Mated to the Earth Dragon (Elemental Mates 2)

“Very impressive.” Autumn had to bite back a laugh.

“Impressive enough to make you consider life in a shifter town?” Damon said hopefully.

Autumn gave him a look of playful consideration. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen the town yet, have I? If you think you’re getting out of introducing me to everyone just because you’ve got a lake...”

“The town it is.” Damon bowed gallantly, like someone in an old movie, before he held out his hand. “Will you do me the honor of accompanying me?”

“With pleasure,” Autumn said, then grinned when he used her hand to pull her against his chest. “And no trying to distract me again. We’ve been flying for hours, I need to stretch my legs. And I was promised a crocodile doctor...”

“The doctor it is.” Damon gave her an amused look. “Let’s see if she’s in. It’s not like she’s got a ton of work to do, thanks to shifter healing. But it’s good to have a doctor around who won’t bat an eye if a broken arm heals overnight.”

“Is that what happens when you learn to fly?” Autumn asked curiously.

Damon shook his head. “It’s what happens after you learn to fly. Nothing worse than a teenager with wings.”

“I can imagine.”

Was that what it was like to raise kids with wings? They would probably be twice the usual trouble. On the other hand, Damon had come out pretty well...

She nudged his shoulder, and he began to lead them out of the maze, heading not towards the mansion, but down the small road that led towards the town.

It was a beautiful walk. Birds were singing, the sun was shining down on them, and Autumn couldn’t take her eyes off all the animals they encountered on their walk. It took them ten minutes to reach the first house, and during this time they’d seen several birds, a family of squirrels, a mouse hiding beneath a bush from them, and an actual otter lazily drifting in the creek that followed the road for a while.

“Only the hawk and the otter,” Damon said at her questioning look. “Hey, Jake!” He raised a hand to wave to the otter, who lazily waved back with a wet paw.

Trees lined the little alley they were walking along now—large chestnut trees with huge leaves that shaded them from the sun. No one seemed to be at home in the first house, but the second house they passed, which was surrounded by a wall of smooth stones in a pattern of white and gray, had a wrought iron gate.

It opened as they walked past, and a small pack of lions spilled out. Four small lion cubs came excitedly racing past them, playfully roaring as they circled their feet while Damon laughed.

Then someone roared from inside the garden—it was the deep voice of a grown, male lion—and the lion cubs obediently raced back in, but not without circling their legs one last time, tiny lion tails raised high.

Breathless from laughter, Autumn held on to Damon’s arm as they continued walking.

“Now that’s more like what I expected a shifter town would be like.”

“It’s a good place for kids,” Damon said. “Even if you’re the only dragon. You wouldn’t believe the things I got up to with the bear twins and Jenny the falcon.”

“I well remember that,” a gruff voice said from somewhere to their right.

When Autumn turned, she saw a woman sitting on a bench beneath one of the chestnut trees, her hair a steely gray, and gathered at the back of her head in a tight bun. She looked to be at least in her seventies, although there was a shrewd focus in her eyes.

Autumn found herself involuntarily straightening as the woman looked her up and down.

“At least we didn’t give you many broken bones to set,” Damon said with a smile. “I learned from that one time a gust of wind blew me straight against the cliff, didn’t I?”

“You were always the most sensible of the bunch,” the woman admitted, her mouth unsmiling. “But that doesn’t mean much. Mammals, you expect silliness. Dragons, now—those I hold to a higher standard.”

Damon laughed and stepped forward to shake her hand. “It’s good to be back home. This is our doctor and only resident crocodile shifter, Irina Bruckner. And this is Autumn Carter—my mate.”

Now, at last, the crocodile shifters mouth twitched. As Autumn shook her hand, she found herself faced with a somewhat unsettling but very satisfied smile that seemed to show too many teeth.

“I knew it,” Irina said. “From the moment I saw you come down the road. Well, that’s that, then. It was about time, boy. It’ll be good to have a real alpha dragon around again. Not that there’s any danger of trouble here, but I like for things to be in order. Told your dad I wasn’t retiring until I’d delivered his grandkids, ha.”

Then she turned to Autumn again, staring at her with those unsettling, pale eyes that seemed as hard and unyielding as metal.

Is she trying to scare me? Perhaps she’s just testing me...

Autumn forced herself to look away from the toothy smile, meeting those sharp eyes without flinching.