There's Snow Escape(6)

“I still say you should. Talk to Vikter. He’s got his own stresses. Like Alyx, he’s approaching his end of time in order to find a mate. Unlike Alyx, instead of being unable to breed, he’ll die. I am pretty sure that’s damn stressful, if you ask me.” She blew out a breath. “Most of the adults are in hibernation, except for the younger dragons who tend to wake earlier. Yet he still has to worry about finding a mate or face certain death.” Her shoulders slumped. “It’s not even like he can fight it. His dragon will die from the need to mate.”

That was the sole reason Brecc hadn’t brought his pack into the land belonging to the dragons known as Dragos.

Alessandra turned to him, her eyes pleading. “Why don’t you talk? You used to be friends at one time. I don’t know what happened, but you should figure it out. You’re both in the same boat. A little understanding can go a long way.”

The idea made his muscles tense with anger. What Alessandra didn’t know about his broken friendship with Vikter was best left in the past. Telling her would only open old wounds and make his sister hurt unnecessarily. He’d figure things out.





FOUR



Charlotte sipped on her wine and waited for her best friend to come out of the dressing room where she was getting fitted for her wedding dress. A dress Charlotte herself had bought and gotten into to ensure it would fit.

Charlotte needed more than wine right now. Crazy how the people in this world told her the wine would calm her stomach. Humans clearly weren’t marketing it properly. And she didn’t care that it was still first thing in the morning. Well, it was back on Earth. Out in Nova Aurora? She didn’t know anything other than the forest was purple and getting through the space travel opening thingy fucked up her stomach. She’d been throwing up the previous night like she was nursing the worst hangover since college.

“Princess held up a lot better than you did during the transport it seems.” Bella’s laughter carried from the dressing room.

“Yeah, well she’s a cat. They’re used to crazy heights and dangerous stunts. It’s why she’s got nine lives, remember?”

“True.” Bella sighed. “But I hoped you wouldn’t have the same issue I did. Getting sick sucks.”

“I didn’t have a panic attack. I just felt like my muscles were weighed down hard, my head started to hurt and then my stomach rolled with every step I took.” She sipped on the delicious fruity wine they called Sidaii and leaned back on her lounger. “By the time we were through, Gerri almost had to carry me, the bags, and the cat.”

As if on cue, Gerri, matchmaker extraordinaire, walked into the bedroom and smiled at Charlotte, her bright blue eyes twinkling. “Is she done, yet?”

“Almost,” Bella said. “This is not that easy to put on.”

“I offered to help,” Charlotte shrugged. “But she’s a cabeza dura.”

Gerri chuckled. “Hard headed? I can see that about her.” Gerri took a seat across from Charlotte. “Have you given any thought to what I asked you?”

“What did you ask her?” came from Bella.

“She wants to match me up,” Charlotte replied and scrunched her nose. She picked up a long dark strand of hair and twirled it in her fingers. Her dating life was non-existent. After that seven year marriage went nowhere, she’d divorced and gave up on love. “I don’t know…”

“Do it!” Bella yelled. “She hasn’t been on a real date in forever. Maybe a nice shifter is what she needs.”

“Really, Bella?” Charlotte laughed. “You make me sound like I haven’t been with a man in ages.”

“You haven’t!”

Gerri cleared her throat and lifted a brow. “It wouldn’t hurt to try.”

Ah, what the hell.

“I guess. I’m not opposed to finding a good man.”

Gerri raised her brows. “Or two?”

She choked on the wine she’d just sipped. “Excuse me?”

Bella laughed from the fitting room. “Some of the shifters come in pairs.”

“Seriously?” Charlotte blinked.

Gerri nodded with a slow smile. “I need to know you’re willing to give a set a try if they happen to be the ones for you.”

Two men? The idea boggled her mind. She’d yet to meet one who was worth her time, much less two. If Gerri could work that miracle she wouldn’t turn them away. “I guess. It might take some getting used to though.”

“As long as you’re willing to give it a chance. Who knows what you’ll find here.”

Charlotte had been so happy to get off Earth. The pressure she was under to write the follow-up to her self-help book on learning to live with big curves was getting overwhelming. She hadn’t expected that kind of response.