Chapter Thirteen
Viraj
Seven pups? Viraj’s skin went cold as Teige fainted. But that could be worried about later. He glanced over at his mate before looking down at his phone, where a group chat had popped up. He glanced down at the screen and frowned.
Leo: Hey, why the fuck is Viraj in chat, now?
Rolf: I didn’t add him.
DrakesLAYER69: Congratulations. You are not in the closet.
Leo: Christ on a stick, Frikka, stop changing your username.
DrakesLAYER69: I like this one. It has the sixty-nine in it.
Bastien: We know!
操龙者: I quite like changing my username.
Suyin: Baba, no! Omfg. Please do not.
Leo: It says something dirty, doesn’t it?
Suyin: Just change it back, baba. We really need to separate Dette chat into elders and juniors so nobody’s in chat with their parents.
操龙者: It means I am a conqueror of dragons!
Rolf: Really?
DrakesLAYER69: If you follow the fortune cookie rules.
Bastien: A conqueror of dragons…
操龙者: In bed!
Suyin: It says he is a dragon fucker.
Zane: Aren’t we all?
DrakesLAYER69: Technically we are all the being fucked by dragon-ers.
Zane: I’m a dragon fucker.
Leo: No comment.
Bastien: Ditto.
ANUSDESTROYER420: :D
Leo: Tyler, omfg!
Gabriel: Good for you, dears, but someone please tell me why Viraj is here watching us behave so indecently?
Prince_of_F33T: Well, this is fucking awkward. Brother, mind telling me why you’re here?
Viraj: This isn’t how I wished to explain myself. At all.
Suyin: ???
Zane: Wut?
DrakesLAYER69: He’s a Dette! Surprises!
Leo: Ry, you may want to change your username?
Prince_of_F33T: Over my dead body.
ANUSDRESTROYER420: I need popcorn for this.
Zane: I’m coming over to your place for popcorn and to get away from the den.
Prince_of_F33T: Someone give me answers, now.
ANUSDESTROYER420: Hurry, it’s gonna get good.
Viraj glanced up from his phone, his skin icy cold as his heart jumped into his throat.
He was having pups. More than six of them. And everyone now knew.
Pounding footsteps stormed down the hall a few seconds before Gaspard’s office door flew open.
Ryan stood there, wearing nothing but very tiny boxer briefs and a flowing red silk robe, eyes aflame with anger, confusion, irritation. “Explain!”
Viraj opened and closed his mouth a few times before falling silent. Gatlin rested a hand on Viraj’s shoulder, and Teige remained on the floor—still unconscious. Ryan seemed to notice with a sneer. “Guess he didn’t know, either.”
“He knew.” Gatlin cleared his throat. “Viraj is gravid and there were too many eggs to count on the ultrasound. Teige, I suppose, wasn’t prepared for that.”
Ryan’s gaze flicked to Viraj’s midsection. “How? And no smart-ass answers.”
Ryan crossed his arms, and Viraj cleared his throat. “Well, I thought I was a Drake until things became apparent… I look like a Drake shifted.”
Ryan nodded. “You look like one unshifted, too.”
“Eventually I thought I was Hijada because things weren’t right, but I kept my mouth shut because… You know.” Viraj cleared his throat, and Ryan gave a stilted nod.
“So, when you were up, I let Gaspard look me over for the first time. I had symptoms and apparently they were like Bastien’s first heats.” Viraj flinched as Ryan gasped and his face went slack and blank. “That explains so much…”
“So, yeah. I’m a Dette, with some hormonal or other issues. Intersex?” Viraj shrugged. “Gaspard can tell you the specifics.”
“Just about that.” Gaspard nodded sagely. “We tried a full course of nestblossom isolate and he ran a true heat, it appears. Whether or not it regulates his hormones and he starts looking more like a Dette is up to fate.”
“So all this time. You traded me off and then you—” Ryan released a slow hiss of a breath. “You know what? That’s so far in my past and I’m happier than I could have ever been. I’m angry and probably should be at you, but you were afraid, I guess.”
Viraj nodded. “I wasn’t certain until I—” Viraj gestured at his groin. “It was pretty obvious something was wrong. I’ll spare you details.”
Ryan glared and stared daggers at Gatlin, who cowered under the Dette’s persuasive nature. Ryan could be a force to reckon with. His dragon spoke loudly and magic flourished with care.
“It’s uh. I mean. There’s no knot and when he shifts, he doesn’t—” Gatlin stammered as Viraj flinched. “Something in between.”
Ryan nodded once in total understanding. “Surprised Father’s physicians didn’t notice.”
“My best guess? I had spines, and they were so afraid to tell Father he’d sired no Drakes again…” Viraj shrugged. “But maybe they didn’t even know. I was young, too.”
Ryan nodded. “So, who they sending you to?”
Viraj cleared his throat. “Frikka.”
“Nice. He’s got that old magic. He taught me a little, but I can only sense static. Want me to feel?” Ryan pulled up his sleeves and stepped closer, the stink of blood and sick still hovering about him.
“You’re still healing. I couldn’t ask that—” Viraj gasped as a cold hand snatched out and rucked his shirt up, exposing the taut dome of his belly. Every day, it seemed a little bigger, more obscene.
“Can’t imagine how you thought you were carrying nothing or blanks looking like this, Raj.” Ryan pressed a hand to his belly and slid it over the surface, a staticky feeling following in its wake.
“I know nothing about Dettes. Remember, Father didn’t want us competing with his prodigious cock.” Viraj huffed. “We were kept ignorant. Told to purchase Dettes of our own from other clans.”
Ryan nodded. “Raj, I’m not even sure what to tell you. There’s so much feedback from new life that I can’t tell your soul from this entire mass of pups.”
Viraj swallowed hard as Ryan pulled his hand back. “I can’t pick a single one out from another. Too many.”
“If you’re suffering, I’m so sorry. We’ll hire the best nannies, Vivi. We’ll do whatever we can to make this easier on you.” Gatlin pulled Viraj’s hand to his mouth and kissed.
“What’s the record clutch size?” Ryan picked at his teeth.
“Leo is the largest in the Americas at eight in a clutch. About a hundred years ago, we had a Long Dette with a Finnish Drake that made a clutch of ten, but they lost three during laying.” Gaspard said it in a whisper.
Viraj cleared his throat. “How do we make sure that doesn’t happen to us?”
“Have a doctor on standby in your residence. Marc’s territory this time.
Surgical intervention may be necessary. How Leo did it is beyond me, and Marc certainly has a hands-off approach…
” Gaspard waved his hand dismissively. “And be fully aware that we may find it necessary to drain an egg or two if things go south. Bear this wholly in mind.”
Viraj bit back tears as his eyes burned. “Whatever pups come of us were more than we ever could have hoped for.”
“And we will need to report this to the record keepers.” Gaspard pulled out a tablet and cast his gaze away, typing and flicking things. “As all births need to be recorded.”
Viraj nodded once. “I understand.”
Gatlin squeezed his shoulder and turned to look, presumably, where Teige was. He gave the lout a kick.
“Gah! Fuck. M’up!” Teige sat up and glanced around with wide eyes.
“Vivi may need surgery for the eggs to come out safely, and if things go south, they may have to cull one or two.” Gatlin’s voice cracked as he spoke the low whisper.
Teige let loose what sounded like a strangled whimper. “We’ll make this right for you, Vivi.”
“It’s already right.” Viraj held a hand to his belly. “I will mourn the loss if I need to, but we’ll have the pups we wanted. I promise.”
Viraj’s dragon spoke, a surly rumble that tickled the inside of his head. We will have many pups. There are no tears for eggs that were not meant to be, only time for them to be born again.
Viraj blinked a few tears away. I do not wish to lose pups. Not like this.
A pup that never hatches only waits in line to hatch again. Do not mourn them.
But Viraj would.
“And what if any are born Hijada?” Viraj dared to rest a hand on his belly. “Or a freak like me.”
“There won’t be Hijada. You’re not breeding Vritra to Vritra.” Gaspard shook his head. “It’s a product of inbreeding so many generations back. That’s why Vritra born outside of the main houses aren’t regarded as high Vritra.”
“That’s the first thing they taught us when we got our education,” Ryan said, sticking his tongue out. “Welcome to the Dette club, Viraj. You’ll now be a member of our council, I suppose.”
“What happens to Viraj’s council votes? They’ll want to go back and retally things that were close…” Teige rubbed at his face and huffed.
“According to my medical notes, he was a Drake at that time.” Gaspard smirked. “But unfortunately, some people might argue. Sile will put his foot down, if I know him.”
Ryan pulled out his phone and began typing away. “I’m telling Shui to put pressure on him. We’ll make this go away. A happy Dette makes for a happy Drake.”
Viraj gave a nod and a hoarse thanks. “I suppose I need to go home and rest, now.”
“Frikka will be there tomorrow morning. Bright and whatever he considers early.” Gaspard smiled and Viraj tucked his shirt into place. It was going to be a long four and a half weeks.