Page 31 of The Naga

Thirteen

Khush

It'd been ten dayssince I went to Dustin's place, which meant that today was the day he'd move in with me.

I'd spent the last two days helping him pack up all his stuff, and we'd already moved most of the boxes to my newly refurbished cabin.

Headmaster Morrigan had created a temporary portal between Dustin's place and mine so the whole process could go smoothly, and I'd never been more grateful for the existence of magic.

"Okay, that's all of it," Dustin said as Silas picked up the last two boxes. Giving Dustin a salute—and showing off his troll strength by holding both boxes with only one arm—Silas walked through the portal, leaving Dustin, Scrappy, and me alone in the empty apartment.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly, unable to read the look on Dustin's face. Did he regret agreeing to move in with me?

"Yeah, I'm just gonna miss this place. This was the first place where I could live as I wanted to, you know. It was the first place I lived in after I came out, and it's got a lot of memories attached to it," Dustin said, and I wrapped my arm around him, pulling him into my side.

"I'm sorry you have to leave," I murmured, and he smiled over at me.

"I'm not. I'm looking forward to making new memories in a new home. And I'm excited to make a home with you."

"Me too." I pressed a kiss against his temple, and he smiled as Scrappy scratched at her crate. Dustin had locked her in when we started moving things so she wouldn't get lost in the confusion, and she was clearly ready to get out.

"Shall we?" I asked, loosening my hold around Dustin and offering him my hand instead. He took it with a smile, and I picked up Scrappy's crate with my other hand before walking through the portal with Dustin at my side.

On the other end, the headmaster was waiting for us, and he smiled at us as we stepped through.

"Welcome to the Sanctuary, Dustin," he said, and Dustin smiled right back, dropping my hand so he could shake the headmaster's.

"Thanks, Mr. Morrigan. Or should I call you Headmaster Morrigan?" he asked, and the headmaster shook his head rather insistently.

"Please, call me Zephyr. I have no idea how the headmaster thing started, and I've been trying to get these people to call me by my very nice name," he said, shaking his head sadly. I rolled my eyes at his dramatics, very distinctly remembering that Headmaster Zephyr Morrigan was exactly how he'd introduced himself to my parents and me when we first met.

"Zephyr it is," Dustin agreed with a chuckle.

Headmaster Morrigan stayed long enough to close the portal, before leaving us to our devices.

Dustin let Scrappy out, and the cat instantly started exploring the place.

"Your cabin is pretty cool. It smells kinda new," Dustin commented as he looked around the place, and I smiled sheepishly.

"I didn't really use it much before, and we did some renovations too."

"Oh!" Dustin exclaimed, looking surprised. We were in the living room, and most of it was currently hidden from view by stacks of boxes.

"We should go grab some lunch before we think about unpacking all of this," I said, glancing at the clock that I could see just enough of past some boxes.

"Sounds good!" Dustin said, and we left Scrappy to explore the cabin, closing the door to make sure she wouldn't escape. Dustin wanted her to get used to the cabin first.

"Uh, do the others know I moved in?" Dustin asked hesitantly as we were walking down the path toward the door, and I smiled over at him.

"They do. I told everyone a few days ago. Don't worry. They're mostly okay with it. Touya and Bellamy made things easier for us," I said with a smile. I'd told Dustin before that most supes at the Sanctuary weren't the biggest fans of humans, and he'd clearly remembered that.

While that hadn't changed, the rule didn't seem to apply to humans who were mated to supes, because that automatically made them family to most of us.

The dining room was as crowded as ever, and as if in a choreographed move, all eyes turned on us the moment we stepped through the doors. There was a beat of silence before Keoni came clattering through, grabbing Dustin's hands the moment he was close enough.

"Dustin! You're here! Are you all moved in? Come join us at our table!"

I almost lost track of my mate as Keoni dragged him away, introducing him to people as he went.

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