Page 36 of Alpha Dragon’s Mating Contract (Babies For Broken Dads #3)

RAPTOR’S NEST

“Sweetheart?” Raptor asked quietly, his chin hooked over Walren’s shoulder.

“I think... I think they’re finally safe.” Walren checked his friends’ chat for updates, before releasing a deep breath. Holy crap, that was intense.”

“No kidding.” Raptor checked his own phone. “No word from Crush.”

Walren frowned. “Are we really sure they’re alright?”

“I’ll give him a while to respond,” Raptor said. “Since he’s busy being a ‘kidnapper’. Either way, the GPS should be enabled on Killian’s phone, so we shouldn’t have any problem tracking them down.”

“Okay.”

Walren finally let himself sag into Raptor’s chest. Raptor wrapped his arm around Walren’s waist, tucking his hand up the front of Walren’s shirt. It felt good. Calming, after the surprise texts that had interrupted them on their way out of the mansion.

“Sorry,” Walren said guiltily. “You were so excited about the nest.”

“I can get excited again,” Raptor said into his hair. “Don’t apologize for worrying about your friends’ safety. That’s more important than a nest unveiling.”

“Even if you spent the better part of four weeks building that nest?”

“Even then,” Raptor said.

He was the best alpha that Walren had ever met.

Walren ducked his head self-consciously. “I really appreciate that you made a nest for me.”

“Ready to see it?”

Walren checked his phone one last time, then slipped it into his pocket. “Yeah, I am. Let me get Zebbie; I think he’ll want to see it, too.”

Over the past four weeks, Raptor had worked hard on the nest. He had spent all his free time hammering and nailing, sometimes sneaking out after Walren had fallen asleep to squeeze in an extra hour of building.

He had sawed and hammered the lumber in front of Walren, but kept the nest itself hidden under heavy tarps.

Twice, Walren had asked if Raptor ended up using all the strange building materials he had ordered. Raptor would not tell him. It only added to Walren’s growing curiosity.

Walren scooped Zebbie out of Go Cart’s cargo basket now, following Raptor out of the mansion.

The nest was nothing like Walren had expected. It was the top half of a sailboat rising up from the ground, with two sturdy masts holding up a pair of majestic white sails. With each breeze, the boat seemed to inhale, the interlocking logs of its walls sliding back and forth against each other.

“Just like a woody orgy,” Raptor explained, puffing out his chest. “Don’t worry about the moving gaps between the logs. They have been spelled to repel any and all little fingers, so no babies will be hurt.”

“What about wings and tails?”

“Those too. In fact, you can’t even stick a pencil into the gaps; it would be repelled.”

“Phew,” Walren said, stepping closer. “That’s a load off my mind.”

“The loads belong elsewhere,” Raptor said slyly.

Walren blushed and nudged Raptor’s arm self-consciously. He approached the gentle ramp leading through the side of the boat, admiring how wide it was—both Raptor and Go Cart could enter the boat easily.

On the inside, pool noodles had been strung up between the boat’s masts, wrapped in fairy lights.

Rubber ducks were nestled into little niches in the logs, and cans of sweet corn had been tucked into cubby-holes along the length of the boat.

Raptor had stuffed other kinds of food into the cubby-holes too, like little bags of cookies and uncooked rice.

“You wrote their names on the ice cream sticks!” Walren stopped in front of a rubber duck with an ice cream stick labeled ‘Sir Quacks-A-Lot’.

Raptor grinned. “I did lots of things!”

The grandfather clock had been installed on its back in the middle of the boat, its glass surface flush with the rest of the deck. Walren stared curiously at it.

“It’s not for telling time,” Raptor said, crouching next to it. “And the glass is spelled so you can’t shatter it.” He flipped some latches and swung open the front of the clock, to reveal a secret compartment inside. “This is a space for anything you want to hide. Like a treasure.”

“I’m really enjoying this,” Walren admitted, awestruck. “There’s so much going on in here. Like the rosemary on the walls, and the rice and corn in the cubby-holes...”

“Since you snack on uncooked rice,” Raptor said, following his gaze. “I thought that would be handy to have out here.”

“Thank you.”

Raptor grinned. “You haven’t seen the best parts yet.”

He led Walren to the front of the boat, where there was an alpha-sized pile of cushions and towels. Walren let himself fall onto the pile with Zebbie, both of them bouncing and giggling.

“There’s something similar on the other end of the boat,” Raptor said, helping Walren to his feet. “Come look!”

On the other end of the deck was a colorful ball pit, with a short section of a huge pipe acting as a doorway—even Raptor could walk through without ducking his head.

“Where did you get this pipe from?” Walren asked, amazed.

“I have connections in the pipe industry,” Raptor said vaguely.

Above the ball pit, a heavy steel rope connected the nearest mast to a tree outside the boat.

“A short zip line,” Raptor explained. “I should mention that the nest is protected from lightning, too.”

Walren wandered from one end of the boat to the other, eyeing the seemingly empty middle of the deck. “Is there something I missed?”

“Oh!” Raptor tugged on a thick rope hanging from one of the masts.

The floor around the cushion pile opened up to reveal an even larger cushion pit, with huge, soft pillows that Walren wanted to dive into.

“And if you tug on this other rope—” Raptor reached for a rope with a tiny bell “—you get some weather protection.”

A canvas awning unfolded over the front of the boat, sheltering the entire length of the cushion pit.

“If it rains, you can watch it fall from the comfort of your cushions,” Raptor said.

“This is amazing, like a dream,” Walren breathed. “I want to live in here forever.”

Raptor puffed out his chest, lighting up like a megawatt bulb. “I just want to provide for you, sweetheart.”

But one thing did not add up.

“How did you get from... uh, from your first nest to this?” Walren blurted.

Raptor scratched his head, looking sheepish. “Ah... I asked Ace for help. He’s the Master Builder.”

“And you’re the Master Baiter,” Hassel said from somewhere outside the boat.

“You’re not wrong,” Raptor said to Hassel. “I do bait bad guys.”

Hassel popped his head over the boat’s low wall, as though he had been lying on the grass waiting for this chance. “Chef Master has been Master Baiter for centuries. ”

Walren choked. Raptor grinned.

“I could show you how good I am at Master Baiting,” Raptor purred.

“Oh, gods,” Walren groaned. “That is terrible.”

“You know you love it.”

The thing was, Walren did. He rubbed his face and groaned again.

After a moment, Raptor said thoughtfully, “I was going to add more snacks to the cubby-holes, but I needed to know what food you prefer. Especially considering the zucchini incident earlier.”

Walren groaned. “Ugh, don’t remind me!”

“Sorry. I did have the gardener plant wildflower seeds all over the lawn, but it’ll be a while before they flower. I’ll buy some bouquets in the meantime.”

“That’s okay!” Walren said. “You don’t have to! I uh, I just destroy flowers. A lot.”

“But it brings you joy,” Raptor pointed out. “I want to do whatever makes you happy.”

Walren swallowed hard. “No one’s ever said that to me before.”

Raptor shrugged and glanced at the boat-nest around them. “That’s their loss.”

A shivery feeling swelled through Walren. The longer he looked at Raptor, the more he trembled, feeling too small for his skin. “I need to run.”

Raptor frowned. “Where to?”

“Just... around. I need to shift.”

Walren squirmed out of his clothes. He helped Zebbie out of his, too. Then he reached inward for the well of speed and freedom, his fingers shrinking into hooves, his face elongating into a snout.

“Beautiful,” Raptor growled.

Next to them, Zebbie copied Walren’s shift. He hopped on his little hooves and followed eagerly as Walren raced down the ramp onto the grass.

“Run, sweethearts! Run!” Raptor hollered from the side of the boat.

Walren kicked his hind legs and ran, the grass flying beneath him. Zebbie ran by his side. Whether this was Zebbie’s greatest speed, Walren didn’t know—he was still hindered by his bad leg in this shape.

It felt good to stretch his legs, though. Felt good to fly through the air, Raptor’s territory sprawling ahead of him, a safe space to run.

There came a roar behind them. Then leathery wings flapped, and a large black dragon swooped toward them.

Walren squealed. He pushed everything he had into his legs, proudly noting that Zebbie kept up with him.

Instead of pouncing, Raptor flew slowly behind them, before turning sharply and landing in the middle of the grass. He sat and watched keenly as Walren and Zebbie ran laps around his territory, breathing a plume of orange flame every so often.

The flames reminded Walren of Raptor’s secret steel doors. The attached sensor pad was probably unlocked by fire—but how was he going to reproduce flames that hot?

Or was there another way to get into that secret room?

If Raptor had challenged him to find a way in, then that meant it was possible, right?

Raptor breathed a long plume of fire close to the ground. With a soft bleat, Zebbie left Walren’s side, shifting into a little emerald dragon.

Walren slowed to a stop, watching speechlessly as Zebbie flapped his wings and stumbled over to Raptor, puffing tiny clouds of smoke.

“Awww, kiddo!” Raptor lay down on his stomach, bringing his snout close to the ground so he could look at Zebbie.

Zebbie gave a tiny roar. Then he tried to scramble up Raptor’s snout. His wings flapped and smacked Raptor in the eye, but Raptor only laughed and wriggled his limbs, content to let Zebbie treat him as a playground.

“Zebbie,” Walren chided, still in his gazelle shape. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, though. Raptor had such an easy connection with Zebbie; Zebbie didn’t even approach Walren’s friends this readily.

Walren was still envious. But this also made him think... maybe Raptor might be a good alpha dad for Zebbie. Walren couldn’t fill that role in Zebbie’s life.

Go Cart raced toward them. Instead of crashing into Raptor and Zebbie, the cart tried to roll up Raptor’s tail onto his back, as though it was climbing a small hill.

Raptor was probably too steep, though. Go Cart’s wheels spun uselessly, and it squeaked in disappointment.

Sympathizing, Walren shifted back into a human, to help Go Cart clamber onto Raptor’s back.

“Sweetheart?” Raptor asked, glancing over his shoulder.

“I’m not doing anything!” Walren said, only to push the cart onto the highest part of the dragon’s body.

“Awww, Walry!” Raptor cooed.

A phone camera clicked. When Walren looked up, he realized that Hassel had taken a picture of the scene.

Walren squawked. “I’m naked!”

Raptor gasped. “Hass! You’re a hero!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll cover you up with an eggplant sticker,” Hassel said to Walren, already poking at his phone.

“Make it a big eggplant!” Raptor crowed.

“Of course,” Hassel replied. “I’ll even add some nuts on there.”

Walren groaned. He wanted to protest, but he was to blame for pushing Go Cart onto Raptor.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Walren said to the cart, helping it back onto the ground. “Now you know what it’s like to climb a big dragon like a hill.”

The cart squeaked its wheels and raced off. Raptor and his butler snickered.

Walren shifted back into a gazelle, kicking at the grass with his hooves.

He knew what he wanted to do next. Just that he lacked the courage to do it.

“Walry?” Raptor asked. Then he reached over with his paw and snagged Walren’s foreleg, pulling him closer until he could tuck Walren against his side. Raptor’s warmth soaked through Walren’s fur, his wing curled protectively over Walren’s body.

Walren had not intended to spend long there, but he felt so comfortable that he dozed off.

He woke up with hot air puffing in his face, and a large dragon snout-to-snout in front of him.

Walren bolted upright, bleating.

“Hey, it’s fine. It’s me.” Raptor petted Walren with his wing. “You fell asleep.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to be in my face when I woke up!”

When Raptor’s wings drooped, Walren hurriedly nuzzled him to show he wasn’t offended. Raptor grinned and bumped their snouts together. Then he shifted back into a human, cupping Walren’s fuzzy face with his large hands.

“You’re endlessly adorable,” Raptor whispered.

Walren couldn’t blush as a gazelle, but it was a near thing.

“I hope we can do this again. Us in our shifted shapes. Maybe I can even take you flying!”

Walren hurriedly shook his head. “Nonono. Feet on the ground.”

“Alright.” Raptor pressed their foreheads together. It felt weird, so Walren shifted back into his human shape.

Just that it was twice as intimate now, looking into Raptor’s eyes, being held by him. Raptor pressed a soft kiss to Walren’s lips; Walren’s heart stuttered.

Raptor grinned. He had heard Walren’s pulse, hadn’t he?

Instead of saying something about it, Raptor cradled Walren’s face and kissed him again.

“Why would you?” Walren blurted. “I puked earlier.”

Raptor huffed and nudged their mouths together. “Your morning sickness isn’t going away anytime soon, sweetheart. Besides, I’m to blame for your pregnancy. I’ll deal with it.”

Raptor was just too amazing. Walren remembered the pickup line he had written, knowing for certain now that he wanted to give it to Raptor.

But where had he hidden it? He couldn’t remember.

He wracked his brain, trying to sift through the things that had happened over the past few weeks. Everything was a hazy blur. Because of his pregnancy?

The harder Walren tried to remember, the more his brain hurt. He whimpered.

Raptor leaned back with a frown. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“I forgot where it is!” Walren cried.

“Where what is?”

“Your present!”

Raptor’s eyes grew round. “You have a present for me?”

“I made it a while back,” Walren mumbled. “I wasn’t ready to give it to you then, so I hid it. But now I can’t remember where it went!”

“We’ll look for it, Walry-babe. Don’t you worry.” Raptor dropped kisses all over his face. “Or you could tell me what it is, if we can’t find it. I promise I won’t kick up a fuss.”

Walren pouted. “ I will kick up a fuss if we don’t find it.”

Especially because he couldn’t remember the pickup line he had written.

Raptor hugged him tight. “Okay, we’ll look.”