Page 103 of Dragon's Secret Baby

“Hmm,” I said. “I’d like that.”

Wesley chuckled, kissed me again, and slipped out from underneath the covers.

I rolled over and looked out of the window at the large garden that wrapped around the house. Wesley loved leaving all the curtains open, so that’s what we did. Sometimes the sun woke us up, but that was fine.

It meant more time in the day for us together.

After we’d gotten married in front of the pack officially, the December after everything had changed, Wesley had decided the penthouse was a bachelor’s pad, and we deserved a family home. He’d fixed up the safe house, making it a home where we were safe, where we could live a life without any stress or panic, and we’d moved in here, permanently.

The house with its brutalist architecture and wraparound gardens was a haven, tucked away in the depths of Nevada, so that it felt like we were far away from everyone and everything.

I loved living here, and Emmie was happier here, too. She always played in the garden, spent time in the pool, and her friends loved coming over here. We baked all the time in the large, state-of-the-art kitchen, and Wesley had outdone himself with her bedroom, making it even better and more princess-like than the one he’d done for her in the penthouse—he’d even gotten her a canopy double bed, and she loved it.

She lovedhim.

Seeing the way he was always with him, the way she looked up to him and adored him, I still couldn’t believe that he’d thought she might not want him as her father. Now that I knew his past, I understood why he’d felt that way, but Emmie showed him every day that she loved him as if he’d always been in her life. They had a very special bond.

Rune had taken over the penthouse, and he was officially in charge of the hotel business. Wesley had appointed a general manager, vetted by Rune and Circe together, and he didn’t spend so much time at the club and away from us anymore, either. He went in a couple of nights a week, but the rest of the time, he trusted his people.

“Knock, knock,” Circe called from the front door.

“Come on in,” I called, and I got out of bed, pulling on a silky robe over my pajamas. “You’re here early.”

“I have some business to discuss,” Circe said.

She had offered to work with Wesley after the fight we’d had with the Rogues, and Wesley had agreed to take her on board. It was always good for the fae to work with the shifters—her magic had done so much for us in the past, and she had our best interests at heart.

“Wes is with Emmie, but I’m sure he’ll be here in a minute, and you can talk,” I said.

Circe shook her head. “No, it’s your business I want to talk about.”

“Oh?” I asked with a frown.

“I found someone for the house.”

“Oh,” I said, suddenly excited. “Really?”

Circe nodded and beamed at me. “She’s pretty great, very different, and not one of us, but I think she’s the right one for the place.”

For a long time, the house I’d inherited from my great aunt Josephine—the same aunt I’d apparently inherited all my power from—had been empty. Wesley and I had talked a couple of times about selling it, but I could never bring myself to do it. It’d been in the family for a long, long time, and it had a lot of sentimental value. Not only was it the home where I’d raised Emmie, the home where I’d become close friends with Circe, it was also the start of my journey of power and magic and being a dragon shifter.

Finally, we’d decided to rent it.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I thought you said it should be a shifter.”

“I did,” Circe agreed. “But something is different about her. To be honest, I don’t know if she is a human, but I didn’t feel any magic that I recognized. Sometimes different isn’t always a bad thing.”

Circe was right about that. If my life was anything to go by, different could just mean that a whole new world opened up for someone.

“Braxton would need to approve the lease if she was a shifter.”

“So he’s not involved because she’s human?” I asked.

“Right,” Circe said, looking bashful. “He wants to know everything about what is happening in his territory when it comes to magic.”

I hadn’t known this. Braxton was the alpha in Portland, and from what I’d heard, he liked to have tight control over everyone in his pack, but I’d been human, and I hadn’t known anything about all of this. I was still learning, but it seemed bizarre to me.

“Are all alphas so serious about their territory? Wesley doesn’t seem that way.”

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