by Ophelia Bell
“This was his idea, wasn’t it?” she asked.
“Hooking up with Wilder to get us mates was, yeah. It almost backfired. They had shit luck with the dates she first set them up on. I guess you were the one we were all really meant to meet, though. Cato always claimed finding a mate was like alchemy—all the elements had to be just right, stars aligning and whatnot. I guess that’s why you and I didn’t entirely click until they were there. Though I admit I wouldn’t trade that first night for anything.”
“It had to be all four of us,” Simina said almost absently. “You and Cato did always belong together. You just didn’t have me there to show you.” She smiled up at him.
He gazed down at her, his eyes filled with a strange combination of elation, love, and pure wonder. Sighing contentedly, he held her tighter against his big chest, letting his head fall back against the chair as he stared at the sky where Dez and Cato chased each other, wings stretched and trumpeting calls echoing through the valley.
Simina closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the pure, unadulterated happiness that flowed through her. Talon’s memory still lingered, bittersweet for what might have been, but deep down she had no doubt he would have approved.
Her attention wandered, her gaze drifting along the shoreline where the early morning mists began to dissipate as the sun moved higher in the sky. The pink tinge of dawn was disappearing, revealing Earth’s true colors. She loved how at dawn and twilight the place looked almost identical to Nova Aurora. If the light was just right, she could imagine she was home in the mountains above the lake where she’d shared a house with Talon before he’d died.
Talon used to love flying drills above their lake too, just like Dez and Cato were doing now. Her gaze followed the pair for a moment and a strange sense of déjà vu overtook her. The way they flew no longer consisted of playful twists and dives. They weren’t showing off for a captive audience anymore. Their movements possessed the careful synchronicity of a pair of athletes who were well-trained at the types of aerial acrobatics she now witnessed. The same type she’d seen countless times in the arenas of Nova Aurora.
A chill crept through her. “What are they doing?” she asked, her voice sounding hollow in her own ears.
“Drills,” Veryl said. “Leave it to Cato to take advantage of any moment to train. Our first match is a week after we get back to Aurora.”
“Drills. Are you … champions?” She struggled to swallow past the spike of dread in her throat. Please let him say no.
Veryl stilled beneath her, the hand that had been idly caressing her bare thigh coming to a stop on her knee. “We … didn’t want our celebrity status to influence our dates, so we kept it quiet. You must understand what it’s like for a champion.” He tilted his head to the side to get a better look at her face, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the two dragons twisting around against the clouds. “Simina? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
In a brittle voice, she said, “What’s your team’s name?”
Veryl smiled hesitantly. “Triple Talons. We chose it as an homage to our hero, the Ebon Claw. I hope that’s okay. It was before …”
A deafening buzz had taken up residence at the base of her skull and his words became a dull drone. Her entire body prickled with an icy chill despite the summer sun slowly warming the dock. Nausea clutched at her stomach and she scrambled off Veryl’s lap, dizzy with panic. This couldn’t be happening. They couldn’t be champions. Gerri had promised her.
“I have to go,” she said, unable to look at Veryl. She’d let them get too deep, let herself feel too much already. There was no way she’d let herself go down that path again. She turned to run up the dock, but a big hand caught her elbow and spun her around.
“Simina! What the hell is wrong? Did I say something? Fuck, we can change our name if it offends you. We’ll do anything for you. I hope you know that!”
“No!” she snapped at him, turning back with hurt and rage and all the bottled-up grief she’d held onto for the past year—grief she had, until now, believed she’d finally let go of. “You won’t! You champions care too damn much about winning. You’ll fucking die before you let love have a chance. I can’t do it again. I just can’t!”
He stared back at her, his face stricken with shock and confusion. “That’s not what we want …”
“It doesn’t fucking matter, Veryl! I can’t let myself stand by and watch you risk your lives and wonder if I’ll lose you too. Please don’t expect that of me. Please!”
She tore free of his grip and ran. Tears streamed down her face and the towel fell away from her shoulders. Her vision was hazy with despair, but her dragon knew the way, and a few seconds later she was flying.
She stopped at her cabin just long enough to throw on clothes and stuff her belongings into a suitcase. Thankfully, a taxi was close at hand. She couldn’t bear to see the three of them again if they came after her. Her will would crumble if she had to face them, and she couldn’t let that happen. Her heart was too fragile to survive the death of a man she loved again, and if there were three of them now, she was sure it would kill her if they all met the same fate as Talon.
20
Watching Simina leave felt like watching a piece of his own heart fly away. Veryl started to follow, but the distressed roar from the air kept him back. He turned to see Cato and Dez arcing back down to the dock, barreling toward him like their tails were on fire.
Cato shifted partway while still in the air. “Where is she?” he yelled, wings still extended and lowering him to the ground.
Dez landed beside his friend, looking around. “Something felt wrong. I could sense her fear through the mark. Weirdest fucking thing, but my adrenaline’s spiked. What the hell happened?”
“We’ve got to go, guys. Maybe we can catch her if we hurry, but better if we have clothes on in case we have to follow her into the human town. Come on.”
“You going to tell us what happened?” Cato said as they hurried to the cabin to dress.
“I don’t fucking know,” Veryl said, hating how helpless he felt. “She got spooked. It happened when she was watching you two do drills and I told her who we were.”
“Who we are? What do you mean? Everyone knows who we are,” Dez said.
“We kept it quiet, remember?” Cato said. “But she’s a League doctor. Why the fuck would who we are scare her? Because that’s what I fucking felt—pure fear, like she ran out of a sense of self-preservation. She’s got to know we’d never hurt her.”
Veryl only shook his head and led the way down the path at a dead run toward the lodge. He clenched his fists and nearly punched the concierge desk when the clerk told him Simina had just left.
“She’s probably gone home to Aurora,” he said. “I’d want familiarity, if I felt the way she did.”
“Then we go after her,” Dez said. “Not exactly a hard decision. No point staying if she isn’t here, anyway.”
The three of them packed their things, and within half an hour, they were in a taxi to the nearest airport.
The pace of human transportation made Veryl itch, but the only way back to their home planet was a secret gate at a secure compound far south of the resort, and it took a few hours to get there. At least the plane ride went quicker than he and his teammates could have flown themselves, even if it felt strange as hell to be flying without his wings.
“It makes no sense,” Cato said beside him. “What did you say to her?”
Veryl bristled. “You think I did something to run her off? I’m the reason you two even found her. I didn’t have to let you meet her, you know. But she wanted to … She believed there might be a chance for the three of us, even if she and I didn’t have a spark.” He slumped down in his seat, the hurt of Simina’s abrupt departure spearing him anew. “She wanted us to find love, even if she couldn’t. She’s the reason we figured it out.”
“I’m not disputing that,” Cato said more gently. “I’m just trying to understand. If she wasn�
��t running from something you said, why would she run?”
Veryl took a deep breath, replaying their conversation in his mind. He’d mentioned the fact that they’d named their team after their dead idol—the man she’d lost.
“Talon Garrik …” Veryl said softly, then shook his head. His nostrils flared and his eyes burned with the ache of what she must have endured, and what must have come full force back to the surface when she’d learned the truth and he’d flashed the reminder in her face. “I’m such a fucking idiot.”
“What’s Garrik got to do with this?” Dez asked, leaning across the aisle. “He’s dead. Oh, wait, she’s a League doctor. Do you think he was her patient? That’d be rough.”
Veryl shook his head. “He was way more than that, man. They were lovers. Almost mates, but he died before they were mated.”
Cato let out a curse. Dez’s mouth dropped open and he sat back in his seat, stunned. “Holy fuck. I had no idea. I can’t believe what we did …”
“I doubt she ran because we gave her so many orgasms,” Cato said.
“No, but I’m having some serious self-doubt here, man,” Dez said. “The Ebon Claw was ten times the champion we’d ever hope to be. I am so not worthy. I should’ve fucking bowed to her and licked her feet, not …”
“Made her come ten times in a row?” Cato filled in. “I’m telling you, she didn’t leave because of what we did.” He turned back and looked at Veryl. “You’re more intuitive about the emotional side of things than we are. Why do you think she ran?”
“She’s scared … of us dying, is what it sounded like. The Ebon Claw was poisoned by his opponent in his last match, just like Bryer Vargas, only Talon didn’t survive. Fuck, I can’t imagine losing one of you to that kind of attack. Now that we’re …” He shot an uncertain glance at his two teammates, but they only looked as concerned and invested as he felt.
“About to be mated,” Cato supplied with a nod. “Now that we’re together, it’d be like losing a limb. That’s how it feels to me without her here. I can’t fucking imagine how she must have felt after losing him and it’s been a year now.”
“So what are we supposed to do? Stop competing?” Dez asked, desperation pitching his voice higher than normal. “I’d just as soon die than not fight. But losing her …” He gave Cato a pleading look that Veryl understood. Cato was their leader, the one with the answers, but at the moment he looked just as helpless as Veryl felt.
“No. We’re not quitting. Not the League, and not her, either. We’ll find her somehow. Work things out … Maybe Wilder has some insights. She seemed like the kind of woman who knows more than she lets on. Good thing she’s on the way.”
Veryl expelled a breath, relieved at Cato’s command of the situation. He would have blundered blindly ahead chasing after Simina, but Cato was right. They needed a better handle on things. If the matchmaker knew anything that could give them some insight into reaching Simina, they had to find out.
* * *
The petite, gray-haired shifter still intimidated the fuck out of Veryl. He forced himself to sit still while Cato took point with the matchmaker. Dez paced by the windows, uncharacteristically ignoring the delicious-looking cake the woman had offered them.
“Can you at least tell us how to contact her?” Cato said.
Gerri Wilder shook her head. “You weren’t Ms. Taji’s date, and the date she did meet didn’t work out, according to her. I’ve refunded her fee and am happy to refund all of yours as well.” She shot a look in Veryl’s direction.
“Our date did work out,” Veryl said, barely containing his frustration. “She just got spooked. We’re worried about her.”
“You have a reputation for a perfect match rate,” Cato said. “Don’t tell me you’re simply accepting that this one didn’t work out. Veryl’s right. Simina’s the one, whether you intended her to be with him alone or somehow knew she’d wind up being the mate for all three of us. I don’t want a damn refund, because ultimately, you led us to her.”
Dez paused his pacing to interject. “And to each other. We’d have never taken the leap without coming to you, roundabout as it was.”
“That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t affect my policy. She specifically requested that I don’t share her contact information with you. I’m not in the habit of breaking the rules just because your date got cut short. If you’d actually completed a mating, things would be different.”
Veryl’s gaze shot to Cato, whose blue eyes brightened. Dez stopped pacing and came to stand between the chairs Veryl and Cato sat in.
On Cato’s cue, Veryl stood along with his friend. As a unit, the three of them turned, baring the backs of their necks to the woman.
“Is this enough proof that she belongs with us?” Cato asked.
Gerri cursed. “She doesn’t know she marked you. This doesn’t change anything.”
“What?” Cato said. “Fuck that.”
“How the hell does it not change everything?” Veryl said.
Shaking her head, Gerri stood and walked to the window with her arms crossed. She stared out for a second before turning back and dropping her arms at her sides. “There’s something I need to tell you, but it can’t leave this room. My matchmaking skills are legendary, but they don’t come without some … occasional manipulation of facts. Ms. Taji made a very specific request when she came to me, and she left here believing I would honor that request. However, I knew that if I did as she asked, she would never find what she was looking for.”
“What did she ask you for?” Veryl said.
“Under no circumstances should I match her with a champion.”
“You knew I was a champion. So why …?”
“I knew you were perfect for each other,” Gerri said, her expression softening. “I also knew the three of you were precisely what she needed to mend the damage she endured after losing Talon Garrik. But she would have been overwhelmed by the idea of a date with one champion, much less all three of you. She needed a gentle touch to ease her back into the idea of love again, not just motherhood.”
“So you set her up with me,” Veryl said.
Gerri nodded and sat down again. “You were the ideal date for her, under the circumstances—you were resigned to a mating of convenience for the sake of having a family. So was she. But more than that, you were her avenue to happiness, just as she was yours.”
Veryl gritted his teeth. “Then why can’t you tell us how to contact her?”
“Come on, we’re leaving,” Cato said. “She’s a League doctor. She can’t be that hard to find.”
Veryl continued staring at the matchmaker. “I don’t think you do anything without a good reason, do you, Mrs. Wilder? Tell us why we shouldn’t just go find her for ourselves.”
“Because of those marks. Her dragon has already made its decision, and there’s no turning back. Simina herself simply needs time. Time to make peace with moving on, and time to allow herself to take a risk for love again. If you love her as much as she loves you, trust her enough to find you when she’s ready. You won’t regret it.”
Veryl looked at his friends. Cato’s jaw flexed as he stared down at the small woman. Dez looked bewildered and at a complete loss, but he was the first to nod his head. “I’d wait forever for her if I had to,” he said.
Cato jerked his gaze to the red-eyed dragon. “What did you just say?”
Dez gave him a helpless smile and lifted one shoulder. “Crazy, I know. Hell’s freezing over because Dez isn’t after instant gratification for a change. Who’d’a’ thunk? But if you want her half as much as I do, this is what we have to do. You and I both know it. I think Veryl knew it already.”
Resignation settled in Veryl’s belly when Cato nodded.
“Then we wait,” Cato said. “Better get back to training, because I’ll fucking go stir crazy if I have to stop and think about it.”
21
Simina hid in her lab for the next week, partly from shame at returning from vacat
ion so early, but mostly because she couldn’t bear to stay at home with all of Talon’s belongings taunting her with the reminder of what she’d almost had, twice now.
It was better this way. Better that she didn’t let it progress any further than the one night. Better that she cut it short before she had to endure watching them inevitably meet an opponent dead set on breaking the rules.
She had no tests to run, what with the lack of fresh samples. That was some consolation, but the official season hadn’t started yet and exhibition matches were finished. She spent her days reviewing her research, foregoing sleep most nights because the dreams that came always left her weak with longing when she woke.
But the longing was no longer for the man she’d lost. She would always awaken drenched in sweat, her core aching to be filled the way Veryl, Dez, and Cato had filled her, each intent on satisfying a different need.
She couldn’t bear the nightly reminders of how good it felt to be with them, so she stayed in her lab where she could escape into her notes, hoping to discover some detail about the poison she might have missed.
“My threat still stands,” Javin said, startling her out of her deep concentration on the numbers that still hadn’t told her anything new after an hour of staring at them.
“Your threat?” She looked up to see the handsome doctor leaning in the doorway to her lab, his arms crossed over his broad chest.
“To either fire you or make you see real, live patients again. You can’t keep hiding in here. It’s a complete waste of talent …”
“I’ll do it.”
“… and is just going to dull your skills. Wait, what?”
“I said I’ll do it. I’ll see patients.” She stood up from her seat, for the first time in a year excited about getting out of the lab for a change.