Page 18 of The Monster at the End of This Molt

"Not much. Quiet kid. Keeps to himself. Just came of age." Like me, he would have grown up on Ignitas, while the older clutches had spent some, if not all, of their youth on Earth as changelings.

"How big was his clutch?"

Tim shook his head. "We were still hiding from the dragons. His egg was the only one to survive. Then we got all our hatchlings back at once." He grinned. "When the folks from The … Pavilion, you call it?"

I nodded.

"When they said we no longer had to fear the dragons, we celebrated for weeks. You can imagine what happened." He winked. "We had three clutches of four eggs each around the same time. The teachers were overwhelmed after so many small classes."

I'd gotten a double master's in early childhood development and child psychology back on Earth. Intuiting my experience with family dynamics and kobold pack mentality, that would have left Lemon an odd child out at school. I could only imagine how awful that must have felt.

"What about his parents?"

"They celebrated." Tim chuckled. "Had a second clutch right away."

"He was bullied by his own siblings?"

"They molted faster. Before we knew it, they'd outgrown him."

The only reason our little family of four hadn't been the bane of our school's existence was because both our dads taught at the school. Each of us caused our share of problems, but Clementine was the biggest bully I knew. She was always right, too, which made it even worse. Being right didn't mean she had to be an asshole about it.

I couldn't imagine having four Clems picking on me at once, and younger siblings at that. No wonder Lemon scurried around like he was afraid of his own shadow.

"Do you need me for anything today?" I asked Tim.

"It's Sunday," he said. "The only kobold around here who thinks he needs to work is your mate."

I sighed. "I figured. Where can I find Lemon?"

Tim squinted at me. "Why all the questions about him, anyway?"

"We haven't been properly introduced, and I want to clear the air. I think he's got a crush on Weld."

Tim snorted. "That's putting it lightly." He pointed to the big house. "He's in the first omega room. His parents moved him up there when he was fifteen."

"Thanks." I said goodbye to Kermit and Trickster with more treats and strolled up to the largest building in the village. It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining and puffy clouds floating by on their way east. Part of me wanted to strip down and sun myself on the large rocks along the walkway. Several villagers had done just that, lying on their fronts and letting the sun soak into their striped backs.

Instead, I continued to the big house. The door was propped open to let in the warm breeze. I knocked on door number one. I heard rustling inside, and then the door opened only wide enough for his snout. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Weld, my fated mate."

"Mate?" He sighed. "Fine, I'll leave him alone." The door snapped shut.

"Wait. I'd love to chat, if you don't mind."

"I do mind," he huffed. "I don't need another omega telling me to get my hands off his stuff."

"Why haven't you moved?" I asked. I'd planned on leading up to my big question with some psychobabble feel-good bullshit, but Lemon left me no options when he slammed the door in my face.

"Moved?"

"Yes, or visited other villages?"

I waited. And waited. Finally, when I was certain he had walked away without me knowing or had fallen asleep on his side of the door, it creaked open.

"I didn't know I could." He stepped into the hallway with me and shut the door behind him. "No one ever leaves here. My siblings found their fated mates here. My parents, too." He led me to the communal dining room. I was surprised when he chose the table Weld and I had shared on our first morning together.

"This is his table." He sighed. "Might as well carve his name in the wood. Every morning, he sits here. At least, he used to. Now, he's taking food for two to go."

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