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Saffron

“Wake up, wake up, wake up!” I cried.

Aurum’s eyes snapped open. Before he sat up, he instinctively threw a protective arm across Mylo’s chest.

“What? What is it?” Aurum demanded, ready to kick someone’s ass.

I plopped down on the edge of their bed like an excited kid on Christmas morning.

“It’s my day!” I announced. “The first day of my season of the Dragonfate Games!”

The puzzled expression on my twin brother’s face twisted into irritation. He groaned, slumping back into bed with his mate.

“Dude,” Aurum muttered. “Never wake me up like that again, unless there’s an actual emergency.”

“This is an emergency,” I said seriously.

Aurum arched an eyebrow at me.

“The emergence... of my fated mate,” I finished.

Aurum groaned again. “Shut the fuck up.”

Mylo chuckled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “I thought it was kind of funny.”

“Thank you, my dear Mylo,” I said, grinning at the ferret omega.

Since Aurum and I shared the same living space, Mylo was like my roommate. But he meant more to me than that. As my twin’s mate, we shared a special bond our other brothers didn’t really understand. I helped raise their twin girls, Kiara and Desiree, almost like they were my own.

But despite our close bond, Mylo was not my mate, and the girls weren’t my daughters.

It was the one thing I’d wanted my entire life—an omega partner, a fated mate to call my own. In our entire family, I was the one most obsessed with romance and love. Which made it all the more annoying that most of my damned brothers had found their fated mate before I did. Seriously, how was that even fair? How did Crimson the fashion freak, or Jade the BDSM pervert, find their true loves before me ?

Whatever. I was done being jealous, because it was finally my time to shine.

As Aurum and Mylo roused, I leapt off their bed and over to the crib where the girls were now awake. I scooped up the identical black-footed ferret kits, wearing them like a pair of wiggly scarves around my neck.

“Good morning, Kiara. Good morning, Desiree,” I greeted. “Are you two ready for your Uncle Saffron to find the most awesome mate ever?”

“That title’s taken,” Aurum called, pressing a fat kiss to Mylo’s cheek. Mylo giggled at the attention. “Are you actually gonna get ready, or are you just here to annoy everyone?”

“I’m here to annoy everyone,” I confirmed happily.

Aurum snorted as he lifted his daughters from my neck. The girls perked up immediately under their dad’s attention. Although Aurum and I were also identical, the girls had no problem telling us apart. Twin powers. Gotta love ‘em.

“Hey, I’ve got a suggestion,” Aurum said with a shifty grin. “Why don’t you go make it everyone else’s problem, too? I’m sure Crimson would love to hear how excited you are this early in the morning.”

“That is an incredible idea,” I said solemnly. “Thanks, bro.”

“No problem, bro. See ya later.”

I took Aurum’s advice and went to bother the rest of my brothers. But was it really bothering if it was already eight in the morning, or did I provide a much-needed public service? I decided it was the latter as I knocked on Crimson’s door.

“Hello! Wakey wakey!” I called.

A beat of silence was followed by a storming of footsteps. Crimson threw the door open, glaring down at me with narrowed red eyes.

“What is it, you sunny little cretin?” he complained.

“It’s the first day of my season!” I announced.

A loud, catlike yawn was followed by Taylor’s appearance beside Crimson. Their toddler, Ruby, was cradled in his arms.

“You’re in season?” Taylor asked sleepily. “I thought that only happened to omegas.”

“No, it’s my season of the Dragonfate Games,” I corrected, although I knew Taylor was just teasing me. “I’m finally going to find my mate!”

Taylor flashed a tired smile, like he was ready to go back to bed. “That’s great, Saffron. By the way, how’s Saffron Jr?”

I grinned at the mention of my mini-me plushie. “He’s doing great, just like me!”

“Yes. Wonderful,” Crimson said flatly. “Please go make your special day someone else’s problem. And never wear those heinous polyester pajama bottoms in my presence again.”

He shut the door. I glanced down at my pants. How did he even know they were polyamorous or whatever? Rolling my eyes, I moved on.

Next, I banged on Thystle’s door. His mate, Matteo, was the one who answered. His brown hair was mussed up from sleep, but he seemed happy to see me, if a little confused.

“Hey, Saffron,” Matteo greeted, down-to-earth as ever. “What’s up?”

“It’s the first day of the Dragonfate Games! Where’s Thystle? Wake him up right—”

Thystle looked grumpy as he stomped up beside Matteo. Black eyeliner was smeared across his face, like he’d fallen asleep without removing it.

“Unfortunately, I’m awake,” Thystle mumbled. He rubbed his temple and blew a strand of hair out of his face. “Does the concept of beauty sleep mean anything to you?”

“Man, you and Crimson are such divas,” I complained.

Thystle’s eye twitched at being compared to our fashion-obsessed brother.

“I’m gonna go tell Cobalt,” I decided.

“You do that,” Thystle grumbled before closing the door.

I ran towards Cobalt and Muzo’s room. After I knocked, a frizzy-haired Muzo answered the door. He lit up when he saw me.

“Saffron!” The little omega stopped with a sudden gasp. “It’s your day! ”

Excitement coursed through me. “Yeah!”

Finally, someone who was just as thrilled as I was. Although Muzo got excited over a lot of things.

Cobalt joined his mate with a sleepy nod. “Congratulations, Saffron.”

I beamed, encouraged that some of my family seemed to care. “Thanks, guys. I’m so excited, I could run laps around the castle.”

“That would help get your energy out,” Cobalt said calmly. “You don’t want to overwhelm your potential mate.”

I frowned. Would that be a problem? I hadn’t even thought about that. Could my energy be too much for the contestants?

My foot bounced, but I was suddenly too aware of my buzzing excitement and stopped doing that. “Maybe that’s a good idea... See you guys later.”

I jogged down the hall. Cobalt’s remark stuck in my mind like one of those annoying stickers you can’t fully remove from a DVD case. What if I was too much for the potential mates? What if they thought I was annoying?

I was different than my brothers. When their time came, none of them really wanted to be the bachelor. But I did. So, so badly.

I slowed down to catch my breath and calm the anxiety swirling in my chest. What was wrong with me? I wasn’t normally nervous about anything. Maybe it was normal pre-show jitters.

I blew out a breath. I still hadn’t spoken to Jade. He’d taken over management of the show after our disastrous efforts—thank Holy Drake—and he’d recently completed his own season of the Games. If anyone could give me advice, it was him.

Bypassing Jade’s room completely, I headed straight for his office since he was likely awake already. His office was his sanctuary, and the place where he cooked up all the schemes and production crap related to the Games. I was relieved Jade had taken over that huge responsibility, since my involvement last time was a total disaster. In the end, everything worked out—Jade had found his fated mate in Alaric, and they had a beautiful son named Mint.

A hopeful thought floated into my mind: if Jade could find his fated mate with all his kinky fetishes, then I would have no problem finding one, too.

Unless... what if all the omegas were kinky? What if none of them were vanilla? What if I wasn’t sexually compatible with any of them? Man, I had to find some kinks ASAP.

I was too scatterbrained to knock, so I barged into Jade’s office without thinking. All I saw was his massive wooden desk and the top half of his body.

“Hey, Jade, could I talk to you for a—”

Jade let out a sudden choking sound before he composed himself. He sat upright in his office chair, his hands white-knuckling a stack of papers in front of him. A rosy blush dusted his cheeks. He cleared his throat loudly.

“Saffron,” he said, sounding stilted. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, you can. Uh, are you okay?” I asked.

Just as the room went silent for a second, I heard a peculiar wet, gulping sound coming from beneath the desk.

Oh.

Great.

Alaric was under that desk, wasn’t he?

“Never mind, gotta go, bye,” I said in a single breath before getting the hell out of there.

I practically flew downstairs to the kitchen, trying to forget that mental image before it burned into my retinas forever. Thankfully, I was distracted by Viol flipping pancakes.

“Oh, thank Holy Drake you’re here,” I said through breaths. “I just saw—”

Viol cut me a glare. “Keep it rated G. We have company.”

He nodded over his shoulder to where Mint sat in a high chair by the counter, eagerly awaiting Uncle Viol’s pancakes. The furry little dragonet squeaked when he saw me.

Well, that explained who was babysitting Jade and Alaric’s son.

I sighed, slumping on the counter next to Mint like a haggard patron of a bar. “Can I have pancakes, too? It’s been a long morning.”

Viol snorted. “It’s 8:30 AM.”

“On the first day of my season of the Dragonfate Games,” I moped. “And none of our brothers care.”

“Nobody cares about shit at 8:30 in the morning. I wouldn’t even be awake if it weren’t for the kid,” Viol retorted, dumping a pancake on a plate and sliding it towards me. “Don’t take it personally.”

“Thanks. By the way, what’s with the swearing? That’s not very G-rated.”

“I didn’t swear,” Viol lied. “Eat it before it gets cold.”

Eager to drown my sorrows in maple syrup, I shoveled the pancake into my mouth. My worries melted away as the soft, buttery flavor hit my tongue. Man, when did Viol get so good at cooking? He was going to make an amazing alpha partner someday—if he ever gave love a chance.

My grouchy, leather-clad older brother sat at the counter, cutting Mint’s pancake into tiny bite-sized pieces. He fed them to the dragonet with a colorful plastic spork. The juxtaposition of his dark, intimidating aura with the baby-sized spork amused me.

When I’d finished eating, I asked, “Viol, do you think I’m too much?”

“Yes.”

“Gee, thanks,” I mumbled.

Viol shrugged. “You asked.”

“Okay, let me rephrase that. Do you think I’m too eager to find my mate? Like, do you think I’ll scare him away?”

Viol shot me a softer glance. “If you’re really fated... then, no.”

His frank words surprised me. To be honest, I hadn’t expected real advice from him. I’d just needed to dump my feelings to somebody, but Viol’s engagement made me lean into it.

“But how will I know without a shadow of a doubt that I’m fated to him?” I asked, shuffling in my seat.

Viol’s typical nastiness returned. “How the fuck should I know? Do I look mated to you?”

I sighed, forcibly reminded that I was the last unmated alpha in the family besides my most asshole-ish brother. Not a good look.

“You know, you’re swearing a lot for a babysitter,” I pointed out.

“Minty’s too young to remember,” Viol dismissed. His face brightened when he tickled the top of the fluffy dragonet’s head. “Isn’t that right, cutie?”

“Fack!” Mint exclaimed.

The kitchen fell dead silent. Viol and I stared at each other.

In a low voice, he warned, “If you tell anyone where he learned that word, I’ll skin you.”

After promising to keep my mouth shut, I left the kitchen to get dressed for the big day. But as soon as I was alone, my anxieties returned to the front of my mind. None of my brothers had wanted to be the bachelor. Did that make them more attractive somehow? Would my eagerness to find a mate be a total turn-off?

Then the opposite worry popped up: what if I wasn’t honest? What if the omegas thought I was holding back? What if they thought I was fake?

“Saffron?”

Aurum’s familiar voice slapped a temporary bandage on my worries. I was so distracted that I hadn’t even noticed him appear in the hallway behind me. I didn’t see Mylo or the girls—they must’ve gone ahead to the kitchen. I wondered if Aurum sought me out because he sensed I needed his support.

“Hey,” I said, sounding less excited than I had earlier.

My twin immediately knew something was wrong. “What’s bothering you?” Aurum asked.

I sighed heavily as anxiety clenched at my chest. “What if I’m too overbearing? What if none of the omegas like me?”

Aurum blinked in confusion, then scowled and crossed his arms. “Okay, which dickhead brother infected your brain with anxiety?”

“It wasn’t one of the dickheads,” I mumbled. “It was Cobalt. And he didn’t say it to make me anxious. That happened on its own.”

Seeing my distress, Aurum put his arm around my shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry so much. You’re a fucking catch. You know that, right? You’re a hot, young, wealthy dragon. And you’re a twin! People love that. You’ll find a mate, no problem.”

I smiled at his attempts to cheer me up, but it was half-hearted.

For once, Aurum didn’t notice my lukewarm mood. His brows knitted as he stumbled into a totally different train of thought. “Actually, you’re like, too much of a catch. I don’t want you to attract the wrong type of people.”

“What?”

Aurum frowned. “You’re so happy and outgoing. And you obviously want a mate.”

I didn’t understand his point. “And you think it’ll push people away?”

His amber eyes flashed with protective ferocity. “No. It could draw in someone who wants to use you.” In a lower voice, he added, “Like Billy.”

My stomach dropped as I heard my ex’s name. Billy didn’t love me. He’d only wanted the status of dating a wealthy dragon shifter, but I’d fallen for his sweet lies all the same. I’d only dumped him and gotten through that dark moment with Aurum’s support.

My twin was right back then. Could he be right again now?