Page 2 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

Lena is the first to spot us, and she stands to greet us. It’s only been a few months, but she’s already showing significantly. Someone would assume she was five months at least, but Isuppose that’s what being pregnant with an Alpha’s baby does to a human. Cyrus shifts back into human form as Lena walks over and hands him a pair of pants. He pulls them on without a word with a wide smile on his face I rarely saw before Greyson Ridge. Cyrus reaches forward and winds his large arms around Lena, pulling her in.

I look away. It’s strange to see him like that. It’s like he transforms when he’s around her. He’s so happy. I’ve never seen anything like it from him. On the one hand, I wonder what that feels like—such overwhelming feelings for someone else that it would transform you, but on the other, it makes my skin crawl to imagine being possessed by love like that.

Again, that is.

Memories start flickering behind my eyelids, threatening to come to the surface. I force my gaze away from the happy couple and head over toward the sounds of ax-throwing. Milo spots me and smiles as I get closer, and Evander greets me with a nod.

“Hey, Rufus,” he says, “You both took your time. We finished our patrols ages ago!”

“Yeah, well,” I just grunt non-committedly.

I know if I told them that I attacked an Eclipse member, I’d be in for the exact same lecture from Evander that I just got from Cyrus. I’m not in the mood. Milo raises his eyebrows a little as he looks at me.

“You want a beer?” he asks, “I was going to get another.”

I crack a half-smile.

“Sure,” I answer.

Milo gets up from the porch and goes back inside the mansion. There’s acrackfrom nearby, and Kaius cheers at thesame time Orion groans. I spend a second watching the ax-throwing match before Milo comes back.

“Who’s winning?” Milo asks.

“Kaius, but just about,” Evander answers.

Milo chuckles and hands me a glass bottle. It’s cold, and condensation rolls down the side—but there’s some kind of sticky residue on there, too.

“What’s on the bottle?” I ask, alarm underlying the question.

“Hm? Oh, I’m not sure.” Milo pops the cap on his own bottle, “It’s fine though, Rufus.”

He hands me the bottle opener. It’s also oddly speckled.Have they been sharing this all evening?

My skin crawls, and I walk inside.

“Be right back,” I call over my shoulder.

“Oh, for god’s sake,” Evander sighs.

Milo laughs.

Once I’ve washed everything off, I come back out. It looks like the ax-throwing match has ended, and Kaius and Orion are walking back. Evander looks over at me.

“Orion won while you were being a germaphobe,” he says, “Are you going to play the next match?”

“Sure, once I’ve finished my beer,” I answer.

Kaius and Orion reach us, and Kaius only gives me a small nod before jogging over to where Julie is sitting on the bench nearby. Since Lena left, she’s gotten involved in a book, but she drops it when Kaius comes over, and they start cuddling.I wrench my gaze from them again and realize I’m not the only one looking. Eventually, it’s Orion of all of us who speaks first:

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” he says.

The ice breaks, and I feel like I can finally say it:

“It is!” I exclaim, “I thought it was just Cyrus and his mate—I thought it was a once-off, but now Kaius has a human mate, too?”

“Yeah,” Milo says, “But there’s so much magic here in Greyson Ridge, and it’s clearly connected to dragonssomehow. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that we keep finding our fated mates here.”

“Maybe,” Evander replies, “We don’t exactly have a home to get back to outside of Greyson Ridge anymore, so the fact that they’re humans isn’t the problem it once was. I’m starting to wonder ifallof this is fated.”

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