Page 24 of Stripped to the Scales

Melon, like most pregnant carriers, practically lived in her nest only leaving to shower or stretch her legs and wings. Casimir was a doting sire. He brought her food and took up hunting for fresh deer, dragging Axlin along with him. The deer here had pelts of what would’ve been called unnatural colors back on Earthside. Melon swore the ones with the soft pink hues running through the sandy brown tasted the best. I couldn’t really taste a difference.

Sunny didn’t show his ass the way I feared. We talked here and there outside of meetings. As much as he had wanted to see the purple district it ended up not being his scene. I wasn’t surprised. Sunny had a big personality and loved to talk. Hook ups could be fun, but sometimes you needed your brain stimulated before your dick caught up to everything else. He wanted to see Starscale 2 and perhaps compete in a couple of gladiator matches. Medwin wouldn’t like it, but I thought Sunny would do well in them. He was even tempered and strong. Both of those qualities made for a good fighter.

“Can you give me some time before you do that?” I asked, resting a hand on my belly. “To see Starscale 2 and make sure it’s as safe as the purple district. You can’t go over there alone. We need to stick together as much as possible.”

“I wasn’t saying right now. None of us would leave while you and Casimir are both expecting kids,” Sunny sighed. “Besides, Teddy doesn’t want to be that far from Minter yet, either.”

“You and Teddy?” I finally asked the question everyone wondered about.

“Maybe in a different life,” he shrugged. “True-mates and us both being alphas notwithstanding, we’d kill each other as mates. We want such different things from life. We make good friends, though.”

“Sometimes friends are better than mates,” I shrugged. “We all need connections that aren’t based on blood or sex.”

Sunny nodded, leaning back against the edge of the nest.

“How much longer until your big ultrasound?” He changed the subject away from his relationship with Teddy.

“When Axlin gets home from work, Izora will come do it,” I said.

“I’m excited for you guys. The first wolf born on a Starscale planet.”

“The only wolf so far. I’m worried the baby will be lonely. Wolves are pack animals.”

“Yeah, but they have a pack. They have us,” Sunny grinned. “Sometimes it’s not what you shift into but who has your back that matters.”

“I hope that’s the case for our kid. I sorta hoped when Casimir told me Melon was pregnant that she’d have a live birth too. I mean, we share that grandparent who was a wolf.”

“Eh, you’ll be fine. The baby will be fine. They’ll grow up and order all the dragons they know around because they’ll inherit your leadership drive.”

I laughed and shook my head. I thought it was a compliment from how Sunny grinned, but I wasn’t sure if he meant that I was a good leader, or he was calling me bossy. Perhaps good leaders had to be a little bossy.

Chapter Twelve

Axlin

In hopes of not coming across like a cave dragon, I didn’t ask for much when it came to the nest. Casimir and the crew came in and out of it. None of that bothered me, but any time Izora was there in his official healer capacity to see my mate, I chased the rest of them off. I prayed that Melon didn’t lay her egg until after our baby was born. That way I wouldn’t have to worry about her feelings about it. She hadn’t bitched about it yet, despite practically living in her nest.

I showered at Sprinkles and put on a good pair of slacks before flying home. I knew I didn’t have to dress up for Izora but it only felt right to dress up for this picture session. By now our baby would look like a baby. They’d have all their little digits and eyes and maybe they’d somehow remember this day. I was probably crazy, but my carrier always said being a parent makes you that way.

On the flight home, I thought about how much I’d talked to my parents since meeting Castor. We talked on the phone nearly every day now and I took photos of all the baby pictures and sent them to my parents before submitting them to the website. They were over the moon at the thought of their first grandchild. They were currently on a cruise around Starscale 3’s vast oceans. They offered to take a flight and be of assistance, but we had things handled. Still, it was nice that they wanted to be part of our kid’s life.

The dining hall was already clear of people except for Castor and Izora when I arrived home. Castor’s eyes lit up when I walked in and something inside me melted – the same something that always melted every time I saw him. Even aftermonths of waking up next to him every morning he still melted me.

“After the doctor leaves,”he teased me over our mating link.

“How was work?” Izora asked, taking his machine out of its little carrying pouch.

“Good. Sprinkles was lit today. A group of retirees came in from Starscale 3. They were a hoot!” I laughed. “It was fun.”

“Sounds like it,” Izora laughed as I climbed into the nest and gave Castor a quick kiss hello.

He rested against the edge of the nest, shirtless now. Shirtless almost always like the rest of us. His black scale looked extra shiny from all the hormones pregnancy surged through his body.

“Let’s hope they haven’t crossed their legs and gone modest on us,” Izora said.

“Do they do that?” I asked, furrowing my brow.

“Not to spite us,” Izora laughed. “I doubt they ever know what we’re doing and if they do it probably makes no sense to them. They just get comfy without a thought in our direction.”

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