Page 2

Teddy

“I can’t believe Mori would do this,”

Jacob said.

“Omegas aren’t helpless,”

Marsin chimed in before I could. “It’s not like they had to fight wild dragons over pizza to get here or something. It’s not even that long of a walk.”

“Dern isn’t the most stable wolf around right now. Even if he is actually seeing his dead mate, I’m not sure I want anyone untrained alone with him,”

Jacob Leem sighed.

Jacob had always been a bit of a nervous nelly. Then again, most healers are. If not nervous, they’re worrywarts. Maybe both described Jacob, but he was scrappy too when he had to be. His being here proved that I couldn’t toss a pebble without running into someone I once hooked up with.

“That’s why we’ve sworn off hooking up. No more randoms because they keep showing up. I’m done with it. I’m done with sex. Hell, once we make sure Marsin and Astral are okay, I’m done with people. They can all rub their part together and have an army of babies, but I’m done,”

my dragon rambled on. “Seriously, I am done. D-O-N-E.”

He wasn’t done. He’d get horny again eventually. Though, I was through with getting involved emotionally with anyone. I’d never loved Jacob. Never loved Sunny that way. Maybe I loved Selt against my better judgement but since my carrier died, I had learned a very important lesson: Everything changes. Everyone leaves or dies. Relying on anyone to be around forever was just plain foolishness and I was done being the world’s fool.

“D-O-N-E,”

my dragon sounded off inside my thoughts before raising a forefoot that was both scaly and furry and beginning to groom.

“You two, stop,”

I sighed when I realized Marsin and Jacob were still bickering over Mori and his friend’s safety. Dern was a crazy asshole. It wasn’t uncommon for old age to make dragons lose their shit. Dern was a wolf but from asking around he was extra old for a wolf. Especially one who had lost his true-mate.

“Dern isn’t going to hurt, Mori. He doesn’t have a gun anymore,”

I huffed, letting out a ring of smoke when they both turned to me.

“He shot you,”

Jacob pointed out.

“Yeah. Better me than Astral, huh?”

I grunted.

“I can’t say I disagree with that,”

Marsin said. “Not that I wanted you to get shot but—”

“I get it,”

I cut him off. “Astral’s family and he’s squishier than us.”

“Dern took a gun into a room with a newborn,”

Jacob pointed out.

“Jacob!”

I yelled and Marsin startled two feet away from me. “Shut up!! The more you yap the longer it takes us to make sure they’re okay! If you’re so Frost-damned worried scurry along and go check on them.”

Jacob stormed off and Marsin stopped walking. I met his gaze, and his look said it all. Yes, I was an asshole, but I couldn’t stand another minute of Jacob’s bitching and whining. I wasn’t Dern’s biggest fan. He’d fucked my tattoo up six ways from Sunday. I still hadn’t gotten it repaired because I wasn’t sure my skin was done devouring cells to ensure its own healing. Dern wasn’t stable. That’s why he was in a hospital full of doctors and guards.

“Is it because he’s your ex?”

Marsin asked.

“No and he’s not really my ex. Having a hookup thing with someone doesn’t make them your ex. Commitment does that,”

I explained to Marsin.

“Is something else wrong?” he asked.

Marsin was my uncle by marriage. He was a flight mate and a family member. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and let out a long slow breath. Nothing was wrong. Nothing that I could point out and ask someone to fix. The world spun faster and changed more every day. That’s what it did. That’s why we weren’t supposed to know those we loved after they reincarnated.

“Not really,”

I shook my head. “I’m probably just hungry. It’s lunchtime. Let’s get something to eat after we make sure Mori’s okay. Unless you need to get back to Astral and Baby Raylin right away.”

“Astral can meet us. I mean, unless you need to talk,”

Marsin said.

“I’d like that and really, I’m okay. I think he got under my dragon’s scales about the omega thing. They have a history of oppression here and I don’t want him trying that shit on Mori. Though, Mori would probably eat his damn balls off if he did. We better get a move on. Jacob’s already coming back out.”

Jacob stormed out of the glass doors the same way he had barged through them the first time. His brows were furrowed, and he smelled about as happy as a cat at the vet’s office.

“Dern won’t talk unless you’re there,”

Jacob rolled his eyes.

“Me?”

Marsin asked, pointing to the baby blue star-shaped scale on his chest.

“No, you!”

Jacob pointed at me.

“Me?”

I laughed. “What? Does he want to shoot me again or just punish me for ruining his plans?”

“We don’t even know what his plans really were,”

Jacob frowned at me.

“I hope you don’t frown at your mate like that,” I sighed.

“Well?”

Jacob crossed his arms.

The guy was still sort of adorable when he was pissed off.

“Well? What?”

I asked, mirroring his stance.

“Are you going to help or not?” he asked.

“I thought I did when I got shot. Look, I’ll meet up with Mori and his friend later but believe you me you don’t want me around that wolf. My dragon probably knows about fifty recipes to cook wolfshank and this isn’t the place I want to start a war with the wolves. That and Dern is probably stringy meat because he’s so Frost-damned ancient.”

Jacob blinked at me as if he couldn’t discern how much of what I had said was in jest. None of it was. I, personally, didn’t want to eat Dern, but then again, I wasn’t exactly the giant guy who did. We were all one and not one with our inner beasts. If he shifted and took over there wouldn’t be much that I could do to stop him.

“Yeah, let’s go have lunch. Sorry, Jacob,”

Marsin flashed him an apologetic smile. “I’m sure Mori will understand.”

“I’m sure Mori will get to the bottom of the mystery before we even finish lunch,”

I added on.

“Are you two always so useless?”

Jacob sighed. “Don’t you want to know what the hell he was going to do, Marsin?”

“Jacob,”

Marsin turned around slowly and met the doctor’s gaze. I wouldn’t let him eat Jacob over an insult but both my dragon and I were curious where this was going. “Do you think it’s a good idea for me to be there if he pops off at the mouth and says something like he was going to shoot my mate or newborn pup? Do you think I’m some docile lizard because I’m malleable to most of your plans surrounding him? I am not. I am just as much of a dragon as the others you’ve met. I believe it will be best if you deliver the news at a later date. Come along, Teddy.”

When Marsin turned back to face his eyes were that of his dragon. Marsin’s dragon was one of the quieter ones on the flight link usually. He wasn’t aggressive or even that arrogant as far as dragons went, but you could only push a guy so far where the safety of his family was concerned.

We walked in silence until we were near to the bustling downtown area. Astral was already at the little sandwich shop tucked away in a corner both cuddling Baby Raylin to his chest. Marsin beamed as soon as their scents reached us.

“Don’t tell him I threatened to eat Dern,”

he whispered. “He doesn’t need something else to worry about. Thanks for not eating Dern too. Astral would expect me to stop you and I’m not sure my dragon would cooperate with that idea.”

“I’m trying to be the guy my carrier would want me to be,”

I shrugged.

“One thing before we join my family. Stop that. Stop trying to be the exact person you think she’d want you to be. She’d want you to be kind, sure, but remember, her true-mate was your father. She knew good and well, at least one of her kids, would inherit his ways of doing things. It’s not wrong to want to protect yourself and those you care about. Dern’s dangerous not because he’s bad but because age has done its work on his mind and body. He’s the sort of dangerous we should try to be gentle with, but all mercy and gentleness has a cost.”

“Everything okay?”

Astral called out when we didn’t join him straight away.

“Everything’s great,”

Marsin called out as we headed toward the booth. “Mori and his friend gave us the runaround. Must’ve gotten their wires crossed or something. They went ahead to the hospital without us. Jacob got a wedgie over it but they’re fine.”

“A wedgie? You mean he got his panties stuck in his butt?”

Astral laughed, correcting the expression.

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

Marsin asked, looking at the menu despite how often we all ate here.

I ordered the biscuits and white gravy with eggs and bacon. It wasn’t breakfast time but there was something about the greasy-carby food that hit every spot in my mouth in the best way possible. I ordered a triple serving but the server didn’t blink at the request. I never knew if furry shifters would know how much dragons ate or not.

“I don’t think they care as long as we give them money for it,”

Marsin said. “If we give them money then they’ll give us whatever.”

Marsin was still new to the concept of money, and he still smelled uncertain anytime someone handed him a bill. The first time he found out people paid for water I thought he might stage a coup of the pack upon sight of the bill. It took some explanation but eventually he understood that’s how the pack paid for the upkeep of the system. He still wasn’t sure why anyone charged ‘themselves’ for stuff, but he let it go.

Astral’s phone vibrated in the diaper bag and Marsin growled.

“Jacob?”

I arched a brow at the other dragon.

“Probably. He’s such a fucking tattletale,”

he rolled his eyes.

“What did you two do to the doctor?”

Astral asked, fishing his phone out of his bag.

“Nothing,”

I said before Marsin could trip over his words. Technically, it wasn’t a lie. Not giving someone their way wasn’t exactly doing something to them. Jacob was a big boy, and he’d get over getting his feelings hurt.

“Dern wants to talk to you Teddy,”

Astral announced. “Jacob says he’s refusing to talk to Mori without you there.”

“Then he won’t talk. He was the one who wanted to tell his story to Mori. His door isn’t going to wait forever. He’s only hurting himself,”

I pointed out as my stomach growled.

“I don’t think he understands that anymore,”

Astral said gently and slid his phone back into his bag. “Let’s not talk more about it until after we eat though. Empty stomachs make for the worst conversation partners.”

We all chatted about Baby Raylin, and I teased them that they’d have another baby before they knew it while we waited for the server to come back with our food. When he did, he had two helpers in tow for all the food we ordered. Between my portions, Marsin’s steak and fry platters, and Astral’s waffles they needed all the hands they could get to deliver our food and drinks.

“Thank you,”

Astral said each time one of them sat down a plate. He blushed at the over abundant table when they were finished.

“Are you embarrassed of how much we eat?”

I asked him.

“Not exactly,”

Astral shook his head. “You’re dragons. You need the food. I’m embarrassed that we can afford all this food at once. That’s why everyone is looking at us.”

“Are they not here to eat too?”

Marsin whispered.

“They are. Just…”

Astral started but stopped short.

“It’s the money thing again,”

I pointed out.

“Do they need money?”

Marsin whispered, lowering his voice so that I barely heard him.

“I don’t know,”

Astral shrugged.

“We can feed them. They’re pack after all,”

Marsin whispered.

“I’m sure they’re fine. They’re just not used to seeing someone order so much at once,”

Astral said and patted his mate’s thigh under the table.

“They know I’m a dragon,”

Marsin said, shrugging and biting into a steak. Once he was assured everyone had money for their food he moved on with life. Starscales were good like that. He’d have paid for everyone to eat if he thought the situation called for it, but he wasn’t concerned about them thinking he was strange. As long as Astral loved him that was enough for him.

I fought off the urge to huff out another ring of smoke. They were so cute together that it was sickening. Sure, they found each other against the odds, and I should give them a break but why the hell was everyone so ooey-gooey all the sudden? I took a big bite of food and pretended I didn’t feel them playing footsy under the table.