Page 24 of Delinquent Dette (Empty Nests #7)

Frikka

Noises and new scents roused Frikka from his Draconic nap. His tail whipped as he guarded his eggs a little more sternly. Intruders.

Frikka hissed as the vault door pried open and froze when the yip of two excited little Dette pups met his ears. Baby? Babies? Frikka nosed his eggs around and kicked blankets, something in his lizard brain telling him to make room in the nest for pups.

Two little, blue Long dragons came galloping down the steps, chirping happily as they ran to the side of the nest, tails wiggling madly as if asking permission to come in.

Pups loved nests, their Dette father’s the most, but any nest would do.

Frikka snorted at them and gestured the pups into the warmth of his belly. Cold pups simply wouldn’t do.

Any pup was a Dette’s pup if they were in their nest, after all, right?

Frikka licked at one of the little Dettes. Callum. Yufei snuffled around and rooted under a blanket, his little chubby tail sticking out with a happy wiggle. Babies.

The key, they’d figured out, to make things more successful, was to put as many pups in their nest as there were eggs. Part of their dragon brain snapped out of their nesting fierceness, and they became happier Dettes. Hello, little ones.

New nest. Good nest, the one snuggled under a blanket said.

Kisses! The other one turned his cheek to Frikka’s licks and flopped onto his back with a chirp of delight.

Pure endorphins rushed through Frikka’s brain and, as if everything came to a peak, he shifted, throwing on a pair of shorts with frantic movements before snuggling up to the new pups with his eggs.

“Kisses! Yes. Hello, Callum. How are you two? You comfortable, Yufei?” Frikka sighed as the other pup rooted under the blanket, careful of the eggs before snuggling up to Frikka, too.

Good! Yufei chirped and wiggled, giving Frikka a happy little nip. New cousins! Are they Drake or Dette?

“I don’t know, yet. They won’t know until they hatch.

” Frikka picked Yufei up and cradled him.

He was a year and a half old, still in his awkward little chubby-pup stage.

His older cousins, mainly Leo’s, were leggy and thinning out as they were working hard to grow.

Storm was the worst of them, stretched thin like a little string bean.

We’ll find out come hatchday! Callum beamed, little tail wiggling. I don’t remember last hatchday… But it’s gonna be fun!

Frikka looked forward to it, too. There would be more pups this year, Frikka’s and Rolf’s new little one. The little wyvern pup would finally have another like her, besides Bastien’s pups, but even they were different. They bonded well with Bastien, though.

Frikka barely registered when Suyin came down, grinning ear to ear. The territorial urge had tamped down with the pups’ presence. “How are you?”

“Better, now. Thank you for bringing the pups. I’d have never thought of that, myself.” Frikka hugged Yufei and beamed when Suyin hopped the nest’s edge and joined him, dark-blue eyes open wide and glistening at the two black eggs at Frikka’s side.

“You may touch, but do not move them. I do not trust myself that much.” Frikka steeled himself and flinched when Suyin reached over and relaxed when he gently pressed his hand over each egg.

“They’re warm and happy. Good eggs. My pups were just at Rolf’s, but he’s okay since he has Blossom.

Never heard of a Dette having clutches back-to-back like that.

Good thing it’s only singletons.” Suyin fanned himself and laughed.

“But it’s scary it can happen so close. I guess we’ve not had this many happy Dettes in a while. ”

“I know!” Frikka laughed for the first time since he’d laid his eggs, the pain in his belly a reminder of it. Nausea rolled through him a little, a side effect of the antibiotics.

“So, how are we feeling? Really? Emotionally good?” Suyin blinked up at him expectantly.

“I’ve never been the one we worried about. I am super sane. It is all other Dettes that have the crazy.” Frikka sniffed imperiously.

“Alright. So, no more mailing dildos and dead crabs to the Canadian consulate?” Suyin gave Frikka a long glance.

“I might. But Powel may not give me any more dildos after the fit Sile threw.” Frikka grumbled and rolled his eyes.

“Baba can throw some epic fits.” Sile nodded sagely. “Well. While I have you captive. You’ve been to the wilds before?”

“I have. I was the one who told you where to find Gabriel.” Frikka snorted and Suyin’s brow furrowed before straightening out, eyes wide.

“That was you! No wonder. Okay. So would you be willing to go on a trip before spring this coming year to do another run, see if we can find more ready to come home? They’re searching for Drakes right now that the ruts are over and they have post-nut clarity . ” Suyin whispered the last part.

“Drakes are often more agreeable after they’ve fucked.” Frikka nodded sagely. “Sten can watch the pups and we shall go find them next spring. Did you find any this year?”

Suyin nodded. “We found another Loch Dette that had been missing and a Vritra Hijada.”

“Good. I feel sorry for the Hijada. Reminds me of the Nielsens before they were recognized as a clan. Low status and abused so much.” Frikka shook his head.

“And I didn’t know this, but some Hijada go into heat. Did you know this?” Suyin’s whisper made Frikka raise a brow.

“Are you sure they’re Hijada and not Dettes pretending so they do not get hounded?” Frikka stroked over one of his eggs anxiously.

“Certain. They have Drake horns and everything.” Suyin gave a sage nod. “It’s not a full heat, but it’s a few days of bottoming for them.”

Frikka twisted his lips and gave Suyin a long glance. “Would?”

“Would.” Suyin snickered. “And do. Brinn is happy to take turns, as it were.”

“It’s a rarity for Sten, but I do enjoy it when it happens.” Frikka sighed and a heated flush came over his cheeks, a blush? Frikka patted his face a bit and snorted. He was not the blushing sort.

“And that’s another side effect of whipping out of the nesting instinct. Your body thinks you’re ready for…yeah.” Suyin gestured a little and snickered. “And you obviously aren’t.”

“No, I’m not, yet. I think things will be okay. And in six months, I’ll have these little guys.” Frikka patted his eggs, earning an affectionate flicker of energy.

“I’ve only had the one clutch, but I imagine it’s just as nice every time.” Suyin picked Yufei up and gave him a little snuggle.

“It is different every time, or was for me. My first time, since I was not mated, it took me a while to warm up to strangers. I loved my eggs, but they were a duty that I came to love in a different way. They were meant as an offering. My second…I had a vision of horror, and I couldn’t bond with them.

They knew so much fear in their short time.

These? They were born to me mated. They will know only my love and happiness.

This, I imagine, will be my future.” Frikka, instead of burying the memory, held onto it for a moment before letting it go.

Perhaps, if some dragons were to be believed, they would come back to him.

They would reincarnate. The thought of it made Frikka feel better.

Some wounds would never heal, but a good scab was all they could hope for. Best not to pick at it.

“I think my work here is done. I’m going to take the pups home.

Leo wants to visit. Your boys want to see their brothers, and I believe Torfi would like to see you before they head back.

” Sten had been told they’d stick in the area for spring and had borrowed Marc’s old home to run Torfi’s heat.

No word had come if pups were part of it, but likely not. Torfi didn’t care to be a father.

“Torfi may come. Leo and my pups may come.” Frikka grumbled as he snuggled up to his eggs.

“I’ll let them know. Sten also wants to know if you want more food. He was baking bread.”

“And much bread. Bring all the bread.” Frikka huffed and mentally prepared himself to meet the masses. He felt like he should be angry, reactive, and spiteful, but the only feeling that lingered? Hunger.

“Will do. Come, little ones. Let’s go get some of Uncle Sten’s fresh bread before we go home.”

“And I am already freshly bred.” Frikka snickered and Suyin grumbled, ushering the pups back up the stairs.

Life was good.

Would be better with some fresh sourdough.

He took a deep breath. And Sten always delivers.