Chapter 14
Clapping his hands several times to get attention, Kieran said, “Time to go! Theo, Norm, and Fionn…let’s get the stuff packed and shipped.
Miss L, we’re going shopping this afternoon to pick out some clothes for Fionn so he looks fabulous.
But we also might be looking at pup clothes. Do you want to come?”
“Oh, Yes! I’ll see you at lunch and then tag along with you this afternoon. I want to get Jake and Jessica something unique from Scotland,” Lizzie said, giggling.
“Oh my gods!” exclaimed Kieran. “I know just the perfect thing…baby kilts…I saw them online while I was looking for mine. Oh wait until you see them, Miss L, they are so cute. I never knew they made them that small. Oh, we should get one for Ian’s pup too.
There’s a choice of colors and I think I’m getting the one with… ”
“Pink!” Theo shouted. “Like you would buy anything else?”
Fionn looked askance at Kieran. “You only buy pink? I don’t think that color will work for me.”
Kieran giggled. “Pink is perfect for everyone, but I don’t think you’re ready for it yet…well, maybe some tiny briefs but that depends…”
“Depends on what?” asked Theo.
“Hush, babe,” said Norman, leaning over to whisper in Theo’s ear, “How large his cock is, because dragons have the biggest ones around.”
Theo’s eyes widened as he whispered back, “Ooohh! How big?”
Norman knew Theo liked his big cock; his lover had a thing for big dicks. Shaking his head, he said in a low voice, “We’ll talk about it later.”
“C’mon, let’s go,” Logan said, “time’s a-wasting!
” Grabbing his phone, he ushered the group out the door, and before he closed it, said to Colton, “Leave the stuff on the table. Room service will take care of it. Have a great time and we’ll see you guys tonight.
” A chorus of “Byes” and “You, toos” followed him as he closed the door and walked toward the elevator hand in hand with his mate.
Once outside, Logan said, “Guys, I made arrangements to pick up some boxes and a van at a place about two blocks from here so let’s walk.”
“Which way?” asked Norman.
“Straight one block, then hang a left for a block and it’ll be on your right,” Logan answered.
As they started out, Kieran started to giggle and, when he heard his mate through their mind link asking what was so funny, he couldn’t resist pointing to the group as they strolled down the street. “We’re a gaggle of gays!”
“A gaggle of gays?” Logan repeated. “So you’re sticking to the goose theme today, huh?”
“Yup…just reminding you of what…”
“I goosed you this morning,” Logan said.
“Uh-huh. So you still owe me four more gooses,” Kieran said, giggling, “See…a gaggle of gays!”
Logan burst out laughing. “I have no idea how you made that connection, but I get it. Four more gooses today.”
~/~/~/~/~
After all of Fionn’s clothes and personal belongings were sorted, it took very little time to pack up what was going to California and put aside what Fionn would need for the next two weeks.
Logan sent Theo and Norman to load up the van, while Kieran supervised.
Rom joined Logan in Fionn’s bedroom. Relieved to be finished, Logan leaned against the wall and looked around, appalled at the conditions Fionn had been living in.
When his eyes landed on the young dragon, Logan saw the shame in his eyes as he stood there, arms crossed against his chest in a defensive pose.
His anger at Fionn’s father flared, but he pushed it aside for now because he wanted to know about his hoard.
“Fionn, Kieran told me you’re afraid your father will take your hoard so you want to move it. ”
“I’m not ‘afraid’ the asshole will do it…I know he will. Why do you think he tried to kill me? Because I’m gay? No, he just used it as an excuse. He knew I was gay way before any of this happened…”
“But,” interrupted Rom, “he claimed he didn’t know you were gay when I told him that’s why you didn’t want to marry a female dragon. Why would he have said that if he already knew?”
“I’m confused about something else,” said Logan. “There are laws protecting the hoard of a minor and I need some background so I can help. Why does your father want your hoard?” asked Logan.
Fionn paused before he said, “Look around…what do you see? Anything that shows my father’s wealth?
Nope, that’s because he never spent any of it on me or my mother…
even when she got sick and was dying, my father didn’t care.
My mother’s will left me her hoard and my father got nothing and ever since, he’s been trying to get control of it.
First, he tried getting me to sign it over, thinking I was stupid, but my mother warned me not to sign any papers my father gave me, no matter what.
“Next, he tried to get himself appointed guardian of it, telling the Court I was too young to know how to protect it. When that failed, he bought me very little in the way of food and clothing, hoping I’d use some of my hoard to buy food so he could find out where it was.
And if he did, most of it would have mysteriously disappeared.
When that didn’t work out, I’m sure he made a deal with the female dragon I was supposed to marry as another way to get his hands on my hoard. ”
“Was the female dragon legally an adult?” asked Logan.
“I think so,” answered Fionn.
“Rom, what do you know about this woman?” Logan asked.
“Not much, but I do know she was an adult because his father made a big point of that, but I don’t know why it was important.”
“I do,” said Logan. “If Fionn had married her, he would have lost control of his hoard. His adult wife could petition for guardianship of it and it would have been granted.”
“That fucking son-of-a-bitch! I bet he had a deal with her to steal my hoard,” exclaimed Fionn, beginning to get agitated.
“Yeah, that’s my guess too,” said Logan. “By the time you reached legal age, there’d be little, if anything, left.”
Rom shook his head. “So that’s why when I supported your refusal to marry, he decided to kill both of us,” he said.
“Exactly. But to prove this theory, we need the name of the female dragon. Any idea where we can find out who she is, Fionn?” asked Logan.
“Yeah. C’mon.” Fionn led Logan and Rom down to his father’s study and once inside, went to a desk, pulled out a drawer, reached in and pushed a button.
On the opposite wall, a panel slid back, exposing a small room filled with file cabinets.
“My father keeps all his papers in here,” Fionn said, “well, except for his hoard information. That he keeps in a below-ground safe.”
Fionn walked into the room and headed for one file cabinet. “This is where it would be, if it’s still here.” He opened the lower drawer and started rifling through the file folders and, when he found the one he wanted, pulled it out and handed it to Logan. “Here, her name might be in here.”
Logan opened it up and found a picture of a woman, wondering if she was Fionn’s intended.
He quickly read a few documents in the file folder, found her name and a letter from her agreeing to marry Fionn.
He flipped through the rest of the documents quickly until he found one that alarmed him.
“Fionn, do you think your father would miss this file, if we took it?”
“Probably not. His plan failed and with your brother appointed as my guardian, my father knows he can’t get me to marry her anymore.”
“Good. Cody needs to have this information. Now, what do you want me to do to protect your hoard?” asked Logan.
“My mother hid my hoard in different places and while I have access to them, I’d feel better if I could move it all to California until this crap with my father gets sorted out,” said Fionn.
“Okay, I need to call a couple of people to get that done. Are you finished here?” asked Logan.
“Yeah…wait, I forgot something. I’ll be right back.”
“Rom, are you ready? Did you get all your stuff?” asked Logan.
“Yep, my suitcase is packed and down at the front door,” he said.
Fionn came running back, holding a small leather pouch. “My mother’s jewelry…she gave it to me before she died and told me to hide it where my father would never find it. Now, I’m ready to blow this shithole.”
“Good, let’s go. Rom, do you want to be dropped off anywhere?” asked Logan.
“No. I need to pick up a few gift items at the hotel and I’ll grab a cab from there.”
Nodding, Logan placed the file under his shirt before tucking it back into his pants.
He hadn’t noticed anyone around but just in case, he didn’t want anyone to tip off Fionn’s father.
He hoped the information in the files would help Penn fight the young dragon’s father when the guardianship matter came before the High Council.
~/~/~/~/~
Back at the hotel, Logan arranged for the boxes to be shipped and returned the van. He left Kieran with Fionn to confer on clothing matters, sure that Theo and Norman would be offering their two cents. He could only hope the final list wasn’t too long, but knowing his mate, he wouldn’t bet on it.
Now alone in his suite, he picked up his phone and called Jackson, figuring his brother would be up with Daniel.
He was angry about what he’d found in the file Fionn handed him, but worried at the same time.
He wondered if the hearing for permanent guardianship could be expedited, hoping the evidence he had would convince the High Council that Fionn’s life was in danger.
“Hello? Hello? Logan, are you there?” asked Jackson.
Hearing his brother’s voice, Logan said, “Yeah. How’s everything?”
Chuckling, Jackson said, “Fine, but you’ll never guess what happened.”
“What?”
“Slate is the Fated Mate of Dakota!”
“What? When? How? Are you shittin’ me?”
“No, really! Slate came for a short visit and wham, bam, the next thing I knew Slate told me Dakota was his Fated Mate!”
“Uhh, how did Dakota react?”
“Not good…at least at first. He shifted and ran off. Then Slate shifted in my office and Steel went crazy, shifting to protect me. Slate then ran after Dakota and late last night, they showed up…both still in one piece…thankfully. Slate was going to make dinner for them and I headed to bed. But I asked Dakota if he was all right and he said he was. I have no idea what will happen today, though.”
“Holy Fuck! Does that mean Dakota will be able to have pups?”
“Oracle wouldn’t say, but I’m pretty sure it does, though I have no idea what Dakota thinks about that.”
“Well that should be interesting. I better not tell Ian and Colton yet…not that Ian would mind, but I think Colton would freak out even more than he is now,” Logan said, then added, “I just can’t wrap my head around Dakota having a mate.
He swore he never wanted one because it would get in the way of his dream. Holy shit balls!”
“I know. I’m worried about that too. Hopefully I can speak to Dakota alone today to make sure he’s okay with it. You and Kieran okay?”
“Great, but I have something to tell you…”
“Oh shit, don’t tell me you’re having problems?”
“Fuck no. I just said everything was great. Are you listening?”
“Sorry. Go ahead.”
“Kieran and I are going to have a pup!” Silence greeted Logan’s announcement. Thinking the call dropped, he checked his phone only to see he was still connected. What the fuck is it with my brothers? “Jackson, are you there? Did you hear what I said? JACKSON!”
Jackson was in a daze. Kieran was pregnant?
His twin was going to have a pup? Lowering his phone, Jackson looked at it quizzically, wondering if somehow he was listening to someone else’s call.
Finally he heard his brother yelling and putting the phone back up to his ear said, “Logan, did you say Kieran was pregnant?”
“See! I knew you weren’t listening to me. YES, my mate is pregnant and I’m going to be a father. Now do you understand?”
“Kieran is an Omega?”
“What the fuck is the matter with you guys? First Colton, then you! Let me make this simple for you. My mate, who is an Omega, is pregnant with my pup. Can I get a ‘congratulations’ now?”
The hurt in his brother’s voice finally jolted Jackson and he quickly replied, “Logan, I’m sorry.
Your news caught me off guard…I didn’t know Kieran was an Omega…
I guess I was flabbergasted. Hey, that’s really great news and congratulations!
Holy shit! You’re having a pup! Fuckingfantastic!
Oh, wait till Mystia finds out she’ll be a grandmother again…
fuck! Mystia will be a grandmother five times over or more if you are having twins. ”
“Thanks and no, I don’t think we’re having twins. Colton’s reaction was the same about Kieran being an Omega. That’s why I won’t tell him about Dakota yet.”
“Good idea. Hey, Daniel has outgrown a bunch of his outfits so if you want some, let me know.”
“I’ll ask Kieran. This afternoon we plan to do some shopping for the pup. Lizzie is coming with us and between the two of them, I just hope I can survive. She and Kieran are already talking about what they want to buy.”
“Enjoy it! When Steel took me to San Francisco, I had a fantastic time in the baby stores. Wait until you see the cute clothes they make with wolves on them.”
Groaning at the image of Kieran’s reaction to the wolf clothes, he said, “Shit, I’ll be lucky if we get finished by dinnertime.”
Chuckling, Jackson said, “Don’t forget to buy lots of onesies…that’s the advice I was given.”
“Fuck off. So how’s Daniel doing?”
“Growing like a weed which is normal according to Oracle.”
“Speaking of Oracle, Colton wanted to know if you spoke to her about Ian’s new-found Scottish subjects.”
“Not yet. So much was happening yesterday with Dakota and Slate, I didn’t get a chance, but tell Colton I’ll do it today, I promise.”
“Okay. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is Fionn, but I think we’ll need Mystia there too.”
Jackson sighed. If Logan needed Mystia, he knew it wasn’t going to be good news. “Hey bro, tell me what the problem is before I call her.”