelos’s waist and leaned on his chest. “That took some getting used to.”
“But she could not resist my charms.” Kelos dropped a kiss on the top of his mate’s head.
“Or his treasure hoard,” Amber whispered loudly.
“You actually have treasure?” Hannah asked.
“Yes. When you and O’Malley get back, I will show it to you.” Kelos glanced toward the sky before he leveled his gaze at O’Malley. “We should leave. There is time for me to get there and back again if we leave in the next half an hour. If not, I am going to be spending the night curled up on a mountain somewhere.”
“And we have a guy coming over to fix the boiler tomorrow.” Amber smiled apologetically. “But if you need Kelos to stay, I can rearrange my day.”
“No, I appreciate the offer, but we’ll be okay.” O’Malley opened his backpack and dug out a satellite phone Jake had loaned him. “When we’re ready to come home, I’ll call you. Is that okay?”
“Yes. Call me at any time. For anything. If you need help, if you get into trouble in any way, tell me. If you can give me your coordinates, I can find you,” Kelos said.
“We could use What3words,” Hannah said. She seemed to be back to her normal self. Meeting Amber and Kelos and finding out they were like two normal everyday people seemed to have settled her nerves.
That might not last when Kelos shifts and she sees him as a dragon for the first time. As for climbing on his back… His cougar left the sentence hanging.
Hannah will find the courage. She has to if she wants to find her brother and we both know she wants to do that more than anything. O’Malley had faith in his mate’s strength.
“What3Words?” Kelos asked.
“Yes, it’s an app. It can pinpoint your exact location down to a three-meter square.” Hannah took out her phone and tapped the screen to show the others but then she stopped, heat creeping across her cheeks as the last rays of sun slipped away. “Of course, you could simply sense us. I forgot you guys don’t operate on normal human parameters.”
“I’d like to see it,” Amber said enthusiastically. “Why don’t you show me the app while the guys grab the gear and get ready to leave?”
“You don’t have to. Just to make me feel useful.” Hannah gave Amber a thankful smile.
“Are you kidding? You have yet to learn what it’s like to live with a shifter. Anything that will give me the tiniest bit of an advantage when pitted against my husband is welcome.” Amber looped arms with Hannah and led her toward the house.
“Thank you.” Hannah’s voice drifted to O’Malley as they walked away.
“Thank you,” Amber replied. “For coming into O’Malley’s life.”
Hannah ducked her head and spoke so quietly that O’Malley could not hear what she said.
“Sometimes it is better not to eavesdrop,” Kelos told him.
“I expect you are right.” O’Malley grabbed the packs and handed one to Kelos as he checked the truck over.
“You’ve packed light,” Kelos said as he hefted O’Malley’s pack onto his shoulder.
“Hannah is certainly prepared. There was no way she was going to carry all of the gear she brought so I swapped it into mine.” O’Malley inhaled deeply and let it out slowly as his nerves built. “I haven’t traveled into a mountain region with a civilian before.”
“A civilian?” Kelos asked. “Is that the new word for mate?”
“No, it’s the word for an untrained person of non-shifter persuasion.”
“Ah, I see. Shifters can naturally take care of themselves and soldiers are trained to take care of themselves.” Kelos nodded as O’Malley handed him the keys to his truck. “I believe your mate is capable of taking care of herself, especially if she has you watching over her.”
“It’s scary, isn’t it?” O’Malley swapped packs with Kelos and inserted both arms through the straps before lifting it onto his shoulders.