Page 30 of The Dragon’s Stone Hearted Mate (Mori’s Mementos #1)

Morvan

The night after our mating feast, I dreamt that Cutter showed up in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm.

The storm had frightened him so much that he couldn’t stay in the Other World and had to come to where he knew he’d be safe.

He shook like a wet cat as we loaned him pjs and tucked him into our bed with us for safe keeping.

The next morning when I woke up, he wasn’t there.

I peeked under the blankets to double check.

“Whatcha doing?” Rho yawned.

“I think it might’ve been a dream,” my dragon chimed into my thoughts.

“Did Cutter show up during the storm last night?”

“Yeah. He’s---” Rho said and looked under the blanket too. “Not here.”

“Was it a dream? Did you like mating link pop into my dream or something?” I asked but Rho was already up and stealing the blankets.

“He’s not that small. We’d notice if there was another man in bed with us,” I laughed.

“Don’t move!” he pointed a finger at me.

“Huh? Is there a spider?” I blinked and looked around the bed, trying to discern where the threat came from.

Very slowly my mate raised both hands up to face level and showed me their backs.

I swallowed hard and my heart fell into my stomach.

The stone had fallen off! Where was our baby?

My heart shot back up and skipped a few beats as I fought off the urge to pop up like bread out of a toaster.

The baby had to be somewhere in bed if it had fallen off in the middle of the night.

“Just hold still,” he said, motioning with both hands for me to stay where I was. “I will find the baby. Just don’t move. It’s not like we can squash a rock, but I don’t want the baby knocked off the bed and kicked around even if they can’t be hurt yet.”

Yet. The word hung in the air. One day our child would grow up and have to face the world and all the bullshit it brought with it.

“And all the good stuff too,” Rho reminded me, picking up my thoughts over our mating link. “How about we worry about assholes later. Right now, let’s just focus on finding the kid.”

“I think I feel something by my toes,” I said.

“Don’t move, damn it! Stop wiggling around! Don’t even move a toe!” He said, his voice growing in pitch with his worry.

“Sorry,” I winced.

His scent turned to panic and everything inside me wanted to explode with a fiery roar. Only, that helped nothing. So, I watched helplessly as my mate told me not to move and removed the bedding piece by piece.

“What is this?” he asked, holding up a claw a second later.

“That’s what I felt by my foot,” I said. “I think Cutter was here.”

“Do you think he took the baby?” Rho asked.

“Cutter wouldn’t do that. He probably had to run and hide from soul collectors or his attacking ghosts,” I said and bit my lip.

“Where is the baby then?” he asked, his lips starting to quiver.

“Can I make a suggestion?” I asked, treading carefully because I couldn’t move to comfort him without upsetting him more.

“Only if it’s helpful!”

“You put your hands in your pockets at night sometimes. I always notice because it’s adorable and ---” I started but Rho was already patting his pockets.

Relief washed over his face as his hand sank into his left pocket and came back out wrapped around something.

He crawled back into bed with me dragging his favorite downy comforter with him and snuggling in close to me.

I leaned in close as he raised his fist and turned it palm up.

When he opened it the smallest stone lion in the world stared back at us.

“Did he go inside the baby?” I asked, only half joking since we had proof that Cutter had been here the night before.

“Oh, wow,” Rho blinked down at the sparkling yellow stone. “A citrine lion. My dragon, I think Cutter is the baby.”

“What?” I asked laughing. “You’re joking, right?”

“No,” Rho shook his head. “It makes so much sense now. I think his therapist might’ve hoped this would happen.

If he couldn’t move onto the places dead people normally move onto his only route was finding his parents for his next life.

I think the therapist hoped Cutter might find them if he went to Camp Air.

I’m assuming a lot here. Maybe I’m giving the therapist too much credit.

Maybe Cutter figured it out on his own.”

“He chose us?” I blinked.

“I think he did. You invited him to live with us after all,” Rho said, not taking his eyes off our little stone lion.

“Is this even possible?” I asked, looking closer.

“I think we’ve learned that almost anything is possible, mate.

I think all Cutter needed to move on was to feel safe and I think you did that for him.

You kept going to see him even when it wasn’t a convenient trip and you fought the ghosts too and – I think he was ready to live again.

Dodging soul collectors and fighting angry ghosts is no way to live. ”

“He’s so small now,” I whispered.

“You don’t have to remember. He’s probably already been ‘reincarnated.’ Meaning that his memories are all set to a fresh start,” Rho said.

“I wondered where he was when he didn’t show up to the mating feast. I thought maybe he moved on. It wasn’t like him to miss out on something important.”

“He was probably figuring stuff out. I imagine planning for your next life is a lot of work.”

“Last night he didn’t have his pack on when he showed up all drenched from the storm,” I pointed out.

“He’s finally set all that down,” Rho smiled softly. “All we have to do now is what we’ve done for all of our children. We wait for him to be ready to be flesh and blood and we love him as if he’s the only kid in the world.”

“Do we keep his name?” I asked.

“I think so. I think it’ll be less confusing for us that way. I mean, what would happen if we renamed him and then accidentally called him Cutter? It might confuse him.”

“That would mean Mori would know.”

“Or we tell Mori that we named him after your friend,” Rho said. “I’ll field the questions on that one. I’ve learned how to tell people how to mind their own business when it came to our kids years ago.”

“Does this mean our baby is born?” I asked. “Like is this his birthday?”

“Sort of. We can make his birthday today or the day he turns to flesh. He’ll grow more before then, obviously.”

“Happy birthday, Cutter,” I smiled down at the little citrine lion gargoyle in my mate’s hand. Our little family had grown. The future was uncertain but this was what made enduring every ounce of uncertainty worth it.

“I love you,” Rho said, snuggling back down under the blanket, keeping his fingers wrapped around our little stone baby. “Come cuddle me. I think I need a nap after all that excitement.”

“I love you,” I said, pulling him close to me and becoming the big spoon.

Read on to find out what Mori’s next mission is really about!

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