Page 7 of A Clutch for Hutch (Omegas of Animals #16)

Hutch

Mate.

I scented him seconds before he tackle hugged me and we both fell to the floor.

Not for a split second did I not recognize him.

Once his arms wrapped around me, I was home for the very first time.

I held on to him tight, not wanting to get up, not wanting to move, and then remembered where we were—Animals, a bar filled with tons of people.

If we stayed there any longer, my poor mate was going to get stepped on.

“You.” I rubbed my cheek against his, needing my scent on him.

“You. Mate. Mine,” he whispered back. “I’ve been waiting for you every day.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, but as he stood up and held his hand out for me to do the same, it didn’t matter—he was here.

I always assumed my mate would be another dragon and that we would take to the air together and have clutches of babies.

Standing here with my rabbit-shifter mate in front of me, I realized none of that mattered.

I could fly with him, hold him, maybe build a little contraption for him to fly inside, or I could walk on the ground beside him.

We didn’t need to have a clutch. We could have a litter, or whatever bunnies had.

As long as it was him, everything else would fall into place.

“I’m Hutch.” I squeezed his hand tighter.

He laughed. “You’re Hutch. You really were made for me. I’m Dirk.”

“Dirk.” I tasted the name on my lips. What a perfect name for a perfect mate. “Want to get out of here?” I asked and then realized he might not be here alone. “I mean, unless you have people you need to get back to—”

“No, no. Let’s go. I want to be able to hear you and scent you without all these other scents and sounds surrounding me.”

To my surprise, he didn’t lead me out the way I came in. Instead, we wove through the club, hand in hand, and then down a hallway that felt private. I soon discovered why. We were in the living quarters of the club, and then suddenly we were outside again.

“This is where we shift,” he said.

“We?” I asked.

“Well, any shifters who work here really.”

Relief flooded me. He lived here and wasn’t here for work or vacation. Thank gods. “You work here.”

He shook his head once. “No. My brother lives in the area. I’m just visiting.”

“Oh.” That was the very last thing I wanted to hear.

He stepped up closer and held my shirt. “Let’s not worry about that now. Let’s shift. I want to meet your animal.”

“I want to meet yours, too.”

He led me to a bench where we got rid of our clothes, and I shifted first, taking my scales, not wanting him to be scared of my beast. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that I wasn’t terrifying to people who didn’t know me.

My beast was large, my eyes red just like my father’s, and I scented a little like smoke in this form.

Intimidating, I was, and I didn’t want my mate to feel that way.

I immediately nestled down so that I was as low to the ground as I could be and lowered my head.

I thought he would shift first, but instead, he approached me. “You’re so beautiful.” He rubbed his cheek on my head just like I had rubbed mine on his earlier. “So beautiful. I won’t be as fast as you, but I’ll try and keep up.”

He pressed the sweetest kiss to my head, jumped back, and mid-jump shifted into his bunny, although I wasn’t sure if that was considered a rude way to refer to him, since technically rabbit was the name of his animal.

I’d have to talk to him about that later.

I had to talk to him about so many things, but for now, it was just the two of us in our animal forms.

At first, I walked as he hopped, but then he kept inching his head up, as if he wanted to watch me fly—as if I could deny my mate anything.

I took to the air. I flew in circles, swooping and swirling, showing off quite a bit.

My dragon wanted to make a good impression on this wonderful shifter Fate somehow deemed ours.

And then my rabbit took off, and I followed him, always cognizant of any dangers that might be around, ready to swoop in and save the day. He was an alpha. He didn’t need me swooping in, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to protect him and keep him safe.

Was that going to be a problem for us? Was he big into alpha/omega rules? If he was, I’d tamp it down. He needed to be comfortable.

Looking back, that was probably why I liked being CEO.

For the time that I was there, I was looking after all those shifters I employed.

I gave people starts in fields they weren’t quite qualified for so that they could get experience in case they wanted to go wherever the money led, or the experience, or their mates…

But in a relationship, what would that look like?

I wasn’t sure. I never had one. I never even had any true friendships.

The closest was Burns, and initially that started as me being his boss, so there was always some sort of power dynamic there.

Whether we wanted it or not. Not anymore, but that part of our time together was still new.

I was officially overthinking everything instead of enjoying this beautiful desert evening with my mate.

Determined to get out of my own head, I swooped down in front of him and ate a lizard, showing off once again and instantly regretting it, because, well, they don’t taste that good.

Next time, I was waiting for a mouse or something that was far less lizardy.

We reached an enclave of rocks, and my mate shifted back and took a seat, looking up at the sky, and I joined him.

“This is my favorite place,” he explained. “I come out here and watch the sky, usually looking for stars that might hold the answers.”

“Answers to what?” I asked.

“Answers to everything.”

He took my hand, and, with his free one, pointed out constellations. Some were the actual constellations and others were ones that he made up. I learned so much about him through his storytelling. He truly had a gift for it.

“Is it weird that I feel like I know you so well already, even though I’ve only just met you?” He curled in closer to my side.

“No, it’s not. That’s why Fate gave us to each other, don’t you think?”

I brushed a kiss against his lips, not wanting to push things too far out here in the desert, but at the same time wanting nothing more than to hold him close and never let him go.

“I think it’s time we move on.” He stood up.

“Move on? You got someplace else to show me?”

“I do.” He winked. “My room. Want to come?”

Before I could answer, he turned and shifted and bounded toward Animals again. I wasn’t far behind him.