At the sight of Orion standing in the doorway, Skylar's mind finally began working again. She placed her hands on Jonathan's chest and shoved with all of her might. He flew back and slammed against the wall, but Skylar forgot about him. All she was aware of, all she cared about, was the hurt and confusion that was etched in Orion's face.

"Orion," she said, trying to figure out what to say. "It's not- it isn't-"

His eyes hardened in a way she'd never seen before, and they were aimed at her. There was no trace of the normal tenderness he reserved for her there. She had no idea what to do, no idea what to say. This wasn't her fault, she knew that, but she couldn't help the ball of guilt that had coiled like a snake in her stomach.

Jonathan sat up with a quiet moan and glared at Orion. His movement drew Orion's attention back to him, and Skylar saw the murderous rage burn there. His eyes began to glow gold and he bared his teeth with a menacing snarl. Jonathan quickly got to his feet, ready to face him, but Skylar knew he had no chance of winning. She recognized that Orion's dragon was close to the surface, far too close, and he was going to kill Jonathan. As Orion took a step forward, snarling again, Skylar reacted.

She rushed forward, placing herself between the two men. She positioned herself so she was facing Orion, her back to Jonathan.

"Orion, don't," she said softly, looking up at him with pleading eyes. He paused for a moment, staring down at her, until the glowing of his eyes ceased. What was left behind broke her heart.

All of the anger had drained out of his eyes, leaving behind only hurt. As he glanced up at Jonathan and then back down to her she realized her mistake. She was protecting Jonathan, the man who had just ruined everything between her and the man she loved.

Orion stumbled back, still staring at her, looking lost, hurt, and confused before turning on his heel and leaving in a rush. She watched him leave, knew she should go after him, but at the sound of the front door slamming hard enough to shake the house, she lost her nerve. She had no idea what to say to explain what had just happened. She could try to explain that Jonathan had kissed her without her permission, but she had a feeling that wouldn't make a difference to Orion or his dragon.

Jonathan shifted behind her, and she spun around to face him. Her anger finally manifested. She cursed herself for taking so long to react appropriately to what he had done.

He had a small smirk on his face, and her dragon snarled loudly. This man touched them without their consent, this man made their mate unsure of them. This man needed to pay.

"How dare you!" she shouted. The mirth on his face immediately washed away as she advanced toward him. "How dare you do that. You claim to love me, but if you did you wouldn't have touched me without my permission. You wouldn't try to ruin my happiness."

Jonathan blanched. "Skylar, all I want is for you to be happy."

She snarled loudly, getting in his face. "No. You want me to be happy with you, and after this, I don't even want to be in the same room as you. Don't ever touch me again, you bastard."

Her hand snaked up to grasp the necklace she'd worn almost constantly since he'd given it to her on her birthday. She gave it a sharp tug, satisfied when she heard the snap of the chain breaking. She held it up in front of his eyes before throwing it at him. She stayed long enough to watch the hurt register in his eyes before she turned on her heel to find the man she loved.

She raced down the stairs, desperate to find Orion. She hoped the right words would come to her once she found him.

She wrenched open the front door, mildly surprised it was still on its hinges, ran right into Kellan, slamming into his chest.

"Whoa, there you are," he said, grasping her with his good arm to steady her. "I was just coming to find you and Orion."

She shook her head, looking up at him. "You didn't seem him leave, did you?"

He tilted his head to the side. "I saw him fly off. Is something wrong?"

She nodded, unable to speak the words explaining what had happened.

Kellan seemed to realize how upset she was and carefully wrapped his left arm around her, pulling her against his chest in a fatherly embrace. She felt him kiss her hair as held her, and she realized this was the first time he'd truly felt like her father. "It'll be alright, love."

She sighed into his shoulder, wanting desperately to believe him, but he hadn't seen the look on Orion's face.

"Skylar, wait!" Jonathan's voice came from within the house and she stiffened. Kellan felt her reaction and looked up to see the knight appear in the doorway.

The Alpha was a smart man, and it didn't take him long to figure out the gist of what had happened. He gently released Skylar from his grasp and positioned himself between them. Her heart warmed when she realized he was ready to protect her.

"I think you should leave her alone, son," he said in a low, menacing voice. Skylar appreciated him more than ever in that moment. "You should go check on your men."

Jonathan glanced past him at Skylar, who filled her gaze with all of the anger and betrayal she and her dragon felt. The knight looked away in shame, unable to hold her gaze, and nodded. "I'll go do that, then."

He stepped off the porch and walked toward the pastures without looking back, although Skylar could tell he wanted to based on the set of his broad shoulders and the tense way he walked. She put her face in her hands, and Kellan touched her back lightly.

"Go to him," he said simply, and Skylar knew what he meant, nodding slowly. She started to walk away, but paused, turning back to him.

"You said you were looking for me?"

He shrugged, but Skylar could tell something was truly bothering him. "I just wanted to ask if you had seen Cassie."

She shook her head. "But I'm likely not the first person she would come see."

"No, but no one has seen her since Orion talked to her a few days ago. Penelope and I... we're worried about her."

Skylar couldn't say she'd be heartbroken if Cassie disappeared forever, but she cared about Kellan and Penelope and didn't want them worried.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen her."

"Alright," Kellan rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't worry about this, go find Orion. Everything will be fine, I promise. That boy loves you more than anything."

"Thank you... Dad," she whispered, stepping forward and hugging him again. She felt him grin and embrace her tightly.

He kissed her hair again and pushed her away. "Go."

She nodded and jumped off the porch. She had a feeling she knew where Orion went.

Her dragon was as eager and desperate to find him as she was, so the shift was smooth and she was in the air in less than ten seconds. She flew over the Village and the pastures and soldiers, who all looked up to watch her soar over, but she paid them no mind. She had one goal and it was to fix things with her mate.

She landed just outside the tree line and her dragon reluctantly let her take over once again. The beast of course thought she could handle things better, but Skylar made her understand that this was a human matter.

"Orion!" she called, rushing into the woods. "Orion, are you here?" The question was redundant. She knew he was here, she could smell him, that wonderful musky scent that belonged to him and only him.

She rushed through the trees, sensing she was getting close to him, when all of a sudden, she found him.

She froze, staring around at the clearing before her. There were flowers, everywhere. All colors and sizes, filling the area with an almost overwhelming floral smell. In the middle of all the blooms stood Orion.

Her gaze focused on him, standing there like a statue. His entire body was tense, but he was still looking at her, which was promising. She hesitated but then stepped toward him. He didn't move, his gaze unwavering. She looked him up and down, completely unsure of herself. She knew that was ridiculous, this was Orion, the man she loved. She glanced around at the flowers in bemusement before looking back at Orion.

"I didn't want him to kiss me," she finally said. She didn't want to apologize, because that implied she had done something wrong, that it was somehow her fault. "I didn't know he was going to be there."

Orion didn't answer, but he didn't look away from her either.

"Orion- I didn't mean for that to happen. He was supposed to be my friend... but he's not. He means nothing to me. You're everything, and... and I couldn't bear it if this ruined what we have."

He finally responded, furrowing his brow. "Skylar, you stopped me. You protected him. From me."

"I know," she gasped. "I know, and I shouldn't have done that. But you and I both know that it would have ruined everything if you had killed him. You wouldn't have been able to live with yourself."

Orion lifted one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug, looking away. "I think I would have been alright."

Skylar couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her. He raised an eyebrow in amusement. She hugged herself and looked around at the flowers again, this time noticing a blanket and basket of food on the ground a few feet away from him.

Orion broke the silence first. "What did you need to get back at the Big House?"

That was his way of asking what was so important that all of this needed to happen.

"Oh..." she blushed, suddenly unsure of herself. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her small gift. "I, um, I made this for you?"

She apparently piqued his interest because he stepped toward her. His look was questioning, and she let the item fall from her hand. She held on to one end of the chain as the blue scale swung back and forth like a pendulum before her.

Nana had given her a fine chain, which Skylar had wrapped carefully around the scale in a spiderweb fashion, securing it in a nest of silver. The scale was about the size of her thumb. She tried her hardest to punch a hole in the scale, but it was a dragon scale, one of her own, and it was impenetrable.

"I found it one the ground after I shifted a few days ago," she whispered. "I want to give you something so a part of me is always with you."

Orion's eyes softened slightly and he looked between her and the scale a few times before reaching into his own pocket. He held whatever it contained in a closed fist, staring down at it. She carefully gathered the necklace back into her hand, still unsure about whether he liked it or not.

"I guess you and I have similar ways of thinking," he said softly, opening his palm.

In the center of his hand rested a golden ring.

She gasped softly, her eyes flying up to his in shock.

"Is that a ring?" she breathed.

"I made it out of one of my scales," he told her with a small smirk. "Laura and Kellan helped me. It takes a lot of heat and magic to soften a dragon scale enough to bend it."

"Is it for me?"

He snorted in the most un-Orion fashion. "Of course. I was going to ask you to marry me."

Her heart dropped. He spoke in past tense.

"You were?"

"Yes."

"Why? We already said we would be mates..." She only hoped that was still true.

"Because you deserved better than what I gave you."

Again, past tense.

She swallowed heavily, trying to understand what all of this meant for them. Did he no longer want to propose to her? Did he no longer wish to be her mate? Was there nothing she could do to make this right?

She looked around at the flowers and the picnic he'd put together. He'd tried, he'd really tried. That was when she realized he'd likely heard her with Benny. He'd heard that she wanted a proposal, and he'd done all of this for her, and Jonathan had to ruin it. This would have been the most wonderful moment of her life, without a doubt, and now it was gone. Dust in the wind. What could have been.

She felt a lump form in her throat and tears begin to gather in her eyes. She looked back at Orion, wondering what he was thinking. His face gave nothing away. He was always good at hiding his thoughts. She hated this Orion, this stoic man who wouldn't show emotion. She wanted him to yell, to get angry, because then at least she would know that he cared. This... this made her feel like he had given up. The worst of it all was that she didn't want any of it. She hadn't invited Jonathan to her room, she hadn't invited him to kiss her. She thought she'd done a good job of showing him they were only friends. Maybe that was her mistake. Maybe she led him on, let him think there was a chance she wanted to be with anyone other than Orion. Perhaps this was her fault.

"How were you going to do it?" she whispered, blinking rapidly to try and dispel the gathering tears. She needed to distract herself from where her mind was taking her. That was a bad road. This wasn't her fault. This was Jonathan's fault, and she could never forgive him for this. Not only that, but she wanted to know what it would have been like to be proposed to by Orion, even if it wasn't going to happen anymore.

Orion frowned and looked down at the ring in his hand, lifting the small circle in his capable fingers, staring at it as if it held the answers. He looked lost, and when his eyes met hers again, he was filled with vulnerability that she'd never seen in him before.

"I was going to get down on one knee," he said softly, doing just that. He knelt before her, holding up the ring that matched his eyes perfectly. "I was going to tell you that I love you, more than anything in this world. That you mean everything to me, Skylar, and nothing will ever, ever, change that. I was going to say that my life was empty before I met you, and I didn't even realize it.

"I was going to tell you how happy it made me knowing that no matter what life you lived, whether it be this one or the one where you grew up in the Eastern Clan, that I would have met you and been blessed with the chance to fall in love with you. To find you, my mate."

The tears were back and she lifted her hand to her mouth. He was so sincere, so filled with emotion. She wished this were real, oh, how she wished this were real.

"Skylar, you are the only thing that matters to me," he said hoarsely, choked up with emotion. His eyes had softened back into that warm, liquid gold. "I would follow you anywhere, whether it be into battle or just into the woods while you pick herbs with Nana. I am like a moth to a flame. From the moment I met you, as infuriating as you were in that moment, I knew there was something about you. My dragon was drawn to you, I was drawn to you. When we sat on the rock by the creek that very first night, where you did your best to stay as far away from me as possible and I listened to you splash your feet in the water... Skylar, I think I loved you then.

"Everyone thinks that to me, the clan comes first, but they're wrong. You do. You always will. Your happiness is all I need. If that means going to live with the humans, to stand by your side as you become their queen, then so be it. I mean it when I say I would follow you anywhere. I feel as though I can live without my clan, but I can't live without you."

She held back a sob and tightened her hand over her mouth as she stared down at him. His eyes burned into her, and she sensed that somewhere this had changed from hypothetical to very, very real.

He continued, his voice even thicker than before. "I know you were promised a prince from the moment your parents found you. I know that you grew up expecting and wanting a prince to sweep you off your feet. I'm not a prince, Skylar, but I'll try my damned hardest."

He took a deep, shaking breath, his eyes not wavering from her for a second. "Will you marry me?"

She stared at him for a moment, his hopeful, vulnerable gaze, and committed it to memory. She want to have this image to cherish in her heart forever. Orion offering himself to her, heart and soul, holding nothing back. As she looked at him, the tears finally escaped and raced down her cheeks, but these weren't sat, mournful tears. These were elated tears, tears fueled by such overwhelming love that she had nowhere else to store it.

Skylar launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face against his shoulder. "Yes, yes, of course. I love you, I love you, I love you."

His arms came around her like a vice, holding her against him with no chance of escape, not that she wanted to. No, she was right where she belonged. She snuggled closer, inhaling his scent, trying to convey how much she loved him because words just weren't enough.

"I love you," he whispered against her hair, kissing it softly.

She leaned back, wiping her cheeks free of tears. This was, of course, useless because they just kept coming. She reached up to cradle his cheek, smiling as he leaned into her hand.

"You know," she said softly, "I don't need a prince. And I don't want one. I've discovered that Alphas are much better."

His answering grin was so boyish and full of glee that she couldn't help but laugh. She leaned her head against his shoulder, completely content. Somehow, she'd ended up curled in his lap and he'd fallen on his behind from his kneeling position. Orion's hand traveled down her arm to grab her left one, where he very gently slipped the golden dragon scale ring onto her finger before entwining her fingers with his own.

"Dragons don't normally give their mates rings," he whispered into her hair. "They mark each other and that's enough, but I know that its a custom that humans use greatly. I also liked the thought that all you had to do was flash your hand and everyone would know that you're taken." She smiled and nuzzled into his neck.

"I love it," she told him honestly. "I love you."

They sat like that until the last of the sunlight disappeared from the sky, leaving them under a nearly full moon and a blanket of stars. They relished in the quietness of each other's company. They didn't talk, just sat. They didn't need to talk, the feeling of togetherness was more than enough.

"Orion," she whispered into the dark, breaking the silence that surrounded them like a bubble.

"Hmmm?"

"Mark me," she said, lifting her face to look up at him. "Make me yours."

She watched his throat convulse as he swallowed heavily. His eyes squeezed closed in effort before he looked back down at her. "Skylar, we can wait until our mating ceremony."

"No," she shook her head, climbing out of his lap to face him. "I want you to mark me now, and I want to mark you. I want everyone to know that I'm yours and that you're mine."

He sat up straighter. "You're sure?"

"I've never been more sure," she said in a strong voice. Her dragon hummed with approval. Finally they would seal the bond with their mate and this uncertainty would disappear. They would be one, and that's all that mattered to her. It's all that mattered to Skylar, as well.

He gave her a small smile before leaning forward and kissing her. It was light at first, barely a brush of his lips. She knew it was heavy on both of their minds that the last person to touch her there was Jonathan, but as Orion leaned forward to deepen their kiss, he erased all memory of the knight out of Skylar's mind.

She moaned and responded with gusto, allowing Orion to pull them into a standing position, without breaking contact with her lips, and lead her over to the blanket. He tried to remain standing, but Skylar was the one who pulled him down with her.

She felt his tongue probe at her lips and she let him in willingly. She was his, totally and completely, and she wanted to make sure that he knew it.

He hands found their way to her hips, pulling her back onto his lap so she straddled him. He groaned as she raked her fingers through his lovely dark hair, pulling it out of the leather string he used to tie it out of his face. She liked it wild. The strands fell in soft waves around his face, nearly to his shoulders, and she grinned against his mouth as she ran her hands through it. The effect this had on him boosted her confidence and bravery. She rocked her hips against him, although she was unsure why. She couldn't help it, it felt instinctual. Primal. He let out another groan, this time louder and from deeper in his chest.

Shivers ran all throughout her body and her stomach tightened in some sort of anticipation. Likely for his touch, which was getting bolder as his hands moved further up her body. She growled softly, unable to stop her body from rocking against him once again. This time he responded, his own hips leaning up toward hers and she gasped at the brand new feeling.

He broke contact with her mouth to run his nose along her jawline, inhaling deeply as he went. She tilted her head back to allow him easier access and she felt his grin at her submission. He kissed her skin lightly, biting gently in other places, generally driving her even more wild. She didn't understand the needs that had suddenly arisen in her, she'd never felt anything like it. But could feel something building inside of her, something that would demand release. She also had a feeling that only Orion would be able to relieve her of these feelings.

"Skylar," he whispered against her skin. "You need to tell me to stop, love, if this isn't what you want."

It took her a moment to understand what he meant, and when she did, she paused. She looked down at his beautiful face. He was flushed, breathing hard, and his pupils were heavily dilated with desire.

"I want to mark you, but there are other things I want to do to you as well," he whispered. "Please tell me now if you only want me to mark you."

"What other things?" she whispered, although she was starting to get the idea.

He leaned forward to kiss the soft skin where her neck met her shoulder. "Things that a man does to his mate. Things that make her well and truly his, and he well and truly hers."

Ahhhh... the primal feelings. Mates. She blushed a deep crimson, but didn't move away from him. She sensed the tension in him, the stress. He would stop, she knew, if she told him to. He loved her, respected her, and he would never make her do something she didn't want to do. She could tell how much he wanted this, the desire was written plainly on his face, but he would back off the moment the words left her mouth. His dragon was close to the surface, but she was her own. Their emotions were so strong, so palpable that they were on the very edge of shifting, an edge that needed to be balanced on perfectly if they were to claim one another.

The sounds of crickets and frogs and other wildlife filled their air around their little haven, and Skylar felt like they were in their own little bubble where nothing could get to them. She was safe here with him, safer than she'd ever felt in her life. Orion would never let anything happen to her, he would protect her with his life if he had to, and that knowledge choked her up a little. The understood the depth of her feelings as she realized she would do the same for him. Never in her life had she met someone that she would die for, but his man was it. She was put herself in harm's way to save him, just as he would for her. They were safe here, together. As she stared down at him, into his eyes and soul, she knew that she'd found the love she'd wanted to terribly, the love she'd thought she'd never be able to have in her human life. But she wasn't in her human life anymore. She was a dragon, and this man was her mate.

He watched her closely as she thought about this, his eyes catching every thought she showed on her face, but she didn't want to hide it. She didn't want to hide anything from him. Once they had marked each other, their minds and souls would be connected, just as True Mates were intended to be. More than anything she wanted that. She had nothing to hide from Orion, she wanted him to understand what she felt for him, what he meant to her. She wanted him. All of him.

"Take all of me," she whispered to him, exposing her neck. "I'm yours."