Page 9 of Alpha Dragon's Wings of Love

Chapter Eight

Casey

The bugs were swarming around me, the shelter of my animal’s fur, no longer there. For some reason, they hated him and I was glad for it. Mosquitos were the worst. I was happy for the shift and the excuse to go in, though. I needed to be in my skin to be able to have a conversation with Nolan, and snuggling back up in his bed with him sounded like the ideal place to be.

“I… Let’s go inside.” I took his hand in mine. Words should not be this hard, but I hadn’t spoken any for a while, so it was no surprise that they were.

“I heard you—when we were inside, I mean.” I gave his hand a squeeze.

“What do you mean?” He stopped walking, his undivided attention on my answer.

“Well, you introduced yourself again, and I know that you probably thought I didn’t hear everything you said since I woke up, but I did. All of it. And I thought it was only right to tell you.” Now it sounded foolish.

“I’m glad you did.” He brought our joined hands up to his lips and pressed a kiss on mine. “I wasn’t sure. You were just so lifeless. So out of it. You scared me.”

I scared me, too.

“How about you don’t do that again?” He said it teasingly, but it didn’t hide the truth of his words.

I couldn’t imagine being in his position, to finally meet his mate and think that he was going to lose him before they even talked.

“I’m down with that plan.”

Once we were inside, he offered me some joggers, and I threw them on. Being completely naked around him would distract from any possibility of us having a conversation, for sure.

I was still exhausted and weak, and the second we went back inside and up to his loft, I collapsed onto the bedding. “I hope this is okay. I just—I have no energy.”

“It’s fine. There is nothing here that isn’t yours to use. Do you mind if I snuggle in behind you as we talk?”

“No, I don’t mind at all.”

He wrapped his arm around me and held me close as he told me all about when he first scented me. It was at one of the many stops I had made while on a trip. At first, I thought it was when I went to see the doctor, but the timing didn’t work. It was when I went with my dad to go pick up a tractor he bought for the pack.

My poor mate had been suffering for so long.

It wasn’t only he who saved me. I saved him—by being here. The more he spoke about that time, the more I saw just how close he came to his dragon falling to mate sickness. I’d heard of it but never known anyone who experienced even a hint of it firsthand. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

I rolled over to face him.

“Thank you,” I said, pressing my forehead against his and closing my eyes.

I shivered—but not from cold. From heat. I was getting hotter by the second. So very hot, I feared exploding into flames. I needed to throw off the covers.

Only…I didn’t have any on.

“I think—I think I’m getting a fever. Maybe it’s best if you don’t stay with me.”

“I don’t mind,” he said, kissing my forehead. “But also…I can go. Give you your rest.”

It sounded exactly like what I needed. But as soon as he started to pull away, instinct had me pulling him close.

Fuck.

This wasn’t a fever after all.

This was something else.

This was heat, my very first heat.

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