Page 14 of O Holy Spite

The snow didn’t increase during the night, but something about the swift change in weather feels off. My dragon doesn’t like it, and he’s rarely wrong. As we all eat, I watch everyone laughing and ribbing one another good naturedly with satisfaction. I’ll never admit it to Fitzgerald, but he was right from the beginning when he said Dolly was the missing piece to our band of misfits. I feel the beast inside me grumble in agreement, my lips twitching in amusement.

Dragons aren’t fond of being wrong, so he doesn’t want me to say anything, either.

Chester makes a special pot of coffee for me because I enjoy it dark and bitter—so much so that no one else will drink it. It’s reminiscent of my earliest home, so it comforts me and I sip that as Fitz tells a story that makes snack size giggle. The Raj is looking on fondly while Chess spoons more food onto her plate while she’s not looking. Their fussiness over her training is amusing and I can see my mate caught the cheetah’s sneaky move as well.

“If the snow stays this calm, I bet a little flight over the winter wonderland would be fun,” Rennie says with a twinkle in his eye. His gaze meets mine and I roll my eyes when I realize he’s pushing me to agree.

Meddling damn gargoyle.

Clearing my throat, I nod. “That seems possible if you bundle up well.”

Dolly’s eyes widen and she claps in excitement. “Just you and me, big guy? Really?”

I have to fight to keep my expression neutral because I expected Rennie to come along. But no, she thought I meant alone and now if I say no, she’ll think I don’t want to be alone with her. It’s not true, for one thing, but also, I’m not used to someone besides my mate wanting to spend solo time with me. Chester helps me research and such, but that’s because we work well together, not because he’s excited to deal with my grumpy ass.

“Sure, lunchable. Why not?” I smile at her, gauging her response as I sip my coffee. “Since you’re the only one my dragon likes to have on its back, I don’t see why not.”

Fitz crosses his arms over his chest, pouting. “This is bullshit, you grouchy Gila Monster. I wanna fly, too.”

“Fitz… don’t be a brat,” Felix chides as he shakes his head. “You get alone time with the Princess all the time. Aubrey doesn’t claim it very often.”

Chess tilts his head, thinking for a moment. “He’s right. Aubrey’s a good team player, baby. He can take you flying another time. I’m sure my angel can convince him.”

A smug grin spreads over the bunny’s face as she winks at him. “I definitely can. I’m very persuasive when I want to be.”

That makes me snort and everyone laughs in response. We all know she has us by the short and curlies whenever she chooses. “We’ll see, bite size. Why don’t you go bundle up in the snowsuit from last year while we clean up? I’ll be warm no matter what, but we don’t want you catching a cold.”

She rolls her eyes and sticks her tongue out. “Yes, sir!”

My nose wrinkles as I grumble into my coffee. “How many times do I have to say that doesn’t work on me?”

“Until you believe it,” Rennie says as he pats my shoulder. “Should only take another century or so.”

Bastard.

Somehow, I’d forgotten how excellent my mate is at dressing people. Maybe it was because our bunny’s friends took over the role most of the time now, but the way Dolly’s curves are hugged by the pink snowsuit Rennie got her last year makes me swallow hard. All I can think about is that she’ll be riding on my back in the sky in that thing and I have made a distinctly grave error.

Motherfucker.

“Something wrong, big guy?” Our girl walks up to me, her brows knitted as she puts a hand on my arm. “We can cancel if you’re worried about the whole ‘magic snow’ thing. I know you’ll take me later.”

I shake my head, tongue thick as I try to force words out. “No. I mean, yes, I’m concerned about the sudden weather change, but… You look tasty, that's all.”

The smile that lights her features is fucking magical all on its own and she squeezes my bicep. “I like it when you get flustered, Lord Draconis. It makes me feel less like an inexperienced waif.”

“A… what?!” I sputter. I can’t argue Dolly was naïve when she started at Apex and her breadth of experience with much of the shifter world had been limited, but I’ve never thought of her like that. I don’t believe any of us have.

Has she been fretting over that this whole time?

A shadow of insecurity flitters through her eyes and I know I’m right. Besides the glimpses of the body dysmorphia her mother and her friends instilled in her, there’s a deep fear that she’s hiding. Our brave, tough bunny has a small bundle of doubt buried inside of her—one that’s telling her she’s not good enough, not sexy enough, and not going to keep us interested forever. A voice in her mind is whispering that she’s a distraction or fixation that will fade someday and she’ll be alone.

I want—no, I need—to fix that. My dragon thumps inside of me, agreeing; he doesn’t even like our future mate hurting herself, it seems. Clenching my fists at my sides to keep from scaring her, I wait for her to answer my question. When she shrugs and looks away, I make a decision. She needs to know I’m all in like Fitzgerald and Rennie. I’m going to do something I’ve only done once before, but it might be the answer I was looking for in the Shird.

We’re taking a slightly longer trip than I planned before.

“Make sure you have a hat, snack size. I don’t want you getting frostbite on your ears. Gloves, too, for that matter.”

Renard lifts his head from the tablet he was entranced with on the couch, his eyes narrowing. He knows I’ve switched gears because she shouldn’t need that much for a short jaunt around the campus. “Would you like me to join you? I don’t mind breaking from the scans of the texts Chess made for me.”

---