Page 4 of Alpha Dragon’s Mating Contract (Babies For Broken Dads #3)

Zebbie blinked innocently at him. Walren thought about texting his friends, but he didn’t want to blow this out of proportion.

He poked around in the filing cabinet where Raptor had retrieved the playpen. To his surprise, he found diaper-changing supplies there. In Raptor’s office.

Walren nursed Zebbie and changed his diapers, before rocking him to sleep.

I owe Raptor something, right? He didn’t call the cops on me. Even though I broke in and raided his fridge.

Maybe Raptor had a different kind of payment in mind?

Is that why he looked like he wanted to eat me?

Walren gulped. When Zebbie was finally asleep, he laid his baby in the playpen, then quietly slipped out of the office.

Only to step into an ocean of delicious scents. Walren was so hungry, his stomach almost digested itself.

When he entered the kitchen, he found his forgotten cucumber sitting on a small table.

Walren froze.

Raptor turned around and grinned. “I won’t ask if you’re ready for cuke. That comes later.”

“Later?”

“Mm-hm. If you agree to my... proposition.” The alpha gestured vaguely at a stack of paper on one side of the table. “But first, eat.”

He set down several bowls and plates of food, carefully arranging them. Walren gingerly approached.

In the largest bowl, Raptor had prepared a beautiful serving of ramen—thin noodles surrounded by a savory marinated egg, deep-fried sweet potato slices, some paper-thin sheets of crispy seaweed, and a generous portion of fried mushrooms.

Pan-fried dumplings sat on a separate plate, and in a small bowl were the stewed mushrooms Walren had drooled at earlier. Raptor had even included two sticks of fried bread, and some deep-fried mashed potato balls topped with crispy fried onions.

Walren moaned and dropped heavily into his seat, grabbing the fork instead of the chopsticks. “I don’t know how to use chopsticks.”

“That’s okay. I can teach you how, but not right now.” Raptor sat across from Walren at the table, untying the knots of his apron. “Eat the food and give me your honest opinion.”

Walren went for the slices of sweet potato first. He plucked one out of the ramen bowl with his bare fingers and stuffed it into his mouth, moaning at the crunch between his teeth.

He ate a stewed mushroom next, then a vegetable dumpling.

He slurped up some noodles and popped half an egg into his mouth, swaying side to side when savory flavors exploded across his tongue.

“I’m so happy,” he whimpered.

A slow, satisfied smile spread across Raptor’s face.

Almost too late, a thought struck Walren. “Wait. I only have money for the noodles.”

He panicked and began patting himself down for his wallet.

Raptor waved dismissively. “On the house.”

“But this is a lot of food!”

The alpha shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, consider this a bribe.”

“For what?”

“For reading my proposal. The whole thing.”

Walren frowned. “All this food in exchange for some reading?”

“It’s a lot of suggestive words crammed into a few pages. Read it before you make a judgment.”

Walren eyed the papers warily. He decided to focus on his food first—how often did he get the chance to sample so many things on a restaurant’s menu? And all of them freshly made?

When he couldn’t stuff any more food into himself, he sat back, accepting the cup of hot green tea that Raptor slid over. “Why do you have mashed potatoes on the menu? It’s not remotely Asian.”

Raptor shrugged. “I like mashed potatoes. Especially with the crispy outer shell. Plus, it’s an option for the picky kids whose parents want the regular menu. We have fries and chicken nuggets, too.”

Walren couldn’t help being impressed; Raptor had thought of the children. “Have you ever put those on ramen?”

“Not yet.” Raptor grinned. “But I would be happy to oblige.”

“No! Fries don’t belong in broth.” Walren cringed.

Raptor got a thoughtful, evil look on his face. “Remind me to give that to Ace. ‘Here, brother dearest. Have some fries taking a bath in this soup.’”

Walren cringed. “He might hate you.”

“Yeah, well. He put slime in my shoes the other day. My new shoes! But you know what’s worse? The slime had these terrible crackly beads in it. They crackled and popped when I stepped into my shoes.” Raptor bared his teeth. “He will regret it.”

“Can I tell Ivo?”

“Nope!” Raptor eyed Walren. “I may have to kidnap you to make sure you don’t leak that information.”

Oddly enough, that didn’t sound the least bit scary.

Especially for Walren, who had already been kidnapped once.

“Will I get food if you kidnap me?” Walren asked.

“Of course!” Raptor looked offended.

“What about bathroom access?”

Raptor stared as though Walren had grown two more heads.

“What do you take me for? A monster? Of course you’ll get access to water, electricity, and a nice bathroom.

You’ll get a soft comfy bed and all the food you could ever want.

It will be like a vacation, except you don’t tell anyone you’ve been kidnapped. ”

“You won’t hurt Zebbie.”

Raptor rolled his eyes. “Obviously not. So there we have it: Kidnapping in the works.” He stared at Walren for a second, then smacked his forehead. “Gods, I’m insensitive.”

“Shouldn’t it be up to me, the kidnapping victim, to decide if I’m offended?”

Raptor didn’t look convinced. “Well, you could read the proposal.”

He removed the empty dishes and slid the stack of papers in front of Walren. Walren shook the kidnapping-vacation out of his thoughts.

Three black words stretched across the front page of Raptor’s proposal:

The Mating Contract.

He had to rub his eyes to make sure he was reading it correctly.

Nope, the words did not change.

Raptor sat back down on the other side of the table. “You’ll have to flip the page. It won’t download into your brain through your eyeballs.”

“You want to mate with me?” Walren blurted.

Raptor stared at him. Then the alpha hunched over like he had been punched in the gut, his breath rushing out, his hands shoving against his crotch. “Fuck!”

Walren tensed. “Raptor?”

“Fuck, fuck.” Raptor groaned, pressing his forehead against the table. “Fuck, this sucks.”

Worry hooked its claws into Walren’s spine. “What’s wrong?”

Raptor was breathing hard, his cheeks flushed. When he tipped his head back to look at Walren, Walren realized that the alpha’s pupils had blown wide open, a thin ring of gold around them. He looked like he was in pain.

“What just happened?” Walren asked nervously.

“I’m in rut,” Raptor said.