Page 13 of The Accidental Dragon Baby

The wolf shifter tossed Ivo’s shoes over and turned to Ace. “Need more time tracking this scent.”

Relief flooded Ivo. He hid it by scooping Mary into his arms.

“Damn it,” Ace muttered. “Why wasn’t there some sort of ID on his clothes?”

“Maybe he handed it off to his friend,” Crush said dryly. “Can’t trust that your wallet will stay in your pocket when your clothes go flying.”

Ivo blushed. That was exactly why he’d given Uriel his wallet.

Ace didn’t notice his discomfort, though. He grumbled under his breath, and Crush looked as though he was stifling a laugh.

“Maybe you need to look around more carefully,” Crush said.

“I’m looking,” Ace growled.

“I see you making a dick instead of looking,” Crush replied.

“Making a dick?” Ace asked incredulously.

Crush gestured at the nests. “Big round balls on either side of a flowing stream. It just keeps coming.”

“Oh, gods,” Ivo whispered, mortified.

When he chanced a look at Ace, he realized that Ace’s ears were turning pink.

“Shut up,” Ace muttered. “That wasn’t—I was just giving Ivo space.”

“Very chivalrous,” Crush agreed. “Anyway, I’ll try sniffing around again tomorrow.”

He waved and disappeared through the trees.

“Who are you looking for?” Ivo tried to ask innocently.Ace remembers my name!

“Someone—” Ace sighed and looked down at his half-formed nest. “It’s nothing.”

It didn’t seem like nothing. But as far as Ace was concerned, Ivo had nothing to do with the omega at the bar last night.

If Ivo wanted that information, he would have to sacrifice his secret.

He wasn’t willing to do that.

So he changed the subject. “Did you change your mind about the—the place I could nest?”

Ace blinked himself back. “No, no. You’re still welcome there.”

“Okay, I—”

Mary leaned out of her blanket and grabbed Ivo’s big toe. Then she tried to gnaw on it. Ivo tried futilely to wriggle out of her grip. “Mary, no! I have dirt on my toes! Please don’t eat dirt.”

Ace snorted, cracking a tiny smile. “How old is she?”

“Eight months.”

Ace’s eyes softened as he watched Mary. He glanced around them. In a lower tone, he murmured, “She’s special, huh?”

It was why Mary and Ivo had been captured—Mary was a dragon. But she was also two different species; Ace and the otherrescuers had said that the kidnappers were on the lookout for dual-species babies, or babies who were a rare species.

Mary was both of those.

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