Page 132 of The Dragon's Mate

“I just got back from court. What’s goingon?” Bren said.

Morales turned his computer screen to faceBren. He had a local tv station website on the screen, and he hit play on thevideo.

A reporter popped up, standing in front ofhis father’s office building downtown. Bren’s stomach dropped to his feet whenshe said, “As of yet, there has been no official statement from SenatorMatthews regarding the news that both of his children are dating shifters. Infact, it seems he had no prior knowledge of this when we questioned him aboutit. We’re standing outside of his office, but it appears that Senator Matthewshas left. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and let you know if and whenhe returns to the office.”

The screen switched to the news anchor in thestudio. “Thank you, Carol,” the news anchor said. “Channel Five was the firstto report this breaking news. As well, we are the only studio to have the exclusivevideos of Senator Matthew’s sons, both appearing to be in intimate relationshipswith shifters.”

Nausea running rampant through him, Brenwatched as the grainy video appeared. It was of Tyler and Corey sitting on apark bench, holding hands and talking. The camera zoomed in just as Tylerleaned in and kissed Corey.

“We know the young man on the right is afox shifter,” the newscaster’s voice droned, “thanks to more anonymous footagesent to our studios.”

The view switched to show the forest outsideof the city. Bren clenched his hands into fists as the camera swung to the rightand caught the image of the small red fox running past a few trees. The foxstopped next to a pile of clothes at the base of a tree and sniffed the airbefore studying the forest around him. After a moment, the fox’s body rippled,and he shifted into Corey. He grabbed his clothes and started to dress.

Bren’s hands clenched into fists. “He’s akid, captain. They recorded a naked kid who -”

“They blurred him out,” Morales said.

“That doesn’t matter, it’s still an invasionof privacy.”

Morales grimaced. “He’s on public land. We’vealready had a few calls from concerned citizens, demanding we arrest him forpublic indecency.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I wish I was,” Morales said. “There’smore.”

He tapped the screen, and Bren watched asanother video popped up. His chest tightened when he saw Tyler and Corey surroundedby reporters outside of their school. “What the fuck? Where the fuck are theteachers?”

His nails bit into his palms as thereporters screamed questions at Tyler and Corey. Both boys looked upset andfrightened, and Bren muttered another curse as a man pushed his way through thecrowd and stood in front of the boys.

“Get the fuck back,” he roared at the crowdof reporters.

“Who are you? What’s your name? How doyou know the boys? Are you the fox shifter’s father?” A reporter shoved a microphoneinto the man’s face.

Fur sprouted on the man’s face and he baredhis fangs at the reporter. “Get that microphone out of my fucking face or I’llmake you eat it.”

The reporter skittered back, clutching the microphonein one hand as the shifter took Tyler and Corey’s arms. “Let’s go, boys.”

Bren sagged with relief when Davis got bothboys into his car and drove away from the school. A few of the reporters jumpedinto their cars to follow them and Bren rubbed at his temples as the videoswitched back to the newscaster.

“Any idea who that guy was?” Morales askedas he hit pause.

“Yeah. It’s a shifter named Davis. I hireda security firm to keep an eye on Corey and Tyler because they were beingbullied at school for being gay. They were attacked in the forest a few weeksago by a bunch of football players.”

“Jesus,” Morales said. “Did your fatherknow Tyler was gay and dating a shifter?”

“What do you think?” Bren said. “I gottago.”

“Wait.” Morales held up his hand. “Itwasn’t just Tyler they caught on video.”

Bren sank back into his chair as Moralestyped on his keyboard. He stared grimly at Bren. “This video is all over socialmedia.”

Bren read the title on the screen. “Senator’sSon Heats Up with Dragoness”

“Shit,” he groaned as the video played.Someone had captured his and Kaida’s moment in front of his apartment buildingthis morning. He watched as the shaky but perfectly clear video captured theirkiss, him grabbing her ass, and – he groaned again – the puff of smoke thatcame from Kaida’s mouth.

“Shut it off,” he said.

Morales turned the video off. “So, that’sshitty for you.”

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