Page 5 of Dragon’s Revenge (Irresistible Dragons #7)

Chapter Four

H e had to do something. Adar had no clue what, but he couldn’t stand by and watch everything fall apart. He wasn’t angry with Delton though. How could he be when everything between Adar and Oliver had been at the expense of Delton? He’d paid the price again and again, and Adar couldn’t blame him for walking away.

But he also couldn’t let it happen. So how could he convince Delton to give them another chance without disrespecting his wishes and boundaries? He had no clue. And he wasn’t gonna ask Oliver. It would only upset the omega, first of all, and second, Adar doubted Oliver would know what to do. He was as much part of the problem as Adar was.

No, if he wanted help—and he did—he had to ask someone else. Someone who knew the situation and knew them, at least well enough to offer solid advice.

He cringed. Was there really no one else? But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t come up with any other name. Fuck. Well, in a way, it was only fair he’d have to embarrass himself in front of an omega. Served him right for not respecting Delton’s feelings. Adar wasn’t the type to dwell on regrets, but he sure as fuck had a few now.

Without giving himself time to reconsider or back out, he set course for the main house, where he found Sivney in the kitchen with his mates and daughter.

“Am I interrupting?” Adar checked. It didn’t seem like it, but he needed Sivney in a good mood, so he’d better check.

“That depends on whether you need me alone or if I can stay here since I want to spend some time with Abigail,” Sivney said.

Sure, why not? Did it really matter if Adar humiliated himself in front of one man or three? At least the little girl was too young to remember. “That’s fine.”

Sivney gestured at the seat across from him. “In that case, grab a seat. What can I do for you?”

Adar had run various scenarios through his head, but none of them had made his mortification any less, so he decided to bite the bullet. “I need your advice on how to win Delton’s heart.”

Sivney’s eyes widened. “Dude, I thought you had, like, a quick question for me. Not a problem we could discuss all day long and still not solve.”

Adar’s shoulders hunched. “I fucked up.”

“You sure did, but can you be more specific? ‘Cause I think you may have missed a few things on my list that I could point out to you.”

Naran, Sivney’s alpha mate, snorted behind his hand. “You can laugh,” Adar said. “It can’t make me feel any worse than I already do.”

“Good,” Sivney said. “And I mean that without any malice. It’s about time you and Oliver realized the truth.”

“In my defense, I truly didn’t know he was our mate,” Adar said weakly.

“How the fuck did you not know that? How could you miss something so crucially important?”

“Because it felt nothing like what I have with Oliver. If I had a third mate, is it so unreasonable to think I’d feel the same way about him as I do about Oliver?”

Sivney was quiet for a long time, then sighed. “No, it’s not. I’ll give you that. But it’s been hard to stand by and watch you two hurt him. He’s got such a good heart, and he’s been in love with you for so long.”

“I didn’t know. Yes, I realize how stupid that makes me, but I truly never noticed.”

Sivney waved his hand. “He never told you, and like most alphas, you’re rather oblivious. It wouldn’t be fair to hold that against you.”

Adar scratched his chin. “Thank you, I think?”

“So what happened that you’re here, asking for my advice?”

A sharp pain pierced Adar’s heart. “He’s out. He may even leave the pack.”

“Fuck,” Sivney said, and that one word summed it up perfectly.

“Initially, he agreed to a trial period to give the three of us a chance to get to know each other and find out if we’re mates. But then he changed his mind and said he couldn’t do it, that he’d only be setting himself up for more pain.”

“Can you blame him? You made him watch as you took Oliver through his heat. That must’ve been the worst torture ever.”

Adar shrunk. “I know that now, but all I wanted was to make sure Oliver would be okay.”

“So you never gave a second thought to Delton.”

How much smaller did Sivney want him to feel? “It never occurred to me he’d be hurt by it. I mean, I asked him, and he had the option to say no…”

“Which he would’ve never done because you’re his mate, but you didn’t know that. Dammit, how am I supposed to be angry with you when you play it like that?”

“He’s not playing, firecracker,” Naran said mildly. “He never was. Oblivious, yes, but not cruel. And last time I checked, we didn’t hold stupidity against people, or I wouldn’t be sitting here.”

Sivney rolled his eyes. “Touché.”

Naran leaned forward, took Sivney’s hand, and pressed a kiss on it. “And what’s more, you didn’t believe you were our third either, remember? You thought Lev and I were a couple without you. Took you a while to see the truth.”

“Fuck, I hate it when you get all logical and reasonable with me,” Sivney said with a sigh. Then he held up his hands. “But you’re not wrong. So I’ll get off my high horse now and try to help you, Adar.”

“Thank you. I’ll take all the help I can get. I don’t want to lose Delton.”

“So let me start by asking this: how certain are you that he’s your third? Because if you have even a shred of doubt, I’m out. I can’t be a part of any plan that could end up with Delton being rejected again.”

“Absolutely one hundred percent certain. What I felt when he said he was out… I now know what they mean by a broken heart. It’s like he ripped mine in two and a part of me is missing.”

“Damn.” Lev sighed. “That was beautiful.”

“Our hopeless romantic,” Sivney said with a sweet smile for his mate. “You always see the good in people.”

He leaned in for a soft kiss, then refocused on Adar. “Okay, that’s good. I mean, not that you’re hurting, though you certainly deserve to feel some misery after what you did, but it’s good to hear you’re completely certain about him.”

“So how do I convince him? How do I make him understand I’m serious, that I believe he’s our third? That I want him in my life?”

“Honestly? I don’t think he’ll believe you right now, no matter what you say. He’s too hurt, so he’s closed himself off. Words aren’t gonna cut it. All you can do is show it, prove it to him. You know, the whole actions speak louder than words thing.”

Actions. That was good because he sucked with words anyway. He was more of a doer. “What kind of actions? Do I get him flowers? Bring him breakfast in bed? Buy him chocolate?”

Sivney smiled. “None of those things can hurt, but there’s another cliché that’s applicable here: love is often spelled T-I-M-E. You’ve gone out of your way to spend time with Oliver. Now do the same for Delton. Be there for him. Talk to him. Be his friend the way you were with Oliver.”

That didn’t sound too daunting. “But how do I combine that with protecting Oliver?”

Sivney leaned forward, his blue eyes drilling into Adar’s. “There’s a whole security team. You’re not the only one who can keep him safe.”

“I know, but especially now that we fear another attack, I can’t just leave him alone.”

“But leaving Delton unprotected is fine?”

Wait, what? But Delton was…

He was a beta, but that didn’t mean he was fine. If an attack came, both his mates needed protection, not just Oliver. In fact, when it came to defending himself, Oliver was probably more skilled than Delton. Oliver could shift into a dragon and had his magic. Delton didn’t. So why was he treating Oliver like he was fragile but not Delton?

“All alphas tend to be protective toward omegas,” Sivney said softly. “And when an omega has a background like Oliver’s, it’s hard not to want to wrap him in bubble wrap. But you can’t always put Oliver first. If you want your triad to be truly equal, Delton has to be just as important to you.”

He was right, and once again, a wave of shame filled Adar. “I didn’t realize the message that would send.”

Sivney put his tiny hand on Adar’s big one. “I know, big guy. If I thought for even a moment that you’d done it deliberately, this would’ve been a very different conversation.”

Why was this shit so hard? Everyone else made it seem so easy and effortless.

“Relationships are hard work,” Naran said as if reading Adar’s mind. “And anyone who tells you differently is lying.”

“It was hard for you three as well?”

Sivney laughed. “Do I look like I’d be easy? I went into this kicking and screaming, and it took me a long time to accept we were mates. And even then, we needed time to figure out how we fit together. I’m not your standard omega, and Lev here…” Sivney’s eyes filled with so much love as he looked at his mate that Adar almost wanted to look away. It felt too private, too intimate. “Lev is perfect the way he is, but we needed to experiment to see how we could give him what he needed.”

That did make Adar feel better. No, it wasn’t an easy solution, some kind of three-step plan he could follow, but it did offer hope. And right now, Adar needed all the hope he could get.

Naran leaned forward. “You know what I would do if I were you? Ask Delton. Sit down with him, tell him the truth about how you feel and that you’re certain he’s your third. Then, ask him what he needs from you and Oliver to prove it. Flat out ask him. Knowing Delton, he’ll appreciate that. He’s always advocating for open and honest communication.”

Adar’s shoulders hunched. “The last time I tried that, it didn’t go well.”

“No? What happened?”

Oy. He’d bared his soul already, so he might as well come clean. “I told him he was already hurting, so what did it matter if he risked getting rejected again? It couldn’t be worse than what he was feeling now.”

Sivney’s eyes widened. “Holy shit, just when I thought I’d heard it all.”

Naran winced as he dragged a hand over his chin. “I agree that doesn’t look good, but it’s not unfixable. In this case, I suggest starting with the mother of all apologies and some major groveling.”

“I recommend flowers,” Lev said. “They always work with me.”

Flowers. Adar could do that. There were plenty of wildflowers to be found right now, so he’d gather as many as he could in all kinds of colors. He could ask one of the dragon omegas for a cute ribbon to tie them into a bouquet. Surely, that would be a good start. “What else?”

“I second that honest conversation Naran mentioned,” Sivney said. “But maybe refrain from saying stupid and hurtful shit.”

Naran bumped the omega’s shoulder. “No need to rub it in, firecracker. You’ve been known to say stuff you later had to apologize for.”

Sivney opened his mouth, his eyes lighting up, but then he closed it again. “Fair enough. Can I recommend writing out some things you want to say? Just so you can think of them ahead of time and not have to come up with arguments on the spot?”

That was a great idea, actually. That way, he didn’t risk inadvertently hurting Delton again. “Do you think he’ll even want to listen to me again?”

Sivney slowly gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I don’t know, but if he doesn’t, you can only try so many times before it becomes harassment. Mates or not, he has the right to say no and not talk to you. The gods know he’s been hurt enough already.”

Never again. No matter what happened, Adar would make sure Delton would not get hurt again. He’d fucked up, but he vowed to do better. He’d prove himself to be worthy of Delton. And Oliver.