Page 2

Chapter 2

Ollie

I was a mouse in a dragon’s den. Literally. What had I been thinking? It wasn’t even the fire-breathing, talon-owning, fly-away-with-their-prey that was a danger to someone like me. They could step on me and I’d be finished. I wasn’t scared for my life, although maybe I should be. But I was pretty concerned that I wouldn’t fit in here enough to be taken seriously.

Everyone around me, including the receptionist I checked in with and every businessperson I passed in the hall to get to the interview space, was a dragon. Even the people here for meetings were fire-breathing, wing-sprouting beasts. But me? I was the meek mouse. If I shifted next to any of them, I would disappear beneath their sheer size. I couldn’t even consider myself prey because I’d be a single bite, not even large enough to qualify as a snack.

Of course, one didn’t just shift inside an office building. Plus, I’d drown in my suit if I even tried. Ask me how I knew…

I wasn’t scared of the dragons around me. Not necessarily. We were all civilized creatures, even if we were all shifters. Still, not all dragon clans were welcoming of all types. Some were old-school and felt that dragons were superior to all others. I stayed far and clear from them.

Most of the clans were open only to other dragons, though. Tradition had a way of growing roots like that. Emberstone clan was incredibly accepting of all types of beasts, or so I’d heard. If they didn’t have that reputation, I wouldn’t have bothered to show up today. It would’ve been a waste of all of our time.

Tavian, the man I was interviewing with, was mated to a wolf, and he was interviewing me to be a manny to his three children, so there had to be some truth to the rumors. His father was high up in the clan, and if interspecies relationships of any kind were frowned upon, he’d be the last person to test the waters. Or so I told myself.

I really thought I could walk in here and be fine. No nerves, no trepidation, nothing but confidence about my skill. I was wrong. There were just too many of them around. I did my best to keep my fear to a minimum. They could smell that just the same way that I could smell them. It was one thing to be weak, another to project that weakness out there for all to scent.

And the truth was, I needed this job. More than that, I really wanted this job. I’d been looking for a long-time nannying gig ever since my last one had ended. The children that I had cared for from the time they were small children were now in middle school, and their families were going off to a new location—one where I wouldn’t be needed.

It hurt, but that was life. I knew going into this profession that I’d have to say good-bye to children I cared for. That’s how it worked. It still sucked.

“Ollie?” The man I recognized as Tavian stepped out of the conference room. “Come on in.”

This was it. It was go time.

Inside the room was another person who had to be his mate, Kier, sitting at the table. Finally. I wasn’t the only non-dragon around. I was still the only prey, but that was my norm.

Kier was a wolf shifter mated to the clan leader’s son. They were the couple that were in need of a manny for their one-year-old triplet dragons, and even if they weren’t, their existence gave me the courage to come here.

“Thanks for meeting with us today,” he said.

“Absolutely.” I held out my hand. “I’m Ollie. It’s nice to meet both of you.”

Kier and Tavian both shook it.

“We must say, your references are impeccable. Your last family couldn’t say enough good things about you,” Tavian said. “They said you would always be considered family.”

That was nice to hear.

I smiled. “Yes, I was with them for quite a while. They were great, but the kids are all in middle school now, and they’ve moved across country.”

They nodded along as I spoke.

“Can you tell me about your kids?”

I knew most parents wouldn’t hesitate to gush about their children—as they well should. And if they weren’t quick to gush about them, then they probably weren’t the type of parents I wanted to work for.

As a manny, I wanted to be a part of a family, not a substitute for either parent. I had seen plenty of parents who treated their children like little accessories. I didn’t want to be a part of that. I was there to help make the parenting job easier, not to take over.

“Well, there’s three of them, so that makes things interesting,” Kier said.

Kier and Tavian had their fingers laced together, their hands resting on the table. They smiled as they looked at one another. They were so in love. I’d always wanted that, but in my profession, I met lots of other mannies and parents, but not single shifters looking for love.

“They’re great kids. Challenging, because there is three of them and we are outnumbered.” There was nothing but love in their tone. “We’ve made it work for the past year, but lately, Tavian has taken on more responsibilities and clients within the clan. I’ve taken on more responsibilities here as well, and we love our clan. We want to help out as much as we can. We’re hoping that having a manny will lift some of the household burden.”

“Absolutely. I’m sure it would be much easier if, when you were at home, you could focus on being with the children, rather than dishes, laundry, that sort of thing. Those are some of the things I can help with.”

“Exactly. The kids are one now, and so they are, of course, running around a lot, learning new things every day. All three of them are walking. It took Flint a while to get the hang of it, but now he’s just as fast as the other two. And I think the three of them can talk to one another. I swear they are conspiring against us.”

I smiled. “I’m sure they have their own little way of communicating with one another. They sound like great kids.”

The interview went on much longer than I expected. They had plenty to talk about with their kids, and I had plenty of questions for them. I was feeling great about the position. Usually when I interviewed for a position, I’d sit on an offer for a few days before deciding. That wouldn’t be the case today. If they offered it to me right now, I’d accept, and I hadn’t even learned the full details yet.

“The job comes with a room, which has its own en suite. You would have any access to the house you need. We have a home gym and a hot tub you’d be welcome to use. Plus, any of the amenities we have here at headquarters.”

I nearly let out an embarrassing squeak at that. I doubted that I’d come to Emberstone headquarters to use the pool or gym, though both things sounded lovely. Being around that many dragons would be nerve-wracking.

“You’ll have days off, of course. We’re not expecting you to be available twenty-four seven. Both Kier and I like to cook, so we won’t always need meals. We can come up with a schedule,” Tavian said. “Our hours here can be challenging. So it won’t always be nine to five.”

“Of course,” I said. “I am well versed in putting together meal plans and meal prepping. That way you aren’t thinking about what to make for dinner on the day of. And I’m not concerned about the hours, just as long as we communicate about when and where I’m needed.”

“That sounds fabulous. Right now, we’re living on hamburgers and bland chicken. We’re running low on everything. There’s no time to go to the store or even put in an order for groceries.”

I could only imagine how hard it was to work full-time at high-powered jobs while spending the time you wanted with your kids and on top of that somehow managing to keep the household running.

I nodded. “I can help manage the grocery lists as well.” I was an odd one in that I loved to meal plan and go through the grocery fliers to figure out the best things to buy each week. I took it as a challenge, a fun one.

The two exchanged a glance. “When can you start?”

And there it was, the offer I’d been hoping for. Little did I know at the time that it was going to be the offer that changed my entire world.