Page 33 of Our Haunted Omegas (Moonscale Heirs Duet #1)

Odell

“Guardie is such a good boy,” I said, plopping down on my butt in front of the shadow dog with the harness and leash in hand.

“Guardie is going to meet my mate’s family today.

Our new family. And he’s going to behave.

I’m going to get him a hotdog with all the fixins.

I’m going to play fetch with him. They’re all going to love him and he’s going to keep them safe too while we’re there. ”

Guardie’s shadowy tail wagged, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

Generally speaking, if he wagged his tail, it meant that he was in agreement.

He hadn’t gone too hard against my wishes since forming into a dog.

Sometimes it was easy to forget that he was once energy that haunted the shrapnel in my butt cheek.

That he was made from the war that took everything except Ambry and his dad away from me.

I wiggled the bright green harness onto him.

He was the most compliant dog I’d ever met and the more we interacted with him the more solid he became.

We could pet him now and of course, put on his harness.

His tail wagged around even faster as I hooked the leash to the garment and led him onto the porch.

He head bumped Cobalt who waited there for us.

My mate squatted down to pat him and scratch behind his shadowy ears.

“Who’s a good boy? Who’s the best murder dog ever?” He cooed and Teal grunted and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think Guardie minds being called a murder dog,” I shrugged. “He’s not exactly just a hand or tentacle or whatever anymore, is he?”

“I don’t think the rest of the family will get it,” Teal sighed. “I know, I know.” He glanced at Cobalt. “I don’t get it because I don’t have a mate. I get that some things are important enough to go against the grain for but…”

“Uncle Nicky will know that he’s not a normal dog or just some shadow creature,” Indigo walked out onto the porch with Ambry on his heels.

My friend had that ‘just laid’ flush and I looked away before I laughed.

How did our lives become this? From a tiny apartment to a jumbo cabin with a murder dog as some sort of macabre guardian harpy.

“Not a harpy,” the triplets said at the same time.

“One of our family friends is a harpy. Most people don’t consider using their race in place of angel as a slur but it sort of is. I don’t think he’ll be there today but eventually you’ll meet him and his mate. So, nope,” Cobalt said and I blushed.

“Sorry. I didn’t know. I won’t use it that way again, but Guardie is like a guardian of some sort.”

“He is, but he’s not a harpy. Harpies weren’t born from trauma,” Cobalt said.

“Nor has a harpy been born from your butt,” Ambry said, playfully bumping into me with his shoulder.

“Uh… The dog didn’t come from my butt.”

“He did, though,” Ambry said, taking the porch steps down two at a time. “Right from your butt cheek. He’s your firstborn.”

“No, I just put my demons on a leash,” I retorted with a shrug and took Cobalt’s hand in my free one. “Every therapist who told me I didn’t try hard enough to ‘feel better’ can kiss my ass now.”

“Why? So Cobalt or Guardie can eat them?” Indigo laughed, leaping over the steps to catch up with his mate.

“Exactly!” I said.

“They can’t kiss your ass,” Cobalt said. “You’re too shy to moon them. I remember the butt ultrasound.”

Laughing, I climbed into the front passenger seat and Ambry slid into the back seat behind me.

On the ride here we tried to just sit behind our mates but that wouldn’t be enough for this trip.

Indigo wanted to be right next to his pregnant mate and I didn’t blame him.

If an accident happened, I fancied his chances of saving Ambry and the baby over mine.

He was a giant dragon after all. Besides, I didn’t want to be that far from Cobalt today.

As excited as I was to meet their family, my insides were all tossy-turny over the idea too.

I didn’t do well with crowds. Sometimes long car rides made me sad because they gave me too long to think about the war or reminded me of my parents. There were too many what-ifs and---

Guardie licked my bare knee, distracting me from my thought spiral. I gave him a smile and scratched behind one of his big, floppy shadow ears. It was almost furry.

“You sure you don’t want him to ride in the back with me?” Teal asked after everything was packed up.

We only planned to stay one night at Moonscale Manor but we knew to be prepared for everything. So, Ambry and I overpacked. We also wanted to check in on the apartment while we were in town. So who knew what would happen? It wasn’t like we had the best track record with luck.

“Thanks but he’s fine up here with me. That’s the great thing about Guardie. He doesn’t take up a lot of room since he’s not fully solid.”

“Let me know if you change your mind,” Teal said.

“Are you going to be lonely back there?” I asked him.

“No, I’m going to stretch out and take a nap. Had to run a late-night errand and my dragon isn’t having this whole no sleep thing going on.”

“It’s tiring to live a double life, huh?” Indigo said as he climbed into the backseat next to Ambry.

A few minutes later, everyone was in their spots and Cobalt pulled the truck out of the driveway. Guardie curled up between my feet and rested his head on his butt. He was adorable as far as murder dogs went.

“He’s the only murder dog as far as we know,” Cobalt pointed out, picking up on my thoughts over our mating link.

He put his hand on my knee, and I leaned back into the seat, settling in for the drive. Guardie was the only murder dog I’d heard of but at some point my luck had to turn around, didn’t it?

***

London was as busy and bustling as ever. I expected that we’d go straight to Moonscale Manor, but Cobalt pulled the truck into the parking lot of our apartment building.

“Huh?” I blinked awake. “Did I miss the party?”

“Dropping our stuff off. Figured we’d stay here instead of at the manor while we’re in town. That way we can still have some privacy,” Cobalt said, killing the engine.

“Okay,” I said, reaching to unbuckle my seatbelt.

“It’s okay. Rest. Teal and I’ve got it,” Cobalt said.

I glanced in the rearview mirror. Ambry and Indigo were out cold and as curled up as you could be when one of you was wearing a seatbelt.

Indigo had his big dark wings out, but had them tucked so tightly to his body that the angle looked uncomfortable.

Guardie opened one big brown eye and gave a few tail wags to acknowledge that he knew I was awake.

A second later, he pressed himself upright and rested his furry, shadow chin on my knee.

I stroked his head and wondered just how many people the Moonscales considered to be a small gathering.

I hoped it was actually small both for the sake of my panic attacks and Indigo’s.

Even in his sleep he had a big hand resting on Ambry’s stomach as if he was always protecting the egg who grew inside of him.

“Here’s to surviving the party without anyone getting into a fight or freaking out, huh?” I cooed to Guardie.

“Hey!” Someone called from nearby and Guardie let out a soft, questioning growl.

I glanced around, wondering if I should wake up Indigo or not. With Cobalt and Teal upstairs, it was him and Guardie against the world. Sure, I’d put up a fight but if the newcomer was evil and a dragon I wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Uncle?” Indigo grunted, opening one eye.

“No. I’m your mate,” Ambry grumbled back at him. “Not your uncle.”

“Uncle Nicky?” Indigo asked, sitting up gently but still waking Ambry up. “What are you doing here? Did something go wrong at the manor?”

The man who walked up looked a bit like the triplets and smelled like them too but more than that he smelled liked magic and wolf.

My heart skipped a beat. I’d been so caught up in meeting their family that it hadn’t fully registered that some of them were wolves like Ambry and me.

Not everyone at the feast would be a giant dragon.

“That’s the murder dog?” Uncle Nicky asked, peering in through the window. “I… I wouldn’t call it a wraith or even a spirit. Though, it ---”

“It’s my demon on a leash,” I said, squaring my shoulders despite how much I needed a coffee to really have two brain cells to rub together. That’s how good my nap was on the drive back to London.

“I see that. Congratulations. That’s high magic.”

“Never even trained for it,” I shrugged. “Don’t try to banish my dog.”

“That’s what everyone is so wound up about,” Uncle Nicky laughed. “I told Manny -he’s my mate - that’s what it was. Believe it or not, I don’t go around meddling in everyone’s magic---”

“Yes, you do,” Teal said, hugging the smaller wolf man from behind. “You meddle all the time. It’s what you’re known for. Uncle Starry taught you how.”

“Ha! I knew that long before I ever met Starry or Liam,” Uncle Nicky said and turned around to give Teal a proper hug.

Then Cobalt too. “Decided to wait here in case you came here first. Your sire is freaking out a little. It’s almost like when your carrier was pregnant.

Seriously. He already thinks your mate is made of---”

“My mate,” Indigo said from the backseat. “My mate. Ambry is my mate. Cobalt is with Odell,” he pointed at me.

“Aren’t you the pregnant one?” Uncle Nicky asked.

“Umm…. Not as far as I know. We’ve been---” I stumbled over my words.

“He’s not. We’re safe,” Cobalt said. “Now are you going to fly back on your broom or hitch a ride? You can either ride in the back like some uncivilized cave-shifter with Teal, that’s why we keep him back there, or you can squeeze in with Ambry and Indigo.”

“My brothers and I grew up in the Wildlands. I can handle a short ride in the back of a pickup,” Uncle Nicky rolled his eyes. “You can play chauffeur while I figure out exactly what your brother has been up to.”

“Good luck with that. Do you need us to put the tailgate down?” Cobalt asked but his uncle was already climbing into the back of the truck.