Chapter Four – Leo
And there we were, thinking that our mate being a shifter would make things easier, Leo’s bear said as they ran through the forest, heading toward home.
But was it home?
Home is where our mate is, Leo’s bear said with a sigh, then pushed on harder, trying to outrun his fear that his mate might simply up and fly away.
She won’t, Leo said firmly.
But how could he be sure? After what Estelle had said about privacy, and after making him promise not to tell anyone about them, he was certain she was hiding from someone.
But who?
The child’s father? His bear bristled at the thought of anyone posing a threat to either Estelle or Adara.
A new, primal surge of jealousy rushed through him. His mate had carried another man’s child. And that man would always have a claim on her. A claim on them.
But Leo shoved the jealousy down. Nothing would stop him from protecting and loving Adara as his own. She was part of him because she was part of his mate. It did not matter who her father was or what history Estelle carried with her.
But it does matter, his bear replied. If the father is the threat they are running from, then it matters a lot.
But now she knows we are by her side, maybe she can stop running, Leo said.
There’s someone coming. His bear froze. Meeting their mate had overwhelmed their senses so much that they had nearly missed it.
Leo’s ears pricked as a new sound cut through the forest—the low purr of an approaching vehicle. He froze mid-stride, his bear instantly alert.
Car, his bear noted. Coming up the drive to the cottage.
Leo turned, scenting the air. Beneath the mechanical smell of exhaust, he caught something else—a presence that made his bear bristle. The unfamiliar energy was subtle but unmistakable.
Not bear. Not wolf. Something else entirely.
Dragon, his bear murmured.
Another one? Leo asked.
Perhaps it’s a friend of Estelle’s, his bear suggested.
But Leo was not about to take any chances. He had seen the haunted look in Estelle’s eyes.
Or hunted look, his bear said.
Leo did not like that thought one bit. Without thinking, he swung around, reversing direction and loping back toward the cottage. His bear pushed himself harder, running faster, his concern for Estelle and Adara overriding everything else.
Whoever this visitor was, Leo was not about to let them find his mate alone and unprotected. Not when she was already so on edge. Not when someone might be a threat to her.
Although what use he would be against a dragon, he did not know. But he did know this: he would lay down his life to keep his mate and her daughter safe.
Branches slapped against his shoulders as he ran, a sharp contrast to the pine needles soft beneath his feet. As he got closer, the air cooled as the sun slipped lower behind the mountains.
Or maybe it only felt that way because a dark shape seemed to loom over everything.
Or ahead of us, his bear said.
The wilderness around Bear Creek usually soothed him. The woods, the familiar scents, the calming hush of the trees. Not today. Today, every shadow felt sharpened, every sound like a warning.
His bear surged under his skin, all restless muscle and urgency. Hurry, hurry, hurry.
As he crested the small rise overlooking the clearing, Leo slowed.
A sleek silver car he did not recognize was parked beside Estelle’s sedan.
On the porch stood an older woman—silver-gray hair pulled back in a severe knot, her posture ramrod straight despite her years.
She wore practical clothes—dark slacks, sensible shoes, and a blue cardigan that somehow managed to look both comfortable and formal.
Even from this distance, Leo could sense that this woman took no nonsense from anyone.
The woman was knocking at the door, a small package in her hands. She looked harmless enough, but Leo’s bear was not fooled. This woman was no ordinary neighbor, bringing a welcome gift.
Leo approached cautiously, keeping to the tree line, although he was acutely aware that the woman was a shifter and didn’t need to see him to know he was there. But she didn’t turn around. Didn’t acknowledge his presence.
Perhaps she sees us as inconsequential, his bear said, balking slightly at the thought of going face to face with a dragon.
But he steeled himself. He would face a thousand dragons for their mate.
The front door opened, and Estelle appeared, Adara half-hidden behind her legs. Even from this distance, Leo could see the tension in Estelle’s shoulders, the way she angled her body to shield her daughter.
Adara had one fist twisted in the hem of Estelle’s top, her stuffed dragon tucked under her other arm.
Estelle did not step fully onto the porch.
She stood firm in the doorway, as if ready to close it at the first wrong word.
That alone told Leo enough. Whatever this was, Estelle did not see it as harmless.
He quickened his pace, emerging from the forest just as the older woman’s voice carried across the clearing.
“—heard we had new neighbors. I’m Fiona...” She thrust the package toward Estelle. “I brought honey cake.”
Leo stepped out of the trees and approached, keeping his stride casual even as his bear paced anxiously inside him.
Both women turned to look at him. For a moment, he felt like the hunted one.
But as he got closer, he caught the sharp contrast in their expressions. Relief flashed across Estelle’s face before her guard snapped back into place. The older woman—Fiona—merely raised an eyebrow, looking unsurprised by his arrival.
“Leo,” Estelle said, her voice carefully neutral. “You’re back.”
“Forgot to mention something,” he said easily, moving to stand beside her. Not touching, but close enough that his presence made a statement. “I didn’t realize you were expecting company.”
“I wasn’t,” Estelle said pointedly.
Fiona’s sharp eyes missed nothing, flicking between them with cool assessment. “Leo Thornberg. I’d know that family resemblance anywhere.” Her mouth curved into something that was not quite a smile. “I didn’t know you two were acquainted.”
The way she said it made the hair on the back of Leo’s neck rise. There was nothing overtly threatening in her tone, yet he sensed layers beneath the simple words.
“And what brings you here, Fiona?” he asked evenly.
Fiona’s eyebrow lifted. “Just being neighborly. Brought you a honey cake.” She held up the package. “Family recipe. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Bears and honey and all that.”
Leo blinked, caught off guard. “It is one of my favorites,” he admitted.
“Of course it is. I think I tried some at the restaurant once. Your mother made it. Or maybe it was your grandmother.” She gave a little shrug as if she might be a touch absent-minded, but the shrewdness in her eyes said otherwise.
And she’s made sure we know that she knows exactly who we are, his bear added.
This was definitely starting to feel like a game of cat and mouse, where he was the mouse. An unfamiliar sensation for Leo, and not one he liked.
“It’s very neighborly of you,” Estelle said, the words polite though her voice was tight. Her knuckles had gone white where she gripped the door.
“Isn’t it?” Fiona replied with a dismissive wave. “That’s me. Your friendly neighbor.”
Estelle arched an eyebrow. “You live close by?”
“Just over the valley.” Fiona waved a hand in no particular direction.
“And how did you know we were moving in?” Estelle asked bluntly.
“Oh, I saw the real estate agent leaving... and I know this place has been empty for a while,” Fiona said.
“And you just happened to have some honey cake...” Estelle began.
“I did,” Fiona cut in with a smile that reached her eyes.
She’s enjoying this, Leo’s bear said. Whatever this is.
It reminds me of sparring with our brothers, Leo answered.
Oh yeah, his bear agreed. And I’m not sure who is going to win.
Me neither, but I am rooting for our mate, his bear said.
Always, Leo replied.
“Fizz likes honey cake,” Adara announced, clutching her stuffed dragon.
Her words seemed to ease the moment, at least on the surface. Fiona’s expression softened as she crouched to look Adara in the eye.
“Does she now?” Fiona’s gaze lingered on the toy, something knowing in her expression. “Dragons often do.”
Leo felt Estelle go completely still beside him, her breath catching. The comment sounded harmless enough, but something in Fiona’s tone gave it weight, a deliberate emphasis that turned the simple observation into something loaded.
Leo glanced sideways at Estelle. She had gone pale beneath the freckles dusting her cheeks, her mouth pressed into a thin line.
If he had not been standing so close, he might have missed the tremor that ran through her.
Fiona had said almost nothing. Yet somehow it felt as though the woman had reached right past Estelle’s careful silences and touched whatever secret lay curled at the center of them.
Fiona turned back to Estelle. “She’s a beautiful child,” she said quietly. “She must have inherited her father’s features.”
Leo felt the air between the women tighten, like the moments before a storm breaks.
“She has,” Estelle whispered.
“Although there is perhaps a hint of you. In her mannerisms.” There was something veiled in Fiona’s words as they hung there, loaded with meaning. But what that meaning was, Leo could not tell.
It was as if the two women were playing a game, but he had not been given the rules.
Estelle’s throat worked as she swallowed. “Do you have children, Fiona?”
“I do,” Fiona said, her tone casual again, though her eyes stayed sharp. “I adopted two daughters some years ago. And then I was blessed with a son of my own.” She smiled at Adara. “You don’t have to share blood to be family.”
The implication was clear, and Leo felt Estelle’s fear spike, a tremor running through her body as she stood rigidly beside him.
“So true,” Estelle replied evenly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of unpacking to do, and I want to get Adara settled in before bedtime.”
“Of course,” Fiona agreed easily. “It’s been delightful to meet you.”
“You too,” Estelle said, but that was an obvious lie.
More like terrifying to meet you, Leo’s bear said.
Terrifying, Leo agreed.
“Well, I should be going. Things to do. People to see. Busy, busy.” She looked directly at Estelle. “Now, don’t be a stranger.”
Estelle nodded stiffly. “Thank you for the cake.”
Fiona paused and turned back. “I mean it,” she said, her voice suddenly stripped of pretense. “If ever you need me, you know where to find me.”
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving a stunned silence in her wake.
Leo watched as Fiona got into her car and drove away. Only then did he feel a small measure of relief. “She’s gone.”
“For now,” Estelle murmured as she placed the honey cake on a side table and then gathered Adara into her arms.
“You’re squashing Fizz,” Adara complained.
“Sorry,” Estelle said, loosening her hold on her daughter.
“Shall we have some honey cake now?” Adara asked, eyeing the neatly wrapped package.
The question landed with almost absurd normality. Honey cake. As if the last ten minutes had been nothing more than a slightly awkward visit from a nosy neighbor and not something far stranger and sharper.
Estelle brushed Adara’s hair back from her face and managed a smile that did not quite reach her eyes. “Maybe later.” Her voice was soft, but Leo heard the strain beneath it. She was already somewhere else in her mind, he could tell. Replaying words. Weighing risk.
Adara, thankfully oblivious, gave a small nod as she slid out of Estelle’s arms and trotted off toward her room with Fizz tucked against her chest, apparently content to let honey cake wait.
Leo watched her go, then turned back to Estelle.
For one heartbeat, she stood perfectly still, her arms wrapped around herself, looking less like a fierce dragon shifter and more like a woman trying to hold herself together by sheer force of will.
He wanted to reach for her. Wanted to pull her against him and promise that whatever hunted her would have to come through him first. But this was not the moment for promises she might hear as pressure. So he kept his voice gentle.
“Do you want me to stay?”
Her gaze flew to his, startled and conflicted. For a second, he thought she might say yes. Then all the shutters came down again.
“No. I think... I think I need to get Adara settled.”
The refusal stung, but less than it might have earlier. He was beginning to understand that with Estelle, no did not always mean go away. Sometimes it meant not yet.
He nodded once. “All right.” He stepped away, then paused. “Lock up after me.”
Something flickered across her face at that. “I will.”
Leo stood on the porch and waited until he heard the bolt slide firmly into place. Only then did he head back down the path toward home. His bear was unhappy about leaving them again, but Leo forced himself onward. Estelle needed space. Adara needed calm. And he... he needed to think.
Because Fiona had said so little and yet so much. Estelle had been shaken far more than the moment should have warranted. Whatever she was hiding, it was not small.
By the time Leo reached the trees, he had made up his mind about one thing. He would give her this evening. He would give her the quiet she so clearly needed. But he was not going to leave her to carry all that fear alone.
She had a mate now. Which meant she never needed to be alone again.