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Pulling away from each other and leaving their room for an early dinner was much harder than Meveris had expected, and he”d already assumed it would be difficult. If it wasn”t for his entire family waiting to see them, they wouldn”t have made it out of there before tomorrow morning, at the earliest.

But his family was there, and while Meveris wanted to spend time with them, he wanted that for Zaryen even more—to experience what it meant to be a part of a family.

And neither his parents nor his siblings were shy about bringing his companion into their fold. As expected, his mom was especially happy to shower Zaryen with affection, doting on him from the moment she pulled him into her arms and only letting go so the others could hug him, too, before demanding his return to her side at the table.

Zaryen was both beaming and blushing the entire time, and he kept looking at Meveris as if checking if it was both real and okay with him.

It was more than okay, of course. Aside from his love and support, this was the greatest thing Meveris could offer his companion—more people who would always be there for him. Zaryen yearned to belong above everything else, yearned to be accepted for who he was and to know it would be enough, and Meveris wanted to give him that. To show him that while the two of them belonged to each other, first and foremost, they could belong to his family, too. Once Zaryen had become his companion, he”d also become a part of them all, simple as that.

Even Taveris, disgruntled at first about Zaryen keeping his circumstances a secret until after the searching ceremony, got over it quickly once they all realized Zaryen needed protection. These days, Taveris was second only to Meveris in how protective of Zaryen he was. He hadn”t said it, since there was very little Taveris actually put into words, but Meveris had seen enough to know it was true.

Looking at his older brother now, he saw him sitting further down the long table and listening to a conversation between Caleen and Paeveris. Taveris was holding his fork in one hand, with the other under the table, probably lying on top of Caleen”s thigh. For almost four years, these two had barely shown any outright gestures of affection among other people, but ever since Taveris”s return, they couldn”t be kept apart, at least among the people they knew well. Public appearances were different, for obvious reasons, but among the family and friends, one of them was touching the other pretty much constantly.

Meveris had a hand on his own companion”s thigh right now, and he couldn”t imagine having to keep a careful distance from Zaryen. Thankfully, they had no reason to do so. Nobody who truly mattered cared about whether they were touching or not, as long as they kept it appropriate.

”I have never seen you this happy,” his father spoke up from his other side, and Meveris turned to him right away.

”I”ve never been this happy,” he admitted. ”I know I”ve been told what to expect, but… It”s still more than I hoped for.”

”I have never heard of someone being disappointed after coming here and finding their match.” His father took a sip of his drink. ”I hope you”ll find your time here both easy and challenging.”

”Zaryen and I are eager to learn and to become the best versions of ourselves we can be.”

That earned him a smile and a nod. ”I”m glad to hear it.”

”Zaryen is the brains of this operation, so far.”

His father chuckled. ”Well, you seemed to have shared a brain with Lanveris before, but I”m sure you”ll readjust and be fine.” He glanced at where Lanveris was nodding to whatever Saveriya, the older of their sisters, was saying. ”How”s that going, by the way?”

Meveris twirled a fork in his hand, hesitating.

”He seems fine,” he finally said, lowering his voice to almost a whisper. ”Better than fine, really, considering the circumstances. He”s assured me more than once that he doesn”t mind waiting, which I couldn”t imagine for myself, but I believe him when he says it. I”ve been preoccupied with Zaryen, so I haven”t spent as much time with him as I probably should have—”

”Hey, no, that”s not why I was asking.” His father put a hand on his shoulder, and Meveris relaxed under the familiar, warm weight. ”It was clear for everyone that the two of you would have to start having separate lives once you got here, and you did. I wasn”t asking you because I consider you responsible for your brother.”

”I know, I guess I just… I want him to be as happy as I am.”

”And he”s likely to be so, once he finds his companion. Even if the two of you are doing things on a slightly different schedule for the first time since you were both trying to learn how to roll in the air.”

Meveris scrunched his nose. ”I forgot about that.”

”Lucky you,” his dad told him dryly. ”I can still remember those cries of yours.”

”I was five.”

”So many tears in such a little body.”

”Stop, Dad, please. It”s too early in the bond for the embarrassing childhood stories.”

”No, it”s not,” Zaryen spoke up from his other side, and his father laughed. ”I”ll happily listen to your childhood stories. Even better if they”re embarrassing, because I know you won”t tell me those.”

Meveris groaned. ”Can we at least wait for the next time? They”ll keep.”

”I want to hear at least a few. Please?” Zaryen turned those eyes on him that he had to know rendered Meveris absolutely unable to tell him no.

He half-heartedly glared at his father, though.

”Thanks a lot.”

”Since you”ve all left home, we need to get our entertainment from somewhere.” His father grinned at Zaryen. ”I”ll happily share some, don”t you worry. I bet he and Lanveris made a pact not to embarrass each other in front of their companions too much, but luckily, their mother and I would never enter such an agreement.”

Meveris sighed. He and Lanveris had promised each other exactly that. Their parents knew them too well.

But another glance at Zaryen, who was smiling and almost bouncing with excitement internally, made it clear that whatever silly embarrassment Meveris might feel about stuff from many years ago was nothing compared to what his companion was getting out of it.

Meveris wished he could learn his share of embarrassing childhood stories about Zaryen, too, but as things stood, it would have likely become an attempt to humiliate his bonded, instead of a few charming anecdotes for everyone to enjoy. Zaryen”s family couldn”t be trusted and thus, Meveris didn”t want to hear anything they had to say.

In the end, he sat back and listened to both his parents offering Zaryen one story after another about his childhood adventures. Even though he groaned a few times and was most certainly blushing for most of it, getting to watch Zaryen laugh and relax more, even joking back with his parents, made all of it worth it.

After the dinner was over and it was time to say goodbye, Meveris whispered his thanks to everyone as he hugged them, one by one. He wanted to make clear that he was thanking them for more than simply coming to the ceremony without actually saying so out loud, and he figured most, if not all, of them got it.

From the way his mom was holding Zaryen”s head in her hands and whispering to him before pulling him into another hug, she definitely understood.

However, the moment he sensed his companion was struggling to keep his composure, Meveris stepped up to them.

”Okay, okay, be gentle, Mom.” He tugged at her arm. ”Human bones, remember?”

She sent him a knowing look, but then she ran a hand over the back of Zaryen”s head one more time and released him.

”It was so nice to meet you.” She brushed off a stray tear from Zaryen”s cheek. ”I”m already looking forward to the next time.”

At that, Zaryen turned to him with his bright eyes, and Meveris pulled him against his side quickly.

”Thank you,” Zaryen said after clearing his throat. ”For everything. And I”m looking forward to seeing you again, too.”

Bit by bit, they watched everyone go—first the family heading back to Paryada, then Taveris taking off with Caleen towards their home, and finally Lanveris, who had a late fight practice he and a few other unmatched dragons had set up for themselves.

Once he had left, Zaryen and Meveris stood on the side of the main building and stared ahead at the grounds, now cleared from any remainders of the ceremony. It was getting dark, but the evening chill was pleasant enough, and Meveris was filled with gratitude to have a moment like this, with his arms circled around his companion from behind and their heads resting against each other.

He didn”t have to ask how Zaryen was doing, since he”d been able to pick up on the ebb and flow of his mate”s emotions throughout the evening, with occasional spikes of this or that. Now, Zaryen was mostly wistful, yet also happy in that deep-into-his-bones certainty Meveris could easily recognize because he felt it, too.

Turning in his arms after a while, Zaryen smiled softly as he tilted his head to the side.

”Since we don”t have any classes tomorrow, how about we go outside after breakfast and you shift for me once again?”

Meveris, distracted by the expanse of his companion”s neck, blinked and nodded.

”Sure,” he said before inhaling deeply, which took the desire stirring low in his stomach and turned it into a fire right away.

Zaryen raised his eyebrows, probably sensing Meveris was having trouble focusing now.

”You promise?”

”Of course.”

”Because, you see, there”s also that other promise you made earlier.” As he glanced at Meveris”s lips, Zaryen lowered his voice to a whisper. ”About putting me on my hands and knees and pounding me from—”

Meveris tightened his hold around Zaryen”s waist, which was another misstep, as it only made it clearer that they were both rapidly getting hard.

”I don”t remember putting it quite like this.”

”No?” Zaryen pretended to be surprised. ”That”s a pity. That”s what I thought I heard.”

Forcing himself to take a step back, Meveris shoved his hands into his trousers.

”You better start walking towards our bedroom, or I”ll toss you over my shoulder and take you there myself.”

Zaryen”s eyes widened, and the air around them thickened with desire.

Hook.

Meveris closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, listening to the way Zaryen”s breath caught in his throat before he cleared it.

The air changed again, and Meveris opened his eyes to see his companion grin at him.

”See you in bed,” Zaryen told him, right before he took off running.

Meveris wobbled in place for a moment, staring after him in disbelief, but then the instincts kicked in.

He followed his mate.