Page 56 of Meet Me in the Stars

“Some houses had pools before you all got here. Not many, but some. Usually, water dragons.”

“Huh? Wait!” Fred blinked and I froze in place.

My dragon sniffed the air for threats, but only the smell of the partygoers and their snacks reached my nose.

“What is it, alpha?” I whispered to him.

“Sorry,” he shook his head. “I didn’t realize you two were so on edge. I didn’t know there were water dragons in the flight.”

“Ummm…. Yeah. We have all the basic elements,” I laughed.

“Really?”

“What you don’t have any water dragons in the Moonscale Flight?”

“We do, but mate, we even have foxes, wolves, bears, and stuff too. I don’t know if you could ever call the Moonscales normal.”

“You said it! Not me!” I teased.

His warm fingers trailed down my calves and then over my shins. I let my eyes drift closed and that’s when he got his revenge. Fred’s gentle fingers disappeared from my legs only to find the soles of my feet. My toes twitched. I wasn’t against a foot rub, though. Fred’s part of our mating link was quiet until both he and his dragon burst into laughter as he tickled my feet. I bolted upright, eyes wide, unable to stop laughing. I kicked at his thighs with my heels, but he just grinned and tickled me again.

“Stop!” I shook my head, still laughing. “Really!”

Fred’s hands went up, but his scent was on guard for revenge.

“Now I gottta pee!” I said because there would be time for revenge later when every muscle in my lower back wasn’t doing the fox trot.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Fred

It took a lot for me not to follow Elio to the bathroom. Despite not looking ‘that’ pregnant he smelled like he might drop our egg at any moment. My dragon paced the sky of his inner sanctum, flying in circles as we waited for our mate to come back. I moved to the sofa ready to cuddle up to him and wait out however long it took.

Music from the party pulsed in the distance. In another life before Elio, before Lotus, and before my first egg brat was even thought of, I danced to music like that. Half-naked men and women on the stage. Glitter falling from the ceiling every few songs. Whatever fancy club drink my bartender had come up with for the week taking the edge off the fact Green Bay was a territory in chaos. I missed the music. I missed the dancing and grinding. Hell, I even missed the glitter. I didn’t miss the violence of trying to live a normal life in a place that wasn’t tamed yet.

“Fred, don’t be mad,” Elio called from the bathroom, jarring me back to the present moment.

“What happened?” I stood up, not letting my dragon’s worry flood into my scent. The last thing Elio needed in an emergency was him to freak out. I had to be the steady one – the safe one – the one who could fix it all.

“They came,” Elio said, opening the bathroom door before I got to it.

In his hands he held a bright orange hand towel. Orange was his favorite color. Whether for camouflage or self-love, I didn’t know, but it was quickly becoming one of my favorite colors because it matched him. My heart leapt into my throat. Cuddling and cushioned in the orange hand towel was a bright green egg.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It happened so fast.”

“They can do that,” I nodded. “Are you okay? Do I need to call Izora?”

“No,” Elio shook his head with a smile. “I --- I know this was supposed to happen in the nest and –”

I took a deep breath and his worried scent hit me. His dragon considered locking himself in the bathroom until the egg hatched. First time egg layers weren’t always predictable. I smiled at him and kissed his forehead.

“You hold onto the baby,” I said and gave him a few seconds to adjust his grip before I scooped him up.

His dragon was still on edge, but he relaxed a little as I headed across the house and up the steps to the south tower where, months ago, I’d built our nest. There were two up there now, because when the flight provided pack arrived Elio wanted to put it together. We jokingly called it the guest nest. That’s where guests could come sit if they wanted to hang out with us during the nesting period. Outside of Marsin, Teddy, and the doctor we decided no one else was coming in our nest. We’d keep it as clean as possible for our baby.

I climbed over the side of the nest, still carrying my mate and child. In the center, I sat him down. As soon as his butt touched the nest, the tension fled his shoulders. His dragon purred his thanks and Elio curled up around the little egg wrapped inside the orange hand towel. I curled up around him, spooning him from behind.

The egg was small. They always came out impossibly small before growing to a height and width that seemed just as impossible. The music drifted up to us and we dozed off together. I dreamt of dancing with Elio and Lotus at Glitter Bomb.

---