Page 30 of Emerald Waves
Caro’s happiness lit up our connection.
I have a family and friends.
I was the luckiest dragon alive.
Let’s celebrate Emerson and his dragon. Dinner at our house tonight.
Aye, Ionus. Many thanks.
What a day. Moving in with my mate, my dragon finally surfaced and got to fly. Not as glamorous as the others were but we were still airborne. Now I’m having dinner at my eldest brother-in-law’s house. I couldn’t wait to see Alex and Ionus’ dragonets.
One by one they landed but didn’t shift as they waited for Caro and I.
What if I wipe out?
Oh, you will,Caro snickered,but with practice you’ll get better. Watch me.
Flawlessly, my mate glided in with the wind and into a perfect landing. I circled above, once, twice.
You can do this, Emerson.
The decent was too fast but I didn’t know how to put on the brakes. I hit the ground snout first and rolled, finally coming to a stop upside down.
Are you okay?
Yes, only a bruised ego.
And maybe a tooth, but hey, I flew! My dragon shifted, contently purring as he slid into slumber. Caro and Mattias helped me up and dusted me off.
“Not the best landing, brother,” Mattias clapped my shoulder. “But you were magnificent up there.”
I snorted. He was far too kind. “Thank you. Hopefully I’ll get better.”
“You will,” Ionus clapped my shoulder, and I nearly buckled under his strength. “Now, we break bread. Follow us home.”
Foolish as my landing was, you couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. I wasn’t broken. My dragon flew. I shifted. I had a mate. No longer the fool or the outcast.
I am a dragon.
Chapter Nine
Caro
Dinner at Ionus’ was always an affair filled with succulent meats and conversation, though I could see Alex’s influence on the meal too. A huge garden salad sat in the center of the table, along with deviled eggs and a pasta salad I couldn’t get enough of.
Listening to Alex and Emerson coo over the dragonets left my dragon shimmering near the surface, hopeful that someday they’d be cooing at our little ones too.
The only difficulty was avoiding the shrewdly inquisitive looks my older brother kept shooting my way. One glance and I knew that he knew I was keeping a secret. He’d always been that way with us, but his intuition had only grown after our mother had passed on to join our father.
How he’d always known when one of us had gotten up to something reckless was a mystery I’d never solved and likelynever would, but I suspected his dragonets would struggle to pull anything over on him.
“Your thoughts are louder when you attempt to silence them,” Ionus said, startling me, because I hadn’t heard him move across the room.
“Maybe, or maybe it’s just that you’re a nosy fucker who can’t stay out of everyone’s business,” I replied, hoping brusque snark would prove to be a successful deflection tool. “You have a mate and enough offspring to occupy your time, one would think. Isn’t it time you turned your focus on them and left the rest of us to our own devices?”
“Never.”
One word and he had me fuming, but if I showed any hint of ire, he’d latch on to it like a pit bull with a bone and I’d be the one with toothmarks in my tail when he was through.
