Page 23 of Unhaunt Me

“Shit. Sorry, mate. I didn’t mean to snap like that. It’s the hangover, I think.”

“Do you want me to meet up with you later?”

My heart dropped into my stomach. He didn’t want to come see my egg hatch. He didn’t want to be there for the proper birth of my first born.

“Fuck it!” He tossed his hands up in the air. “You have to tell me what you want.” Tritus spoke each word with slow and deliberate enunciation. “I can’t read you at all! You smell mad and distant and---”

“I want you to come with me!” I said, barely keeping the roar out of my voice.

Relief washed over Tritus’s scent.

“Okay. I will,” he nodded. “Give me a minute to grab something to wear.”

“We’ll eat on the ship,” I called after him. “We’ll both feel better after some food.”

At least I hoped we would.

While Tritus got dressed I took long, deep breaths, pushing the whole Ren situation out of my thoughts. She was where shewas, and I was here. I was here and about to be a damn dad for the first time. I’d just met my mate and was about to be a dad with a real baby and a real life and --- And she’d never have anything like this.

“Ready?” Tritus appeared at the door in a pair of black denim pants and a matching shirt.

“Yeah,” I said, taking his hand and making myself smile.

How could one dragon feel so many damn emotions at one time?

***

Kelp wasn’t in the nest with Melon and the egg when we arrived at the ship. No one was in the nest with Melon except for our rocking egg. I climbed in without thinking and across the room Kelp grumbled something about how she must like me more than she liked him. I rolled my eyes but now wasn’t the time to growl at or offer him comfort. Now was all about my hatchling.

Tritus stopped with Castor and the others. I almost called him in but stopped short. Melon’s lips were curled into a snarl. Everything inside me softened for a minute. We were never going to fall in love. We both knew it from the get-go. We both needed too much space and to be too in charge of our own lives. Between us there was too much alphahood but there was also a friendship.

“Melon,” I whispered her name, and she glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “Thank you for calling Tritus. We drank whiskey last night. Like a lot of it.”

She nodded and glanced back at our rocking egg.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t told him everything either.”

“You’ve been a fool as long as I’ve known you. So that checks out,” Melon said without looking at me.

“You are too,” I shrugged. “You know Kelp isn’t going to hurt the egg or the hatchling inside of it.”

I couldn’t believe I was the one trying to soothe her enough to let her mate back into the nest with my egg.

“Not on purpose,” she said, and I winced.

“Hey,” Castor called from across the room. “I want both of you to calm down if you’re able to. Now isn’t the time to talk about accidents.”

My dragon reared his head back ready to roar but something cracked nearby, and he nearly choked on the sound and the fire that he planned to unleash. A whole right foot stuck out of the egg. Melon grabbed my hand and together we inched forward. She stretched out on her belly and stroked the sole of our baby’s foot. I stayed on my knees, alert for threats. Had she caught my worries or was her dragoness just acting on the instincts of a first-time nester?

I watched as she tickled the baby’s foot until the other one kicked the already made hole wide enough for both feet to kick out from. She laughed and the room sighed in relief. She wouldn’t have been the first nesting carrier to burn down a village. Taking the smart way out, our baby kicked and kicked again until the shell crumbled and collapsed around her. She was just as red-headed as her mother with big blue eyes and a tiny pink star on her chest that matched mine.

“Ren,”my dragon muttered but I pushed him away before his monologue started. I wasn’t about to name our beautiful, happy baby after Ren. I loved her but her story wasn’t one for anyone to wish on their child.

“Casalona,” Melon said as if she already decided the name before the baby ever hatched.

Kelp grumbled behind us, but I gave him a pass. Tritus smelled envious too. Not that ragey-smashy sort but the longing sort. My heart ached for him, but I wouldn’t have traded thebaby laying between us covered in bits of shell for anything. She was important. Every baby was important and deserved a chance to be happy.

Together, we cleaned up the baby and Melon held her to her chest. We shared a long look. Our time together had been crazy but she’d come out of it. I glanced at Tritus and then in Kelp’s direction. She sighed but nodded and I waved to them to join us in the nest.

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