Page 12 of Claimed By His Omega Dragon’s Fire (Nesting Ever After: Season Two)

12

Brock

I tie the cloth around me before carefully tucking Mister Scramble against my chest. It might be a bit morbid to call the egg that contains my child Scramble but it makes me giggle every time I think about it so I’m not sorry. Hopefully the lil babe in here inherits my sense of humor.

“All good?”

I nod my head and take Aiden’s hand into my own, stepping outside our home. The sun is just rising and the temperature is perfect for a morning walk, crisp yet warm. The neighborhood is still sleeping as we begin our morning routine.

Aiden explained that he loves starting his day with a morning run. I loved the idea but I hate running, so occasionally, I wake up early enough to walk with him around our territory. I get why he loves doing this so much. We get to check everything out, make sure there are no weird scents on the air, and just take everything in.

It’s a daily reminder of why Aiden is the pack alpha. He takes all of this so seriously, wanting to make sure everything is safe and sound. He wants to make sure the land is properly taken care of. He’s an alpha worthy of following, not only on a personal level but also in the broader sense. I’ve never had an alpha like this before. As a dragon, of course we had our alpha father but we weren’t part of a pack, we weren’t part of a hoard. We just were.

It’s only been a few months since I moved in here, but already I can’t imagine being anywhere else. Of course, I love being with Aiden and I adore having him as my alpha, but it’s more than that. It’s this place .

Having this community is wonderful and I wonder why more shifters don’t congregate like this. Maybe it’s the difference in species? Or maybe it’s the fact that dragon shifters are practically extinct. Either way, I’m happy to be here now.

I run my fingers over Mister Scramble’s shell, feeling the warmth of it beneath my fingers. I’m so glad that this baby is going to be born into a pack, surrounded by people who love them and are ready to take care of them if anything were to happen to me and Aiden. This community means so much to me. I feel so loved and accepted. And in return, my cup overflows in a way that allows me to love and accept everyone else around me.

It’s beautiful.

“What’s on your mind?” Aiden asks softly, squeezing my hand. “You seem deep in thought this morning.”

“Just thinking about all of this,” I say, using my free hand to sweep across our surroundings. “Can a community be considered a hoard? Because I’m starting to have weird instincts to hoard everyone here.”

Aiden chuckles softly, the sound warming my insides. Affection spreads through my entire body.

“I’m not a dragon so I can’t say, but it sounds sort of the way I feel when I think about the pack. I want to protect them and do everything in my power to make them flourish.”

“Yes! Exactly! But I also want to shield them away. I want them to know they’re treasured. I want to shine them up and place them on a shelf high up where they can’t get hurt. But at the same time, I want the pack to have wide open doors so anyone can come in and let me collect them too.”

Aiden shakes his head, looking down at me with warm eyes. He brings my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles. “I’m so thankful I found you. You’re the perfect addition to this pack. You’re making such a wonderful pack omega, Brock.”

I feel my cheeks heat without my permission. Is that what this feeling is? Me accepting my role as pack omega? I’ve never seen myself as the warm and fuzzy type, but maybe that’s okay. Maybe what this pack needs is a feisty, fiery dragon to push them to be the best they can be. A dragon to hoard them within his heart.

In a way, I’ve claimed them, the same way Aiden has claimed me.

“I didn’t even realize it was happening until right now,” I admit sheepishly. “I feel like I’ve slotted into place without even thinking about it.”

“They love you.”

I smile up at my alpha. “I love them too.”

As we make our way back into town, we see Frost walking down the sidewalk, his toolbox in hand. He gives us a wide grin.

“Good morning, you two! I’m supposed to tell you, Brock, that Avery is craving your chocolate steamer. He says he can’t get enough and if you don’t teach him how to make it at home, he might come steal your frother when you’re asleep.”

A surprised chuckle leaves my lips without my permission. Avery is the last person I picture when I think of breaking and entering but hey, who am I to judge when someone has a craving?

“Tell him to come by this afternoon and I’ll be happy to give him the family secret.”

“You’ve just given me so many brownie points, Brock!”

“How’s Suzanne doing?” Aiden asks.

“Growing like a weed! I swear she’s going to be taller than Avery before we know it.”

We finish our conversation and continue on our way. A car pulls down the street and Aiden’s body goes tense when we realize it’s an outsider.

The car slows down and the driver rolls down their window. “I’m so sorry to be a bother but I think I might be lost,” the guy says with a wince. “Is there any way you could direct me to Piltunder? I think maybe I got off the highway when I wasn’t supposed to?”

I walk over to the window, giving the guy a friendly smile. Frankly, he’s adorable and if I can help him, I’m happy to.

“Okay, so what you wanna do is take this road all the way down until you get to a T. Take a right and then take your first left. You’ll see a sign for the highway. Jump back on it going north and then you’ll start to see signs for Piltunder.”

“Oh my god,” the guy says, tipping his head back against the car seat. “You’re a lifesaver, I hope you know that.”

“I’ve been told a time or two,” I say with a chuckle.

“Well, just know you’ve totally saved my ass.” He sits back up, ready to pull away before his eyes dart down to Mister Scramble. “Hey, what’s up with the giant egg?”

“Oh umm, our teenage neighbor is going through the whole ‘keep an egg alive like it was a baby’ thing at school. She wanted a break so we decided to take the egg for a walk.”

“Oh rad. I hated that section of school. I was teamed up with someone who dropped our egg after having it for like five minutes. I had to do so much extra credit because of that.”

“What a bummer.”

“Yeah. Plus, why are the babies always an egg? Like it doesn’t even make sense. What kinda person has an egg baby?”

I look over at Aiden, the two of us sharing a secret smile. We wish the guy a better trip before he’s pulling down the road and out of our little town.

“Is it weird that I wanted to add that random man to my hoard.”

Aiden laughs, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and tugging me close. He kisses the side of my head. “You can’t just adopt every random person who shows up here.”

“That sounds like a challenge.”

We continue chatting as we make our way back to our home, and wow, isn’t that something? The fact that I get to call this my home. Will I ever grow tired of this? Will the wonder ever fade?

“How’s Mister Scramble?”

I look down at our egg, feeling over their shell. I’m about to tell him it’s business as usual when my finger catches on something.

“Oh shit,” I hiss out, carefully pulling our egg out of the cloth. “Holy shit, Aiden, look!”

Aiden stares down at the tiny crack for a long time before his brows furrow with worry. “What happened? Did that guy touch you?”

“What? No, Aiden. They’re hatching!”

“They’re what?”

“Oh my gods,” I say, playfully pinching Aiden’s cheek. “Let’s go to our bedroom and set the egg down in some towels. They’re pushing their way out of the egg, Aiden.”

“Holy shit,” he says before running off to the bathroom, meeting me in our bedroom with a pile of towels. Gods, I find him ridiculously adorable.

Sometimes it blows me away the way my feral lust somehow morphed into this soft warmth. The way I felt about Aiden at first sight was all heat and need, but now, I look at him and feel a simmering of affection. Sure, the lust is still there, don’t get me wrong. But there’s also love. Love like I’ve never experienced before.

We make a little nest on the bed and I carefully place our egg in the middle. Then we sit back and watch. It doesn’t take long before the first splinter shows up. It cracks down the side like a window being gently smashed.

Aiden’s hand finds my own and I give him a reassuring squeeze. That’s our baby. They’re making their way into the world. My chest blooms with pride. They’re doing so well!

“This feels more stressful than when you pushed the egg free,” Aiden murmurs, staring at the egg like he can will the shell to fall away just with his eyes.

“It’s fine and perfectly natural. They’re doing a fabulous job, trust me.”

“You’re the dragon,” he murmurs, his eyes never leaving the egg.

“Yes, yes I am.” I bring his hand to my mouth, kissing his wrist. “When they’re free, make sure you collect the shell so we can keep it.”

“Why? Is it some sort of weird ritual to eat it or something?”

“ What ?”

Aiden finally turns towards me with a smile. “I’m joking, babe. Making sure you’re not being too serious.”

“Me? Serious? Do you even know me, Aiden?”

We both giggle, leaning against each other. The egg splinters again. Then again. We can hear little tapping against the inside of the shell as our baby works on making their way out. I’m not sure if it’s minutes or hours but eventually, a little wing breaks through the top of the egg.

“Oh,” I breathe out, staring in wonder at our baby dragon’s wing. It’s so similar to my own yet miniature sized and adorable.

The wing attempts to flap but only manages to break more of the egg shell away. The wing darts back into the egg before it’s replaced by a little face.

“Hello,” I whisper softly, not wanting to spook our little one. “Look at you, little one. Would you like to come on out?”

Aiden squats down, getting himself face level with our egg and baby. “Hi, baby. I’m your daddy.”

Our baby blinks their giant eyes before darting back down into the shell. I chuckle softly at the sight. Gods, could they be any more adorable?

“Guess that’s a no,” I say with a snort. At the sound of my amusement, they push their head up again, their eyes darting between Aiden and me.

Aiden holds out his hands. Our baby stares at them for a long moment, trying to gauge how they feel about them before finally jumping out of their egg. Aiden catches them with ease.

Leaning over, I run one of my fingers between their eyes, touching their scales for the first time. They’re so warm to the touch, just like me when I’m in my dragon form. Their scales are the prettiest orange color I’ve ever seen, like the perfect orange of a sunset.

After a moment, their body begins to blur and shift. Between one blink and another, they shift out of their dragon form and into their human one. Just like all dragons, or at least the ones I know about, our baby will live their life in this form until they turn 25. That’s when they’ll have access to their dragon form again.

Aiden cradles our baby in his hands. A little girl. She’s beautiful in every single way. She has shockingly orange curly hair on the top of her head and lets out a giant yawn, like escaping her egg was the most difficult task.

“She’s beautiful,” Aiden whispers, running a finger over her hair. “I love her so much already.”

“Me too,” I whisper right back, emotions threatening to choke me. “I love her. And I love you. And I love our pack. I can’t imagine my life going any differently, Aiden. Thank you for taking a chance on indulgence,” I add with a wet chuckle.

“It was my pleasure. Quite literally.”

I lean up on my toes in order to kiss his lips. Our baby makes a noise, no doubt in protest at being ignored. I have a feeling our daughter is going to be feisty, just like me. I can’t wait until she’s old enough to team up with me to cause Aiden chaos and headaches. He’ll love every second of it.

“Now that you’ve met her, do you still feel okay about her name?”

“Yes,” Aiden says, nodding his head. He runs his thumb over her cheek. “Welcome to the world, Aurora.”

“Our little Ray.”

“She’s like sunshine come to life, brightening my life just like her omega daddy.”

“Oh, you absolute sap,” I say, leaning my head against Aiden’s shoulder.

We spend the rest of the day taking care of Aurora. We let her scent us and get used to being part of the outside world. She responds beautifully and already, I can tell she knows who we are by our scents.

Running my nose over her head, she smells like a dreamsicle, the perfect blend of orange and cream. It goes well with her orange hair.

She takes her first bottle without issue and before we know it, she’s fast asleep against Aiden’s chest. I slot myself beside him on the couch, just enjoying this soft moment with my family.