Page 3 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

Once those words hit the air, they hang like a sword over my head:all of this is fated…

I don’t want a new mate. I’ve never wanted one since…

Milo’s voice thankfully interrupts my thoughts:

“So, who’s next, do you think?” he teases, “If we’re all going to meet our mates here?”

“I think we all know it’s you,” Orion answers, looking at Evander.

“Me?!” Evander asks, “Why me?!”

“We all see how some of these women look at you,” Orion adds.

“Do we?” Evander challenges.

Milo gives a small laugh. I look at Orion, and he catches my eye. I grin.

“Yeah, you know, O’s right,” I chime in, “I’ve seen some of these ladies looking at you with some real googly eyes. It’s probably just a matter of time.”

“What?!” Evander demands, “Who?”

“If you haven’t noticed, then you’ll have to figure it out yourself,” I reply.

There’s a rattle of laughter among the group. Evander scowls for a moment, looking around at all the other ladies present in this casual meeting suspiciously as if one of them was ready to jump him right now. But then something catches his eye, and Evander chuckles.

“Wait,” Evander says, “I think therealcouple of our lifetime is about to be reunited.”

“What?” Orion asks.

“Who’s that?” Milo says.

Evander gestures with the neck of his bottle, and I follow my gaze to where he’s pointing. My heart drops when I see it.

That damn trash panda!

Roscoe pads across the garden as if the smug little raccoon owns it. He sits back on his haunches halfway across our backyard and takes something out of his mouth. He starts fiddling with it in his grubby hands. I see a glint and a pulse of rage rolls over me.

“Wait,” Evander laughs, “Rufus, is that—?”

“It is!”I snarl.

I sprint to the side of the porch and vault over the side. I hit the ground and start sprinting after the hairy beast.

“Give me back my ring, you little bastard!”I howl.

Roscoe claps my ring back in between his teeth and scurries away. He doesn’t give me a chance to get close; he knows better by now. Soon, he’s gone.

I stop, my chest heaving and my heart pumping. I turn back toward the porch:

“Kaius!”I roar,“Your rabid trash monster took my favorite ring! If I don’t get it back, you’re BOTH dead!”

I can hear Kaius cracking up with laughter from here.

Chapter 2 - Sarah

Another beautiful, ordinary day in Greyson Ridge. Ah, who am I kidding? We haven’t had an ordinary day since those dragons moved in, whether the regular residents realize it or not.

I walk down the sidewalk, the early morning sunlight sparkling off the sunlight at me. My cup steams in my hand, Gunn’s Diner’s finest instant coffee with the weakest cream imaginable. On my usual patrol, I pass by Lena’s little shop, but it’s closed and locked, which makes me a little sad. After she got pregnant, she tried to run the shop as usual, but I think with a combination of thick incense smells making her nauseous and the physical pains of her pregnancy, it just became too tough for her. And Cyrus… well, I can begrudgingly admit that he probably has better things to do than run it for her.

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