Page 76 of The Dragon's Mate

“Are you all right, Bren?” Kaida joinedhim at the table.

He honestly didn’t know how to answer that.He settled on, “I think so.”

She took his hand and squeezed it. “I’msorry.”

“How are Sika and the baby?” he asked,linking their fingers when she tried to release his hand.

“Good,” she said. “She’s tired but thebaby seems healthy and he is already eating.”

“That’s good. So, dragon babies are bornwith scales, huh?”

“Yes. But they’ll fall off in a few days,”Kaida said.

“Are they always green?”

“No. The colour of the scales indicateswhat colour our dragon is. Just like the flecks of colour in our eyes and thestreaks in our hair.”

He made a soft snort. “And here I wasthinking you guys all bought your contact lenses at the same place. Somedetective I am, huh?”

“I’m sorry I lied to you,” she said. “ButI had to.”

“Why don’t you reveal yourselves to othershifters?” he asked.

“Honestly? I don’t really know. For as longas I can remember, shifters have believed us to be extinct. They thought thateven before they revealed themselves to the humans. Even if other shiftersbelieved we still lived, we would never have allowed them to divulge ourexistence to the humans.”

He stared at her silently and after amoment, she said, “We must remain a secret, Bren. If the humans found out… canI trust you to keep our secret?”

“Are you kidding me?” He sat back in hischair, releasing her hand and running both of his hands through his hair. “I’lltake this to my goddamn grave. If my father knew dragons existed…”

“I am sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean todrag you into this, but we were shopping in the city and Sika went into labourso quickly. There was no time to get her home.”

“It’s fine. You did what you had to do.”

Jarvis walked into the kitchen and sat downnext to Kaida.

“How is she?” Kaida asked.

“She and the hatchling are sleeping.” Jarvislooked tired but extremely happy. “I have a son, Kaida.”

She smiled at the dragon shifter and kissedhis cheek. “You do. A beautiful healthy son.”

Jarvis held his hand out to Bren. “Thankyou, human. I owe you a great debt for helping my mate and my son.”

Bren shook his hand. “Congratulations.”

“Can she travel, do you think?” Kaidaasked.

“She says she can, but I don’t want her to.She is exhausted and sore,” Jarvis said.

“You’re welcome to stay here for as long asyou need,” Bren said.

Jarvis smiled gratefully at him. “Thankyou, human. We should be able to return to the clan tomorrow, but I know my matewould appreciate some time to recover.”

“Do you want a beer?” Bren asked.

Jarvis nodded, and Bren grabbed three beersfrom the fridge. He opened them and handed a bottle to Jarvis and to Kaida.He raised his own bottle. “To a healthy boy.”

“A healthy boy,” Jarvis and Kaida echoed, andclinked their bottles against his.

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