Page 8 of Omega Haunting

I opened my mouth to say we didn’t know that yet just as the wind shifted in our favor. I stopped dead in my tracks despite my wolf gnawing at my ribs. His scent filled my head – metal, fire, and something sweeter. Cake? Buttercream? Had he robbed a bakery before crashing out here? That would explain how he slept with so many strange wolves gossiping around him.

My wolf bit me again but I wasn’t budging yet. The dragon – my dragon – was huge. The crest of his back easily overshadowed all the nearby houses and his wings, though, tucked in tight to his sides, would probably be long enough to knock over several if he weren’t careful. An itch spread over part of my chest as I took in his dark blue scales. He was fucking gorgeous and bigger than any dragon I’d ever seen in person.

“I bet he’s bigger than Clarence Moonscale,”my wolf whimpered, still gnawing on my ribs.

“Y’all go on!” My sire’s voice cut through the chaos of the gossip. “Y’all go on and get off my territory! If there’s a dragon here, he’s ours! Go on!” She shouted again. This morning she had her hair tied up in a high ponytail and her lip was curled up in a snarl. She’d given up early mornings for late night magic before I was ever born. Late night magic was more profitable and probably a bit more fun too.

A few of the looky-loos grumbled but they all turned to leave with the exception of Dern.

“Dern, what are you doing?” My sire asked him. “I know you’ve got something to do with this. Are you who he’s been talking to all the time? You got my son walking around and talking to the air. Wolves around here are going to start thinking he’s bananas. He’s nuttier than a squirrel after harvest!”

“You’re gonna thank me, Warden,” Dern rolled his eyes.

“Baby, what is going on out here?” Mom turned to me.

“He’s---” I stumbled over my words but started toward where the two of them stood near my alpha.

“He’s what, baby?” she asked.

“He’s mine,” I said, losing the fight to keep the howl out of my voice.

As my howl cut through our personal territory, one of my dragon’s huge eyes opened. It shined amber with specks of teal in the early morning sunshine. His mouth opened ever so slightly revealing a bubblegum pink tongue. I stared into his huge amber eye as he breathed in my scent. Would he recognize me too?

“Duh!”my wolf rolled his eyes.“The whole true-mates thing goes both ways!”

“Hey now! It doesn’t matter if you’re my son-in-law or not! If you knock over a building, you’re in for it. Your scaley behind will be paying to fix it and doing the labor!” Mom said.

“Ma!” I groaned. “He just woke up! Leave him alone!”

“I’ll leave him alone when he’s not one good stretch away from ruining a family business!”

“Ma! Leave him alone!”

Dern turned away but the old hound was chuckling. My sire would have a go at anyone who got in her way and she was more protective over our magic and our business than she was over me and my siblings.

“Good morning,” a new voice said and when I glanced back over at my dragon, he wasn’t a dragon at all anymore. Where the huge blue-scaled dragon had laid now sat a man in a mussed up tux and a crooked tie. I smiled despite my tingling nerves and my sire’s attitude.

“Now I’ll leave him alone! Breakfast will be done soon, you two,” she said turning back towards the main house. “Come on, Dern. Come and eat and leave the kids alone.”

“You better listen. She bites,” I whispered.

“Heard that, Ast! Don’t go being all smart because you found your mate or I won’t save you any bacon!” she threatened but it was all bluff. My sire prided herself on keeping her whole family fed and then some. Our family’s days of being concerned with which side of a fence wild food grew on were over.

Neither me nor my dragon said anything until after they were both out of earshot.

“Good thing Dern never says no to food,” I said, hoping to break the ice. “And don’t worry about Ma. She’ll save us a plate. Are you okay? Did you get tired and just crash out or --- You didn’t run away from your own wedding, did you? I have to ask. The tux is really nice, and you smell like cake and…”

He raked his eyes over me and a chill shimmied down my spine. In human form, his eyes were the perfect shade of dark brown, and I wanted to fall into them. I wanted to fall into him and never resurface.

He pushed himself up with a grunt and ran his fingers through his messy hair. Then he detached his phone from his wrist and shoved it into his pocket.

“I have one question before I answer any of those,” he said, his hands tucked in his pockets now.

“Okay,” I said, meeting his gaze.

He looked around like someone was spying on us from behind one of the nearby trees. Then he took several steps closer, and my knees wobbled. He put a gentle hand on my shoulder to steady me and smiled, despite his skeptical expression.

“I’m real,” I laughed. “This is all surreal but I’m real.”

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