“And I bet he’s going to be a lot of trouble,” the sheriff said, his usually gruff tone replaced by one of awe. “And we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Chiara found herself smiling at Naomi when she drew back.
Both she and Gregory still looked overwhelmed with joy. Chiara found herself the tiniest bit jealous—would that be her and Jared next year?
Yes, she told herself firmly. And there was no need for jealousy anymore. Not now, when she was mated to the best man she’d ever known.
Anyway, with the remodeling still underway, they could use a few last quiet months. And when they were done, there’d be lots of space for a whole bunch of little griffin shifters to run, play, and get dirty—and to invite their dragon shifter friends for sleepovers.
“There they are!” a voice called out from behind here. A moment later, laughter and excited voices filled their garden when more and more of their guests arrived.
Chiara soon found her arms filled with flowers and presents.
All around her, people wer
e milling, admiring the garden and the changes they’d made. Not that the gorgeous garden had needed much. Mostly, their changes consisted of buying benches and comfortable chairs and a canopy swing, so that they could actually spend long, warm summer evenings out here with their friends.
And then a shadow raced across the grass.
A few seconds later, a second shadow followed, then a third.
When Chiara looked up, she saw three magnificent dragons getting ready to land. The dragons of earth, water, and fire had arrived at last, each of them carrying their own mate on their back.
Jared laughed when he saw them circle around the house.
“Make some space, people!” he called out with a grin.
A moment later, one by one, their friends landed in the northern part of their garden, immediately shifting to make space for the next dragon shifter.
Chiara couldn’t bite back a smile at the sight.
This was one of the things she’d never had to worry about before when thinking about which apartment to move into. Fortunately, their garden had space enough for an entire flight of dragons—or griffins. Except for the days when they’d filled the garden with guests and tables laden with food, of course.
“There she is!” Liana said in delight, thrusting a box of donuts at her. “Congratulations again!”
Chiara found herself laughing as she peeked into the box. Most of the donuts were green—and decorated with tiny chocolate alien faces. A few of them were orange and looked like flying saucers.
There were some things she’d probably never live down. But for some reason, she really didn’t mind.
“Congratulations,” Autumn and Damon, the earth dragon, added when they came up to her as well, hugging her.
“I’m so glad Jared finally found someone,” Autumn said. She smiled. “It really was about time.”
“Flying from coast to coast to do the chimera’s work is no way to spend your life,” her mate agreed. “And what good is duty if you forget the most important things in life?”
“Ha,” Jared said as he came closer. “As if you weren’t exactly the same before you met Autumn.”
Amused, Chiara watched as the gathered group of shifters started to discuss which of them had been the worst.
Finally, when there was a break in the argument, she declared, “You’re all wrong, you know.”
That was enough to make them all fall silent. Puzzled, they stared at her.
“There’s no one here who was worse than Jared,” Damon stated after a moment. “Not even I, and you know how much I love my work.”
“Oh, there is.” Chiara grinned. “And you all know it too. It’s the chimera. Has he even left his cave in the last century?”
“That’s not fair. He doesn’t count,” Timothy said.