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It was since she had been living among the Drahk and witnessing how the dragon-shifters were not only linked through their king but looked out for each other and ensured everyone’s needs were met equally.

“What were you and your family in there?” Rhys inquired.

“The Dispatch. Insignificant, disposable people,” Kai stated flatly, having come to terms with that fact a long time ago.

“That’s horrid.” The markings along Brenna’s arms and her eyes went tangerine.

Aodh growled, and a smoke cloud mushroomed above the table created by him and his father.

“The first I heard of any shifter serum was once I fled with my sister, and Aodh brought us here. I found out she was marked and Lupine mated,” Kai finished.

“Ah, that’s right. We heard,” Rhys declared.

“How is your sister?” Brenna inquired as she speared the roasted potatoes on her plate.

“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to Morlie.” Kai ate a bite of her stew. She thought about her sister and hoped she was doing okay.

“It has only been a few days. We are giving Morlie time to settle in.” Aodh added as he placed a hand on her knee under the table, giving her his support and comfort.

“Understandable. How are you adjusting, Kai?”

Kai inhaled and then exhaled, releasing worry for her sister and her ill feelings for her government.

She thought of what she had here, all she had gained: a mate, a people, now a surrogate family, and the most precious, a child.

“I am well. As soon as I figure out how to stay awake for longer than a few hours, I want to start learning all I can about the Thunder and the territory.”

Brenna smiled. “The offspring. It takes a lot from you in the first month. But you will find it gives you strength as it grows.”

“That’s good to know. I was afraid I would sleep for the next nine months.” Kai continued to eat.

“Nine months?” Brenna frowned and glanced around the table. “How many scales have appeared?”

“Four.” Kai sighed. “As you see, I’m only about four days along and have a long way to go.”

“Not months, Kai. Weeks.”

“Weeks.”

“Yes.” Brenna’s eyes showed lilac flames as she smiled. “Dragon-shifter females do not carry offspring as long as human women. Each scale that covers a drahkelle’s belly represents a week in human time. We only carry our young for four months.”

Four months ? Kai’s heart began to race, and blood thumped into her ears.

Breathe, little flame . Aodh reached over and linked his fingers with hers.

Hearing Aodh’s voice alerted her that she had not posed her question out loud.

It will be okay. I promise . He used his other hand to caress her face and turn her toward him to meet his eyes.

“Kai.” Brenna set her fork down and met her gaze over the table. “I remember being pregnant with Aodh, my first, and feeling unprepared and nervous. If it wasn’t for my mother and other older females, I think I would’ve had a harder time with it.”

Kai sank her teeth into her bottom lip, anxious. She was slowly getting to meet the people in the territory. But no one she could count on to go through this with her besides Aodh and Tana.

“If you would allow me, I’d like to be there for you in whatever way you need, and maybe a few things you don’t know you need.” Brenna slid her hand across the table, palm up, waiting for her.

Grateful for the offer, Kai placed her hand on Brenna’s and accepted the gentle squeeze and the support. She smiled at Aodh’s mother. “Thank you. I’d love your help with the baby...and building a garden.”

Brenna pulled her hand away and placed it over her heart as she let out a laugh filled with pure joy. “I’d love to garden with you.”

They all ate and chatted for a while.

“Father, what do you know about dragon gold?” Aodh sat back in his seat.

Rhys was adding more food to his plate. Hearing Aodh’s question, he set the serving bowl down, his brows lifted high, and he glanced from his wife to his son. “Dragon’s gold? I haven’t heard anyone talk about that for maybe a half-century.”

“Me either,” Brenna added. “Wasn’t the hilt of your grandfather’s broadsword dipped in it?”

“Yes.” Rhys nodded. “It was his hearth-stone as well. The sword would’ve been moved to the archives when he passed.”

Kai figured the grand Drahk had passed before Ninki was born because Kai knew it was the other woman’s hearth-stone.”

“What made you ask, son?” Rhys picked up his beverage and drank.

Aodh glanced at her. “Mate, may I see your ring?”

Kai slipped her father’s ring from her finger and handed it to Aodh.

She looked forward to hearing what Aodh’s parents may know about the ring’s metal or history.

To her, it didn’t make much sense for her family to be in possession of something that was starting to seem like it didn’t belong to them or they had no right to it.

“This.” He handed the jewelry to his father. “I learned about it from Brantley today.”

Rhys examined the ring, turning it over in his hand, and peered inside. Kai was shocked when he placed it between his thumb and fingers and squeezed it hard.

She gasped, expecting it to bend under the dragon-shifter’s might, but it remained a perfect sphere when Rhys held it up again.

“I think the blacksmith is correct. It is dragon’s gold.” Frowning, Rhys passed it to his wife. “Where did you all get this?”

Brenna checked it out as well.

“My father. After he and my mother passed, I removed it, wanting to have a part of them with me.” When Rhys looked from Aodh to her, Kai continued, “My father told me he got it from his mother. It’s been handed down for generations. I don’t know for how long or why they do it.”

“Wow, utterly fascinating.” Brenna handed it back to Kai.

“There are two of them. Kai’s sister has the other with her,” Aodh informed his parents.

Rhys shook his head. “I don’t think I know enough to help you. I know that mages once had a treaty with Drahk and lived among us. They gave blessed or magic-filled golden gifts for one reason or another.”

Kai met Rhys's gaze. “Is it possible my family got this from someone as a gift or maybe bought it in a state auction and just admired the ring set and passed it down?”

What she didn’t want to think was that the item was stolen from someone, from the dragon-shifters. She would turn it over to them if she discovered that was the case. She knew Morlie would do the same.

“Perhaps.” Rhys nodded and pushed his plate to the side.

“If you don’t have the answers, Father, I was thinking about asking Tana, a Thunder historian.” Aodh dragged a hand through his short hair.

Kai felt just as frustrated as Aodh.

Rhys leaned on the table, supported by his forearms. “Tana may have some insight. However, Aodh and Kai, the only person I think who would have clear answers to your question is Drago.”

“You may be right, Father. I never thought about him.”

Perplexed, Kai shifted her gaze to Aodh. “Who’s Drago?”

“He’s on the Wise One's Council and the oldest Drahk alive.”

“When can we talk to him?” Kai wanted to get up now and meet the wise dragon.

“Sooner rather than later.” There was a solemn note to Rhys's voice.

Aodh took hold of her hand, lifted it, and kissed the back. “Tomorrow, Kai. We’ll see him tomorrow.”

~YH~

“Stunning. You are a beautiful sight to behold.”

Morlie felt a little tired, and her body ached in her joints as if she’d been running for miles past the point of exhaustion of her muscles. But outside of that, she felt invigorated by some second wind energy. Waking up to Chanin’s voice in her ear made her smile.

However, something felt different about her mouth that she couldn’t explain.

Her thoughts were jumbled, and she had the most challenging time making heads or tails of the day's events.

Not sure if she was ready to face the night, and somehow, even with her eyes closed.

She knew the time of day and felt a strange awareness of evening as if it were a part of her.

She shook that off, and instead of focusing on her bizarre thoughts, she curled in closer to the man in the bed beside her.

She inhaled and enjoyed Chanin’s scent. His dark, earthy spice with rich mahogany undertones was opulent and alive inside her.

She could pick apart everything that made up the deliciously sexy man who had loved her fiercely and hard for hours.

Nuzzling her nose into the firm muscles of his chest, it seemed too easy for her to sift out the clean, eucalyptus fragrance of his body wash or the lighter scent of the detergent weaved into the bed sheets.

She could also isolate out her complex scent of a gentle woodsy musk with its hint of vanilla, made more intense by the robust and lush odor of sex tangled into the sheets and their bodies.

But removing it all, she only smelled the man. Her man. Her mate.

She expected the heat to fill her face; however, only her heart and core warmed. Odd?

I’m sure you're hungry, mate. You need to eat . Chanin’s words were accompanied by his fingers doing something magical behind her ear.

A scratch. She identified that deep, clawing action, and it felt so good that she followed her urge and bowed her head lower, pressing into him and begging for more.

She’d never known that spot behind her ear to be so susceptible, but oh, lord, it was so wonderful.

As he continued, his hand crossed more territory, and his fingers dug in from her ear down the side of her neck and back up.

A moan rumbled up her chest into her throat, but when it broke from her mouth, it came as a whine, a high-pitched whimper, a begging sound. It was unrecognizable to her ears as if it wasn’t her voice but someone else’s. But that didn’t make sense.

Feels good. Doesn’t it? Chanin continued to make those delightful movements of his hand as he spoke.

She realized she was hearing a voice from inside her mind, not outside of her. How’s that possible?

It’s very possible, now, little bunny.