Amethyst Storms (Primordial Protectors #1)

13. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Alex

My head was whirling and not just from watching Emerson’s dart and dash around the room. I was with eggs. Those books I’d asked for earlier were triply important now as were the questions I had for my mate. The one thing that had settled my nerves considerably was being able to feel how genuinely euphoric our dragon was over the news. Knowing that my eggs, our eggs, would be born into a home where they were loved and wanted was exactly what I’d needed. No question trumped that. I’d felt the strength of my dragon’s desire to protect me from the moment we’d met, but it burned like a hot flame inside me now and I knew without a shred of doubt that I’d need to be doubly conscientious about the choices I made in order to preserve my dragon’s sanity. Above all, there would be no risk taking and no climbing.

Just the thought of accidentally damaging one of my precious eggs…

I shuddered and immediately felt our dragon in my mind, purring as he wound his tail around me in the softest, gentlest mental hug. Snuggling down into it, I gave myself a moment to compose my words in my head before I attempted to speak to Gramps and confused the hell out of him with all the rambling notions whirling in my mind. Picture a cross between a bomb and a tornado, with every thought on a collision course with fear. One thing shone bright and immediate in my brain and an old pain welled up, threatening to choke me.

How could my parents have gone off and risked themselves so callously?

How could they have chosen their love of the mountains over me?

Had they ever resented having me, or felt like the adventures that they had brought me along on had slowed them down?

Would I one day feel the same way about my baby dragons…oh my Goddess, would they even be true dragons if it turned out that there was no dragon blood in me? Would that mean they couldn’t shift, couldn’t fly? Had their wings been clipped simply by having a human for a parent?

My heart felt joy at the thought of them and terror at all the things I didn’t know and couldn’t ask in this moment. It already seemed like Emerson felt that there was something wrong with my ability to comprehend a basic conversation, sad, really, because I could see the changes in him as he moved around the room, the distraction, the confusion, the way he occasionally brushed the sweat from his brow or fanned himself with his shirt. Maybe it was because I was an omega, too, or maybe it was that I’d just experienced the same shifting sensations myself, but one of the protectors was his mate, and I was almost certain I knew which one, though I doubted anyone would believe me so I shoved the thought from my mind before our dragon could detect it. Thankfully, he was busy flying upside-down through my mind, a goofy grin on his face as he blew smoke rings over his head, and without even needing a cigar. We might have to wait to celebrate together, but in his own way, my dragon was already celebrating, and that left me feeling a bit giddy, too.

That’s what let me focus and tuck away all my worries, there would be time enough to analyze my concerns when Ionus and I were alone, so I could share them with him and not have to worry about being ridiculed by any of the others. I was certain that they already saw me as a strange, silly creature, a feeling that would only grow, I was sure, especially if the other mates turned out as capable and driven as Emerson clearly was. Recalling that first conversation with Ionus, when I told him that all I did was travel around chasing the next peak with no purpose in life and no real plan, left me with a moment to wonder if he’d have been more pleased with a mate that was more like anyone who wasn’t me.

Okay, so I knew I was projecting my own doubts on him, as well as the secret shame I’d always kept hidden from Gramps. How many times had I wondered if my folks would have been more careful if only I’d have been a better kid, one they were excited and eager to get back home to? I felt tears well up in my eyes and immediately wiped them away, ducked my head and focused on fishing my phone out of my pocket before anyone realized that the human was sitting there crying.

Raven’s hand on my shoulder startled me for a moment, but the kindness in her eyes and the way she mouthed, breathe , helped me find my focus again.

Thank you , I mouthed back, managing a small smile, which she returned.

Time to make my call. Everything else could wait until my mate and I were alone, and I could open up to him without fear of others overhearing.

As always, Gramps sounded a little out of breath when he answered. Anyone else and I’d have been worried, but Gramps had a love-hate relationship with cell phones. He was willing to accept the necessity of them while railing against how easy they were to accidentally destroy. Considering how many he’d gone through as I’d been growing up, it was a wonder he didn’t own stock in the company at this point. As he grumbled a ‘bout time you called me into the phone, I found myself smiling at the memory of his old flip phone half embedded in a muddy tire print after he’d run it over with his pickup truck. Damn thing had still been working, too.

“Sorry, Gramps, I’ve been a bit...busy.”

Gramps snorted, a hint of amusement in his voice. “I’ll bet. He better have treated you right.”

“He did, Gramps, he’s amazing and I’m…we’re expecting.”

“What?!”

I pulled the phone away from my ear, frowning a little because they’d never been that sensitive and yet, when he’d yelped it had been like he was standing in the room with me. In that moment I recalled what Raven had said, about my body changing when Ionus had shared his flame. It seemed like one sense had already begun to dial up, a bonus, when I considered my situation. I could only imagine what baby dragons got up to, especially when there were multiples involved. Oh shit. How many multiples were we talking about here? Emerson had said eggs, but had the scan given him any indication of how many? My gaze drifted toward the room he’d disappeared into and the shadow of my mate in the doorway, and I nearly forgot that Gramps was still waiting for me to say something.

“Alex, I am going to give you exactly ten seconds to explain what you just said,” he grumbled.

“I’m pregnant,” I blurted.

“How?!”

“Umm, Gramps, you kinda explained that part to me when I was twelve.”

I heard him sputtering and snickered before he growled into the phone. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. You just mated with him, how the hell do you know that you’re expecting so soon?”

“That’s part of why I’m calling, Gramps, but it isn’t safe for me to discuss all of the particulars with you over the phone,” I explained. “I need you to come here, please, so we can talk. I have questions, more with every passing minute, really.”

“Text me your location and I’ll be out the door as soon as I toss a few things in my pack,” he replied as I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Gramps.”

“No problem, kid, I just hope I have the answers you need.”

“Me, too.”

“See ya soon, kiddo.”

He disconnected the call before I could say anything else, not that I needed to. He was coming here as I’d asked, everything else could wait. A part of me wanted to go to my mate’s side just to stand pressed against his warmth, but the thought of going deeper into Emerson’s space left me with feelings of conflict and trepidation. Just a few hours before I’d foolishly thought about writing a manual for mates and helping to welcome the future mates of my brothers-in-law, now I could only hope that I would be a little less clueless about all things dragon by the time the rest of them came along. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum. I felt a pang of jealousy over Emerson’s knowledge. As the dragon historian, he likely knew more about dragons now than I could ever hope to in any future I might have. Talk about starting behind the eight ball.

Funny, but put me in any situation where I could climb, dive, or tunnel my way out of, and my instincts were as sharp as they came, but unless the moment called for climbing my dragon and riding his cock the hell out of here, I was clearly at a distinct disadvantage. For a moment, that old fear raised its head, of only having worth as an incubator for Ionus’ young, then our dragon hugged me again, purred and rubbed along my side like an oversized housecat, calming my insecurities and reminding me of just how much I was already loved.

Thank you.

You never have to thank us for loving you.

I’d needed so much to hear that, and contently remained in my seat, wrapped in the mental warmth of our dragon’s affection.

“Is he coming?” Raven asked as she returned to my side.

“Yes.”

“Good, the healer is as well. We will get the answers you need.”

“We need,” Caro said, his eyes occasionally darting to the room Emerson still bustled around in.

I didn’t know him well enough to be able to read his expression, but his eyebrows had drawn together in the center and the corners of his mouth were turned down in a frown. Did he suspect what I did and if so, was he pleased at the possibility or unhappy with the choice the fates were sending his way? Though it was really none of my business, I felt instant concern for my new brother-in-law and wondered if my connection with Ionus was allowing his concern for his brothers to bleed through and affect what I felt, too, not that I would blame him at all if that was the case.

As an only child, I’d had many days where I’d felt the icy pinch of loneliness and wished for a playmate my own age, sad, because the very things that I loved about Gramps, his love of the unknown, adventure and exploration, were also some of the very things that had gotten him labeled as a kook, and worse, by those who lived near us, not that we had any close neighbors. That was the other reason I’d spent chunks of my childhood playing pretend with my imaginary friends.

In all fairness, he’d tried taking me to playgroups and the huge playground in the heart of the nearest town, but I’d loved to climb the jungle gym, hang upside-down and swing with my knees over a bar, doing backflips that didn’t always end well at first, at least not until I learned how to stick the landing. Nosy parents, mostly the mothers of other children on the playground, had commented, loudly at times, that he was allowing me to endanger myself and be a dangerous example to their precious little angels when they attempted to copy me. I hadn’t meant for any of that to happen, or Gramps to be faced with social services visits and pinched-faced harpies who’d threatened to take me away from him until he’d stopped taking me anywhere we’d draw scrutiny.

It dawned on me then how lonely his life was because he’d chosen to do right by me, and I hoped that my being settled in now with a mate would give him the opportunity to find some joy in his later years.

With that thought came one other, prompted by my dragon and another mental hug from that cozy tail.

Our children would never face the loneliness I’d felt. They’d have siblings and with any luck, cousins for playmates. They’d have birthday parties and picnics and holiday celebrations with tons of photos and memories to look back on. My heart pulsed with so much love for our unborn young, my mate and our dragon, that in my mind I turned to him, threw my arms around that long neck, and pressed a kiss to the tip of his snout.

I love you.

My mind whispered it to him, but my heart screamed it, and my soul rejoiced in it, him and every thought of the lives we’d be bringing into the world together.