Page 66

“It won’t be long,” Alnitak said. “She is a bright butterfly soul.”

“She is.” Cullen put a hand on his belly, feeling at one with this stunning space.

“I like you.”

“Thank you, Alnitak.”

“Oh, you must call me Da. And you are welcome to all Rigel Father.”

“I call my father Dad, so that’s wonderful if no one objects.”

“Not at all,” Rigel told him. “I am honored.” And he stuffed a whole small cake into his mouth.

He’s adorable. Seriously. So sweet.

Not as much as your father, who has clueless down to a fine art… Orion pointed out.

Noted.Cullen nodded and sat when Da motioned to the chair. “Is this where you grew up, mate?”

“I did. I loved it here.”

“Why did you leave?” How could anyone leave this magical place?

“I didn’t have a place here.” Oh, there was something cold and miserable in those words, and Cullen hated to hear it.

“Oh.”Oh, love. I’m sorry. Do you want to go? I will totally go with you, right now.

“That’s not true. You always have a place here, hios.” Alnitak’s eyes were wide.

“You sent me away.”

“We had to. There were children that needed rescue, and you were the one best suited for it. You were our guardian. We needed your help.”

“And I needed to come home, Father. I needed your help, your support, your love, and you just…”Left me in the wind out there, alone in the human world. It was wrong.

Rigel’s face seemed to crumple. And Cullen couldn’t blame him if he’d heard what Cullen had heard.

“Oh. My son. I am so sorry. I thought you liked the human world. You always seemed so fascinated by them.”

“I was! But I would happily have gone and done rescues and then come home to stay.” Orion looked at Cullen. “But I did finally find you, and I will never regret that.”

“And I can’t imagine my life without you, Orion, so we’re equal.” He reached out for his mate and squeezed his hand.

Rigel hummed deep in his chest, the sound almost pained. “You are welcome here. Here, or you and your mate can build a home of your own here. Whichever you’d like.”

“We can’t leave my brothers or my post. It’s my job, you know, to protect the different realms. We have to make sure that any dragons left behind get to go home.”

“Are you the only portal?” Da asked, and Cullen shrugged.

“We don’t know. If we’re not, then there’s a reason no one is sharing where the others are…”

“I suppose that is true.” Da smiled gently. “Know that we love you, Orion, and that you and your mate are always welcome here.” His eyes scrunched as if he might cry. “I did not know we were keeping you away so badly. At some time, I will ask your forgiveness, but now I will only apologize.”

Father Rigel just stuffed another cake in his mouth.

Parents. They were all the same.

Don’t you know it?“Would you like to see the room I grew up in?”