Page 56 of Our Haunted Omegas
“There it is,” Teal said a moment later, glancing down at the screen. “A bit to the left please, Ambry.”
“So, am I haunted, doc?” Odie asked.
“That you are. I’ll print it off and show you, but yeah. Haunted not by a ghost but more like by the – Probably the energy of the war, if I had to make an educated guess,” Teal said, his face grim.
“Don’t look at me in that tone of voice about it,” Odie scrunched up his nose. “I meant what I said,” he added a moment later when he realized what he said. “Like I said something about Cobalt changed it. Sure, I’m still sad. Sure, I don’t trust the world not to be fucked up, but now it’s like everything I’ve gone through is my sword and my shield. How many survivors get to say that and mean it fucking literally?”
“You can pull your pants up now,” I announced, handing the wand back to Teal.
“I think it amplified what I felt,” Odie frowned once his pants were back on. “Now that it’s out of me, I feel what I feel, but not under a magnifying glass. I don’t think we’re in the free and clear but I think we have a chance.”
“We always had a chance, Odie. I think we’ve done pretty well for what we had.”
“We did,” Odie nodded. “I’m ready for more, though. As worried as I am that the past will gobble up the future, I don’t want to be an old wolf, white in the muzzle, wondering what the fuck would’ve happened if I tried.
“Same, friend, same,” I nodded and leaned my head on his shoulder.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Indigo
Truth be told, I was relieved that we didn’t have to banish the murder dog. In a macabre way it was sort of cute and if it protected Odell, it would protect Ambry too, right? At least, that was my theory. They were as inseparable as my brothers and me. So, it checked out.
The nest in the top floor of the tower became the place we all hung out. No one was pregnant yet. As far as we knew anyway, the nest gave us a place to gather. It was a bit of a walk from the cabin, but the exercise was good for everyone. As we began to fall into a rhythm together, Teal coming and going as his projects needed him, Cobalt and I took to early morning flights. While spending time with our mates was fun and important, so was stretching our wings. He and Teal had come a bit closer to blows than I liked. Sure, it wouldn’t be the first time it happened. We’d all fought at some point, but we were too old for that shit now. We had mates to take care of and projects to keep going. The time for childish skirmishes had passed.
The murder dog changed shape a bit each day as time drifted by moving us on its current ever closer to the feast day. It grew bigger and took on the appearance of having shaggy fur until it looked like an Irish Water Spaniel. It was a beautiful dog even if it was murderous and had no firm shape. It took on whatever form it needed to follow Odie around when he wasn’t looking.
In between trying for a baby, hanging out with everyone, and our morning flights, I negotiated with my parents and grandparents. The whole Reve thing had me on edge. It wasn’t so much the fact that he was dead as it was the fact he managedto be a total creep without us knowing. Who else might sneak onto the property while the feast went on and linger after it was over? If things worked out I’d have an egg or a pregnant mate soon. My dragon wasn’t as hotheaded as Cobalt’s but that was changing where Ambry was concerned. Eventually, everyone gave in and said that if we were willing to make the drive, they’d host it at Moonscale Manor. I hated the idea of being locked in the truck again for that long but it was better than having our nesting grounds invaded again.
We had planned to wake up early that day but not as early as Ambry shook me awake. It wasn’t a gentle nudge. It was a full body shake that made the scales of my joints rise up in case I needed to fight.
“Fight or love?” I murmured, patting around until I found him standing up on my side of the bed. “Or sleepwalking?”
“I need your eyes,” he said, tugging on my hand until I relented and allowed him to pull me upright into a sitting position. “I think I found something.”
“Another murder dog or dead body or?” I said, trying to blink away the fog of sleep. “I was dreaming that you showed me---”
“Now isn’t the time for dirty talk,” Ambry shook his head.
“Shit. This is serious. Who am I killing?” I asked as my eyes shifted to my dragon’s.
“No one. Not yet anyway. Not because of this. Do you think Teal will kill me that I was playing with his thingy?”
“His what!?” I asked, unsure of what thing Teal slept through my mate playing with.
“His little wand thing. The butt wand?!”
“Oh, the ultrasound wand. Probably not. I mean unless you scanned your testicles. He doesn’t like when people play with it like that,” I said.
“I don’t want to know which of you decided to look inside your testicles. Nope. I can live my whole life without knowing that. I was playing with it because I had a dream that I laid fifty eggs. I know. I know. That’s an anxiety dream. No, I’m not afraid of laying eggs. I grew up in Moonscale London. I know how it works. Am I afraid of laying fifty eggs at once? Absolutely. Except I also know that’s impossible. Anyway. I got up to get something to drink and maybe a snack. I didn’t make it that far, though.”
I swung my legs off the bed and reached for the machine.
“It’s not showing anymore,” Ambry frowned at the machine’s screen as he handed it over to me. “Do you know how to do it?”
“Everyone does these days. You did it, didn’t you?”
“True,” he said and shifted his weight from foot to foot.
