Page 16 of The Dragon's Stormwoven Bond

“Are you recording sound?”

I shook my head. Was I supposed to? I was so outside of my element. “No, just seeing how they do in the sky.”

He reached a hand out. “Good. I’m Zayne. You must be Pep.”

“I am. Nice to meet you.” Nice and embarrassed, that was.

“My mate Ash and I, with our two whelps, live in the cabin closest to yours.”

“Right. I’ve been meaning to stop by and say hello. I saw your little ones playing the other day when I was flying.”

“Have you and Valen been together long?” So he knew exactly what he was doing when he mentioned the coach. How had I missed his teasing? Only me.

I shook my head. “No, newly mated.”

“I assumed as much.” What was that supposed to mean?

“Do you know Valen?” Given that both of them were quite old, it was likely they had crossed paths before. The dragon world wasn’t large, even if the distance between where we lived sometimes was.

“We’ve met a few times. How are you all settling in at the academy?” This alpha was gifted in turning the conversation back to me.

“Great,” I said. “I’ve lived in the area my whole life, and I went to school here.”

“Perhaps my mate and I can come over and formally introduce ourselves.” His smile was kind.

I’d definitely been reading too much into this interaction. Being dishonest with my family and having to cover my real job had me on edge. I was so used to being an open book that this was difficult in a way I hadn’t expected.

“Of course,” I said. “And bring the dragonets. We’d love to meet them.”

“I’d like that too. We were sort of hoping that someone would move in close by that had young dragonets as well.”

My cheeks heated. “I can’t promise anything, but we wouldn’t be opposed to the idea. It’s all very new.”

It wasn’t like everybody didn’t know that newly mated dragons would almost always have a clutch within the first year, if notwithin the first few months. It was common knowledge. Still, it had me a bit embarrassed because the only way you had a clutch was by having sex with your mate, and as much as that was natural and normal, the thought of someone else realizing we did that… it made my cheeks burn.

We’d been mated two weeks now, and though there were no signs of pregnancy. That didn’t mean I wasn’t expecting. Dragon pregnancies weren’t all identical in timelines, like with humans. Some dragons carried their eggs for weeks, others months. Then once the eggs were laid, there was no set amount of time before they hatched. They simply came when they were ready.

“Congratulations. It’s an exciting time.”

“That it is.”

We watched as the two dragons finished their routine and landed. I nearly forgot to turn off the camera. I needed to up my game if this was going to be one of my covers.

Valen came to my side, smiling when he saw me. He kissed my cheek. “Pep, I didn’t know you would be out here today.”

I grinned. “Just doing my job. Making sure all the coaches have plenty of footage.” And needing to be near him.

“And we appreciate it.” He winked. He was terrible at keeping secrets. So was I. Secret agents we’d never be.

Zayne held out his hand for Valen to shake. “Valen, it’s good to see you. It’s been a while.”

“Goodness gracious, it has indeed. Two hundred years or more.”

Goodness gracious indeed. The last time my mate had seen this man, cars didn’t even exist. And me? I wasn’t even a thought.

“You get used to it.” I jumped at the sound of another voice. I turned to find Zayne’s mate, Ash, an eagle shifter, next to me.

“I didn’t even see you there. I wasn’t ignoring you. Promise.” Awkward.

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