Page 26 of Omega Haunting

It wasn’t until Elio and Teddy came in for the baby shower that I felt sane again. Having my brother and nephew around made me feel a little less outnumbered by wolves. I loved Astral and his family. I even loved Morgi and some of the others I’d gotten to know but none of them looked at Dern the way my dragon did. Elio didn’t sense a darkness but something about him made my brother uneasy too.

“I get it,” Teddy said, while he helped me clean up the kitchen after the baby shower.

Elio was in the living room with Astral, helping him sort through all the gifts we received for the baby. The pack and the flight had both outdone themselves. Elio and Teddy came over weighted down with gifts not only from themselves, but from the crew of the Medwin 2, my parents, and others in the flight.

“About the old wolf?” I double-checked that Teddy and I were on the same page.

“Yeah, and I don’t say that about a lot of people. Seers are everywhere. They’re way more common than we think. Most either don’t know they have the gift or don’t talk about it. It could be that he sees dark stuff sometimes.”

“And the whole dark magic admission?” I asked, taking a plate from him to dry it off.

“Have you seen how big you are compared to him? Sure, maybe he dabbled in it. If he hadn’t done something dark, you’d have smelled the lie, most likely, but you’re huge and covered in scales. He probably exaggerated. He will probably hurt Astral through no fault of his own.”

I gritted my teeth.

“Because that’s what happens when we love people. Eventually, they either break our hearts with their actions or they die. With Dern’s age and the fact he’s a wolf using a cane openly, I’d say it’s the latter and that sucks. Not just because he’ll be gone but it’s not something you can protect him from. Take it from me. It doesn’t matter which way you slice the death cake, there is no softening the blow. It doesn’t matter how much you try to prepare for it or how many memories you try to squeeze in and sear into your brain. It sucks. It hurts and in some ways it never hurts less. So, I do think you’re right but not in the way you think.”

“Then why is my… Hang on,” I sighed. “Are you okay? I’m a jackass. I haven’t seen you since the wedding and before that you were hiding out in grief and… I’m bad at this. So you can save me any time you want to,” I said, a macabre chuckled crawling out of my throat.

“I am. I’ve accepted that it will always suck. Either my life will too or I’ll learn to live with the suck the best as I can. I got a tattoo. It’s on the inside of my left bicep,” he turned off the water and pulled his shirt off over his head. There it was in dark blue ink etched into his skin. A lotus resting on the smallest wave. “So, I’m okay or at least I’m trying to be. As for your dragon? I don’t know what’s crawled up his butt. If he doesn’t know, neither do I. Mine is pretty sure we’d feel better if we just never stopped eating – mostly brownies, chips, and hummus. We could live on it forever and as long as we ate we’d be okay.”

“That sounds like he wants to get fat or maybe caramelize his stomach,” I managed a laugh.

“Maybe,” Teddy shrugged, turning the water back on. “If you think it’s something else keep paying attention but remember when the old wolf goes, Astral will remember every interactionyou had with him. So, if nothing else, kill him with kindness until you have proof that he’s up to something nefarious.”

And so, I did exactly that. I made a point to invite Dern over as often as I could after our baby shower came and went. Much to our surprise when Elio went home, Teddy stayed behind. He was a Moony and an Earthsider so perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised. He owned a large share in his now deceased grandparents’ company and was the only member of the Medwin 2 not to have found his mate yet. He rented out a room at a bed and breakfast a few miles away and often popped in whenever Dern was around. If not for the flight link, I’d have said he had a sixth sense.

“It’s because he believes us,”my dragon said, flying circles inside his inner sanctum.“He knows what we know.”

“We don’t know anything, though. He keeps doing it so that we don’t eat Dern.”

“I won’t eat him until he gives me a reason to!”he snorted, filling his inner sanctum with smoke.

I let out a long, slow sigh as I crawled into bed with Astral. His belly was big enough with our pup now that he needed help in and out of the bed. He could no longer sleep on his back and I had to roll him back onto his side a few times a night.

“I’m glad you’ve become friends with Dern,” he said as I stretched out beside him and rested a hand on the zenith of his belly.

We’d had him and Teddy over for dinner that evening. Dern had brought an apple pie and made a joke about it not being a one-way radio. It wasn’t funny but I laughed anyway. The old wolf was poking at me on purpose, but I was determined not to get sidetracked. If I grew too caught up in nitpicking every petty thing he did, I might miss a clue to his big grand plan.

“He’s not the worst person I’ve ever met,” I said, careful to only tell the truth.

“But we don’t have to have him around so much, if you don’t want to. I like him. He’s a fun old guy but I miss our time. We’re always together. I know. I know. Except we’re not as together as we were.”

“What do you mean?” I arched a brow, rubbing slow circles on his belly.

“Together,” he smirked.

“Is Dern cramping your style?” I teased him.

“Either you really like having him around or I’m too pregnant to be sexy,” Astral frowned.

“You’re even sexier now,” I said and meant it. “You’re so full of life that you glow.”

“Then what’s up, mate?” Astral sighed.

“You like having him around. You wanted me to get on with him,” I said.

“Yes, but I didn’t think you’d adopt him. Though, he does seem to be doing better since he’s had more time around people. Maybe it’s just my hormones making me paranoid. I feel like I swallowed a world, and I still have another two weeks before the baby comes.”

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