Page 37 of Worthy Promises
“It’s your turn to call me tomorrow. After you’ve told your brother about us.”
“Okay.”
“Owliver?”
“Yes?”
“I’m so fucking glad I met you.”
Warmth flowed through Oliver, and he closed his eyes as joy bubbled through him. The past twenty-four hours were hard to believe, but Oliver had a once-in-a-lifetime chance to earn the respect and love of a partner. He sure as hell wouldn’t squander it. “I hate fucking parties, but I’m so glad I went last night.”
In what Oliver hoped was perfect accord, they wished each other good night, and he waited for Worthington to disconnect the call as if he could hold on to him for a few extra seconds. If the start of their matebond was an indicator of their future, Oliver and his owl were ready to rush headlong into whatever awaited them.
Chapter 13
Despite Oliver’s confidence the previous night, he was nervous about speaking to Orion. The kid had nearly finished his dragon book and had spouted facts from it throughout another meal. It was so wonderful to hear the excitement in his voice that Oliver acted surprised even if the knowledge wasn’t new to him.
“The most common colors are gray and brown,” Orion enthused, wiggling in his chair as the potatoes on his fork went uneaten. “But there are some cool unique ones. His Majesty, Emperor Ellery, is white with gold flecks.”
Oliver distinctly recalled Worthington referring to His Majesty asElfand wondered if the D’Vaires truly had a tight family bond with the two men who ruled the dragons and the Council or if the press exaggerated their relationship.
“Does your book have any pictures of His Majesty?” Oliver asked.
“Yes, it’s of both Emperors,” Orion replied. “Want to see it? I can go get my book.”
“You can show me after you finish eating your dinner, okay?”
Disappointment had Orion bowing his head, but he stuffed the forkful of food into his mouth as he nodded.
“Remember when we talked about going to watch the dragons?”
Orion swallowed, and his little brows furrowed together as he scowled at Oliver. “Yeah, I guess you changed your mind?”
Surprised by Orion’s response since Oliver wasn’t in the habit of making promises he didn’t keep, he frowned. “No, why would you think that?”
With a moody shrug, Orion slouched in his chair. “I don’t know.”
Although Oliver assumed it was their parents who’d vowed to do things for or with Orion but didn’t follow through, he didn’t push the subject. The grieving boy didn’t deserve to listen to Oliver’s criticism of the selfish pair.
“If you want to talk about it later, I’m here to listen, okay?”
“Are we going to see the dragons or not?”
“We are,” Oliver assured him. Orion’s petulance disappeared immediately, and he sat up straight with a grin. “Eat your dinner. We’re going to watch dragons fly on Saturday.”
“I can’t wait!” Orion exclaimed.
“We’re not going to Las Vegas though. We’ve been invited to a house in Arizona. We’re going to watch dragons and have dinner with a big family there.”
“Do they have a lot of dragons?”
“I’m not sure exactly how many, but they have some really pretty and unique dragons,” Oliver said, wondering how to segue into telling Orion about meeting his mate. He was eager to share with the world anything about his match with Worthington but found himself unexpectedly tongue-tied as he broached the subject with his lone sibling.
“What color dragons do they have?”
“Well, one is pink.”
For a child of seven, Orion had mastered skepticism, and his disbelief was written clearly in his yellow gaze. “My book didn’t say anything about pink dragons.”
