"Do you remember calling me 'mate?'" he asked softly, pushing her wild curls away from her face. She blushed deeply, but he wouldn't let her look away. "You heard that?" He nodded with a smile. "It was the first thought she ever shared with me." Skylar pursed her lips. "She likes you very much." "What about you?" he teased gently. "How do you feel about me?" She set her jaw and once again managed to look down her nose at him while staring up at him. "Well... well, I'm rather fond of you, Orion." He let out a relieved laugh and pulled her into his chest again. "What a relief. I was worried it was just me." He nuzzled her temple, inhaling deeply, his dragon fully at peace. The words "I love you" were right on the tip of his tongue, but he knew it was too soon for that. He would have to hold them in just a little while longer. "I'm fond of you, too," he whispered in her ear. <><><><><><><><> Skylar lived her life in fear. Fear of exposure, fear of herself, and fear of her future. As a princess and heir to the kingdom, her future was daunting enough. The fact that she turned into dragon and would be killed if anyone found out made it all the worse. So, Skylar lived in constant conflict with the beast within her, all while training to be queen one day. When a fellow king discovers her secret, she is forced to flee or put her entire family in danger. When she meets Orion, the Alpha of a dragon clan, he helps open up a whole new world to her. In this new world, Skylar discovers who she is supposed to be and what she's been hiding from. She finds the beauty of her beast and a love she only ever dreamed of. But then her new world is threatened. It becomes a matter of kill or be killed, so Skylar's new family, with the help of her old, must rise to the challenge to defeat this threat. Or risk the extinction of her kind. Show more