Page 11 of Alpha Dragon’s Mating Contract (Babies For Broken Dads #3)

SPELLS AND BETS

“That doesn’t look like enough spells,” Killian said at the breakfast table the next morning.

“It doesn’t?” Uriel replied flatly. “I busted my ass to get all these done last night. And they were extra work, because Walren didn’t want them detectable by any species.”

“It’s enough for now,” Walren said hurriedly before his friends could start arguing. He handed Uriel the envelope that Raptor had given him last night—an advance for his rut companion services. “Thanks, Uriel. I’ll give you the balance when I get paid.”

Uriel opened the envelope and thumbed through the cash, whistling lowly. “This is way too much. Here, take this back.”

He portioned out some of the bills and handed them to Walren, before tucking the envelope into his pocket.

If Walren were richer, he would’ve shoved the money back at the mage. But Walren was broke, with enough cash for one bowl of ramen, and he wouldn’t get paid until the end of next week.

“Thanks. I’ll text you before the spells run out,” Walren said.

Uriel nodded easily. “Fair enough. Besides, when you’ve used them for a while, you’ll know if you need adjustments made. Tell me when you order the next batch.”

“Have you tested them on yourself?” Killian asked, his nose twitching.

Killian was tight-lipped about his own past, and he was really jumpy, even for a rabbit shifter.

He had taken a while to trust Uriel because Uriel was heavily scarred and presented as an alpha—broad shoulders and a muscular body.

Even now, after Killian had found out that Uriel was secretly an omega, he still didn’t trust the mage completely.

None of his friends knew what had happened, to make him this way.

“I didn’t test them on myself,” Uriel said dryly. “Testing suggests that you’re not confident in the results. These are fully functioning spells that follow the laws of magic and the universe.”

Walren picked up one of the thin square sheets.

The spell was palm-sized, tightly packed lines of runes stretching from the middle of the square to its very edges.

Each tiny rune had been drawn carefully; it explained why Uriel had only managed to create ten spells, and why there were deep shadows under his eyes.

“Thanks again,” Walren said, checking the time. He yelped. “He’s almost here! Show me how to use it?”

“Lift up your shirt and pull down your pants,” Uriel said. Then he winced when Walren did exactly that. “I didn’t mean all the way down! ”

“You smell like sex,” Killian said unnecessarily, his nose twitching again. “Especially when you bare your ass.”

Walren yanked his pants back up, his face burning. “Uriel said to pull it down!”

“Just enough to expose your belly,” Uriel said exasperatedly. “Here.”

He picked up one of the spell sheets and pressed it against Walren’s belly. With his other hand, he grabbed a steak knife, and pricked Walren’s fingertip.

A drop of blood welled up. Uriel pushed Walren’s fingertip against the center of the spell, watching as his blood soaked into the runes.

Slowly, the runes lit up with a silvery glow, starting from the middle and spreading outward, until every last rune was lit up.

With a faint tingle, the spell sank into Walren’s belly and disappeared—along with all the ink on the paper.

“Figured you might not have a chance to destroy the evidence,” Uriel said dryly. “I wrote that into the spell, too.”

“That’s... That’s a lot more than I would’ve thought of,” Walren said gratefully. “Thank you.”

“Just remember to cast the spell every twelve hours,” Uriel said. “These will last you five days.”

Walren nodded and tucked the spells into a pouch that Uriel had provided.

Uriel scooped his own baby out of his back carrier, while Killian bounced his on his lap.

Walren lifted Zebbie back into his arms, turning so he could wave Zebbie’s hand at everyone. “Say bye to your friends and uncles.”

Zebbie blew a spit bubble and craned his neck to watch the ticking clock.

Walren shook his head fondly. “Anyway, thanks for all your help, you guys. I’ll keep you updated.”

Killian rolled his eyes. “I hope Raptor’s prepared for you to eat all the flowers around his mansion.”

“I will not do that!” Walren protested.

With a sigh, Uriel dug into his pocket and handed a folded bill to Killian.

Walren stared. “Were you placing bets on me? ”

Killian snorted. “Yes. I said you were gonna deny the plant damage. Uriel said you weren’t. Do you remember the time we went to a free concert at the City Hall and you ate all the flowers in the bouquets? Even I didn’t do that!”

“That’s because you found the carrots that someone threw out of the cafeteria kitchen! You brought them into the concert hall and everyone around us could hear you crunching; that’s all I remember about the concert!”

Uriel stood between them, cringing. “C’mon, let’s talk about something else.”

“Like Bruiser?” Killian said innocently. Bruiser was an alpha firefighter who had been butting heads with Uriel.

Uriel narrowed his eyes. “What about that asshole?”

“You feel very strongly about him,” Walren said.

“I feel some very strong dislike for him,” the mage growled. A vein ticked in his forehead. “I don’t fucking know what he wants. Why does he keep trying to out-alpha me?”

“Maybe he wants to have a dick-measuring contest,” Killian said. “You know, where you both pull out your dicks and show them to each other.”

Walren coughed to hide his laugh. Uriel glowered.

“Can’t you make yourself look bigger, though?” Walren asked. “Like, you can cast an illusion to make yours look bigger than his, right? It’s not like he’ll grab your cock to prove it’s real.”

Uriel’s face turned red. “Why would you even...”

The doorbell rang. All of them jumped.

Walren hurried to the door and checked the peephole, before flinging it open. “Uh, hi?”

He found Raptor looking rumpled—hair mussed, shadows under his eyes—but the alpha was smiling. Raptor glanced at Uriel and Killian. “I promise not to mention anything to Bruiser.”

Uriel stiffened. “How much of that did you hear?”

Raptor waved dismissively. “I heard nothing. Bruiser deserves to be taken down a peg or two. He’s a good guy, but still an idiot.”

Uriel scoffed. “Good thing I live far, far away from him.”

An awkward silence settled over them. Raptor coughed and turned to Walren.

“Ready to head out?”

“Yeah.”

Walren checked that he had everything—Zebbie in his chest carrier, Zebbie’s things, and his own small bag of clothes. Raptor leaned in to scoop up the bags around Walren’s feet.

This close, Walren couldn’t help but notice how broad Raptor’s shoulders were. How soft his black hair looked.

He hurriedly dropped his gaze when Raptor glanced up at him.

Then they were off, Raptor leading the way to the elevator lobby.

Their gazes met while they were waiting for the elevator.

“Uriel’s real friendly with you omegas,” Raptor said.

Walren shrugged and pretended not to know what Raptor was talking about. After all, none of the alphas knew that Uriel was secretly an omega. “But he’s friendliest with Bruiser.”

Raptor laughed. “I think he jinxed himself, back at the apartment. Remind me to adjust my bet.”

Walren’s face scrunched up. “Your bet?”

The alpha lowered his voice. “We have a betting pool going on. Those two are going to end up together, whether they like it or not. My friends and I are betting on how and when.”

“Is that ethical?”

“None of us are allowed to set them up, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Raptor said. “It has to happen naturally, through whatever circumstances they find themselves in.”

Walren nodded. “Poor Uriel. He really doesn’t like Bruiser.”

Raptor shrugged, giving Walren a slow, toe-curling smile. “I’ll keep quiet about the cock illusion idea if you’ll do the same about my friends’ betting pool.”

“O-okay,” Walren said, forgetting to breathe when Raptor stepped closer.

Then the elevator chimed, shattering the moment. Walren wanted to pout.

Raptor smiled like he knew exactly what Walren had wanted.

In the elevator, Raptor turned to study Zebbie. “How old is he?”

Zebbie babbled and stared back at Raptor. “Wa wa.”

“Eleven months.” Walren shook himself mentally. Why was he telling Raptor about Zebbie? He should keep his distance, in case Raptor had plans to steal his son.

Except Raptor leaned in, giving Zebbie a warm smile. He came so close that Zebbie reached out and smacked him in the eye.

Walren squawked. “Zeb!”

But Raptor only laughed. “Such a feisty child!”

He scrunched up his face and blew a raspberry, only for Zebbie to giggle and kick his feet.

Raptor lit up with delight.

Walren stared. It was unfair, really, that Raptor could look this good without even trying.

Stop the horny thoughts!

Desperately, Walren tried to distract them both. “Did you sleep badly last night? You look exhausted.”

Raptor scuffed his shoe against the elevator floor. “Ah, an urgent project came up last night. I didn’t get to bed until a few hours ago.”

Why did he look... shifty?

Walren wanted to pry further, but he didn’t have the right to call Raptor out on it.

“I hope you get to rest,” he said lamely instead.

Raptor grinned. “Hopefully soon. The project isn’t finished yet.”

When the elevator doors opened, the alpha led them to a cherry-red SUV. He set Walren and Zebbie’s things in the trunk. Then he opened the back door, where there was a car seat waiting inside.

“You have a car seat?” Walren asked, surprised.

Raptor’s ears turned pink. “Ah, I happened to have one on hand.”

“Why?”

Raptor looked at everything but Walren. “Ace had one! I had to have one, too.”

That was... kind of adorable.

Walren bit his lip to stop smiling, busying himself with tucking Zebbie into the car seat.

Only to have Zebbie’s eyes flash red, right before he sneezed.

A tiny puff of smoke burst from Zebbie’s mouth.

Walren panicked. He would’ve thrown himself in front of Zebbie if he wasn’t already there. Raptor can’t see over my shoulder, right?

He hurriedly flapped his hands to disperse the smoke.

“Pumpkin?” Raptor asked, sounding confused.

“Ah—Zebbie sneezed.”

“Your pulse shot all the way up.” A large hand pressed against Walren’s back, right over his heart.

Then Raptor’s face appeared over Walren’s shoulder, and Walren jumped. “Eeek!”

He’s so close!

“It’s just me,” Raptor said, peering down at Zebbie. “What’s wrong?”

How am I going to hide Zebbie’s eyes? Walren thought in a panic. Is Raptor going to discover Zebbie’s secret? It hasn’t even been an hour.

He braced himself for the worst.

Then he looked back down.

Zebbie’s eyes had gone back to being gray.

Holy hell. Walren exhaled, feeling suddenly boneless. Gods, hon! You scared me!

He relaxed completely, only to have a large hand slip around his waist, holding him up.

“You wobbled,” Raptor said against his ear. “You okay, Walren?”

Walren realized suddenly that Raptor’s hot chest was pressed against his back, the sheer warmth of him soaking through their clothes. And the strength of his grip—it was sturdy and reassuring.

It felt as though nothing could harm him, as long as Raptor held him like this.

He could be luring me into a false sense of security, he told himself.

Walren pushed away those contradicting thoughts and shook his head. Then he remembered what Raptor was asking and hurriedly nodded. “Y-yeah, I’m okay.”

Raptor looked doubtful. He rubbed Walren’s back twice, then pulled away. “C’mon, let’s get you back to my place. It’s... Gods, I hope it’s ready.”

“Why wouldn’t it be ready?” Walren asked, confused.

Raptor cringed. “It should be! Uh, the important rooms, anyway.”

It didn’t make sense. All Walren and Zebbie needed was a tiny closet-sized space—that was what they had in the apartment they’d shared with their friends, back in Colorado before the kidnapping.

“Um, we don’t need that much space?” Walren blurted. “We just need like, a small bed, a crib, and a bathroom.”

Raptor’s mouth fell open. He looked horrified. “I’m not locking you in a closet!”

“But you can’t possibly have spent... the whole night setting things up for us.”

Raptor opened and shut his mouth. “I’m being a good host. And employer. And alpha. You will be impressed by all the sock puppets.”

Walren stared. “... Sock puppets?”

Raptor froze, his eyes growing wide. “You like sock puppets, right? Like, a lot of them?”