Page 10 of The Dragon's Surprise
Not that he really needed time off. His work was his life, but maybe he could finally visit some of the other dragon clans nearby and see what their doctors were up to. His clan leader, Rio, had suggested it after meeting with David Lee and Wes Dalton of clans StoneRiver and PineRock, respectively.
However, none of that could happen until the new doctor arrived, and he most certainly shouldn’t go check on Lexi and Ethan to see how they were doing. What if he had another life-saving surgery come up?
His dragon spoke up.There could always be an emergency. And our nurses know how to stabilize and triage better than probably any other clan, because we’ve been shorthanded for so long. We have time to check on the boy.
His inner beast was the one person he could never lie to, so he mentally sighed.I just want to make sure he’s doing okay. Helooked so happy earlier, and even if I can’t take care of him, I want him to do well here.
With help from Aunt Rita, wecouldraise him. And once you win over Lexi, we could be a family.
Not this again.
She should be ours, no matter if you deny it or not. I think she’s our true mate.
A dragon-shifter’s true mate was their best chance at happiness. Not guaranteed, of course. But the one downside was he would never know for certain if Lexi was their true mate until he kissed her. Because if Lexi was theirs, and he kissed her, it would start a mate-claim frenzy that wouldn’t end until she was pregnant with his child.
And he’d only just learned he had a son, and could barely handle that news.
His dragon spoke again.Regardless of what kissing her means, you like her.
I don’t know her.
Then fix that. Or are you really going to make excuses and lose our chance? The one you used to dream of, before the incident?
The incident was bloody worse than you make it out to be, dragon.
We were young, made a mistake, and the dragonman still lives. He’s forgiven us, so why can’t you forgive yourself?
Kyle didn’t want to talk about it, and before he could think of an excuse, he heard a familiar female voice.
“Kyle! There you are. I thought I’d never find you.”
He turned to see his Aunt Rita power walking toward him. She was in her fifties, with blonde hair that was lighter than when she was younger because of the grays, and eyes that were the same green as his own.
And despite the day’s bombshell news, his aunt’s smiling face made him smile back. “Hello, Aunt Rita.”
He leaned down so she could kiss his cheek. Once he stood, she poked his chest. “I heard something from Rosa Maria, who heard it from her daughter-in-law. What’s this about you having a son?”
“Keep it down. It’s not supposed to be widely known.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Then come inside and start talking.”
Her small house was a two-minute walk away. Considering this wasn’t his usual route home, maybe he’d unconsciously wanted to discuss Ethan with somebody.
Her house was green, complete with her prized rosebushes out front. Once inside, the familiar clutter of family pictures, pastoral scene paintings, and bird statues instantly made him relax.
Once he’d sat at the kitchen table—his aunt always had her “discussions” at the table—she laid a plate of cookies between them and quirked an eyebrow.
With a sigh, he picked up a double-chocolate chip cookie and asked, “How much do you know?”
“Only that a DOCS employee showed up with a young boy who is your son. Did you know about him?”
“Of course not! I might not have wanted to be a father, but I never would’ve abandoned any kid of mine, if I’d known.”
“But I heard you don’t want to raise him. Is that true?”
He broke off a piece of cookie and tossed it in his mouth. After he swallowed, he replied, “I don’t know.”
“What don’t you know, Kyle? You’re a good male, under all that grumpiness. And who wouldn’t be grumpy, given how hard you work? But if the boy is here with DOCS, then it means his mother gave him up.”
