Chapter 7 #3
“Thank you, Alpha.”
“You are most welcome. Please call me Aleric. Enjoy the soap, but do try not to lose it in the river,” I called out as I walked back to where I had claimed a spot.
It was as good as any, and I gathered dried wood that had been drifting in the river and started to make a pile.
They were going to need to dry themselves, and that meant another fire was going to be needed.
I had a nice fire going, started with a flint this time, when four dripping and now a whole lot cleaner dragons came walking over to me.
“The fire will keep you warm and help dry your clothes. Of course, if you wrung them out, they would dry faster.”
Wilhelm was the first to strip, twisting his clothes near the water before he shook them out and put them back on. If there were larger boulders nearby, I could heat them with my dragon’s fire, and their clothing would dry quickly. Sadly, there were no such boulders.
“I have set up a fire over by the trees as well. There is a nice patch of grass near that looks promising for taking a nap. We only need to take an ember over to start it.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Wilhelm said as he carefully picked up the nonburning end of a longer log and walked in the direction I’d indicated. Elias went with, quickly followed by Lukas. When Konrad tried to join them, I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Sit with me for a moment?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I sighed.
“Is there a reason you are suddenly indifferent toward me? Have I done something to displease you?” This would be the shortest mating in history if that were the case. I’d not done more than rescue and feed him. Yet he was already irritated with me, it seemed.
“No. You are being most kind.”
“I am only doing what any worthy alpha would. I am not only helping those that require it, but I am looking after my mate and seeing to his needs. I will ask again, have I done something that has upset you?”
“No, Alpha.”
I growled, getting Konrad to finally look at me. His blue eyes spoke volumes. He looked sad and scared.
“Although I do not dislike you calling me alpha, I much prefer to hear my name on your lips,” I said. He said I had not done anything to displease him, so I decided it was time to have our talk, starting with sharing my intent with him. “Say it, please. I wish to hear you speak my name.”
“Aleric,” he whispered.
“Yes. Now, tell me why there’s a wall between us before we can even start our courtship.
” I pulled Konrad to me, getting a squeak from my omega.
He truly was adorable. Now that he was clean, his hair was a lighter blond, and I could not wait to see what it looked like once it was completely dry.
Would my fingers tangle in the curls that were hanging down around his face?
“You said your parents were once human.”
“Yes. They were chosen by the goddess to become what we are. What of it? Your family line will have come from those similarly.” We all had. Did he not know that?
“Further down the line, yes. But you are…your parents were some of the chosen ones.”
“And your grandparents or great-grandparents are of the same,” I told him. “It matters not to me who or where your family line comes from, mate. You are mine. My treasure to cherish for as long as we have together.”
“But what if…my grandfather is not a dragon.”
I wanted to roll my eyes. I didn’t because that wasn’t going to get us anywhere.
“Neither is mine. I do not see an issue. My grandparents were human. I’ve never even met them.
It wouldn’t matter, though, because my fathers had been required to cut all contact with their families when they were gifted the ability of changing into a dragon. ”
Konrad’s smile was sad. “Yes, but mine was a wolf.”
“Still not an issue for me, mate. Now, tell me, is that the only thing worrying you?” Surely there was more. There was nothing dishonorable about having a wolf shifter for a grandfather.
“When do you wish to leave for the land across the ocean?”
Ahh, perhaps that was it. “We will leave when you are ready. Not before then. Right now, it is too dangerous for you to travel such a distance. You are not ready to fly the distance, and it is not safe for you to travel on my back for such a flight. It is too cold for your human skin, even that of one who shares their soul with a dragon. Do you not wish to join me at my home?”
“I do. I will miss my family though.”
“We will ask them to come with us when we find them,” I told him. Konrad looked at me, surprised. I still was not sure if we would ever locate the rest of his thunder, or even if they were alive, but we would make an honest effort to locate them. The four of them deserved as much.
“Come, let’s join the others and rest. I will hunt for food again later, and when you have regained some strength, we will set out and search for your thunder.”
I hoped we would find them alive and well, if not worried for the four that had been taken. But deep down, I feared that what we would find would not be what they wished for.