Page 79 of The Dragon at the End of This Pregnancy

"You were my mate far longer than you've been my enemy." They sighed. "I think I am my own worst enemy, though. I should have trusted the kobolds' decision."

"It's much easier to say that now," Papa said. "Two centuries of dragon births without any rage issues or birth defects."

"Dragon births?" They glanced around at the assembled dragons, giving me a chance to look, too. There were a few juveniles no older than I was when I attended my first dragon reunion.

"The rift between kobolds and dragons hasn't kept us from finding our fated mates, though it's rare. This meeting will help."

"We assumed they were dragon pairings," Chance said.

"Nimbus is." Papa pointed. "Sve is Bale's with his mate, Olaf." He rattled off the names of more young dragons whose parents I didn't know.

"Kobold hybrids were around longer than we knew," Mac said.

Both Paragon and Papa grunted in acknowledgement.

"That was the crux of our argument," Paragon said. "It seems so silly now, after what we saw on other planes. Our kobolds were the only ones who survived."

Paragon shrank into a kobold alpha form with black hair and stripes. They took Goff's hand. "I am so sorry. I should have listened. You were right. Our children are nothing like humans. They are smart, and kind, and giving. So giving."

They motioned to Lux and Chance, who had both left dragon hatchlings on another plane. "They are nothing like the dragons of old. While I don't approve of humankind as a whole, their genes have made us stronger, when all I could see was weakness."

They dropped Papa's hands and held their arms out toward me. I shifted into my kobold alpha shape, which put me several yards further away, but I didn't care. I ran to their arms and hugged them close.

"You were little more than a baby when we left and look at what you've done. You brokered peace with a furious kobold population. You made enough connections with other dragons to bring them all here, and you found your fated mate."

"The last was pure fate, not me," I said.

"Maybe so, but you weren't afraid to act on it, and for that, we are so proud of you."

"We are," Papa agreed.

Mac joined me as they let go, and we made room for Chance and Lux to have their own hugs in their kobold forms. All around us, dragons had taken smaller forms to meet and greet the kobold welcoming committee, led by Tuft and his beta assistants. I overheard him telling a dragon I didn't recognize about an evening dance in the pavilion, supervised by Alma and the other former priestesses.

"We've already had a dragon find their fated mate!" Tuft's cheery voice traveled, and several dragons turned their heads.

"Who found their fated mate?" Paragon asked, glancing suspiciously at Chance, and then at Lux.

"I don't scent mine on the air." Lux sounded disappointed. "Maybe he is in a small backwater too far from kobold technology."

"Chance?" Paragon turned their sharp gaze on my sibling, who cowered.

"I haven't met him yet, but I know he's here."

I joined Lux, and together we squeezed Chance within an inch of their life. "I'm so happy for you!" I said.

"Gods, it worked." Lux sniffled. "I wish mine were here, too."

"You haven't met everyone yet," I reminded them. "Most of The Spike's betas have work to do before they can party tonight."

Lux frowned. "Don't get my hopes up. I would know if my mate had been this close."

"Not necessarily," I reminded them. "You haven't met nearly enough kobolds?—"

"I've met that one," Lux pointed in Tuft's direction. "He knows everyone."

"They have a point." Mac laughed. "Though he doesn't interact with many betas besides his coworkers, so there's still hope."

"Ugh." Lux rolled their eyes and smoked billowed from their nostrils. "Fine. I'll wait until tonight."

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