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

Kendrick watched the steam rise as he poured his first mug of coffee.

Leaving it black, he brought it to the kitchen table.

Throughout the years, and even across centuries, his morning ritual had remained the same.

He wanted a hot drink and a bit of time to look out the window and just reflect.

The rest of the world was busy and chaotic, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t maintain his inner peace.

“Good morning!”

So much for peace.

“Good morning to you, too. You’re up early,” Kendrick noted as his nephew began rifling through the fridge and the kitchen cabinets.

“I thought I’d make breakfast for Chelsea and Corbin,” Beck told him. “They’re a little wiped out after the party yesterday.”

“At least on Corbin’s behalf, I’m sure that means he had fun,” Kendrick said with a smile as he took another sip of coffee. “He was very excited to be three.”

“Are you jealous that the counting isn’t so fun anymore?” Beck teased as he pulled out a carton of eggs, set it on the counter, then resumed digging in the fridge.

Kendrick eyed his nephew as he placed bacon, butter, and bagels next to the eggs and then turned to hunt down more food. “Are you cooking for just your mate and son or for the whole clan?”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Beck pointed out as he very purposefully set an orange next to the other items.

“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s nothing for me to be jealous of. Corbin is excited, and I thought it was cute. Is it so terrible for a crabby old dragon to think a little boy he loves is cute?”

Beck lifted his shoulder in half a shrug. “I just thought that was why you were brooding this morning.”

“I’m not brooding,” Kendrick protested. He lifted his mug as evidence. “I’m doing the same thing I’ve done every morning for as long as I can remember.”

“No one can remember that many breakfasts,” Beck mumbled.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.” Beck took a frying pan from the rack and set it on the stove. “If you’re not brooding because of your age, then what is it?”

“I’m not brooding at all,” Kendrick reminded him.

“Is he in a mood this morning?” Lilith asked as she entered the kitchen. She wore a long, kimono-style robe in champagne silk that complemented her bright blonde hair.

“No, I’m not,” Kendrick answered before Beck could.

“Sure you are, and I know why.” Lilith winked before she turned to Beck and paused. “What are you doing?”

“Making breakfast, obviously. Chelsea and Corbin are still sleeping, and I wanted to surprise them.”

Lilith let out a long, impatient sigh. “You haven’t prewarmed the pan, and where are your seasonings? You can’t just give them eggs with nothing on them. They won’t taste like anything!”

“I’m sure I can grab some salt and pepper,” Beck replied.

“Oh, please. Let me.” Lilith bumped him aside. She turned on the burner and began expertly cracking eggs into a bowl with one hand. “Kendrick, would you like some?”

“Certainly.” Lilith was an excellent cook, so he’d never turn down her food. More than that, though, he was glad not to be the subject of conversation any longer.

“No problem. I’ll make you a nice big plate—as long as you tell me all about you and Maeve.” Lilith tossed the eggshells into the compost bin with a sly smile.

“Maeve?” Kendrick echoed innocently.

“That’s why you’re brooding, right?” Lilith didn’t look up as she laid strips of bacon on a rack, stacked that on top of a baking pan, and put the whole arrangement into the oven.

“I’m not brooding,” he grumbled, “although the two of you certainly know how to put a man in a mood.”

“What are you in a mood about?” Now Griffin made his way into the kitchen, his dark hair rumpled.

“I’m not in a mood!” Kendrick slammed his fist into the table, making his mug jump and the coffee slosh over the edge.

“Okay, okay. No need to gnash your teeth at me. I just got here.” Griffin poured himself a mug of coffee and topped it with a hefty amount of cream.

“I’m just tired of everyone else deciding what I think and feel this morning, when I haven’t even had a chance to consider it myself,” Kendrick groaned.

Lilith gave him a pointed look. “Kendrick, we love you. We don’t mean any disrespect. It’s just that if the energy between you and Maeve last night was put into a lightbulb, it’d be a beacon to outer space. It was cute.” The eggs hissed as she poured them into the pan.

“Corbin is cute, not me.”

Having been kicked off cooking duty, Beck made his own coffee and took a seat at the table. “You can’t really blame us. I don’t think we’ve ever seen you get gooey over a woman before.”

“I wasn’t gooey!” Kendrick smirked, but his nephew made him wonder. “Was I?”

“Oh, you definitely were,” Griffin said with a nod. “Gooey as a butter cake.”

“I don’t even know what that means,” Kendrick replied, starting to get exasperated again.

“It’s all right. You weren’t the only one who was gooey,” Beck told him. “Maeve is a kind and open woman. She’s nice to pretty much anyone until they give her a reason not to be. But she definitely got gooey over you the moment we came in the door.”

“Do you think so?” The truth was, if he’d been given a moment to think at all, Kendrick would’ve been thinking about Maeve.

She was a stunning woman, with that soft, silvery hair and those warm brown eyes.

She wasn’t a young woman, but that was part of what he liked about her.

There was a wisdom emanating from her that spoke of experience.

The human side of him found her attractive, but his dragon had gone wild.

It’d pulsed and thrashed inside his body, showing much more energy than such an old beast should have.

Kendrick had to fight to keep it in check as he spoke politely with her and played with Corbin.

Using his flame to light Corbin’s birthday candles had been a nice outlet, but his inner beast had been restless ever since.

“I definitely think so.” Lilith’s hands moved quickly and expertly as she scrambled eggs, checked on the bacon, and toasted the bagels. “A woman knows these things. Couldn’t you see the way everyone else was looking at the two of you?”

“Well, no.” Kendrick grabbed a napkin from the holder in the center of the table and cleaned up the coffee he’d spilled. He’d been too busy paying attention to Maeve to really notice what the other adults were doing. “I was a little distracted.”

“Do I smell bacon?” Ewan asked as he stepped into the room. He paused as he noticed Kendrick, Griffin, and Beck were all seated at the table. A slow smile lifted his lips. “This is about Maeve, isn’t it?”

“Oh, for crying out loud.” Kendrick put his hand over his face and sighed. “Yes, I think she’s quite a lovely lady. You can all leave it at that, though.”

“I see.” Ewan took the bagels from the toaster and began buttering them. “Someone’s in denial.”

“I just admitted she was lovely,” Kendrick reminded him.

Ewan gestured vaguely with the butter knife. “Sure, but I heard the rest of what you said. ‘Leave it at that.’ This is about your vow to remain single.”

“I didn’t vow anything.”

“Sure, you did,” Griffin reminded him. “You said all that stuff about how just because fate decided to give you multiple mates over the years, that didn’t mean you needed to pair with them.

You wanted to remain single for the rest of your years because it was too painful to lose a mate, blah, blah, blah. All that.”

“Thank you so very much for your sympathy and understanding,” Kendrick ground out.

Lilith came to the table with a platter of eggs. She set it down and then smacked Griffin on the back of the head. “You’re a bit of a pig. Do you know that?”

“Hey! I just said what everyone else was thinking!” Griffin rubbed the back of his head, but he was already reaching for the eggs.

Lilith smacked his hand. “Wait until the rest of it is ready.”

Griffin folded his arms in front of his chest and sank into his chair. “I think everyone around here needs more coffee.”

“Anyway,” Ewan asserted, bringing the bagels to the table, “what Griffin is doing such a bad job of saying is that you might not be able to stay single after all if you feel that way about Maeve.”

“It’s not any of your business. I’d be willing to bet Maeve’s coven isn’t sitting around grilling her about me this morning.”

Snickers went up all around the table.

“I’ll bet they are.” Beck fetched a stack of plates from a cabinet. He began making up two of them to take upstairs. “I’m sorry, Uncle. None of us meant any disrespect. We liked seeing that silly grin on your face, that’s all.”

“That’s right,” Lilith agreed. “Here. Have some food. It’ll make you feel better.”

The conversation turned to other things, and Kendrick let it. Tomorrow morning, he’d be going out for coffee.

Fortunately, Kendrick had things to do today, which meant he could get out of the clanhouse. He dressed quickly and stepped out into the fine, cool morning. Kendrick could easily walk from there. He had the stamina of a much younger-looking man, but it would be more professional if he drove.

Getting behind the wheel, he found that Maeve was still very much on his mind.

Kendrick wished he hadn’t lost his temper so much while the rest of the clan was trying to talk about her.

It only made it that much more apparent that he had feelings for her, feelings he hadn’t yet figured out and didn’t know what to do with.

She truly was lovely. The way her lithe body moved in the flowing fabric of her dress, the way her hair shifted against her back when she turned her head, the way she laughed when she watched her grandson play or chatted with her sister.

These were little things, but Kendrick was no fool.

Any person could be attractive, but those little things were what made you want to see them again and again.