Page 12 of Dragon’s Golden Mate (Shifter Nation: Enchanted Over Forty #2)

Kendrick got dressed without really thinking about it. His mind was elsewhere, mostly focused on the cathedral. He’d started the previous day looking for answers, but he’d only found more questions. He had to be missing something.

No one was in the kitchen when he came downstairs, something he was grateful for. He loved his clan. The other dragons were as important to him as his own life. Without them, he was nothing. Even so, idle conversations about the weather or calling the plumber weren’t what he needed right now.

When he was the Alpha, he would’ve gone to his den for some solitude. Kendrick had given that to Beck once he took over, though, which was only right. Beck needed a place to conduct the clan’s business, pay bills, deal with arguments, and plan the future of their little family.

A long walk sounded like the right decision. He was just reaching for the door handle when a small weight slammed into his leg and wrapped around it.

“Unca Kennick! Where you going?”

“Ah, Corbin, my boy!” No matter how he felt—even if he was ‘brooding,’ as the other dragons liked to say—the sweet little boy put him in a good mood instantly. He swept him up into his arms, relishing the look of pure joy as Corbin soared through the air. “How are you this morning?”

“Hungry!” Corbin patted his belly with one hand for emphasis.

“A growing dragon like you needs lots of food, eh?” Though he would’ve loved Corbin no matter what beast lived inside him, Kendrick was especially proud to know he was a dragon. The clan was in good hands with Beck, and someday Corbin would run it. All the work he’d done over the years was safe.

“You eat food, too?” Corbin poked Kendrick’s stomach.

“I did. Lots of good, healthy food.”

“Corbin?” Chelsea came around the corner in her pajamas, and she smiled at seeing the two of them together. “There you are! I turned my back for one second and you disappeared!”

“I had to see Unca Kennick,” Corbin told his mother matter-of-factly.

“Of course! I’m going to cook you and your daddy some breakfast, though. Do you want to come eat?”

The young boy twisted his mouth and looked from Kendrick to his mother and back again, trying to decide.

Kendrick laughed. “Go with your mother, child, and eat up! You need it! I’ll be back a little later, and we can play.”

“Can we play Legos?” Corbin whipped his head around, looking for the set of chunky building blocks that were usually kept in the living room.

“I’d love to,” Kendrick replied genuinely. Corbin had no clue just how much fun his great uncle had when they made huge structures out of those blocks. “Let’s not keep your mother from getting breakfast done.”

“Chelsea?” Beck came into the living room now, wearing a white t-shirt and athletic shorts. “You don’t have to make breakfast this morning. I was going to.”

She folded her arms and shook her head. “No, you’re not. You did it yesterday.”

“But you don’t have to—”

“I want to,” she insisted as she reached out for Corbin. “You can’t do everything yourself, Beck. It’s my turn, and I’m going to take it.” Carrying her son in her arms, she headed for the kitchen.

Beck turned an amused glance toward his uncle. “And here I was thinking I was Alpha of this clan.”

Kendrick chuckled. “Still trying to make up for lost time?”

“I can’t help it,” Beck admitted. “I was gone for so long, and I missed so much. I guess I still feel like I owe them something.” Beck had been imprisoned by an evil wizard who’d wiped his mind clean.

He’d forgotten everything, and he hadn’t even known that he was leaving behind a mate and a son.

Now that they had reunited, they were inseparable.

“You’re giving them everything you can,” Kendrick soothed. “You don’t have to try so hard.”

“What about you?” Beck asked. “You look like you’re heading out.”

“Just to the cathedral.”

Beck’s shoulders stiffened slightly. “Maybe I should come with you in case those gargoyles attack again.”

“I won’t do anything foolish. I promise. I just know that I’m missing something. It doesn’t make sense that they’re guarding this church, and I have to wonder about the timing of this attack.”

“Did Maeve know anything?”

“Erm…” Kendrick hesitated. Maeve was Beck’s mother-in-law, and he didn’t want to say too much.

He hadn’t told anyone about that kiss, nor would he. Kendrick hadn’t planned it. He’d only meant to do a little research, visit the building, and discuss the possibilities. It was all supposed to be business.

But then it wasn’t. She was falling into his arms and felt so good against him. The dragon inside him knew what it wanted, but it didn’t understand just how difficult things would be if he tried to work it out with Maeve.

“She’s doing her own separate research,” he finally said.

Beck’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Did you piss her off? She’s a spitfire, and she doesn’t put up with bullshit from anyone.”

“No, nothing like that. She’s got her own things going on, and I don’t want to impose on her too much when this is a job I was hired to do.” There. That sounded better than anything else that’d been running through his head.

Beck nodded. “If it turns out you need assistance with anything, just let me know. I’m here for you.”

“I know,” Kendrick replied honestly. He had no surviving heirs of his own, but he’d been confident in giving Beck the position as the new Alpha. He was a man who cared about others, who understood how the clan could best head into the future.

“Now then, I’d better get going.” Kendrick opened the door.

“Don’t you need your keys?” Beck pointed to the rack on the wall next to the door.

“No. I’m walking. It’s too nice of a day to get behind the wheel.

I’ll be back later.” He stepped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air.

Transportation had changed drastically in his lifetime, and it could be very efficient and comfortable these days, but sometimes there was nothing better than a walk.

If only the act could clear his head of Maeve.

They’d parted casually enough when they’d gotten back to The Crystal Cauldron.

Maeve had said she’d try to find more information, and he’d intended to do the same.

They’d said goodbye as though they were nothing more than two people who knew each other through their families, as though they hadn’t shared a passionate, secret kiss.

He was a confident man, yet Kendrick found himself wondering if Maeve was thinking about him as much as he was thinking about her.

Did that kiss mean anything in her eyes?

Did her inner wolf thrash and fight when she was around him, wanting so desperately to be close?

Kendrick couldn’t know unless he asked her, and that was one thing he definitely wouldn’t do.

No, right now, he just needed to concentrate on the church.

The gargoyles had been an architectural surprise, but now they were more than that.

The attack had caught him so unaware that he’d only fought back enough to keep himself and Maeve safe.

He didn’t want to harm them, nor did he want to damage the cathedral in the process.

But what was he going to do about them now?

He could bring the rest of his clan in and fight them, but that wouldn’t tell him why they were guarding the building in the first place.

He could explain the situation to Cassandra Deegan, but she was a serious businesswoman.

She’d laugh in his face and find someone else to work with.

Kendrick paid attention to the city layout and the nearby buildings as he walked to the church, hoping he’d find something that would give him a clue. What was he missing? What had he not seen? What in all of his years had he not learned how to figure out?

Though he’d hoped a slow, walking approach to the church would give him a broader picture of the place, the scene that awaited him was something else entirely.

An array of demolition machinery sat at the edge of the parking lot.

A rusty yellow bucket excavator rested like a giant, tired creature with its head against the asphalt and its long neck arched in the air.

A couple of bulldozers idled, their operators looking bored, and a large truck was parking a dumpster on the corner of the lot.

The demolition crew had company, though.

A group of men and women, mostly older, stood in front of the church.

They had signs in their hands that read ‘Don’t Tear Down Our History!

’ and ‘Out with the New, in with the Old!’ They were a peaceful group, laughing, smiling, and even singing, but they stood directly in the way of the demolition crew.

Whenever a passing car honked, they cheered and held their signs higher.

Kendrick slowed as he came into the parking lot, trying to take all of this in. He spotted a familiar face in the crowd of protestors. Lucille, Maeve’s sister, gave him a wink. He was just about to go talk to her when he heard his name.

“Mr. Alexander!”

He turned to see Cassandra Deegan walking swiftly toward him, her hand in the air. “Mr. Alexander! I was going to call you.”

“Yes, you said we’d schedule another time for me to get a better look at the building. It looks like I’m not the only one interested in the place.”

Cassandra shook her head. Her hair was pulled back into a tightly braided bun, making her angular features look severe.

“That was the original plan, yes, but I was going to tell you I don’t need you anymore.

” She had to raise her voice to be heard over the protestors as well as the bulldozer engines.

He stuck his thumbs in his pockets. “It looks to me like you do. This is just the type of incident you said you were trying to avoid. I take it word of your intention to tear this place down has gotten out.” Kendrick had a feeling that information had come directly from Maeve, but he wasn’t going to tell Cassandra that.

Nor was he going to tell her about how he and Maeve had broken into the church.