Page 13 of These Little Heirs
“I went over to have tea with Xenos and meet his new baby. Adorable by the way. He told me that your mate was a liger who went to school with your brothers’ mates and who had parents who died fighting in the war. It was like a bloody scavenger hunt to figure out who it was. It’s him. I mean, it’s him unless I missed something,” Medwin rambled as my heart skipped beat after beat. On-skip-on-skip.
“He was pretty torn up when you left,” Indigo said. “And it explains why you stole his---”
I slapped my hand over Indigo’s mouth before he could say another word. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t stolen his underwear. Medwin was the last person in the world who needed to know that I kicked anyone’s dirty underwear under the sofa and then told the man in question – an omega – to search me for them.
“Go home!” I said. “Go home before I bite you! I have stuff to figure out here and---”
“It sounds like you have stuff to figure out at home,” Indigo countered. “I could wait around to make sure Morvan gets home alright. I might be a new sire but you’re in a rut. You’re probably more likely to throw a punch than me. If I get arrested and can’t go home to Robin, I’ve really fucked up. You’ll just jack off in jail and—”
I slapped my hand over my brother’s mouth again and didn’t let him wiggle away this time. If we’d been anywhere else in the world, I probably would’ve let him by with it but our grandparents’ home was no place to talk about ruts. Indigo licked my palm, and I grabbed him around his middle and flipped him onto his back, narrowly missing the antique coffee table.
“Boys!” Our grandcarrier snapped and we both froze.
“One of us,” Indigo whispered, a laugh still pulling at the corners of his lips.
“You’re lucky you’re one of us or I’d descale you and wear them as a hat,” I frowned down at him but held out a hand to help him up.
“Go home and find out if he’s right,” Indigo said once he was on his own two feet again. “Seriously. Yes, I miss Ambry and Robin, but someone has to make sure Morvan gets set free. Just pick up some cherries on your way back, please.”
“Do you really have this? It could take a while. Clarence waffles on doing good deeds. He could go back and forth a lot,” I warned him. “I’d rather sit here and wait and maybe take a swing at him rather than let Morvan down. We didn’t ask to be born heirs but that fact that we did means we’re in a unique place to swing our privilege around as swords and shields when we need to and that’s more often than our grandparents would care to admit.”
“I got it. Believe it or not, I don’t want Robin to grow up in a world where he needs to pay forl food to eat, okay?If Grandpa’s right about Ciro being your mate stay and figure it out. If he’s not but he’s still willing to hook up, just be careful, okay? I know Cobalt’s all uptight right now but that’s because Odie is uncomfortable. He might not be vibrating from his anxiety anymore, but I think he’s picking up his mate’s discomfort nonetheless,” Indigo sighed. “Leave it to the horn ball extraordinaire to be the empath.”
We both rolled our eyes and our brother flipped us off over our triplet link.
“Now go! Seriously, if you don’t get more excited at the idea of meeting you’re mate I’m going to slug you!” Indigo said, playfully pushing my shoulder. I hugged him goodbye and slipped out the door while our grandparents were still distracted by Sunny.
“I’m educated in the right field for this anyway!” Indigo shouted after me.
Chapter Seven
Ciro
Somehow I dozed off with my head resting on Cobalt’s leg without either of the wolves eating me. He only sort of smelled like Teal but it was enough to calm my cat down so that I could drift off for a bit. It was crystal clear that the wolves used the dragons interchangeably for cuddling and affection. Would I be tossed into that mix too or was it because Ambry and Odie had always been inseparable?
My dreams chased these questions like a kitten chased his own tail. Then it rained buckets. It rained all over the place, making my whole dream wet until Cobalt’s sleepy voice broke through the veil.
“What the fuck, Teal? Are you on drugs?”
“Wake up, Ciro!” Teal’s voice cut through the fog and I blinked as more water rained down on me.
“Cut it the fuck out, Teal,” Cobalt snapped. “You’re getting everyone wet and Robin isn’t a bloody water dragon. Don’t make me—”
“Stop!” I said, swiping at his foot and rolling away from the group before he did drown the baby by accident. “What the hell is your problem?” I sprung to my feet. “Mad that I was sleeping on the job?”
He grabbed my shirt and snatched me close to him, burying his face in my neck and then ripping my shirt to sniff my chest. I slapped at the back of his head, trying to push him away but it was too late. I no longer smelled like sugar cookies. He’d used enough water to wash some of my pheromone blocker spray.
“Out of the nest, Teal,” Cobalt said, wrapping his arms around his brother’s middle and lifting him over the edge.“You’re out of the nest until you figure your shit out! You’ve made hours of work for us because all your blood’s in your dick and you refuse to use your words. I’m not having it! Where’s Indigo?”
“I don’t know but the cherries are on the table over there,” Teal said, starting to climb back into the nest to get to me but Cobalt wrapped his arms around me and put me out too.
“What did I---” I started but he set me out.
Teal pushed him away, nearly knocking him over and for a second, I thought they’d come to blows.
“If Grandpa’s right, figure it out. I hope he’s not because if Ciro is your mate and you’re pulling that shit he should kick you in the balls,” Cobalt said and turned away.
“Mind your own fucking business!” Teal shouted and both of the wolves growled.
