Page 5 of Omega Captive of the Golden Dragon (Alpha Dragons #3)

VARIK

“ C an’t you stay a little longer this time?” My voice carried an echo of desperation I hated to hear in myself. “Another chess re-match maybe?”

Val fastened his jacket and tied his scarf around his neck. “I have to get home. Kiro and I have plans tonight. We’re going to a play.”

I dropped my head to stare at the floor. Val had a husband now. An alpha. Alpha/alpha marriages were common among dragons. Val and Kiro adored each other. I was being too needy. It wasn’t fair to him.

Val put a hand on my shoulder. “You could come with us?”

I hadn’t left my home in ten years, and he knew that. But he never stopped encouraging me to do things. It was kind. It was also annoying.

“You know it’s not safe for me.”

He shrugged. “No one knows who you are anymore. You’ve changed.”

Had I? “Not enough.”

“You can hide all that shiny blond hair under a cap. And I can always hire a guard.”

“No, thanks. None of that is necessary. I have lots to keep me occupied here.”

In truth, the idea of leaving my fortress terrified me.

Val had had it built for me from his trust our parents had set up before they took off for another country with no forwarding address.

He’d spent a lot of his money and youth to rescue me.

When I first saw him as he crashed through my cage door, I’d been scared and confused.

Later, as he drove me to what he called “the safe house,” I wept at his love and loyalty for me that had kept him searching.

That day so long ago when I was finally free, the drive into the mountains was a long one. Before we got out of the city, Val took me through a drive-thru, ordering half the items on the menu.

“This food isn’t drugged,” he assured me.

Then we drove for hours far into the snowy mountains of Ish, a place most dragons avoided because it was so cold even for their reptilian constitutions. Year-round snow made our beasts slow and tired, longing for hibernation. It was the perfect landscape in which to hide.

When we’d pulled up to the snow-packed gate, a screen greeted us.

“Passcode, please,” said a computer voice.

He keyed in some numbers.

“Retinal scan,” the same voice ordered.

He leaned out the car window and the screen flashed, bathing his face in white light. The gate opened, snow sliding away to let us pass onto an ice-covered driveway.

“I’ll get you set up for all of this.” He pointed up toward the front windshield. “Look up there. You’re protected even from the air.”

I saw a grid of green laser lights playing across the sky. It was another cage, I thought. But this time it was mine. A gift from my brother.

“This had to have cost you a small fortune,” I pointed out.

“Truthfully? It’s all your money in my opinion, Var. I don’t care if our parents gave a large portion to me after they got rich. It all came from you.”

Like griffins, dragons coveted gold for investment, jewelry, art and decoration, as well as simple nuggets or bars for hoards. Wars had been fought over it. Supply and demand made the price of it always rising higher than in other countries.

So many had gotten rich off stealing from me.

My eyes filled to the brim. “Val, what you’ve done for me no amount of money can ever repay.”

“I’d never ask for anything from you.” He cleared his throat and sniffled a bit.

“I’ll see to the upkeep of this place,” Val said.

“But I figure you can take over yourself soon. From just the natural shedding of your scales, you’ll be a wealthy man.

I’ve opened investments for you. I’m an accountant now.

I can see to all the trades for your best interests. ”

“An accountant?”

“A forensic accountant to be exact. That’s how I tracked all that was happening. It took too long, I know. Our parents were great liars. Told me you’d been hit by a car and died when you went out with friends. I kick myself over and over for not realizing sooner you were out in that stupid shed.”

“They told you I died?”

“Yep. They said they got a windfall of money from a lawsuit over your death. I didn’t realize you still might be alive until two years later when I eavesdropped on a phone call to a gold broker.

They were looking to move a stash of gold scales.

I remembered when you’d gotten your adult scales.

They were gold. And I knew right then you were still alive. Fuck. I should’ve known sooner.”

“Not your fault. You were a kid. I believed everything they told me, too.”

“Yeah, well, when they realized I was onto them, they disappeared. I found out they sold the house. My trust was irrevocable so at least I got that. I put myself through college and never stopped looking for you. Then years later, I drove by the old property. The house had been torn down. It was uninhabited. Then I saw the shed was still out back. That made no sense to me. I researched the new owners. It was a shell corporation. Forensics led to a company with nefarious business dealings. From there, I finally figured it out.”

His story seemed so sad and desperate that I forgot all about my own problems and burst into tears. Tears for his love. Tears for his grief. Tears for a brother who never gave up hope.

“Don’t, Var. That’s all behind us now. If you don’t stop, I’ll start crying, too.” Tears rolled down his cheeks as he spoke. We had to pull over for a minute until he got himself under control. He leaned across his seat and embraced me. I muffled my sobs in his down-filled jacket.

After the security check at the gate, we drove up to the house.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Set against the backdrop of a snow-covered hill, it looked nearly consumed in waves of white powder that swept up to the ledges of the first story windows.

The roof was steeply peaked in several places, yet snow clung to the eaves like icing on a cake.

A door yawned open as Val aimed straight for the garage. Everything lit up as we drove in. I couldn’t believe how big it was.

“This place has been waiting for you for years.”

“I can’t believe you created all this never knowing when or if you’d find me.”

“I knew you were still alive. I was determined.”

The inside of the house was furnished with upscale furniture and floors. Beyond the living room and kitchen was a large open area at least five times the size of the living room. Ceiling beams went all the way up past the second floor.

“What’s this room?”

“You can safely shift here if you need to.”

My eyes heated up again. He’d thought of everything. All of that seemed like just yesterday.

Now, I faced Val at my door, my heart tugging in its usual loneliness. It was ten years ago that I’d first set foot in this house. It had become a home. A haven. I loved it, but I was so far away from the world. From people.

“I know it gets lonely up here,” Val said. “I’ll try to make it back next week.”

I nodded slowly.

He frowned as he patted my upper arm. “You know what you need?”

“What?”

“A companion.”

I quickly replied. “I refuse that.”

“You’re stubborn. But there are ways.”

“Yeah? Like what? I would never trust anyone you hired, and you know it. I already have anxiety about letting anyone in to do repairs.”

“That’s obvious since you leave all that to me and vacate the premises until it’s done.”

“Those people who tortured me are still out there.”

“Well…” Val hesitated. “Some of them, yes.”

I’d never asked him outright all the details of what he’d done to rescue me. But I knew much of it had been breaking the law.

Val stepped forward, placing both hands on my shoulders.

He leaned in until his face was close to mine.

“The ones who ran went very far. Believe me. When they saw what happened to their friends….” His eyes closed.

“Money buys a lot if you have enough. Even help in shadowy activities and the silence of co-conspirators.”

I shivered underneath his palms. “I don’t know if I’ll ever feel safe. Safe enough to meet others, have friends, even if I keep my dragon a secret. That’s my fate.”

“I know.” He rested his forehead against mine, then gave me a big hug. “But what if I could find someone who was a lot like you, ostracized, needing a place to live and feel safe. What if they were an omega?”

“You know someone like that?” I scoffed. “I doubt it.”

“But if I could find someone like that, would you accept a trial period with them?”

“No way. Don’t even think it!” How could he? No one like that even existed.

His lips parted in a thin smile. “Keep an open mind, brother.”

I rolled my eyes and turned away. I didn’t want to see him leave. It was too hard. I faced my huge, empty house and thought only of my next art project.

I walked into the big room I’d made into my art room.

In the center was a worktable and all my equipment.

A stack of gold scales sat waiting for me.

Val thought they’d all been naturally shed.

In reality, I shed very few scales a year.

My beast had pulled off anything extra I needed for my projects.

It was grueling and terrible and gave a new definition of suffering for art, but it kept me going.

My sculptures sold for huge sums. I could have used the money I made off them to buy mined gold for future work, but I wanted the highest metal purity for my art, and my scales gave it.

To the room, I spoke aloud. “Music.”

My household system turned on, loud as I preferred, the tunes raucous and bold. Already, I missed Val. But I couldn’t let myself wallow.

The computer wall screen flickered to life, and I began to page through my designs. I chose one that wakened a spark inside me. That was how I worked. Through inspiration alone. Not over-thinking it. And not for money. I did my art for love.

My design began to turn on the screen, showing itself in 3-D.

I went to my worktable and lost myself in my next project.