The next three days passed by at a snail's pace. Skylar was stir crazy, even with Orion bringing her books and sitting with her until Nana shooed him away. The rest of the Alpha family visited her for short periods of time, but they were so busy. The only person she had yet to receive a visit from was Jonathan. No one talked about him either, and she always forgot to ask, as they had other things to talk about. She'd remembered once with Orion, but she wouldn't ask him. He would tell her, she knew he would, but she didn't want to hurt him anymore. The longer they went without claiming one another, the more on edge she could sense his dragon was. The mention of another male, no matter how platonic, would be too much.

Kellan and his clan had been spotted in the distance and would be arriving soon, so they were all distracted by that. Once they arrived, the humans would show up as well. She wanted to help, to do something but Nana was insistent that she needed to rest. Skylar felt fine, strong as ever, but the old healer wouldn't budge.

Skylar strode over to the window, which looked out over the village out of the front of the Big House. In the distance she could see the clan gathering sleeping supplies and she could smell the extra food being prepared. There was also the distinct smell of a lot of leather being worked with, but Skylar could only assume it was to be used for armor. This she found strange, since the human army would all have their own chain mail and metal armor to protect them from Draco's soldiers. She glanced down in the yard and saw Nana walking into the house. Skylar was quick to jump back into bed, where Nana wanted her.

The Big House was silent, everyone was out with their tasks. She'd seen Orion and Leo fly off with two dozen clan members, likely to train. Jed, Percy, and Zachariah were working with the human counterparts in the field, just in case something happened where they couldn't shift. Skylar wanted to out there, training with them. If she was going to fight, she needed to be ready too. But, she was female, so she would be with Victoria, Penelope, and Laura, overseeing the potential needs of the new arrivals.

Cassie had been missing for three days. Skylar had been waiting for the girl to rush into the room to confront her for stealing Orion. The only problem with that was that Orion had never belonged to Cassie, not really, so Skylar didn't feel that she'd stolen him.

Nana knocked once on the door before letting herself in. For one, she wasn't carrying new bandages or something else that alerted Skylar she was going to be left in bed once again. Instead she was empty handed, simply walking over to press gently on Skylar's torso. It was tender, but she didn't feel nearly as tender as she did when she first arrived. She was healing and felt much better, so she was careful to keep her face neutral as Nana applied more pressure in an attempt to gauge a reaction from her.

"How do you feel?" Nana wondered, her gaze relentless against Skylar's.

Skylar had heard that question fifteen times a day and she was tired of it. The answer was always the same: "Ready to get out of bed."

But, this time was different, and she knew that. "Like I could walk a hundred miles."

Nana smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Well, maybe not a hundred, but maybe ten. I'd say you're ready to get up."

Skylar didn't even wait to see if she really meant it. She shot up and hugged Nana. Nana laughed and began to help her change into the shirt, trousers, and boots that had been sitting on the dresser in the room, mocking Skylar.

"Take it easy," she warned, "but you should be alright. Leo and Orion are out, and likely will be for the rest of the day, but Victoria and Laura are helping me prepare medicine so we have enough when the fighting starts."

Skylar sighed and shook her head. "I want to go watch the training with Jed and Percy."

"Skylar-"

"They're fighting because I brought on Draco's wrath, Nana. I should at least be there with them, don't you think?"

Nana put on a show of making a decision, but Skylar knew she had her. The old woman's eyes softened and she nodded slowly. "That's fair. I just want you to remember that you're going to be our Alpha female one day, if Orion has anything to say about it, and one of the Alpha female's responsibilities is preparing for guests. You'll be expected to do what Victoria is doing today, not what the males are doing." Nana affectionately smoothed Skylar's hair back. "I'm proud to welcome you to our family, by the way, love."

Tears pricked at Skylar's eyes and she she hugged Nana again, resting her cheek on the her shoulder. "Thank you, Nana."

Nana leaned back kissed Skylar's forehead. "No shifting yet," she warned, that stern look making its way back onto her face. "But you may go watch the training."

"I promise I'll come help you all later," Skylar swore, kissing Nana's cheek and skipping out the door. Well, walking as fast as she could after being confined to one room for five days. She was sore and weak, but it felt wonderful to stretch her legs and arms. Her dragon had been subdued while they were in the bedroom, healing herself, but at the smell of fresh air as the burst through the front door, she perked up. Her first instinct was to search for Orion, but Skylar had already accepted that she wouldn't see him until later. She missed him, and she couldn't wait for him to see her out and about. He would never say it, but he was as tired of that room as she was.

She walked through the Square, smiling at clan members as she made her way to the fields to meet up with Percy, Jed, and Zachariah. She realized it was the first time she was traveling through the village on her own, and that really made her feel like she belonged there. She didn't need to be escorted, didn't need to be shown where something was. Her step took on more of a bounce as her mood lifted even higher. This was where she belonged.

As she approached the group of thirty or so clan members training, she heard Percy's voice as he instructed. There were more dragons than Orion had estimated because more females had wanted to fight than he thought. The only rule Leo had was that no mated pair with children could fight, it had to be either the male or the female in the pair, in case the worst happened. He didn't want any children to lose both of their parents on the same day if it could be helped, otherwise he opened the right to fight for the clan to anyone over the age of sixteen.

"Humans use swords, arrows, and catapults to attack dragons," he announced in his low voice.

Percy lifted a sword in his hand. It was wooden and blunt, but would likely do more than a little damage if someone with dragon strength swung it too hard.

"We've been working on hand to hand combat, but none of you will have a sword on the battlefield unless you find one, so we're going to work on disarming someone with a sword and avoiding injury by the weapon."

Skylar sidled up next to Jed, who stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest. Her brother looked down and his eyes widened at the sight of her.

"Skylar, you're out of your room!" he laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders carefully.

"Nana finally gave in," she responded with a smile. She had decided she truly liked her brother. He was sweet and funny, but would also be a strong Alpha one day. She liked him much more than she did Cassie, who she'd only interacted with a handful of times, but she trusted her instincts enough to know what the female was truly like.

"Well, you look good," he grinned. "Much better than you did a few days ago."

"How kind of you," she raised an eyebrow and he chuckled. Zachariah leaned around Jed to wink at her. He was stern, like Leo, but on the few occasions she'd met him, she'd observed the similarities between him and his son.

"It's good to see you up, Skylar," she told her sincerely and she smiled in return, nodding her head once in acknowledgement.

"How are they doing?" she asked, motioning to the gathered dragons with her chin.

"Fighting in their human form would never have occurred to many of them, so this is strange," the Beta shrugged. "But they're dragons. They're catching on quick."

They focused their attention back on Percy, who had lowered the sword. "Now, since I have very little training in swordsmanship myself, I'm going to have our guest walk you through what a sword fight might look like. From what I hear, he's one of the best."

Skylar didn't need a name to know who would step forward, but she was surprised she hadn't noticed him sooner. For some reason, he'd been standing among the dragons facing Percy, but from the look on his face, he'd obviously seen her.

Jonathan nodded to Percy as he received the wooden sword. He glanced over his shoulder at Skylar, and she couldn't help but think this was a terrible idea. He looked awful, truly awful. His nose was crooked and still bruised, and he moved stiffly, as if moving too fast hurt, which it likely did. He'd had broken bones himself, she'd seen the bruising on his torso. He shouldn't be wielding a sword, fake or not, especially not to spar with a dragon.

His hazel eyes were filled with happiness, but also a surprising amount of sorrow when he looked at her. She tried to smile at him, she really was happy to see him, but she wasn't sure how she felt about this part of her old life conflicting with her new one. She really didn't want to see Jonathan and Orion together. Especially from what Orion had told her about hitting the knight; she didn't want a repeat of that encounter.

Percy followed Jonathan's line of sight until he landed on Skylar. His face broke out into a huge grin and he trotted over to her while Jonathan began speaking through the different moves of sword fighting.

Percy beamed down at Skylar as he stopped in front of her. He reached out to embrace her, but quickly stopped, lowering his strong arms back down. She looked up at him quizzically, deciding if she should be offended or not.

"You're up," he pointed out. "Nana decided you'll live then?"

Skylar chuckled. "Yes, she decided I'll live. Why don't you want to touch me?"

Percy rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "I'd rather not bring the wrath of Orion down on my ass."

Skylar's brows pulled together. Orion and Percy were best friends, why would Orion ever hurt him?

"What are you talking about?"

"He's been... edgy, since your return," Percy explained. "Especially with that one around." He nodded his head back at Jonathan, who glanced in their direction as well.

"He's seemed fine to me," she argued, although she knew what the future Beta was alluring to. Orion's dragon wanted to claim her, just as she wanted to claim him.

"Well, of course he's seemed fine to you. He's happy when he's with you," Percy teased. "When he's not with you, he's imaging all of these scenarios where another male gets to you first."

"That's absurd," she scoffed. Orion couldn't possibly think she'd betray him like that.

"Yes, to the human side. But to the primal dragon side, it's realistic. If he smelled another male on you, mated or not, he might not be able to control himself."

"Jed hugged me," she pointed out, although her brother simply shrugged.

"I'm related to you," he explained. "Not a threat."

"But, I, in theory, could be, even though I'm happily claimed by Laura."

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks as the topic continued. It felt like a private, intimate thing that should be talked about with your mate and your mate alone, not your brother and your mate's best friend. "He's told you this?"

"Not in so many words, but I was there not too long ago, and Orion has always felt things stronger than everyone else. He's very in tune with his dragon, which means the beast affects him more than he cares to admit. I've observed his behavior, and he's been very short with everyone, and he spends most of his spare time with you. Because he loves you, but also because your presence calms his dragon."

Skylar bit her bottom lip. She obviously also wanted to claim Orion, to scream to the world that he belonged to her and she to him, but she her dragon wasn't driven mad by the thought. Of course, if he came home smelling like another female, she'd rip him to shreds and then hunt down the woman who dared lay a hand on her male. She imagined that those feelings, in a man as strong, dominant, and possessive as Orion, were magnified by a thousand.

"Well," she stated slowly, "it's probably best if you don't touch me then."

She didn't want to talk about this with him anymore, not as her embarrassment grew. She wanted to talk to Laura about it. Skylar didn't want to rush into anything, even though she sort of already had. She planned on spending the rest of her life with Orion, leading by his side. She'd known the man for three weeks, and yet... and yet it felt like she'd known him forever. What had started to bother her was that she didn't know the little details about him. She knew he would die for her, but what was his favorite color? Favorite food? What scared him when he was little? All of the things that made someone who they were. She knew none of it mattered, none of it would change how she felt about him, but she wanted to know nonetheless.

She looked over at Jonathan, the man she once thought she could marry, and realized that she knew all of those little things about him.

Percy grinned, sensing her ending the conversation, but not able to read her mind. "Probably. He'll be back soon, and then you two can have the rest of the day together."

Skylar smiled, liking that idea. She missed him, even though he'd just visited her this morning to eat breakfast with her. The thought of Draco coming to attack his clan along with her condition had been taking its toll on him. Seeing her out of bed would ease his mind, hopefully. She hoped she could find other ways to help him relax. Her tightly wound male needed to clear his head. Draco would want to attack with this whole army at full strength. They had time until he arrived, she thought. He would want to impress before he destroyed. He would want to intimidate and undermine, and the best way to do that was with a large, well trained army, which took time to move and prepare.

In the distance, a distinct beating could be heard, as if someone was beating on fifty drums. All the dragons turned to look to the east, recognizing the sound of a thunder of dragons. Jonathan turned as well, although Skylar knew there was no way he could hear the approaching clan yet with his human hearing. She hoped it was Orion, but as the thundering got closer, now within sight, she saw the blood red dragon at the front. Kellan had returned with the fighting members of his clan.

Jed grinned at the sight of his -- their -- father. His emerald green eyes followed the the red dragon as approached the landing area. The new dragons landed three at a time, shifting quickly and stepping out of the way so the next wave could land. Skylar watched in fascination at this display of synchronization, the fluidity of it. This wasn't the first time they'd landed like this.

Kellan immediately turned to look at her and Jed, his stern face graced with a smile. She smiled back before he turned to his clan members, who all stood at attention, waiting for instructions from their Alpha.

Zachariah walked over to the new arrivals to greet them. Leo and Orion were gone, which meant he was in charge of the Western Clan until their return. He waved Percy and Jed over, leaving Skylar standing with the Western Clan members and Jonathan.

"That was a lot of dragons," Jonathan observed, watching them closely with sharp hazel eyes. She hadn't heard him approach her, but she wasn't surprised that he did. She turned and smiled at her childhood friend.

"There are plenty more where that came from," she assured him, remembering the sight of nearly all the clan members on the night of the Full Moon. She didn't recall flying with them, but she'd seen them all together, celebrating together, and it was beautiful.

Jonathan scoffed. "I'm sure there are." She glanced at him out of the side of her eye. He was tense, his arms crossed over his chest.

She didn't respond to him, not really caring for his tone, and just watched Kellan converse with Zachariah, gesturing toward the fields they'd been preparing for the clan members to sleep in. Kellan's clan looked exhausted, and Skylar guessed they would have been happy to curl up on the ground where they stood.

Nervousness washed over her when she realized she would be meeting her birth clan for the first time today. These were the people she was supposed to have grown up with, who were supposed to help raise her and teach her to be a dragon. It was a strange concept, one she wasn't very comfortable with.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jonathan broke through her thoughts, dragging her attention back to him.

She sighed. She didn't feel like having this conversation right now, not where there were so many other pressing matters to attend to. "Jonathan-"

"You could have told me," he argued. "I was your best friend, I would have been there for you."

She growled softly. "Would you? You hate dragons and you never hid that fact from anyone. I'm not blaming you for how you felt, they killed your father. I hated them, and myself, for a long time too. I was too scared of loosing you to dare tell you."

"Skylar," he turned toward her. He looked around at the dragons surrounding them. It was an even split between them watching their conversation and those watching the arrival of Kellan's clan. He sighed and gently touched her arm, pulling her away from prying ears. They were in a field, so there was no way to get out of sight, but they could go far enough away that they couldn't hear. Skylar glanced down at her arm, where Jonathan's familiar, worn hand grasped her, and she wondered why it bothered her so much he was touching her. Her dragon didn't understand it either. She liked Jonathan, but he wasn't Orion. Not only that, he was an unclaimed male, dragon or not, and he was touching her. Orion wouldn't smell that, would he?

"Skylar," he repeated, facing her and standing so they were nearly chest to chest, "nothing you ever did would make me leave you."

His eyes were so intense, so earnest, she couldn't help the blood that rushed to her cheeks. She looked away and reached up to play with the necklace he'd given her, entirely out of habit. His eyes followed the motion and a small smile pulled at his mouth.

"You still have this?" he reached up to touch the necklace, holding it in his palm, his hand so close to her chest that they were nearly touching.

"Of course," she answered. "It was a gift."

His voice was husky when he answered. "It still looks lovely on you."

She blinked up at him, registering the emotion in his voice and eyes, the one he wasn't trying to hide. He'd only looked at her like that once before, right before he had kissed her on the balcony at her birthday. He glanced down at her lips and then back into her eyes. She took a quick step back, putting much-needed distance between them again.

"Jonathan-"

She was interrupted by a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Is there a problem here?" Percy asked, his voice laced with venom. He narrowed his unnerving silver eyes at Jonathan, encouraging him to take another step away from her.

Jonathan shook his head, glancing at Skylar again. "No, there's not. I was simply telling her that she looked very nice today."

With that, he spun on his heel with the arrogance of a noble born man and strutted back to the waiting clan members. He lifted the sword and returned to instructing the dragons on sword fighting and how to avoid certain attacks.

Percy removed his hand from Skylar, stepping away from her, but still glaring after Jonathan.

"I thought you couldn't touch me?" she raised an eyebrow, trying to help lighten his mood.

His gaze shifted to her. "Orion would rather smell me on you than him. Skylar, what were you doing?"

She frowned up at him, although she couldn't help the feeling of guilt that settled in her stomach. She realized how it had looked with Jonathan, but nothing was going to happen. She was Orion's and he was hers.

"I was talking with my friend, Percy."

"Maybe you were, but he had something very different on his mind. I'm sure you'd be upset if Orion killed him. Do me a favor and don't give him a reason to?"

"Percy, I can't control Jonathan."

"You can control how much you're around him, at least until you let Orion claim you. Until your bond is solid and unbreakable. As strong as it might seem now, his dragon is only thinking about the fact that any other male could come along and claim you. The bond isn't complete, not yet."

"Nothing was going to happen, Percy," she insisted.

He sighed. "I know, I believe you, but I'm just telling you how it looked. Imagine if you saw Orion standing chest to chest with Cassie, with her looking at him as if she wanted to claim him right then and there? You wouldn't check to see how Orion was looking at her, you would walk right ahead and tear her head off. Am I wrong?"

Skylar sighed, admitting to the truth of his words. "No, you're not wrong."

"Didn't think so," Percy smirked. "So, it's probably best to limit your contact, especially when Orion isn't around."

She nodded with a sigh. Why couldn't things be simply. She loved Orion, wanted to be with Orion, but Jonathan was there in the back, trying to remind her of what she thought she felt for him once. She hadn't ever loved him, she realized that, but she'd cared for him deeply, had pictured a life with him. He was her first kiss, her first experience with any sort of intimacy, and she couldn't just ignore that.

"I'm going to go help Nana and Victoria prepare medicines," she sighed. So much for watching training.

The future Beta chuckled. "Give Laura a kiss for me, will you?"

She laughed in response. "Of course. I'll see you later, Percy."

It turned out helping with medicine and cooking food for the new arrivals wasn't too bad. No one wanted to over exert Skylar since she was just recently healed, so she was put in charge of caring for little Benny while Victoria ran around trying to keep everything in order. She was a born hostess, and she loved it. She was exhausted, but the adrenaline of so much planning kept her standing up right and focused.

Skylar cuddled Benny closer. She'd been left in the infirmary with him while Victoria and Penelope went to help organize the field where the dragons were staying for the time being. Nana and Laura had gone to pick more rosemary and other plants to be made into medicine.

"Finally, some peace and quiet," she whispered down at the pink face. He blinked up at her, uncomprehending, but entranced nonetheless. She touched his pink cheek and made a face down at him. He continued to stare, but she didn't mind. He was beautiful and such a sweet baby. He wasn't fussy, he just laid quietly in her arms, content with switching between napping and staring up at her.

She smoothed back the fuzzy black hair on his little head. "Nogard hair" Victoria had called it. Dark and wild. Skylar could easily imagine a little boy of her own, running around with a mop of dark hair just like his father's. She found that she liked the image very much.

"We're doing this for you, you know," she told the baby as she rocked him. "So that you can live a good, safe, happy life with your family. Our family. I'm going to be your sister one day, did you know that? It's very strange to think about. A month ago I was living in a castle, content with the knowledge no one would ever love me for who I really was, but then I met your big brother. He's a wonderful man, Benny, truly wonderful. I love him with all my heart, but... but earlier I realized I don't know very much about him. I know he's kind, smart, and strong. I know he loves me, he loves his clan, but what did he dream about when he was little? What's something insignificant that bothers him?"

The baby simply closed his yes, her voice lulling him to sleep. She chuckled.

"I know, I know, it's silly to worry about something like that. We have our whole lives for me to find out about those things, I know that nothing he says will change how I feel. But is it so bad that I want to know him? I want to know every little thing about him, and him to know every little thing about me.

"There's something else, but it's so ridiculous that I don't even want to tell you, a little baby. It's just, I want to tell someone who can't tell anyone else," she whispered down to him, leaning close. "I want him to formally ask me to marry him. I want him to ask for my hand. We sort of just... decided that we were going to be together forever. I grew up a princess, and a princess gets a prince that sweeps her off her feet. You know what, though? I think I'm okay with how Orion and I decided. Besides, my parents would have made an arranged match. There wouldn't be anyone sweeping me off of my feet in that life.

"None of that matters anyway. I have Orion and I love him so much, Benny. Your big brother is my True Mate, and no matter what we do, our life together will be perfect." She leaned down to kiss the baby's forehead, but he'd already fallen fast asleep. She stared at him for a moment, completely lost in his miniature features. She was only pulled from this trance when one of the boards in front of the infirmary creaked, alerting her to someone's presence.

She looked up, expecting to find Nana or Laura, but her eyes landed on someone so much better.

"Orion," she breathed out. His perfect mouth stretched into that wide, slightly crooked smile he reserved only for her. He looked tired, windblown, and just absolutely perfect. Her heart melted at the sight of him, yearning for her to go and just hold him close.

No, she truly didn't care about her prince coming for her. Besides, who needed a prince when you had an Alpha?