Page 9 of Dragon Keeper
In his soul, he felt as if that would give him time to get used to the idea of Bray and Ri leaving him.
That made his heart incredibly heavy, in fact, but he also knew a dragon who left his mate could wither away and not thrive.
So, while he had no idea what to do, he had to do something.
I’m with you, brother, Brayden told him privately. Out loud, he chuckled. “This is a good place to winter. Quiet. Other dragons. Weird shit to explore. This house alone will take months.”
Riley looked back and forth between them. “Yeah, I guess it’s close enough to Pagosa Springs to get takeout. All right. We’ll stay.”
Relief speared through him. “Thanks, guys. I love you both.”
Brayden winked and grinned. “We know.”
“Most of the time,” Riley teased. “I’m going to bed.”
“I’m going to read a while,” Brayden added.
“Then I’m going to raid the fridge.” He might peer out the kitchen window and see what he could see…
Or go sit in the conservatory and look for the lights of Tyr’s village. He doubted he could see it from here, but that didn’t matter.
He just wanted to feel close to his sweet beekeeper.
Chapter
Four
Tyr could feel Sloan’s presence.
Oh, it was not as if the big dragon with the red hair was in his home, or even nearby, staring at him. No, he knew Sloan was still up at Cosmo and Cullen and Corbin’s house.
But he could feel it. The yearning.
His whole body returned the sentiment. He ached, and not in a good way. He felt as if he needed to leave the house and fly up the mountain.
Even the bees had been pushing him that way today as he worked among their hives. But he’d already met with Sloan through the windows twice this week, and it was the middle of the night?—
A little bee, one from his farthest hive, zipped in through the window, which was cracked open to let in just enough of the still-cool night air.
“Hello, little one. What are you doing here? Is all well?” He supposed it was silly to talk to them, but they seemed to respond to him.
The bee buzzed back to the window, then back to him.
“You want me to come with you?” He rose from bed, pulling on a robe. It was still spring, so it would be colder out there thanin the house. If it was summer, he would just go out with nothing on. He loved that, the freedom to be natural, to take off flying if he wished.
He let the bee out carefully, then followed, expecting the wee one to go toward the hives. Instead, he zipped off toward the mountain.
“Oh, you will wear yourself out, little one.” He stared up the way. “Is something wrong up there?” He hoped not. But his friend Cade and Cade’s mate Poe were halfway up. If the big guardian house needed help, surely they would call on the Rocky Mountain clutch, whose houses were there, or Poe and Cade…
The bee buzzed back to him, circling his head, then headed off again.
“Okay, okay. You go be with your hive in the warm. I will go up and see what it is you want me to see.” He wanted to go up there anyway, truth be told. So why not? He would never sleep now until he assured himself all was well.
Tyr took off the robe and tucked it into a bundle so that when he shifted he could pick it up, and then he called on his dragon inside. His wings sprouted, his scales closed around him, his tail pulled out, and his body was completely transformed. He jumped into the sky, trying not to make a great deal of noise as he crossed over the village. Not that it would matter. Cade was the dragon defender of the village, and he was one of Tyr’s best friends, so he would be recognized.
Once past the village, he gave a great flap of wings to gain momentum, and he flew up the mountain, up and up and up, checking over Poe and Cade’s house to make sure that all was well before continuing past the Rocky Mountain clutch’s enclave to the guardian house. There he landed a bit away so that he wouldn’t make the huge whomping noise at touchdown, just in case everyone was fine and asleep.
Then he pulled on the robe he’d brought with him and headed to the house. He knew that it was ridiculous, but even if everything was perfectly fine, he would end up sitting outside of the conservatory for a while, imagining Sloan out there talking to him. There was something about the big alpha that just made him silly for a smile or a wink or a long discussion about the differences between desserts in their two separate worlds.
