Page 1 of Mated in the Stars

Chapter One

Fred Moonscale

Minter squirmed as soon as his older brother walked into the shared yards between all the houses. Like most hatchlings, he knew when a family member was nearby. Minter adored Teddy from the moment he was old enough to recognize faces and scents.

“Be nice,”Elio poked me over our mating link.

As usual, Selt was with Teddy. It used to be Sunny who was attached to his side, and I missed those days. Sunny now spent most of his time on 2 with his mate and newborn hatchlings. I didn’t blame Sunny for growing up. I didn’t even really blame Teddy for hooking up with Selt or anyone else. He was young, single, and could do whatever the fuck he wanted. When it came to Selt, I questioned the choice. Not because he was so much older than Teddy or because he was a gladiator. Dragons had been fighting for sport since before the word sport was invented. Something about their friendship sat wrong with me and I hadn’t put my finger on what it was.

“Stop it,”Elio said over the link as I let Minter squirm out of my arms.“Really, alpha. Stop it. You don’t like him because Teddy was into him.”

“I thought my son was into Sunny. That I could sort of understand.”

“He might’ve been. I don’t know. I’ve refrained from asking my grown ass stepson who he’s hooking up with. If you had let me finish, I’d have said, that you don’t like Selt because Teddy was into him and he broke his heart. At least, you think he did.”

I had no retort. Elio was right. I watched my bright, shining kid sulk around for a week after he was gone. When he wasn’t helping Sunny and Laken, he was taking up space on our sofa,eating us out of house and home and mostly only talking to Minter. If that wasn’t a broken heart, I didn’t know what was.

“We’ll talk about that later,” Teddy frowned at me when he walked in ahead of Selt.

Yep. He’d overheard us. Teddy had a bad habit of eavesdropping over the family link.

“About what?” Selt added on.

“Nothing,” Teddy and I said at the same time.

When had he grown up so much? When Lotus died? After I fell asleep the first time? Since we moved here? I wasn’t sure but he had. He walked different, spoke different, and carried himself like the grown ass dragon Elio had called him. If only Lotus could see him now. I swallowed down the thoughts of my dead mate and forced my mind to the present. I’d miss her forever, but I loved Elio and our egg brats.

“Hey!” Elio waved from the sofa as Minter climbed up Teddy until he pulled the little green monster up on his hip.

“Hey, little dude,” Teddy said, and Minter hugged him tight. “We came to tell you that Liatris is ready to set up a time for the grand opening. Sunny thought we should tell Hush first, but I said F that because ---”

“F that!” Minter mimicked and I looked away, so I didn’t laugh. Elio shot Teddy a dirty look. Minter was his first baby, but he wasn’t my first. He was my fifth. I knew by now kids learned some version of dirty words earlier than any parent ever liked. So, I didn’t sweat it. I’d rather hear ‘F that’ than ‘fuck that’ coming out of his innocent little mouth any day.

“Sorry, Elio,” Teddy said and flashed his stepdad a sheepish smile. “I said forget that. You guys have to know first. I mean, we came all the way out here so you could find mom again and---” he glanced at Elio for a second before continuing, “and that should come first.”

I opened my mouth and shut it again. I didn’t shut it on Elio’s account. He never knew Lotus as Lotus while she was alive. He met her in the Other World while they were both dead and I was asleep enough to be sucked into a conversation with the dead. That was when the three of us agreed to add Elio to our true-mate bond. Only, Elio was here with me now and Lotus wasn’t. I didn’t know how to tell Teddy that his mom wouldn’t be the same person. Being the same soul and the same person were two different things. Lotus had left a lot of stuff for her future self but there was no promise that if she came, she’d even remember being his mom. Coming all this way to find her almost felt like a betrayal of him.

“I know that,” Teddy sighed and blew out a puff of air as Minter chewed on his fingers. He was teething and while Elio and I preferred not to be bitten, everyone else seemed to be content to let him gnaw on them. “I know that.” He had picked up my thoughts over the flight link. I’d have to be more careful. “I lost my mom a long time ago. I want to know she’s okay in her new life, of course, but I’m more worried about you. I was there when she was first gone. I’ve seen Sunny with Laken. He was always decently upbeat but that’s almost doubled since he met him. I remember you and Mom together. Has it occurred to you for two seconds, I want you to be happy?”

Elio flinched and Teddy sighed. He was my kid. So, that meant he knew how to stick his foot in his mouth and keep going.

“Not that Dad’s not happy with you, Elio,” Teddy added quickly. “I just mean---”

“It’s okay,” Elio said, and he smelled like he meant it. “I get it. I know everyone likes to forget that she’s mine too.”

Teddy let out a long, slow breath and I was grateful for Minter’s presence. Maybe this was a long time coming. Maybe I should’ve made them talk it out sooner instead of leaving it up to Teddy to figure out how much of a stepdad he wanted Elio to be.

“Thought we’d be like Duke and Jonah?” Teddy asked.

“Ooo Jonah?” Minter asked and Teddy’s face softened.

“Jonah is my brother’s other dad. Well, one of them. He sings that song you like.”

“Ohh! Oooohh! Deeamin of oooo!” Minter sang off key and we all laughed.

“She’d have loved the Grim Howlers’s music traveling through space,” Teddy said.

I nodded because Lotus would’ve loved to hear our little boy sing that song so far from where the band originated. Of course, someone had to bring the Grim Howlers to space. I laughed despite the tension dancing through the room.

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