Page 38 of Alpha Dragon’s Mating Contract (Babies For Broken Dads #3)
BAD LUCK FOR URIEL
Uriel rolled his scarred, aching shoulders. “There. Done.”
Before them, the hole in the hedge had been perfectly regrown. A regular person would not be able to tell where the old leaves were, and the new ones began.
He hadn’t just fixed the hedge, though. The process to regrow aged leaves took a while, to ensure that their colors and textures matched the rest of the hedge.
To hide that vulnerable, regrowing spot, Uriel had cast an illusion over the hedge to make it look normal.
Then he had gone around to every cornerstone on Ace and Raptor’s properties, and hidden their presence with some of Raptor’s blood.
These new spells would need refreshing every few years, but it meant that the territory’s defenses were now more difficult to take down.
“Thanks,” Raptor said, thumbing his phone. “I’ve sent along the payment plus a tip.”
“Thanks,” Uriel replied when his phone pinged. He pulled it out and glanced at the notification—and did a double take. “Did your finger slip? That isn’t...”
Raptor had tripled his payment, and that was after he had turned down the friends and family discount.
The dragon shifter shrugged. “Not a finger slip. I’m just really grateful that you came down immediately to help. I feel so much better about Walry being here.”
Raptor looked so genuinely relieved, so happy, that a strange feeling struck Uriel’s chest.
Envy? Pity? Uriel pretended to be an alpha for a reason, but sometimes...
No, don’t go down that path.
“I built a nest for him,” Raptor whispered. “He’s been holing up in there whenever we’re home. I’m thinking of building a second nest in my bedroom.”
“That’s really sweet of you,” Uriel said.
Raptor beamed. Then his face fell. “It’s just... I want to be his mate, officially. But I don’t know if that’s something he wants. And I’m afraid to ask in case he turns me down.”
“That sucks,” Uriel said with empathy. “Is it really better not to know? Sounds terrible, living with that much uncertainty.”
Raptor sighed. “Maybe I just have to wait a bit longer, get a bit more confident in our relationship.”
“Maybe,” Uriel said. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Anyway, thanks for coming down on such short notice.”
Uriel reached back to tickle his baby’s little foot. “We’re pretty mobile. Perks of the job.”
“Need a ride home?”
Uriel considered it, then shook his head. “We’re fine, thanks.”
“Alright. See you around.”
Uriel walked out of the neighborhood with all its mansions, to the part of town he was renting in. He kept his senses open. There had been whispers of baby kidnappers around, so even though he looked like an alpha, he could never be too cautious.
The quiet was shattered by a fire engine’s wail. Uriel reached back to cover his baby’s ears, waiting as the huge red truck zoomed by to a strip mall ahead.
From a distance, he watched as firefighters piled out of the truck, pulling out their high-volume hoses.
He couldn’t help himself. He drifted closer in case they needed help.
Oddly enough, the fire wasn’t in a building, or a vehicle.
Instead, it was a giant rooster sculpture in the middle of the parking lot, with its tail end on fire.
Uriel stared. That sculpture had not been there when he had taken this route earlier.
The orange-clad firefighters split up, some hauling the hoses over to drench the rooster, others keeping away the civilians nearby.
They didn’t need his help, then.
Uriel was about to leave when an alpha stepped out from behind the fire truck and into his path.
“Sorry to bother you, sir, but we need you to stay away—”
Uriel saw the alpha’s trim waist first. Then the girthy biceps stretching their T-shirt sleeves, and the generous pecs filling out the chest area.
Then their eyes met, and Uriel definitely recognized that scowl.
“What are you doing here? Are you stalking me?” Bruiser growled.
Ugh. Maybe the gods had given him the prettiest blue eyes and a body to match, because there was nothing else decent about him.
“Just passing through,” Uriel said icily. “Some of us have better things to do than trail after people we don’t care about.”
“Like I would want you to care about me.”
Uriel rolled his eyes and stepped around Bruiser. “Keep on dreaming, sulfur-breathed gecko.”
“Geck—” The dragon shifter spluttered. “Fuck off, two-bit magician!”
“Still cooler than a gecko,” Uriel called over his shoulder.
Bruiser snarled. Uriel ignored him and kept on walking, triumph roaring in his chest.
Two blocks down, he passed a dark alley. In it were two large figures with their heads bent together.
“I’m not doing this, Mr. Hindy-wip! It’s too dangerous!”
The other man growled. “My name is Larei Hindewippe. Fucking remember that, and remember you owe me. I want the opening hours of this place, and I want details on their security system.”
Uriel suppressed his twitch. Something about those words sounded familiar.
He was about to listen for more, when a hungry cry came from his baby carrier.
The men in the alley shut up immediately. Uriel felt the sharp prickle of their attention.
Crap!
Nefarious burglary plans could easily become nefarious baby-stealing plans, if he gave them the chance.
He gathered his magic and whispered a presence-erasing spell, hurrying away as quickly as he could.