Chapter 16 Conrad Roche
Conrad Roche
LOTHAIR
I was making breakfast for my mate when he began asking weird questions.
“Do you think we could talk to someone?”
My first urge was to run for cover, but I cleared my throat and asked, “Like a shrink?”
Terry snorted at the suggestion. “No. Just someone who knows about these things. Alphas mated to alphas and omegas to omegas. It’s rare, but we’re not the first ones. My pops said he knows at least three alpha couples in the dragon community in Ardaine.”
“I don’t hang out with shifters.”
“I know you don’t. But maybe it’s time for you to start.”
I didn’t want to talk to anyone, and I especially didn’t want to talk to loads of other shifters about us.
But Terry was already scrolling on his phone. “My pops is friends with Conrad Roche, who’s been mated to an alpha for decades.”
I didn’t reply. It felt dangerous. As if being with other shifters meant he would be further away from me, which was silly and irrational.
Terry smiled at me. “It would be great to talk to someone who’s been in a similar situation, don’t you think? I’ll call Pops and ask for Conrad’s number.”
Not like I could forbid him from talking to his family. Inhale. Exhale. It’d be fine. All my fears were irrational. “Okay. The bacon needs one more minute.”
Terry went to the living room and called his great-grandfather. Over the simmering noise the pan was making, I could only hear Terry’s side of the conversation.
“Hi, Pops. Do you have a minute? … I’m good. Great. Um, listen. Could you give me Conrad’s number?” A pause. “Yes, that would be awesome.” A longer pause. “No! I’m not telling him that!”
I turned the burner off, stood still, and listened, but even with my shifter ears, I couldn’t distinguish what his pops was saying.
“I promise you’ll meet him soon, okay?” I heard Terry’s steps coming closer. “Uh-huh… I met Conrad at the Bracknells’ a couple of years ago. Hopefully, he remembers me.”
He appeared in the kitchen, frowning thoughtfully. “Thank you. I can’t now, but I’ll let you know. Thanks, really. Say hi to Badger from me.”
Terry put the phone on the counter and sat down at the table.
I added the bacon pieces to the piles of eggs on our plates, and he dug in without pause.
My knee bounced up and down under the table. Calm down, for fuck’s sake. “What did he say?”
“Um. Sorry. Starvin’…” He chewed and swallowed. “Conrad Roche is mated to an alpha. I’ve met the guy before, and he’s nice. Pops is sending me his number.”
As he said that, his phone beeped.
I mulled it over. “And now what? We just call the man and ask a bunch of intrusive questions?”
“Actually, I wondered if we could invite ourselves over for a cup of coffee.”
I must have looked horrified because Terry reached out to pet my arm soothingly.
“Conrad is about seventy and a very pleasant gentleman. He’s harmless, Lothair. Why do you look like you’re about to accompany me to a funeral?”
I looked at my plate and scooped up a forkful of eggs. “I’m fine.”
“Really?”
“You said I should hang out with shifters more. So I will.” I’d do whatever he wanted to stop him from bailing on me. And wasn’t that pathetic?
“When was the last time you spent some time in the company of another shifter?”
“I’m doing it right now.”
“Other than me.”
“There were loads of them swarming us last Sunday after that asshole pushed me off the road.”
Terry let out a small growl. “Other than that.”
I shrugged. Would he freak out if I said never?
When I lifted my eyes to gauge his expression, he looked compassionate, which made me feel like shit.
“I’ll call Conrad after we’ve eaten. If he has the time for us, we’ll take my car, and you’ll wear a ball cap and sunglasses. Kim and the team will follow us to make sure nobody else is on us.”
Oh, joy. The heightened security measures. I’d almost forgotten about that.
I was secretly hoping the man would be busy, but no dice. Terry said that Conrad sounded excited to meet me.
Like most dragon alphas of proper descent, Conrad Roche was loaded. His house was more opulent than mine, looking like it was built early in the twentieth century. It had six mighty columns supporting a balcony on the third floor, a big park, and a circular driveway in the front.
We parked and stepped out of Terry’s car.
“Conrad said to go around the house and meet him in the back.” Terrance scanned the surroundings. “That way.” He pointed to a gravel path that led along the left wing of the building.
We walked through a Japanese-style garden with big boulders and round bushes sitting in neatly raked sand. The path narrowed, passing through thick shrubbery. Then a perfectly trimmed lawn opened in front of us, with sprinklers whispering here and there.
A large ancient oak grew in the middle, thick and sprawling, looking like something out of a fantasy saga.
In the shade under the tree, we spotted a young, very pregnant omega lounging on a picnic blanket.
Another omega, a little older, was lying by his side, petting the big, round stomach.
He leaned down, and they kissed. Deeply.
His hand sneaked under the pregnant boy’s shirt, to his chest, and…
Terry gripped my arm, squeezing hard. I tore my eyes away from the mirage and followed him around the house.
“Where the hell did you bring me?” I hissed.
“I’m wondering that myself,” Terry replied under his breath.
We finally found the patio after walking around a large man-made lake and getting lost in a rose garden. The alpha who greeted us didn’t look to be more than fifty, and had it not been for his wavy silver hair, I’d have guessed him to be even younger. I figured it must have been the mate.
“Conrad, this is Lothair,” Terry said, placing his palm in the middle of my back.
I almost swallowed my tongue. Seventy? No way this man was seventy years old.
“Lothair Courtemanche!” he enthused, and went for a full-on bro hug with a slap on my back that I awkwardly reciprocated. Now that I looked closer, he had deep wrinkles on his tanned face, but his body was packed with muscles, and his eyes twinkled. “I’m a great fan of your work.”
Somehow, I found that hard to believe. “Really?”
He laughed. “I don’t watch your movies, no, but I admire your blatant disregard for public safety rules. The base jump looked spectacular.”
I wasn’t sure if he was praising me or mocking me, but Terry was smiling as he nudged me forward.
“Please, have a seat. What can I get you? Coffee? Something stronger?”
“I’m driving,” Terry said.
Conrad waved his hand. “Pish. Let’s have some whiskey. What are the shifter perks for if we cannot indulge in nice things?” With that, he sauntered into the house.
“Why are you so careful with alcohol when you’re working?” I asked when Conrad was out of sight.
“While it doesn’t affect us, it can still show on a breathalyzer test.”
“Huh. I didn’t know that.”
He shrugged, giving me a small smile.
Conrad returned in a minute with a tray carrying three tumblers and a crystal decanter full of golden whiskey.
“Stuart will be here in a little while with your coffees,” he said as he put the tray down.
“Your mate?” I asked.
Conrad chortled merrily. “Oh, no, dear. Stuart is our butler. Eugene, my alpha, is traveling for business. But Tristan and Quinton are somewhere in the garden.”
When we stared at him dumbly, he grinned and put the glasses in front of us. “They are our omegas. Cheers, gentlemen.”
Right. I grabbed the whiskey and gulped.
Conrad hummed. “Gotta love the burn.” He smacked his lips and leaned back in his seat.
“So, I assume you have some questions about the unusual situation you’ve found yourselves in.”
I hesitated, trying to pick something out of the mess of questions in my head that would be reasonable to begin with. Terrance was faster.
“We’ve only just realized we’re mated. It’s a little overwhelming. I guess we’d like to know what to expect?”
Conrad eyed us both before exhaling deeply. “See, when I met Eugene forty years ago, alphas having sex with alphas was still illegal in most parts of the country. We moved to New York for the first few years of our relationship.”
“But how did you even find out?” I asked. “Sorry if that’s intrusive, but I’m…”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s why you’re here.
” He took a sip from his tumbler. “Eugene worked for me for two years before anything happened between us. We were joined at the hip, and I couldn’t imagine spending one day without him.
I assumed I was dependent on my assistant.
Then, one night, we argued. I don’t even remember what it was about.
In a fit of fear and anger, I kissed him.
Once we got physical, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other, even as we both agreed it must be temporary.
Eugene was about to quit. Within a few days, our bodies changed.
For me, it was a relief. An explanation for what had been happening to us for those two years.
Eugene admitted he’d been in love with me for the entire time, my darling.
He was so happy when I told him I felt the same. ”
“You’ve never tried to break the bond?” My question made Terrance jerk next to me. I didn’t dare look at him.
Conrad frowned at me. “I didn’t think it was possible. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“I know it’s not possible when it’s a bond between a shifter alpha and a dragon mate, but what about two omegas or two alphas?”
“Why would anyone want to do that?”
“You said it was illegal. And you couldn’t have children together.”
“But that’s nothing compared to what your mate means to you.” He looked at me with a challenge in his eyes, but I had nothing to say in response. Terry had become the focal point of my world, but that didn’t mean he felt the same about me.
“You mentioned your omegas,” Terry began, his tone careful. “Obviously, you don’t have to explain yourself. It’s your private life.”