Page 22 of Bitten in the Wild

“I know a Starscale healer would, but they’re not healers and you made Earthside sound like a battle zone.”

“Some parts of it are, but that has little to do with the crew of the Medwin 2,” I said, pushing his hair away from his face and kissing his forehead.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. It hadn’t lost any battery while inside Nycto’s house. All the crystals he installed to power things kept phones charged without having any direct contact. I almost texted Castor first, but didn’t want to interrupt his time with his baby or mate. Teddy it was. I felt bad about asking Teddy to fly all the way out here, but I knew out of all of them he’d do it without thinking twice. I was between a rock and a hard place – too far from the house to walk back and there was too far to walk to the ship with Nycto not feeling well. He answered my text in under a minute, confirming what I knew. Teddy was always the guy you could count on.

I massaged Nycto’s shoulders and had him sip from a water bottle while we waited for Teddy to save the day. Eventually, Istopped rubbing his shoulders when he leaned back against me and closed his eyes.

“I think when I can fly, we should go back to the nest.”

“Does anything hurt?” I asked, afraid that I mistook something more serious for morning sickness.

“No, but being in town is always awkward for me. Being pregnant and in town… Well, it feels like a punishment to just think about it.”

“Are the townies particularly touchy with pregnant people? Castor didn’t seem to have a problem with that,” I said.

“No,” he shook his head. “Everyone is nice. Really nice. It just --- It’s hard to explain.”

“Do wild dragons leave their nests while pregnant?” I asked him.

“They do and I will too. I just don’t know about town.”

“Has something bad ever happened in town?” I asked him.

“Not exactly. It’s just different out there, I guess.”

Rock and hard place again. I needed to tell Castor and the others about my vision, preferably face to face, but I wasn’t about to drag my probably pregnant mate into town if he didn’t feel safe there.

“Okay,” I nodded. “After Teddy gets here and we give the gummies some time to work, we’ll go back to the nest,” I agreed.

Once upon a time, Izora Moonscale was all about the greater good of the flight. Now, that guy seemed to be a whole other lifetime ago. I’d have dug a den for Nycto where we stood if that’s what it took to make him feel better. Perhaps this was the other side of that scale – the universe’s way of balancing out my life.

I didn’t have long to ruminate on the question because shadows swooped overhead. Teddy didn’t come alone. He hardly went anywhere without Sunny and today’s trip into the mushie forest was no exception.

“Sorry it took longer than we thought it would,”Teddy said over the flight link.“Castor had to get us permission to fly this out here. As soon as they heard what it was, they gave us the all clear.”

“You didn’t take too long,”I said, wrapping an arm around my mate as the guys found a place to land and shift back into human form.

Minutes later, they emerged from the trees. Teddy carried the bottle of gummies in one hand and my small, modern ultrasound machine in the other. I grinned. I hadn’t even thought of that fucking thing! Thankfully, someone still had brain cells floating around their head because worrying about Nycto made me brain dead.

“No, it makes you a first-time sire,” Teddy said aloud, passing the things off to me.

I opened the bottle before I bothered introducing Teddy or Sunny to my mate. The seal was still intact. I’d brought plenty along and we hadn’t had to open a single bottle on the trip. I dumped two in my hand and slipped them into Nycto’s mouth. Teddy turned away from the intimate moment. Sunny’s head was on a swivel as if he expected a wild dragon to swoop down and make supper out of him.

“What’s on your radar, Sunny?” I asked.

“A giant red keeps circling us. They’re staying further out to not cast a shadow. They’re being sneaky about it and I don’t like that,” he said.

Nycto and I both glanced up and he barely kept himself from laughing.

“That would be my mother-in-law spying on us. No, I won’t be answering questions about that. No, I’m not joking,” I said, adding the last part before Sunny’s smart mouth made me pop him one.

“Do you want me to fly up and tell her you’re okay?” Teddy asked, glancing at Nycto.

“She knows. We have a family link. I think she only came out when you two got here,” Nycto said, letting out a long, slow breath.

“Would you be against me inviting the crew out here to talk to?”I asked Nycto over our mating link.“Not to our nest but just out here.”

Nycto thought about it for a long moment and nodded his consent. I quickly introduced him to Teddy and Sunny and they both shook his hand. Teddy produced another water bottle from his bag and Nycto gladly took it. Sunny still had his nose pointed skyward.

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