Page 12 of Dragon’s Revenge (Irresistible Dragons #7)

Chapter Eleven

O liver had gathered all his courage and asked Adar and Delton to dinner. Much to his surprise, they had accepted. That had only induced the next round of stress, of course, as he worried over what to make. Should he go all-out and fancy and make them a five-course meal? The chances of that backfiring were big though. It was very easy to fuck something up in that scenario, plus it would communicate certain expectations. Besides, they weren’t five-course-dinner people.

No, he needed something simple but yummy. Something filling—Adar ate twice as much as Delton and Oliver combined—and homey. Something that showed Oliver could cook without venturing into pretentious territory. And boy, that was a lot to put on the shoulders of one meal, but he couldn’t help it.

In the end, he’d settled on pasta with meatballs. Adar loved pasta. Delton had mentioned once he liked Italian, and Oliver’s homemade red sauce and Italian meatballs had gotten a lot of praise from the others. His roommates had graciously excused themselves and found solace elsewhere so they could have privacy, and Oliver was as ready as he could possibly be when Adar and Delton arrived at the same time, albeit fifteen minutes after their expected arrival time.

“Sorry we’re late,” Delton said.

“It was my fault,” Adar said. “The new dragon omegas arrived, and I got caught up in running extra security checks. I’m sorry.”

An alpha who apologized. Would Oliver ever get used to that? He doubted it. “It’s no problem. I waited to cook the pasta until you guys were actually here so it would be fresh. The sauce only gets better the longer it simmers.”

Adar’s eyes lit up. “We’re eating pasta?”

“That was a lot of words,” Delton said at the same time. “I’m proud of you.”

Then, they each swiveled their head to look at the other before chuckling.

“There, in a nutshell, is the difference between you and me,” Adar said.

“You mean you’re food-oriented and I’m people-oriented?” Delton joked and how Oliver loved seeing this easy camaraderie between them. He kept quiet, not wanting to interrupt it.

“That’s one way of looking at it. I was gonna say you always notice things I don’t, like you have this ability to somehow see beyond the obvious. I mean, I heard pasta, and you heard Oliver speaking.”

Delton took Adar’s hand. “Both are fine.”

“Well, that’s debatable.”

“Nope, it’s not. If everyone was like me, nothing would ever get done since we’d all be analyzing everything to death.”

Adar blinked. “I hadn’t looked at it like that, which proves my point.”

“And with that meta-analysis, let’s refocus on Oliver,” Delton said with a grin. “Well done on the talking, baby.”

Baby. Oliver’s night was already a success with that single word. As long as Delton kept calling him that, everything would be okay. “Thank you. It’s easier with you two. Not as much pressure.”

“That makes me very happy,” Delton said.

Oliver put the pasta in the water, which he’d kept at a simmer. “How are you feeling?” he asked Adar.

“Fine?” Adar looked puzzled.

Delton bumped his shoulder. “I think he’s asking about your back and ass.”

“Oh.” Adar’s cheeks colored, which Oliver found incredibly endearing. “That’s fine too. Better than fine. It feels…” He took a moment to collect his thoughts. “It’s still red and hot, but I like that. It grounds me.”

See, that was where Oliver lost him. Pain never grounded him. Never had, never would. Pain was just…pain, a reminder of how cruel life was. Or had been, more accurately. But was it okay to say that? Hmm, it didn’t add much, did it? If he said that, he made it about him again when it was about Adar and what he needed. “I’m glad it helps you. And that Delton was able to do that for you.”

Oliver didn’t miss Delton’s little gasp, which was a compliment as much as a testament to how he would’ve reacted before.

“Delton did really well,” Adar said with a warm look at the beta. “Gave me exactly what I needed.”

Now it was Delton’s turn to blush. “Thank you. That’s… I’m grateful I was able to do that for you. And for me.”

Was he missing something? Oliver thought Delton was doing this for Adar. What could he get out of it himself?

“For you?” Oliver asked. “What part was for you?”

“My guess is the sex,” Adar said dryly, and Oliver snorted. He’d forgotten about that, which was stupid, of course.

“Right.”

“But also the play itself,” Delton said softly. “Yes, I loved the sex. It was very… I’d never fucked an alpha before, and it’s a whole different experience. One I enjoyed every moment of. But I also loved doing everything before that. The play, administering pain. I don’t know what to call it.”

Adar cleared his throat. “D/s play. Because that’s what it is.”

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be comfortable with that term.”

Adar shrugged. “I probably wouldn’t have been before, but now I am. You helped me accept this part of myself. It’s who I am, how I’m wired, and that’s not something to be ashamed of.”

Delton’s whole face lit up, and then he stepped in and kissed Adar on the lips. “I’m so proud of you for saying that. That’s not easy for an alpha.”

And as if he realized what he’d done, he froze for a moment, then stepped back, but Adar held him by the hand. “You make it easy. Submitting to you is natural because you take such good care of me. You see me, Delton. Truly see me.”

Oliver’s eyes grew misty. Did those two realize how they were looking at each other? That they were falling for each other? God, he could practically see the sparks between them, those invisible threads that had started to weave them together.

Hope filled him until he was almost giddy and had to fight to contain himself. Maybe everything wasn’t lost yet. If Adar and Delton could fall in love, maybe they could learn to love Oliver too?

Delton’s smile could’ve powered a small city. “Thank you. That means the world to me.”

They kept staring at each other and Oliver was afraid to breathe, move, or do anything to break that spell. Unfortunately, the decision was taken out of his hands as the pasta boiled over with a loud hiss that made Adar and Delton jump apart like they’d gotten caught doing something wrong.

Oliver quickly took the lid off the pan and turned the burner down. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay,” Delton said. “We were…”

If the beta was lost for words, it was a sign something had hit him hard because that man was better with words than anyone Oliver had ever met. And what was interesting was that Oliver wasn’t jealous. Not even a little bit. Nope, he was actually bummed that he’d inadvertently interrupted them.

His mates.

Falling in love.

Oh, there was that giddy hope again bubbling inside him. He couldn’t tell them, couldn’t show it. This thing was as fragile as glass. One wrong move, one wrong word, one wrong expression, and everything could shatter again. He wasn’t taking that risk.

“Why don’t you guys sit at the table?” he said. “The pasta will be done in a few minutes.”

When he joined them a little later, bringing the food with him, Adar and Delton were chatting easily, laughing. As much as Oliver wanted to claim his plan was working, this was not his doing. This was Adar making an effort to spend time with Delton and Delton being open to connecting with him.

“That looks amazing.” Adar winked at Delton. “Sorry, still food-oriented.”

“That’s okay. Thank you for cooking, Oliver.” Delton winked back at Adar. “Still people-oriented.”

“How did things go with the new omegas?” Oliver asked once they all had food on their plates and were digging in. “How many showed up?”

“Twenty-nine,” Adar said. “There were supposed to be more, but the Murphys refused to let their omegas go.”

Delton frowned. “I thought that clan was disbanded?”

Adar nodded. “It was. Or I should say, it is. But the Murphy alphas don’t care. They—” He suddenly stopped talking and looked at Delton, who nudged his head in Oliver’s direction. “Is this okay for you to talk about?” Adar asked.

Oliver took a deep breath. “Yes, it is, and if that changes, I’ll let you know.”

Adar studied him for a moment longer, as if to make sure, then continued, “They seem to be ignoring what happened and pretending they’re still in charge. We’ll need to liberate those omegas by force.”

Oliver’s mouth ran dry. “F-force?”

“We can’t let them stay there and suffer, so we’ll do whatever it takes to free them.”

“Duer is looking at legal options,” Delton said. “Trying to see if he can find some kind of loophole to get the authorities involved.”

Adar sighed. “I hope so. It would make things a lot easier if we had the law on our side…and law enforcement. I’m not backing down from a fight, but those alphas have no honor. They will fight dirty.”

They would. Oliver had no doubt that when it came to pure strength, Adar would be able to take them—well, one by one, anyway—but they wouldn’t let it come down to that. They’d use their magic, and how would Adar and the other wolves counter that? “You’ll need dragons to fight with you.”

“Yeah, but we’re hoping to avoid that.” He cracked his knuckles. “Though I’m dying to settle a score with Dempsey.”

Dempsey. Even mere weeks ago, that name would’ve made Oliver shiver, but now it did nothing to him. No, that wasn’t true. It still made him freeze for a moment, if only to double-check his reaction, but it no longer sent a flare of panic through him. His stomach no longer dropped and his throat didn’t tighten.

“I hope you’ll get the chance to beat the absolute shit out of him,” Delton said with uncharacteristic venom. “And I mean that with every fiber of my being. Using his status and strength against defenseless omegas is about as low as any man can sink. I’d like to see him try to fight someone his own size.”

Oliver blinked. Wow, that was unexpected.

“Actually, he is bigger than me,” Adar said. “He has an inch on me and, if I had to take a guess, a good ten, fifteen pounds of muscle.”

Delton waved his hand dismissively. “Pfft, that means nothing. I bet he’s never won an honest fight in his life. You could take him with one arm tied behind your back.”

Adar shifted in his seat. “That’s a lot of confidence you have in me. How can you be so sure?”

“Because he hurt Oliver.” Delton said it as if it was the most logical thing in the world, and maybe to him, it was. “He abused Oliver, and once you get your hands on him, your rage about that will trump any trick he thinks he has up his sleeve.”

“He has magic,” Oliver piped up. “Darn magic.”

Delton’s eyes softened. “I know, and I’m not making light of that, but I think it’s time we start acting like we believe the prophecies. But when the White Dragon and the True Alpha join forces, peace will reign . That’s what was promised to us. We know we have truth and honor on our side. We know we have the True Alpha and the White Dragon. We know we will win. Why are we not living out that truth?”

Oliver’s heart rate tripled. Something about Delton’s words resonated with him, but it was hard to let go of that fear deeply rooted inside him. “But what about Rhene? We don’t know if he’ll ever come back safely to us, to Erwan and Ainle, to his brothers.”

Delton held out his hand to Oliver, who took it without hesitation. To his surprise, Adar took his other hand, then reached for Delton’s, linking them. “No, we don’t know that,” Delton said gently. “But that doesn’t change anything. In fact, maybe it’s all part of the plan, of fate.”

“How can it be okay for him to die?” Oliver protested.

Delton shook his head. “Of course that’s not okay. It would be horrible, and he would be deeply mourned for a long, long time by a lot of people. But I bet that if we asked him, if we gave him the choice, he would give his life to keep everyone safe, to protect his mate and his son, his pack.”

Adar gasped. “The other prophecy, the one Lucia did…”

“Yeah.” Delton looked from Adar to Oliver, then recited, “ When the True Alpha rises, so will your son, and he will bring justice and honor and peace, but it will come at a price .”

“What if that price is Rhene’s life?” Adar whispered.

An ice-cold hand wrapped around Oliver’s heart. All the joy and warmth and hope he’d felt before vanished as he recalled another prophecy, one he’d dismissed as the overly emotional words of a dying mother. What was it that Queen Grian had said? “ May the White Dragon bring justice and honor, restoring the alliance of old. May he find the courage and wisdom to sacrifice what must be given up to gain what must be won .” His voice broke. “Is that what she meant? Does Erwan need to give up Rhene to restore justice and peace?”

Tears formed in Oliver’s eyes at the thought.

“I don’t think so,” Delton said softly, his voice cracking a bit. “Because as fated mates, they’re connected to the point that if Rhene dies, Erwan will die too. He can’t bring justice and honor if he’s dead, to be blunt. So it would have to be something else. That doesn’t mean Rhene won’t suffer…but I have to believe he’ll return to the pack, to his mate.”

“From your lips to the ears of the gods,” Adar said. “May the moon and earth protect him.”

Oliver had stopped putting any faith in gods a long time ago. All his prayers and pleadings hadn’t made a difference in the abuse he’d suffered. Why would he honor gods who clearly weren’t interested in helping him? But maybe, in this case, he could make an exception. For Rhene, he would believe in whatever he needed to if that would help the alpha return safely to them. And so he took a deep breath. “From your lips to the ears of the gods.”