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

Chapter Six

W hen Delton opened his door that morning, he wasn’t expecting to see Adar standing there. But he did, looking a little sheepish as he held out a bouquet of wildflowers. Pretty ones, too, in all colors of the rainbow. Lupines, different kinds of poppies, cosmos in bright pink and red, purple coneflowers, and even some gorgeous blue cornflowers. He’d tied them together with a pretty red ribbon—about the same color as the blush on his cheeks.

“I brought you flowers,” he said, holding them out to Delton, who took them automatically.

“You did.” Delton couldn’t help but bring the flowers to his nose. “They smell good too.”

“Yeah? You like them?”

How did a badass alpha like Adar manage to look cute? Handsome, sure. Tough, hot, powerful, yes. But cute? Puppies were cute. Kittens were cute. Little baby deer with those big doe eyes like Bambi? Also cute. But alpha wolves should not be cute, yet he was, the silent plea in those gorgeous brown eyes hard to resist.

“To what do I owe the honor?”

Adar shuffled his feet. “I want to apologize for what I said and how I handled all of this.”

“All of this?” Was it mean to pretend he didn’t have a clue what Adar was talking about? Maybe, but Delton wasn’t feeling generous toward Adar, not even after his heart had softened because of the flowers.

Adar swallowed. “What I said about you hurting already was insensitive, and I deeply regret saying it.”

Okay, it might’ve sounded a little rehearsed—which Delton honestly couldn’t blame him for, knowing Adar wasn’t good with words and most likely had wanted to practice—but it also came across as sincere. “Thank you. It was, and it hurt me.”

Pain filled Adar’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to do that. I wasn’t thinking. Well, I was, but more about doing whatever I could to make you give us a chance, and I never stopped to consider it was insensitive. Which it was.”

Delton quirked an eyebrow. “Who’d you talk to?”

Adar sighed, rubbing his nape. “Sivney. And his mates were there as well.”

“Sivney?” Delton whistled between his teeth. “You must’ve been pretty desperate to ask him for help.”

Adar raised his eyes and met Delton’s. “I was. I still am.” He took a deep breath. “I will do whatever I have to do to win you back. No, that’s not right. To win you.” He winced. “Is that a good way of saying it? ‘Cause it makes it sound like you’re a prize, which you are, but you’re more than that. Shit, I’m fucking this up again, aren’t I?”

Delton couldn’t help the smile that slowly spread across his lips. He also couldn’t help the surge of warmth inside him, this soft, fluttery sensation in his belly. Whatever hopes he might’ve had that he was over Adar, he’d been dead wrong. “You’re not. In fact, you’re doing great.”

Pure confusion filled Adar’s expression. “How? None of the words I practiced are coming out right.”

“What words did you practice?”

“That I’m certain we belong together, all three of us. And that I understand why you’re done after how I treated you?—”

“Not just you,” Delton said. “Both of you.”

“…how we treated you. But I also wanted to tell you that I will do whatever I can to convince you to stay and to give me…us…another chance. That I want to spend time with you and get to know you better, give you a chance to get to know me.” He frowned. “I think that was it.”

Delton swallowed. Adar’s honest words had impacted him more than he cared to admit. “You wanna spend time with me?”

Adar nodded fiercely. “We can do whatever you like. Maybe go for a hike since I know you love those.”

“What about Oliver?”

“Oliver? He can come too if that’s what you prefer.”

“No, I meant, shouldn’t you be guarding him? That has been your priority since he arrived.”

Adar flushed again, scratching his beard. “Yeah, well, Sivney pointed out that I may have been wrong there. Not in the beginning, I think, when my presence brought him a sense of safety and comfort, but later on. He doesn’t need me anymore like that, but I kept doing it anyway because…” He shook his head. “I don’t even know why. Maybe because it was routine by then. God knows I’m a man who appreciates things a certain way.”

“Or maybe because the idea of being needed like that made you feel good. Being Oliver’s protector became part of your identity.”

Adar’s eyes widened for a moment. “With your knowledge and background, you’d know better than me.”

“Nah, I may be better at analyzing, but you’re the only one who knows the truth.”

“I’ve never thought about it, to be honest. Not until Sivney pointed out that…” He sighed. “I’m not sure if I should even tell you this. Like my stupid remark about you already hurting, this may be the kind of honesty that could come back to bite me in the ass.”

“In this case, give it a go. I promise I won’t get upset.”

Which was a stupid thing to promise, but Delton’s curiosity was far too pressing to let it go. Hell, if someone ever managed to kidnap him, it would be because they lured him in by making him curious. People were like puzzles to him, and he had a hard time letting go until he’d solved the entire puzzle.

“Sivney said I should spend as much time with you as with Oliver…and that you need my protection as much as he does when it comes down to it.”

Damn. The omega hadn’t sugarcoated his advice, had he? And as usual, he’d been spot on, even pointing something out that Delton hadn’t fully grasped until then. “He’s not wrong. I think you spending so much more time with Oliver is one of the reasons I feel like I don’t belong with you. We’re not on equal footing with you, Oliver and I.”

Adar looked crushed. “I know.”

Delton took a deep breath. “Why don’t I put these flowers in some water, and then we can find a quiet spot somewhere to sit and talk? If that’s what you want.”

“I’d love that.”

“Okay. Give me two minutes.”

Delton headed back inside and rummaged in the kitchen cabinets until he found a pint glass that would have to do double duty as a vase since he didn’t have an actual one. He’d never received flowers before, so he’d never needed one. After he filled the glass with water and put the flowers in it, he set it on the kitchen table, where it looked homey.

Quico, Delton’s one roommate since the third bedroom of their cabin was Delton’s office, would no doubt have some snarky comment on it. Not that Delton particularly cared about the alpha’s opinion. They weren’t close.

It really had been sweet of Adar to go through the trouble—even if Sivney had told him to get flowers. Although, come to think of it, that didn’t sound like a suggestion the omega would make. Maybe one of his mates? Lev, probably. He was definitely the type for romantic gestures.

Delton straightened his back. His two-minute reprieve was up. Time to face the music again. Sure, he could tell Adar to leave, and the alpha would heed that request, but Delton didn’t want him to leave. Strange how that worked. The thought of staying and always being the third wheel broke his heart, but the idea of leaving tore him apart too. He was fucked either way.

When he stepped outside, Adar stood in the exact same place, like he hadn’t moved a muscle. Then again, in his job, the man had to be used to standing still for long stretches of time while still remaining alert and vigilant.

“I’m back,” Delton said as if Adar hadn’t noticed that himself. Stupid nerves. “Wanna sit under the trees?”

The sun wasn’t out in full force yet, but once it was, it would be unbearable outside of the shade.

Adar nodded, and they made their way over to a cute little wooden bench under one of the big trees on the property.

“How’s Oliver doing?” Delton asked.

“Not so good.”

“Has he spoken again?”

Adar shook his head.

Dammit. “I shouldn’t have told you then that I wanted out. My timing was awful.”

“This isn’t on you.”

“Not the initial trauma, no, and I’m not to blame for his reaction after he fucked up and told you. I know that. But I knew he’d stopped talking again, and I still went ahead and ended things. Or whatever you want to call it.”

“That’s very unlike you to be so unspecific. You’re always so good at labeling.”

He wasn’t wrong there. “That tells you how confused I am about all of it. It’s more complicated than a soap opera storyline.”

Adar chuckled. “Yeah? I can’t say I’ve ever watched one.”

“My mom loved them when I was a kid, so I grew up watching them with her. General Hospital , The Bold and the Beautiful … I knew exactly who everyone was and their connections to each other. It was all about love and lies, betrayal and bad choices, secrets and schmoopy moments.”

“Schmoopy? What the hell is that?”

“Romantic, lovey-dovey. In soap operas, it’s often a little corny and tacky, but all part of their charm. But some of these shows have run so long—I think The Bold and the Beautiful is at thirty-plus years now—that a summary of their storylines is like a big knot of yarn, all tangled up. And that’s how I feel. All knotted up, unable to see a way out because I can’t find the beginning or the end. It makes it impossible for me to label because I can’t see enough to know what I’m looking at.”

“What do you see?”

“Fated mates between you and Oliver, an omega who survived unimaginable trauma, which manifests in many ways, including difficulty speaking. I see an alpha who craves impact play and rough sex but feels ashamed about it and tries to be something he’s not so he can fit in. But I also see a man who is protective of those he loves. Honorable.”

Was he saying too much? No, this was all factual, not colored by his feelings for Adar. Well, maybe a little, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true. “Layers. I see lots and lots of layers.”

“Like what?”

“Like fated mates, friendship, and found family. But also trauma and pain, panic attacks, and more. A genuine desire to make things work, but with a layer of honesty that sometimes helps and sometimes hurts. All the good intentions are there, but still, people end up hurt. I think all three of us are hurting.”

Adar slowly nodded. “And what do you see when you look at you? At yourself?”

Delton’s throat constricted. “A beta who doesn’t belong with anyone, who can and does help everyone else but can’t fix his own problems. The eternal best friend, the best man even, but never the chosen one, the groom.”

His voice broke, and to his horror, his eyes filled with tears. Oh no, he was not going to do this. He refused to break down in front of Adar. He was better than that.

But no matter how hard he fought the tears back, they wouldn’t subside, and before he knew it, a sob forced itself out between his tightly pressed lips.

“Delton…”

Adar sounded alarmed. No wonder. The man had not signed up for this.

“Ignore me. Or even better, I’ll…”

Words failed him and so he simply got up. He hadn’t put one foot in front of the other before Adar grabbed his wrist and tugged him backward. Delton tumbled onto his lap, and the alpha wrapped his strong arms around him. “You’re not walking away again. Your tears don’t scare me.”

Why did he have to be nice about it? If he’d been an asshole or had reacted in the classic frightened way most alphas did when confronted with tears, Delton would’ve been able to walk away. He would’ve told himself he was better off. But that wouldn’t fly when Adar held him so tenderly, with this softness and care that was such a contrast with his size.

“Maybe it’s time for someone to hold you while you cry,” Adar whispered, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The dam broke, and Delton burst into tears, violent sobs tearing through him as he cried and cried and cried. His head cleared to the point where he didn’t even know why he was crying, except that he was sad, so deeply sad.

But what he did know was that Adar never wavered. He sat there, holding Delton in his arms and pressing him against his chest. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. His actions spoke for him and showed nothing but understanding and patience.

And so Delton cried until he had no more tears to spill, and then he just sat…and reveled in the sensation of being held by the man he’d dreamed of for so long.