Page 68 of The Monster at the End of This Molt

I rolled us onto our sides, pillowing his sweaty head on my arm. Fervently, I kissed the corner of his mouth and pulled him tight against my hips.

"I don't think I can come again," Robin whispered. "I want to, but I'm so tired."

"Shh. I've got you. Sleep, Boss."

I would clean our mess later. For now, all I wanted to do was fall asleep like this, with my knot locking our bodies together as tightly as our dragon bond had stitched our souls.

Epilogue

Robin

I never thoughtI would see the day Galen would hold a dragon reunion anywhere but their precious dragon pavilion, but they would do anything for my sister. Clementine didn't even have to beg. She suggested the dragons might like to see the ruins restored to their ancient glory, and the next thing we knew, Mac sent invites for all of us to join them at The Meadows this summer.

Much had changed in the year since I'd come looking for my mate. For one, we practically filled the big house's dining area with our family alone. Besides me, Weld, and our four kids, Lemon and Ernie had four little ones of their own, and Grover and Cook weren't far behind with three.

Clementine had us all beat. She'd laid six eggs, and they'd hatched into three girls and three betas. She claimed she was the most grown-up of us, too. Our brothers had named their babies after animated series with wild fantasy names, but she'd picked an adult television show with real human names.

"Boring!" Lemon stuck his tongue out at her. Not to be outdone, Clementine flicked a pea at his head, and the food fight was on.

"Real mature, Clem," I said as I ducked a forkful of gelatin.

"What is going on here?" Tim entered with the six folks I recognized as his village council, the ones who would gather around the table nearest the kitchen at breakfast every morning.

"Lemon started it!" Clementine shouted. She had one foot up on her chair and a forkful of potatoes ready to launch. Our children all sat at the table across the aisle from ours, pretending they didn't know us.

"It's a good thing no dragons have arrived yet," an elder on Tim's council said. He scooped a biscuit off Boober's plate and tossed it up in the air like a baseball before chucking it at Weld's head. My mate ducked, and it hit Ernie in the chest.

"Oh, it's on … what's his name?"

"Scorpion," Lemon whispered.

"Scorpion?" Ernie mouthed at me. He squeezed the biscuit. "Your soul is mine!"

We suddenly found ourselves in the middle of an all-out food war. Boober launched a spoonful of peas at Scorpion for stealing his biscuit, and the other kids joined in, tossing food everywhere. Kobolds left their seats for better aim and slid on the food-covered floor. Clementine flipped our table to block us from the villagers at the tables closer to the kitchen. Tim joined us, while his council pelted us from all sides.

Finally, my sister raised a white flag. It looked suspiciously like a white pair of compression shorts, but I didn't want to know.

"We give up!" she called.

I didn't know what I expected to happen, but a full standing ovation was not it. Everyone in the dining area stood and clapped. Tim helped Clementine to her feet, and then he clapped, too. When they wound down to a few whistles and whoops, she had tears in her eyes.

"I'm not going to give a big speech," Tim said, "but I cannot tell you all how wonderful it is to have you here and enjoying yourselves like this. This never would have happened without my wonderful mate, her family, and her friends, kobold and dragon alike."

"You're not mad?" Clementine toed a half-smashed baked tuber, and it skidded along the floor.

"How could I be mad? Tonight is about our two communities coming together." He glanced around the room, seeming to notice the disaster for the first time. With a loud clap of his hands, he announced, "After we finish dessert, we can work together to clean up this mess!"

Our table had to go back for seconds, since our plates ended up on the floor. Thankfully, the cooks had prepared plenty of tubers, though we didn't leave many for breakfast the following morning.

After our dessert of chocolate pudding, Tim and his council taught us the community spell they used to keep the big house clean. It took all of us to power the spell, since we'd gotten it so dirty. Even the children past their first molts helped.

Tim initiated another round of applause. Then he sent us all to our rooms for the night.

Axel and his construction crew had been busy building temporary housing for the visiting kobolds. For the dragons, Galen and his family had found a giant cave system beneath the cliffs near Clementine's laboratory. They'd spent the spring cleaning it out. Any who made the trip to The Meadows for the reunion would be comfortable.

I'd expected to find Weld's old cabin as we left it, empty and a little run down. Instead, Axel had turned it into the perfect vacation cabin for a family of six. He'd even built us rustic wood furniture, including a huge sectional sofa that turned into bunk beds for four. The kids thought they'd hit the jackpot because their beds were so close to the television.

The festival was as fun as every other year, with the bonus of exotic delicacies and exciting carnival rides. The idea for rides had started when Dad and I joked about the roller coasters we had loved when we were kids. Axel loved a challenge. He built Ignitas's first roller coaster, if you could call it that when the car free-fell into a huge chasm, only to be caught in the hind claws of a dragon and lifted safely to the other side.

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