Page 7

Mate

Deke

H ow I went from asking to be godfather to all four of Larken’s kids to absolutely nothing I have no idea. Literally just blackness until I felt myself come back to consciousness.

“There you are. Wake now.” I heard the words in an unfamiliar but soothing voice.

No, that was wrong. I knew them. They were the one who belonged to me. The one who had been calling me all this time since the portal had opened. Whoever they were, they were who I’d been missing this entire time.

Their voice was warm, loving, welcome, after so long in the dark with no awareness. I knew time had gone by. My wolf was frantic now that I was gathering myself.

A feeling of being weightless, being carried, followed me out of the dark and into the light, not The Luna, someone better. My mate.

I opened my eyes to the most unusual, yet beautiful, eyes I’d ever seen. They had slitted pupils, like on a cat or a reptile, except unusual to those kinds of animals, they were cerulean blue. Stunning eyes. The blue of a tropical sea. I could barely take my eyes off them to see the person who had become my whole world.

He had blond hair in desperate need of a decent cut, it honestly looked like someone had hacked at it. He was only wearing some blue pants that brought out the color in his eyes. His form was slight, shorter than my six-two for sure, maybe five-five? Lean, more underweight than I suspected was natural given how his skin stretched over his cheekbones. His pale skin made me think he avoided the sun.

There was just something about him which suggested he needed careful handling. A fragility to him, not necessarily his body, but his mind. He was focused on me, but I could tell it wouldn’t take long for him to launch into action. In my job as Head Enforcer I’d learned to see shifters on the brink, and he was one of them.

“Mate,” he said the word with wonder. There was an intensity about him which should have alarmed me, but didn’t. The Luna wouldn’t have given me more than I could handle. She was cool like that.

Instead, I felt myself smiling, a grin pulling my lips wider than it had in a long time. “Mate,” I agreed.

Thank The Luna for finally blessing me with an omega of my own. A secret part of me had wondered if she had forgotten me while she blessed the rest of my family. If that was the price to pay for their happiness, then sure, I’d pay it. I was relieved as fuck she hadn’t left me out, though. My mate was perfect.

My wolf took this moment to tell me something was wrong with our omega. I prickled at the thought, defensive over my mate. My wolf wasn’t having it though, he said the omega smelled strange. Then there were his pupils to consider. He registered as having magic, most shifters did to some degree. He had more than most. Had the magic made him partially shift in his agitation over me being hooked up to machines? I glanced around myself. Shit! I had to have been in a bad way.

After seeing Kade partially shift to protect his daughter, I knew it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that an omega could let some of their alter out when under intense stress. Maybe that’s what’d happened with him after seeing me in such a state. Omegas were just as protective over their alphas after all. Hiroshi had proven that with Roan.

Machines were still attached to me. They itched. My head ached something fierce despite whatever the omega had done to get me to wake up.

“Can I check Deke?” James asked, breaking our stare off. I hadn’t realized anyone else was there. Then I noticed Larken stood in the corner looking one part relieved, one part awed, with a little fear thrown in.

Hang on! Was he afraid of my omega?

My mate growled as James approached me, his palms wide, showing he was no threat.

“Behave,” I chastised, as I squeezed his hand. “James just needs to stop the machines beeping now that I don’t need them.” Keeping his attention on me, I asked, “did you fix me? Are you a healer?”

James worked quickly to unhook me. “The spell to monitor you is done, which suggests the brain injury you sustained, the bleed and pressure, are all gone.” James gave a sunny smile tinged with what I thought was relief.

I tried not to flinch as he pulled the IV out. The omega’s eye twitched. His hand tightened on mine before my question to him registered.

The omega looked affronted. “Dragon.”

“What?” Shock forced the word out. Impossible. They were extinct! He frowned. “Dragon,” he repeated. “Ozyn.”

I looked at Larken for help. My mate had to be joking, right? My friend shook his head, answering my unspoken question. I could have used the pack bond, but I didn’t want to risk it while I still held my omega’s hand. I didn’t know what magic he had.

“Ozyn?” I drew it out like he did. Ohh-zin. “That’s your name?”

“Yes,” he confirmed. “I am a dragon.” His eyes stayed the same. I didn’t feel any extra pheromones coming off him, so he wasn’t under stress making him show his animal side. My senses weren’t fully back online though.

“You’re fucking with me, right?” I blurted, without thought.

Ozyn frowned. “No.”

Swallowing hard, I glanced at Larken again. This time, Ozyn let out a snarl. My eyes snapped back to my mate. Chastened, the rumbling subsided.

None of this made sense to me. A mate who claimed he was a dragon with a strange smell, odd eyes, and an attitude problem. What the fuck was up with him growling all the time?

“He’s really a dragon! You should have seen him fly through the portal and shift in midair!” Larken sounded like he was in shock or something.

“How? Dragons have been extinct for what, thousands of years?” I wondered aloud.

“Meh, who knows?” Larken moved into my eyeline. I watched him shrug. “Alpha females didn’t exist to us until Elliotte was born. I bet the elves are behind this.”

Ozyn watched Larken from the corner of his eye. I could see how my mate moved so his back wasn’t completely to Larken’s. Huh, if Larken was right, they were both types of dragon. My wolf huffed an unimpressed sound.

I had a brain injury , I reminded my alter. He rolled his eyes.

“Dragons used magic to hide themselves away in Abrocaelum. Too many humans, not enough land.”

Made sense to me. “So the elves and fae let you come when they made—“

“They did not make Abrocaelum!” Ozyn’s face reddened with anger. “The dragons created it. We invited the races to come. Most did not. The Luna promised to help us when it was time.”

That went against all we had been told about the creation of Abrocaelum. Which version was the truth? Maybe they were all right. It must have taken vast amounts of magic to form a whole new world so close to ours, which likely meant they all took part in it. I couldn’t wrap my brain around the concept.

“Huh. Figures she knew something about it.” I wanted to sit up, to get to know my omega better, but my body was weighing me down.

“Mate, you are still hurt.” Ozyn’s warm hand tightened on mine.

James went to the door, admitting Aldrin. When the bear alpha and healer approached the bed, Ozyn turned protective. His eyes flashed, his claws extended, making me believe for the first time that Larken and Ozyn were telling the truth: my mate was a dragon.

“Ozyn?” I waited for my mate to meet my eyes. “You want me to leave this bed, right?” He nodded. “Then Aldrin will have to check me, maybe heal me some more—“

“I will heal you!” he protested. “I saved my magic for you. Felt your pain. Saved it.”

“Why did you have to save it? Is there something wrong with your magic?”

I knew dragons were made of magic. Legends told us they could do awesome things with their powers. They had the ability to create and destroy.

He flinched and hedged. “Nothing is wrong with my magic.”

“You just said you had to save it. Like ration it?”

Aldrin, who had paused at the foot of the bed, spoke up. “Perhaps this is not the time for this conversation. Deke needs an examination, and Ozyn, is it?” My mate narrowed his eyes at the bear shifter, but nodded. “You need to deal with the other dragons. The ones waiting outside for you.”

More dragons? What the fuck was going on?

Ozyn kept a hold of my hand, but moved enough to allow Aldrin to examine me. His sharp gaze watched every movement the healer made.

“Dragon magic is fascinating. I’d love to ask you some questions if you’d be willing,” Aldrin said cheerfully to my mate, ignoring the death-stare he was getting from the dragon.

My mate’s lip curled with distaste. He was still beautiful, maybe even more so for his lack of manners. He was so real, unburdened by niceties. The way he was guarding me was too hot.

Hoping that giving Aldrin some sort of answer would get me out of this damn bed, I hedged and pushed the pain away. Worked, too, since the healer gave me a checkup and pronounced me perfectly healthy.

“You might feel some weakness, or be tired for a day or two, but other than that, it’s like you weren’t injured. Are you sure I can’t take some blood or do some tests?”

“No!” everyone said together.

“My brothers wait. We must go.”

Guess I was meeting more dragons.