Page 2 of The Ruby Dragon's Unconventional Mate

“Put it on my account. I’m not sure if that was Dakota that made me reasonable-ish or if it was the babies. The twins require a huge amount of sensibility because…damn.”

Lars nodded. The girls had attitudes as long as Logan’s tail. “Yeah, how long is it going to be before the next set comes?”

“Hush. I don’t—” Logan shook his head, expression panicky. “I don’t know that I can handle another set of twins.”

“Maybe these will be boys.”

Logan’s eyes went wide. “Surely you don’t think I could end up with two girls again?”

“Only if you’re really lucky.”

“God.” Logan chuckled. “I feel all nuts just thinking about it.”

“Which is no doubt why you hired Bryant and Lachlan for the wing without warning me.”

“It was a demand, one of the few they had,” Logan pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean they’re suitable! They’re from a city wing. They lived in a high rise! And—” Lars clamped his lips together.

And he’d thought maybe Bryant would be someone he could be with, have an affair with.

“I’m not asking you to deal with Bryant. I know how stressful that would be.”

“Stressful? We were chatting not ten minutes before you introduced them to the council.” Lars held up one finger and wiggled it. “Let’s not give him that much credit. He is not honest. He was?—”

The son of a bitch obviously did not understand that just because he liked things a certain way didn’t mean that he wasn’t just as capable of being a guardian as anyone else in this keep.

More than.

Hell, he was second-in-command at this point.

“He’s just not used to dealing with dragons like you, Lars. He didn’t know how to tell you.”

His eyes went wide. “What is that supposed to mean? Seriously, what exactly are you intimating? I wasn’t fucking him, but I thought—I thought we were at least friends!”

Logan sighed and rubbed the ridge above his eyebrows, exhaling with a long, slow breath. “They didn’t have a choice but to leave, you know that. Lachlan needed a place that wasn’t so urban and?—”

“And you couldn’t choose anyone that wasn’t broken? What is the wing supposed to do, once he’s healed? Did you bring two in to replace me?”

“Lars!” Logan snapped now, which made him feel a little better. Getting a rise out of his brother was always satisfying as hell.

“Well, tell me it’s not true.” He slumped back in his chair. “I don’t like this.”

“So you’ve said. But the decision’s been made, and you have to give them a chance.”

“You give them a chance. I’m not interested in training Lachlan and his brother. If they don’t know how to do this job, maybe they shouldn’t have gotten it.”

“Lars. Goddammit. They’re going to be fine guardians. We needed someone in the position. But you know what? Fine. I’ll get Jake to do it. It’s not like he doesn’t have a mate and a new baby as well as little Grant or anything. He can just fucking drop his whole life because you’re having a goddamn snit!” Logan slapped his hands down on Lars’s desk and rose.

“Fuck you! Okay, fine. I’ll do it. I’ll just suck it up and pretend like this dragon who’s been hunting me suddenly decided I wasn’t even worth a ten-second warning. What does it matter? After all, I don’t get to mate. I don’t get to have babies. I get to suck it up and be the gentle uncle, and no one even cares!” He could yell too.

“Why wouldn’t you get to mate?” Logan scowled. “That’s stupid. Of course you can. You two can date. I don’t see why it’s a big deal.”

His brother could be such a blockhead sometimes, but he did defend Lars. Even from himself.

“You—You know I’m not going to just be able to—Jesus, Logan.”

“Lars, never say never. You think people will be all up in arms, but they won’t. They love you. Why wouldn’t our wing want you to be happy?”

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