15. Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Kier
With my nest set up at home exactly the way I wanted it, I found it easier to focus on my work again. Not that anyone had expressed concerns about my ability to do my job, but since being mated and finding out I was expecting, it felt as if my attention had been pulled in multiple directions. Work was last on the list of priorities.
Perhaps that was normal—the way things were once your life became fuller. Prior to being with Tav, my life had been empty. Work was the only thing I had, and it was everything. Now, my work was still important, and I loved it, but it held a deeper meaning. Knowing that the work I did was for my own clan made it all the more fulfilling. They were starting to feel like mine—more so than ever before.
“Everything is all set up?” Tav asked.
“Yes. We should be ready for the flight team. They will be arriving...” I checked my watch. “Very soon.”
“What did you do? Put a tracker on them?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, I spoke with their assistant. Turns out they have a person who handles all their travel, and they are a genius.”
“Ah, so they have their own Kier?”
“Exactly.”
He held out his arm. “Shall we?”
I grinned. “Absolutely. Your father and the rest of the group will meet us there.”
Tav was driving us to the restaurant where we had booked a private room to host the dinner for the flight team. The flight commander, Shane, and the flight trainer, Raoul, would be there. They were a big part of why the flight team had been doing so well in their competitions recently. Most flight teams had five or six dragons on them. Fewer if the dragons were all large, and more if they were all small. This team had five of the best flying dragons this clan had ever seen.
It was interesting how dragon flight teams weren’t unlike the regional football or baseball teams that humans seemed to have. Though, honestly, why anyone would enjoy watching balls being thrown around when dragon flight games existed was beyond me. Seemed boring to me.
“You know,” I said as we climbed into the car, “I don’t think I’ve driven myself anywhere since you and I were mated. Where is my car?”
“Parked in the garage at my home,” Tav replied. “Although, given its current state is less than ideal, if you were to want to get rid of it, I would not be opposed.”
I laughed. “It must look funny in there, next to all of your nice cars.” Also, how little had I paid attention to my personal items that I had forgotten about my car? My life was unrecognizable from where it was a month ago, and I was not complaining. Tav and I had packed up my tiny apartment in less than an hour. I didn’t have much.
Tav shrugged. “I only own two cars—this one and my personal vehicle. Perhaps we should look into getting an SUV for when we have to take the dragonets around.”
“Good call. Is an SUV in our budget?” I winced. I really should have a better idea of what sort of budget options we had as a family. Tav must have read my mind.
“There aren’t a lot of things not in the budget, love. I’m a hundred-and-fifty-year-old dragon, I have money. Why don’t we go over it this weekend? I should have your name put on all of our accounts and the home as well. We can talk to the clan accountant team to get the paperwork in order.”
I resisted the urge to balk at that. Though I had done nothing to earn it, I was Tav’s mate, and to deny being a part of his accounts would be insulting. “Thank you,” I said. “It feels weird to put my name on things that are yours.”
“Everything that is mine is yours, love. That’s what being mated means.”
I couldn’t argue with that point, though it didn’t change the fact that it felt weird.
Once we arrived at the restaurant, we exited the car. Tav pulled his jacket closed and slipped his arm into mine.
“Have you met any of the dragon flight team before?” he asked.
“A few times, but it’s been a while. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Shane, though. He’s an absolute legend. Is it true he’s one of the oldest dragons?”
“Yes,” Tav replied. “He fought in the wars with the demons.”
“I’m sorry, the what?”
Tav chuckled. “I see you have some dragon history to learn. Maybe we’ll go over that this weekend as well.”
“But wait, did you say demons?”
Before Tav could answer, a familiar voice greeted us. “Hello.”
“Father,” Tav said as we entered the room.
I pasted on a polite smile. “Thank you for delivering the nest so quickly. You’ll have to come see it soon, it looks beautiful.”
“I’m so happy to hear that, Kier. You’re looking well,” Tav’s father said, barely glancing at his son. He pulled me into a hug and kissed my cheek.
Such a simple gesture, but it warmed my heart.
Tav let out an exaggerated sigh. “Now that I’m mated, I’m just chopped liver.”
“Get used to it,” Raoul, a dragon I recognized as the flight trainer thanks to the biographies on the teams I had been studying, said with a grin. “It’s been my experience as well. My parents don’t even know our names anymore.”
He held the hand of another individual who didn’t scent like a full dragon. He must have been Raoul’s human mate, Felix.
“Raoul,” Tav said, holding out a hand. “Tavian. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You as well,” Raoul replied.
“We’ve heard a lot about you and the great things you’ve done for the dragon flight team.”
“Thank you. It’s been an amazing adventure. I’ve truly appreciated the opportunity to make up for past deeds.”
I had no idea what he was referring to, but I wasn’t about to ask.
“And this must be your mate, Felix,” Tav said.
“Yes,” Felix said with a smile. “We understand the two of you are newly mated and expecting as well?”
Felix looked at me. I nodded and placed a hand over my stomach.
“Yes, this is my mate, Kier.”
Felix’s smile widened. “I remember those days. Have you finished nesting? And have your wings come out yet?”
My back had been itching, which Tav had said was a sign, though I hadn’t tried yet to make them come out fully. Shifting should come naturally to me, being that I was a wolf, yet the idea of sprouting wings terrified me.
“Not quite yet,” I said.
Felix patted my arm. “Give it time. Mine didn’t come out until the eggs were laid—or maybe it was before. Oh gosh, now I can’t remember.”
He looked to his mate, Raoul, who shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I could hardly recall what our first few months were like. It was hectic. There were eggs and blankets everywhere.”
Thankfully, I was seated next to Felix, and the two of us spent the evening talking about his experiences as a dragon mate. He never knew dragons existed—at least not with absolute certainty—until his mate showed up at his door and handcuffed them together. That was a whole story on its own.
My role that evening was simply to be at Tav’s side. I was there as his mate, not as his father’s PA. It was relaxing to unwind and let myself just be.
The conversation flowed easily. Tav’s father was an easy man to get along with, which was why he was leader of the clan. Raoul chimed in with tales of the flight team. Each story more exhilarating than the last—daring maneuvers in the sky, rivalries with the other schools within the clan, and of course, the competitions.
“So, how have you settled into mated life?” Felix asked.
I smiled. “Fine. Mostly. I’ve never had a person so...”
“Attentive? Overbearing? Annoying, but also adorably loving?”
Raoul turned from the conversation with the team and faced his mate “I can hear you, love.”
Felix winked. “I know you can.” He turned back to me, his expression turning serious. “Being a part of this clan has been amazing, even more so since the school is like being surrounded by family all the time. We have three little dragonets, and I can’t imagine doing it without our big support group.”
“That’s great to hear,” I said.
“If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out, okay?”
I fought the urge to cry, and Tav must’ve sensed my distress. He put his hand over mine, giving me strength. “Thank you. That means a lot.”