Page 31 of The Dragon's Stormwoven Bond

“Don’t do that. We’ll hopefully have two or more nannies and grandparents in tow.” I laughed.

I wasn’t kidding. We would probably have to have an entourage of people with us in order to wrangle that many children. Or we could just never leave the academy grounds. There was so much to figure out, but after talking to my father-in-law, I was feeling confident that we would figure it out.

That had been such a huge shift. Eryx had been a life-long friend. He knew the best and worst versions of me from over the years. And now? Now he was my father-in-law. I wouldn’t say our friendship had been fully mended after coming into town and doing the one thing he’d told me not to, but it was getting there.

He loved his son and wanted the best for him. Always. I understood why he didn’t believe that was me. I’d given him many reasons over the years to feel that way. But this was my mate, the one dragon fate sent for me. I had to believe I waited so long because I needed that time to grow into the alpha he needed me to be.

Eryx saw my sincerity and the bond Pep and I had. Not on his own. His eyes had been far too filled with flames and smoke for that initially. In hindsight, it was almost amusing—almost. But Katrina helped him see the way, and now we were on much better footing.

“Yes, I suppose that would help too. You know we’re never going to sleep again, right, Valen?”

According to his father, that was far more true than would be believed until it happened. Only time would tell if that was accurate or not.

“We only have four hands between the two of us, and we’re going to have five children. Valen. Five.” He held up his hand as a visual. I’d caught myself doing the same on multiple accounts.

“Indeed, we are.”

I knew my mate was struggling to wrap his head around the size of our clutch, and honestly, so was I. Five babies. Five perfect little babies. I wondered if they would be a fiery red color like me, or cyan like Pep, or maybe a combination. I’d inherited my colors from my parents, and I knew that Pep resembled his mother’s color most.

“Did you guys see who was here?” Rhythe said as he sat down next to Pep.

“Who?” Pep asked.

“Commander Emmen.” He didn’t hide his enthusiasm. He was fanboying hard, and I didn’t quite understand why. But also, I knew him, so that could be why?

“Yeah, so?” I didn’t mean to be so blunt, but thankfully Rhythe didn’t take it as rude. He was the one person who had been on my side from the beginning. I’d like to keep him there.

Rhythe rolled his eyes. “I get that you don’t think that’s so special, MisterI-have-a-super-cool-elite-job, and you—” he looked at me“—Mr. Were-probably-there-when-the-dude-hatched. But did you know he single-handedly led his team tovictory over the Ebonshire Clan back in the 1700s? That is one of the last times there was a perfect score for an Elite team.”

Oh yeah, he was fanboying to the max.

“I do recall that,” I said. “I was there.”

Rhythe rolled his eyes. “Of course you were. Is it true that he was trained by Commander Shane, the oldest living dragon ever? And that he did a void spiral that almost opened a portal to Hell?”

I choked on the mouthful of pasta salad. “A portal to Hell? I think I missed that. Why don’t you ask him?”

Rhythe scoffed and then his eyes fell to his plate. “And talk to him out loud? I don’t think so. Can you even imagine how that would go?”

I had a feeling he’d imagined it a lot, based on his response.

“He’s just another person,” Pep said.

“Easy for you to say. You’ve never been all that interested in the games.”

“I take it you’re a fan?” I asked.

“Yeah, I follow most of them. I—

“He even has a social media account on Snapfire.” Pep pulled out his phone, and his brother snatched it away, his ears a shade of red I rarely saw on anything other than tomatoes.

“Really?” I reached for it, and he pulled it closer. I hadn’t meant to embarrass him further. If anything, I saw it as a way for me to grow. “Remind me to take note of that later. I’d love to pick your brain about my team.”

Rhythe’s face lit up. “Scales yeah! I can tell you that you’re really not leaning into Olivia’s strengths as a—”

I held up a hand. “Rhythe, I love that you have ideas, but I’m not talking about work right now. We’re supposed to be having fun.”

“Dragon Games are fun.” He picked up an olive and popped it into his mouth.

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