Page 20

Waiting

Deke

P laying hooky with my mate was the best feeling in the world. I wanted to prove to him there was more to our bond than sex, even though the sex was really fucking good. If I’d known how much better it was with your fated mate, I’d have charged through that damn portal on the day it had opened.

Not that I’d known the pull was Ozyn. Suspected, sure, but known? No. I should have spoken up. There had been quieter times when the elves could have helped me with what I was feeling. I spent plenty of time with Teárlach and Hakeem, they might have had an idea about what the pull was.

Beating myself up over it wasn’t going to change the last two years. Besides, Ozyn needed that time to come back to himself. Maybe I could have figured shit out sooner, and it’s possible he would’ve been fine. We’d never know. Things happened like they were meant to.

The Luna was a huge part of our lives in the Sweetwater pack, we just had to trust her to guide us down the right path at the right time.

We took a walk and shifted together. I loved his other form. As a dragon he walked side by side with me to the lake, then took to the skies while I watched him from the ground. He skimmed over the surface of the water, scaring some ducks, making me laugh. In the air, he looked so damn happy I hated to remind him to stick close by.

Someone was going to make a stink about Ozyn being shifted. They just couldn’t stand to see him happy.

Sure enough, Micah, one of our enforcers, came running in his dingo form, a phone in a pouch around his neck. I could guarantee it was about Ozyn. I shifted but stayed sitting in the grass.

Cops called again. Just gotta get eyes on Ozyn to say I’ve seen him.

He shifted, baring himself to me because most shifters didn’t give a shit about nudity. My mate knew about that. Still, the move got a reaction out of him.

Ozyn snarled at Micah who smirked.

“Get a grip!” I called to my mate. “He came here in fur.”

“He could at least cover himself.”

His ability to speak out loud and not via the pack link while still being a dragon was trippy.

Micah shrugged. He gave zero fucks about Ozyn’s mood. He started a call, ignoring the dragon circling over his head. “Hey Hernandez,” he said when the call connected.

Ah, our friendly neighborhood police officer. He was my newest bestie, the main cop we spoke to about reports of Ozyn. The man had my number, not that I had my phone on me. Bet I’d return to a ton of missed calls.

“Yeah, Ozyn’s here. Deke too.” He was quiet for a moment then brandished the phone at me. “Here, he wants to speak to you.”

“Hey,” I greeted him warily.

“The phone you’re on, does it take video calls?” Hernandez sounded utterly done. Could hardly blame him there.

I looked at the device before I gave him an answer. Why did he want to know? “Yeah?”

There was a beep as the call dropped then a video call began. I answered. “Um, I’m hoping you can’t see all that much. Left my clothes under a tree.”

“Can’t see much aside from your face and the sky,” he muttered dryly. “Where’s that mate of yours?”

Took me a second but I figured out how to turn the camera. Nearly showed the officer too much. I moved it away from Micah’s junk, to catch Ozyn lazily flapping above the lake once more, not threatening his pack mate. His gaze was still fixated on Micah, who was doing nothing to cover himself to bait Ozyn.

“Ah, at the lake, which is?”

“Right in the middle of the compound.” I stood, making Ozyn growl again until I used a hand to sort of cover my dick. Swinging the phone around, I didn’t care if Hernandez got a look at Micah that time, I zoomed into the buildings in the distance. “See that there,” I pointed, “that’s the pack mansion. Over there,” more moving, “right in the distance? The factory.”

“Point made. Don’t think I didn’t catch that other guy standing there.”

Micah shifted back into his dingo form and began nonchalantly cleaning himself, listening in on the conversation.

“Are we really going to do this every time Ozyn shifts? Isn’t this harassment at this point? He didn’t even fly that high. The only thing he’s scared today is ducks, unless you’re telling me those are aviary spies? But then they shouldn’t be here.”

“I’m with you on this. Ozyn hasn’t done a thing to warrant this treatment.” He rubbed a hand over his face with a tired expression. “I don’t give a fuck that he’s a dragon. We’ve got lions, tigers and bears roaming the streets with the full rights of everyday citizens as they deserve. Some of them are walking loaded weapons. Don’t see us chasing them down every time they shift. Vampires literally drink blood, but they pay for it if they want human stuff. Hell, we’ve got humans walking around with guns and nothing is done. Until he’s a problem we shouldn’t be treating him like one.”

Well, wasn’t that the most positive thing the officer had said about us. Here I was thinking he was a bigot. Plenty of cops were. Not this one, though.

“Right.”

“Yeah, so you guys have a spy in your midst, otherwise the aviary are using drones or something, because the way I see it, there’s no chance they could have seen him from outside your territory unless they are using binoculars or some shit.”

“He was barely above the trees!”

“Look, I get paid to deal with this crap, but this is a waste of resources. While they’re dicking us around there’s actual crimes being committed. I think you need to talk to your Alpha and maybe petition the shifter council to get involved again. I saw this isn’t the first time you’ve had to petition them.” The police and mayor had records of previous complaints on file. Not that the council did much, especially with some of the alphaholes in league with the aviary.

“From the outside, you guys are just trying to live your lives. I think most people have figured out you aren’t the problem here…”

Yeah, the aviary was the boy crying wolf in that old fable for sure. The situation was ridiculous.

I folded into the grass, aware of Ozyn’s annoyance through our bond.

“The aviary just won’t let it go.” I sounded defeated to my ears. Ozyn shifted and landed on two feet nearby. He had the ability to keep his clothes at least. He wrapped himself around me, his head on my shoulder.

“Hey, Ozyn.”

“Hello Officer Hernandez.”

“You can call me Rafael.” Was he blushing?

Oh, he liked my mate did he? I pushed back a growl of my own. With our bond this behavior was supposed to have settled. Yep, the officer couldn’t peel his eyes off my mate.

“You think the aviary was behind this complaint?” Ozyn asked.

“Had to be,” Rafael answered in a softer voice than he’d used with me. Fuck this guy. “I don’t get what their problem is with the pack.”

“The usual.” My tone was harder than I’d normally use, irritated by Hernandez. Ozyn mentally preened at my poorly hidden jealousy.

“They don’t like how we run things, that we’re more powerful than them, we’ve got more omegas, more fated mate pairs, more kids being born. Oh, and we’ve literally been visited by our goddess several times.”

I heard Hernandez take a sharp breath.

“She’s marked people to speak through,” I continued. “Then there’s our tight link to the Northarbor coven, an alliance with the pride, link to Greenbriar, not to mention the demons we work with—“

“Okay, I got it. You guys are the popular kids and they’re jelly about it.” Hernandez rolled his eyes. “You’d think they’d be smarter and make friends. Keep your enemies closer and all that.”

“You’d think, but you’ve got to remember, this is some of the shifter council too. Not just the aviary. They don’t like how we center omegas in our pack.”

“My mama was always jealous that male omegas only existed in shifters.” The dude had a blinding smile. “She wished my papa could’ve been the one to carry the kids.”

“In dragon culture, omegas rule over the others.” Ozyn was rightly proud of his culture.

“That so? Pretty cool. So you were the boss, then?”

“I was the king.”

Hernandez’s eyes bugged out.

“On that note, we better go speak to our Alpha.” I ended the call.

Blake was in his office, Kade resting on the sofa, their assistants at their desks. The noise of children was suspiciously absent.

“Where are the kids?” I asked when we entered hand in hand. Micah had scampered off for a late lunch, probably wanting to escape Ozyn’s ire.

“Hello to you too,” Kade sassed. He remained lying down.

“Is your sickness bothering you?” Ozyn wondered. He let go of my hand to go to Kade.

“Yeah, a little.”

“Here.” Ozyn breathed a little magic over the pregnant Alpha Mate who visibly relaxed, color returning to his wan face.

“Oh my goddess! That felt so good!” Kade sat up. “Dragon magic is amazing!”

Ozyn set a hand on Kade’s shoulder. “Please, don’t overexert yourself. The magic won’t last long with your shifter metabolism. Perhaps a day or so. If you become very unwell, call for me, and I will repeat it.”

“Does it hurt you? I don’t want it if it causes you pain.”

Kade’s concern touched my mate. I felt the ache of affection deep within him. As king he had been surrounded by his family, yet still had been lonely. He had few friends he could trust, which was why Safi was so important to him. I needed to take Ozyn to see the fae soon.

“No, it uses very little magic, however I do not want you to rely on it and miss a warning sign with the babe. It may shorten your pregnancy. She appears to be growing well—“

“She?” Kade’s eyes welled with tears.

“I’m sorry, did you not want to know the baby’s gender?”

Kade glanced at Blake who was grinning. “No, it’s a relief to know, actually. We hoped for a girl to even it out. Thanks, Ozyn. For telling me and for making me feel so much better. I’m going to take a walk down to the kitchen to get a snack. Anyone want anything?”

My mate checked with me first then requested a couple of Winter’s oat and raisin cookies. We would head home for lunch after our meeting with Blake, so I shook my head. I wanted Ozyn to eat to continue building up his strength. Particularly important if he was pregnant. We were just waiting on his magic telling him if the heat was fruitful.

“So,” Blake began when Kade left for the kitchen, Roan by his side as always. I was glad The Luna had ensured a place in our lives for Kade’s ex. Roan was a good guy. He deserved the happiness he’d found with Hiroshi and their family.

“You’re gonna love this.” I took a seat on the other side of the desk to Blake. Ozyn perched himself on my knee, earning a fond smile from Blake.

“Before we start, I wanted to say congrats on your bond. I’m happy for you both.”

“Thank you,” we said together. Ozyn rested his head against mine, content to let me control the meeting.

“Ozyn shifted again. Over the lake this time, and there was another complaint put in. Hernandez thinks we have a spy.”

“Again?”

I sighed. “Yeah. Look, we’re never going to have everyone be happy with what we’re doing here. There’s always going to be a pack gunning for our members, our territory.”

“You’re right. I’ve got a feeling there’s a but in there.”

“The aviary is out of control. If it’s not running us off the road, causing thousands of dollars of damage not to us, but Sweetwater and Northarbor, then it’s them wasting police time, holding up the mayor’s office with red tape.”

“What do you suggest we do?”

“You petition the council to take over the aviary. They’ll probably not go for it since they’re in their pockets. We need to take the aviary by force then.”

“You’re not suggesting…”

“I think you should challenge their Alpha.”