“Fuck you.”

He launched himself at me, slamming my body into the ground. I tried to call up my bloodfire, tried to get even a spark of green fire to defend myself, but it wasn’t working. I lifted up a knee instead and connected with his groin. He rolled off and groaned, then stumbled back up to his feet.

“Just for that, I’m going to make your death as slow and as painful as possible.”

I pulled myself half upright, just in time to allow him to kick me in the face. Salty blood filled my mouth, and I coughed.

“You don’t want to do this,” I said, trying again.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that in between all the gurgling. Maybe this will help.” He shot out a punch, although this time I managed to just jump out of the way in time.

Okay. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I would defend myself and the babies growing inside me any way I could. I was still a fucking good fighter, Draco Wyr skills or not. I jumped up in the air, somersaulting and landing to his left, and smacked out my hand, catching him on the bridge of his nose. Blood gushed out. He scissor kicked me in return, the heavy heel of his boots crashing into my chest. I fell backwards onto my elbows.

“Your kind is unnatural,” he snarled. “You should not exist. You’re disrupting the balance of nature.”

Through the haze of pain, I felt dull recognition at his words. They were almost what Aubrey had said. Almost what I’d felt about Endor. Maybe he was right. A weak flicker of heat lit up my belly. I couldn’t let him hurt me any more though; I couldn’t risk losing my children. I pulled up my legs and tried to scuffle backwards. Then a dark shape came flying out of the trees. Corrigan.

The others are on their way.

Relief shot though me. Thank fuck. Maybe one of them could talk some sense into this guy. He half turned, however, and clocked Corrigan’s fast approach.

“I guess it won’t be so slow after all.” And he grabbed me by the material of my hem-line, yanked me up and pushed.

My hands scrabbled at the air as soon as I realised I was falling. I was going backwards off the cliffs, down to the rocks and the churning sea below. Corrigan howled and flung himself after me. No. Air rushed past me as I gathered speed. Tears were beginning to form in my eyes and then, just as I thought it was all over, my bloodfire flared and I transformed in midair. My body extended into its dragon shape, and my wings flapped. Corrigan landed on top of me, his claws digging into my scales for purchase, as I gained control and swooped round to rocky cliffs and over to the beach.

It was hardly what you’d call a smooth landing. But it was a darn sight better than what the alternative had been. I concentrated on shifting back to human form. This was a public beach – but better to be found naked than to be found as a dragon. The smooth fur of Corrigan’s werepanther equally dissipated, until it was just his hot bare skin against mine.

“Who the fuck was that and why did you take so long to transform?” He pulled up slightly and stared down into my eyes.

I sighed. “It’s a long story, but essentially he and all his family are sworn to kill the entire race of Draco Wyr. And when they’re next to me, all my powers seem to fade away. I can’t do anything. No fire, no dragon. Nothing. I guess when he pushed me over the cliff I eventually got far enough away for everything to start working again.”

He glared down at me. “And you were planning to tell me this when?”

“I just told you now!”

“For fuck’s sake, Mack! I can’t keep you safe if you keep running into danger and keeping secrets from me!”

Oh, that stung. I pulled myself out from under him and stood up, placing my hands on my hips. “Keep me safe? Hello, your Lord fucking Mightiness. Who saved your sorry arse at Bird World? Who saved you from being smashed against a pile of rocks just now?”

Corrigan smirked up at me.

“What?”

He started to laugh.

“What?” I repeated.

“You’re magnificent when you’re angry. Can you always be naked when you get pissed off? It’s so much more entertaining.”

Heat flooded my cheeks. He leapt to his feet in one lithe motion, and cupped my face, leaning in for a kiss. I pulled away.

A hurt expression flitted across his face. “What’s wrong?”

I looked down. “The Summer Queen and the Arch-Mage…”

“I saw them talking to you,” he said grimly. “Let me guess. They want you to stay on as head of the council. Which means you can’t be with me.”

I nodded miserably. “I pretty much told them to fuck off. And I mean it, I do, but…”

“But they can be very persuasive.”

“I won’t do it, Corrigan.”

He smiled at me. “I won’t let you. Not this time. Come on.” He tugged at my hand. “Let’s face them together.”

Like Adam and Eve, we both walked hand in hand up the dunes and into the trees, wending our way up the train back to the top of the cliffs. We were just at the edge of the woods, when I spotted a huge group of people. Bolux’s descendant was on the ground, with two large shifters standing over him. Everyone else was staring down over the edge of the cliffs. Someone – I couldn’t tell who – began to cry loudly.

“Shit.” I started forward. “They think we’re dead.”

Corrigan grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “I can turn it off, Mack.”

I stared at him, confused.

“I can turn off the Voice for good. They’ll think I’m gone. We can leave together. Now. We’ll be done with this forever.”

“You mean…?”

He nodded. “If you want to.”

“We’ll be free,” I said slowly. “No-one else will come after me if I’m dead.”

He watched me.

“Our children will be safe.”

Corrigan touched my cheek.

“But they need us. You’re the lord Alpha. What will the Brethren do?”

“They’ll find someone else. It’s a fucking pain in the arse job as it is, kitten. I’m not going to miss it.”

“But Mrs. Alcoon…”

Then I thought of what she had said about Slim going full time. She’d been letting me know she would be fine if I went.

I looked out through the veil of leaves. Someone was turning round. Solus stared right at me. He mouthed something. ‘Go’. He was telling me to leave, to do what Corrigan was suggesting. Alex was next to him, and he also flicked his head round. Solus nudged him and said something. The mage grinned, then lifted up one surreptitious hand, as if in a wave, and returned to gazing at the sea.

“We’ll have ruined their wedding day.”

“They’ll get over it.”

I turned back and looked directly into Corrigan’s eyes. “What if we don’t make it? As a couple?”

“Do you think we won’t?”

I shook my head. No.

“We’re in this for the long haul, kitten, no matter what. But this is your decision. We leave now and never return, or we go and tell everyone that we’re okay. Make a choice.”

Epilogue

On a small island on the west coast of Scotland, where the houses are quaint, the air is clear, and the only way in or out is by ferry, lies a small tight-knit community. They notice when strangers arrive, and notice when they leave. So when the new young couple came to live, eyebrows were raised. They bought the old lighthouse keeper’s cottage and, for the first few months, kept to themselves.

A few islanders, admittedly, thought they were rude and standoffish to begin with. It quickly became clear that wasn’t the case. They were simply in love. And when the woman’s body began to swell and she later gave birth to a set of beautiful twins, one boy and one girl, those wagging tongues were silenced. They integrated themselves bit by bit into the community. The man helped old Adams re-build his roof when the winter storms blew half of it away. The woman volunteered at the small primary school, helping the local children. The problems with vanishing sheep from the farms in the north abruptly stopped, and old wives’ tale about staying away from the dark caves close to the harbour no longer seemed to matter now that the wind no longer howled through them in the middle of the night.

So if occasionally more strangers abruptly appear out of nowhere and just spend a bit of time watching the couple, then smile to themselves and leave, no-one says anything. And if, when the moon is up, there are strange marks left on the beach, it’s prudent not to comment on them. Besides, the tide washes them away quickly enough. Sometimes it’s easier if you let a few things just slide without question. Because although they may live on an island, no man is an island, and for communities to work and co-habit in such an isolated spot you sometimes need to live and let live. Sometimes.