Page 41 of The Monster at the End of This Molt

I was relieved to find him inside the fortress, rather than under it. I'd learned my lesson the last time I teleported into the dark tunnels of the grotto. Even using my phone as a flashlight, I'd been lost down there for an hour.

After some prodding, I finally got Weld to share why he'd run away. He thought Lemon had pursued him to The Pavilion. I still didn't fully understand the accusations Weld thought Lemon would throw at him. All I knew was that he'd worked hard to change, and he worried those changes had been for nothing.

He still cared about the court of public opinion, but especially how my parents saw him. I didn't blame him. Together, they were an unstoppable force.

They were also my parents, and they loved me. Through me, they had learned to love Weld over the years, too. Tonight's party was a peace offering, and I was proud of my omega papa for suggesting it. I was also somewhat smug that my siblings' gambling money went toward the silly party favors from Earth.

When Weld left with Galen for his first dragon ride, I was so proud of him for taking a risk. While they were in the air, something happened to our dragon bond. A dam broke, that was the only way I could explain the strange tidal wave of emotions cascading over me at once. They evened out to a steady hum in the back of my mind. I knew Weld was thinking about me.

Earlier, I'd wondered if I should stash the pistachios somewhere Papa wouldn't see them, or smell them, and now I knew Weld wanted me to hide them for later. I sneaked them off the table and slipped them into the tiny cupboard above the sink before Tuft saw me.

"There's the omega of the hour!" Dad grabbed me from behind and squeezed. "Happy housewarming!"

"Thanks!" I turned and gave him a real hug, and then Papa took over, hugging me tight before handing me a reusable grocery bag filled with nonperishable food. It was what they gave every alpha when they first moved into their own cabin.

Weld came inside holding his own bag of groceries. Together, we placed them on the kitchen counter.

Papa grabbed my elbow and led me back to our bedroom, where another present lay on our bed. I recognized the bag from helping our parents pack away our cribs, toys, and mementos from when we were younger. It was the size of a diaper bag, but inside was an inter-dimensional space as large as Odessa's van.

"It's got everything you'll ever need, but if you do need something, all you have to do is ask."

"Ernie and Grover?—"

"Are alphas," Papa said. "This is your gift as our only omega. If they get their omegas pregnant first, these belong to you. You can lend or keep them as you choose."

I couldn't explain why I was crying, but I was. My parents had never made me feel like I was less than for being an omega, but this gift was far more than I'd dreamed. I was the youngest son, after all. I'd expected nothing but the blessing my parents had given me over breakfast when I'd shown them my fresh mating marks.

Papa clutched me to his chest, and I gave in to the tears. "Thank you so much."

He kissed each of my cheeks and leaned up on his tiptoes to kiss my forehead. "Thank you for being an easy kid to raise."

"I heard that!" Clementine stood outside the door with one hand on her cocked hip. "Ernie and Grover just got here. Dad wants to take some family pics."

"Only if Galen takes them," I suggested. "Otherwise, we'll be here for hours."

They'd done a great job of snapping pictures for us on our trip to Iowa when we were little. Grandma and Grandpa were gone now, but the memories from that trip, and the one time they'd visited us here on Ignitas, were still clear in my mind. I don't think they saw Earth quite the same after spending a week watching the sky for dragons.

Galen gladly took Dad's phone from him and made us bunch together in the living room with our backs to the television. They put Weld and me in the middle and forced our family to cram toward us until I swore I couldn't breathe.

"Say mosquito!"

Clementine groaned. "Stop already!"

"Mosquito," the rest of us chanted, and Galen snapped the picture on the "ee" sound like a pro. The picture was perfect. Everyone else was smiling while Clem resembled a renaissance painting of suffering with her eyes rolled to the ceiling.

By the time Galen took a few more candid shots, and Dad distributed the photos to everyone, the suns had fully set, and the snack table had been mostly devoured.

"We're heading out," Tuft said while Axel rounded up their children.

"We should be on our way, too." Coz popped his head in the door.

"I didn't know you were here!" I charged him and pulled him into a hug.

"Happy housewarming, kid." He kissed my cheek and ruffled my hair, even though I was as tall as he was. "The boys were cranky when they got home from school, and now they're starting to shed scales all over your back yard."

"Ooh. This molt is a hard one." From what I'd learned in my child psychology classes, it most closely resembled hitting puberty, with the mood swings and body changes. "I'll be back at work starting tomorrow, if you need to schedule time."

Coz frowned in Weld's direction and then turned back to me. "Is everything all right?"

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