Page 27 of Delinquent Dette (Empty Nests #7)
Sten
Sten woke at the ass crack of dawn, his phone ringing for the fifth time. Whoever it was didn’t respect the sanctity of being a nocturnal dragon.
He checked the caller ID and immediately changed his tune. “Hello?”
A frantic Jasper chattered on the other end. Only a few words broke through, Hatching!
“On our way.” Sten leaned over and woke Frikka with a long kiss, their tongues twining for a moment. “Did you hear, lover?”
“Lover? And no, I did not hear.” Frikka yawned and rolled over before sitting up, his blanket sliding down his bare body, still so thin after his egg-laying. He’d need the winter to bulk up again.
“Jasper’s eggs.” Sten halted. “Two words I never thought I’d hear.”
“Hallr’s eggs were less likely than Jasper.
I always figured he’d pilfer someone’s nest or get stuck in a multi-Dette den and end up being an egg thief.
” Frikka stretched his body and scrounged for his clothes.
Not finding any, he made his way to the closet and bathroom to give himself a courtesy wipe down.
Nearly a night didn’t go by where Frikka didn’t demand Sten’s attention.
Sten followed suit as Frikka left the restroom to pack their babies up, talking as he did so. “Sten. You realize what will happen when I bring the eggs?”
Eggs always started hatching when eggs near them hatched. Their babies were overdue for hatching, but since they’d been laid early, nobody was worried. They were happy, healthy, and full of yolk last Marc checked. Sten grinned. “I think I do.”
“And this means they will be in our old nest. Where…” Frikka cut himself off.
Sten stepped out of the bathroom, toothbrush hanging from his mouth. “We—I can stay back with the eggs if you like.”
“No. I think they should hatch together. It’ll be a healing memory.” Frikka clenched his jaw and released a long breath. He’d have a lot of hurt to overcome, but he was strong enough to weather the storm. He always had been, but he was ready for it.
They gathered their eggs in a basket, made their way to the Range Rover, hopped in, and rode the twenty or so minutes down the road. Frikka called Jasper on their way as he frantically said one had cracked and a foot was sticking out. “Well then, shift and help them, pup!”
Frikka hung up and shook his head. “Jasper is a mess. Peter will let us in.”
They arrived and forged their way up the front stairs. Kletter followed behind them through the long hallways. The house was far larger than the two of them needed, more like a compound or a resort than an estate. Officially, it was a bed-and-breakfast waiting for licensure.
Sten led Frikka to the entrance. He’d guarded that thing for years and had been so pleased when Jasper had made it his own.
When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Jasper snarled as he looked up from his little clutch.
As he’d said, one egg had hatched almost entirely, two legs and a fat little tail hung out of the shell.
Frikka passed the basket to Sten and ran the rest of the way to the nest. “Gently pull the loose bits off. Stop if it’s stuck. ”
Jasper momentarily forgot his urgency to be petulant and used one of his massive claws to pick and pull at loose fragments until a little green Slang pup flopped flat from a small puddle of albumin.
Jasper licked and nuzzled at the pup until it squeaked and scrambled, running to his belly for warmth and protection.
The little… Dette? Frikka eyed the pup’s lack of spines and laughed.
Perhaps it wasn’t happy Dettes that made more Dettes.
Perhaps it was happy eggs… A moment later, one of the other eggs made a gentle cracking sound as wet bubbles frothed from the opening.
A little head forced its way through the stiff shell with a snarl and chirp before coughing.
“Another Dette.” Sten laughed. The Slangs had so few Dettes, and for good reason.
They had mostly Drakes in clutches and had a high mortality rate for laying Dettes due to lack of appropriate medical care.
Frikka placed his two eggs next to the hatching ones and waited as Jasper licked the second pup clean while the third egg wiggled.
Shockingly, a talon ripped its way from one of Frikka’s eggs, black as night followed by a sleek arm, then a head as it fought free with a snarl and scrabble—fierce as anything.
Dette. Frikka laughed and choked when the rest of the pup slid free. The pup was a bicolor, not as perfect as Luka’s tuxedo coat, but from the bottom of his chin to his chest, he was pearl colored, flecks and freckles spreading out from belly, ending at his tail. “Sten…”
Frikka tore free of his clothes and shifted, nestling in with Jasper as his little one hatched.
The nest that never got to see life finally had.
And as Frikka licked the pup clean, one who proclaimed to be Ashes , the third of the Slang eggs hatched, a little Drake who slid free uneventfully, stretching his little limbs, tail too thin.
All three of the pups were a little malnourished, but some nice fat rats would have them full and plump in no time.
Frikka had a freezer full of mackerel ready for his pups.
“Petre, Andre, and Cal,” Jasper declared as the pups chirped—Drake, Dette, and Dette.
Petre meant stone, as did Hallr and Sten. It was a fitting name for a pup to be raised in Nielsen territory. Little emerald scales looked so beautiful nestled against Jasper’s dark belly. So much so that they barely noticed until Smoke was nearly fully hatched, another Dette.
You know what this means, don’t you, Drake? Frikka scooped the pups against him to lick and love. Jasper helped him, pushing the pups together for warmth between them.
“That we finally did it?” Sten laughed.
That we must try again as soon as possible.
Try for some Drakes to even things out. Frikka purred hard and nuzzled the lovely little ones.
Smoke and Ashes would be two beautiful additions to the clan.
Sten did the one thing he promised and texted Torfi a picture and a few words.
Your grandpups have hatched as well as the great grandpups.
We have a little Dette with a jarl’s coat.
Torfi texted back right after. Tell me when I can come see them. Fjallarr can stay home. He and I aren’t on speaking terms quite yet. I may not let him in my nest for many seasons.
Sten knew the pain of being denied his love, but the denial of a mate had to be even worse. That is not my decision to make. The denial of Fjallarr is not our wish, but yours. We only want peace. And for Frikka, that may mean never seeing him again. Will he accept it?
He has no choice but to. Tell me when and if you’re ready. Torfi responded no more after Sten sent back a thumbs-up. That emoji seemed to answer all things he didn’t wish to type out.
Father. I think I need to go upstairs and make myself something to eat. Can you keep Frikka and the pups warm? Jasper needed no such thing, but he slipped from the nest, shifted, put on a robe, and left, letting Sten strip, shift, and snuggle in with Frikka.
This should have been… Frikka stared at their sleeping little ones next to their grandpups. Freshly hatched nesting scent flooded Sten’s nostrils, and he memorized it.
The nest was very different from when he’d originally built it.
Jasper had made so many of his own changes for the comfort of a frightened Dette, but at its core, the nest was the same.
Life had been made there. Life had been hatched there.
The balance of the scales would forever be tipped toward sadness, but new life evened them out.
Sten lay against his mate, snuggling up as a little green Drake climbed slowly over Frikka’s side.
He sneezed, nearly falling off before Sten caught him with his tail.
Little pebble. You may be a stone some day, but see what is around you.
As the only Drake, it is your obligation to be better than the Drakes that came before.
Petre stared him down and gave a little growl, puffing up in a little threat display. A little chirp of thought spoke to them. Hungry! Cold!
I can solve one of those. Sten tucked the pup under one of his wings and bristled when it pricked its claws, turning in a circle.
Warm. Sleepy. It yawned, and Sten imagined a future he didn’t have to be a volur to see. It was filled with happy Dettes, respectful Drakes, and lots of birth control. They’d be overpopulated before it was over with. There were only so many hoards that dragonkind could build.