Chapter 24 #2
I fought to keep my voice even. “The humans slew most of them, keeping a small core should the need for them ever arise again.”
He gasped, sounding horrified.
I gaped at him. “That surprises you? Humans are kinda like that, ya know.”
Mason’s eyes twinkled. “I’m still getting used to the idea that you’re not one of them.”
“Anyway. Some of the dragon knights escaped and because they looked human, they were able to mix in with the people. Except that left the humans with a problem. What if they reproduced? So the plan was to hunt down all the escaping knights, and once they were discovered, they would be killed. And if they had babies? That meant all of them—the knight, the mother, and any offspring.”
“That is so fucked up,” Mason croaked.
“Yeah, I know.” I took a deep breath. “My dad was one of the original knights.”
His eyes widened. “You’re telling me your father is…” He started counting on his fingers.
“Almost fifteen hundred years old.”
“I would have gotten there eventually,” he groused.
I snickered. “Sure, if I’d waited another fifteen hundred years.”
“He’s aging well, then. He doesn’t look a day over one thousand. Is that a dragon thing?”
“I guess.”
“Are you saying your dad is immortal?”
“No, I’m not saying that. To be honest, we don’t know.
The spell transferred some of the dragon’s abilities and obviously extended Dad’s life, but there are no notes or journals, so we just don’t know.
So yeah, he’s pretty mature, his sense of humor notwithstanding.
He’s the one who came up with the idea that we’d bounce around from small town to small town.
Most of the dragon knights that escaped made their way to the big cities, but they were found out quickly.
The smaller towns? No one pays that much attention, so we get to fly under the radar.
Then, every so often we move to a different small town. That’s how we ended up here.”
Mason’s eyes widened once more. “Wait. If your dad is fifteen hundred, how old are you?”
“I’m twenty-two, like you.”
“My head is spinning here. Then how old is your mom?”
“Oh, she’s only about eight hundred.”
His jaw dropped. “Please, tell me you’re joking.”
I smirked. “Okay, I’m joking.”
He wiped his brow. “Thank goodness.”
“But she is eight hundred and eighteen, to be exact.”
“But how? How is that possible?”
Now came the biology lesson.
“The dragon knights inherited an extended life, if not immortality. When one of them meets the person he wants to spend his life with, he’ll bite him or her.
That causes physiological changes in their bodies, like granting them a longer life.
It was why I had to be careful in high school.
If I’d given someone my bite… well, the shit would well and truly have hit the fan.
” I peered into his eyes. “But you? I want to give you my bite so badly, because I can’t imagine spending a single day without you. ”
He flushed. “And if you do bite me, what happens then?”
“You’ll live a really long time, same as me. We’ll be bonded, literally. And as for sex?” I grinned. “If you thought it was good before, wait until you receive my knot.”
His eyes scrunched. “Say what now?”
“Dragon knights are very rare. Because of the magic involved in their creation, it’s hard for them to have children. My mom and dad were blessed to have three. Most are lucky to get one—the bulk get none. In terms of human science, our species is critically endangered.”
Mason’s eyebrows shot up. “But Omegas are extremely fertile. We can have lots of babies.”
I needed Mase to realize something. “I didn’t know that when we got together. You’re right, but that has nothing to do with why I wanted you.”
He frowned. “There’s something I still don’t get. Your dad is fifteen hundred years old, your mom just over eight hundred. Why did it take them so long to have a child?”
I sighed. "That's how rare dragon children are. Mom and Dad were together hundreds of years, and they tried. Pretty much every day, according to Dad.” I grimaced. “And just so you know, thinking about that has scarred me for life.”
He shuddered. “Ew. Dude, I get it. Parents having sex.” Another shudder.
“But it never went well,” I continued. “Mom didn't get pregnant, no matter what they tried.
Then, one day, twenty-three years ago, she woke up and puked.
She was sick all day, and pretty much every morning.
They took her to the doctor and he told them 'congratulations'.
It was weird, because a few years later the twins were born, but then we were it for them.
The doctor said he couldn't see how they had us, because Mom was infertile.
After we were born, they couldn't have others, despite wanting them. "
“Can we get back to the knot thing?”
I’d thought long and hard about how to explain this. “Have you ever seen a dog having sex?”
“No. That’s not how I get my kicks.”
I pulled out my phone and opened a video.
Mase stared at me. “You have this bookmarked? Why?”
I let out a sigh. “For you, dumbshit. I hoped this might come up one day, and I wanted to be ready to explain it.” I pressed play and two cartoon dogs popped up on the screen.
“See, when a dog has sex, his dick has a bulb that swells up, locking him to the female until he successfully inseminates her. Dragon knights have something similar, but only a female who has received a bite can get pregnant and that’s if they’re incredibly lucky.
” I bit my lip. “I believe you could change that.”
“How so?”
“A child of a dragon knight will literally take on the best traits of both parents. In your case, our child could be very fertile, allowing a lot of births. Again, this wasn’t even in my mind when we got together.”
“But now it is?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes were like saucers. “For what? Telling me the two of us together could rescue an absolutely amazing species? Fuck me now and knock me up, big boy!”
I laughed. “You need to know the whole story first.”
“Okay, so tell me.”
“Us coming here? It was the luck of the draw. We had no idea werewolves even existed. But Dad thinks we could stay here if we told them about us and asked them for protection.”
Mason rubbed the bridge of his nose. “So let me get this straight. You want to ask John to have the pack protect your family in case any of these dragon knights were to come after you?”
“Essentially, yes. But it won’t be for free.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve heard legends of dragons and their vast hoards of wealth?
Well, we don’t have diamonds or gold or anything like that, but we do have money from investments made over fifteen hundred years.
My dad wants to build apartments, open a factory, make storefronts. Things to draw people to the area.”
“That sounds… interesting.”
My heart thudded.
This might work out after all.
Mason
I hadn’t seen Kip this excited in years, not since Jessica Martin had shown him her boobs at thirteen.
I was intrigued as well. Not by the boobs, of course, but by what Kip was talking about now.
“I’m not sure I’m understanding this. You know wolves aren’t the most populous of shifters.”
“And that’s the thing!” Kip’s voice held excitement. “When the one giving birth is a female, all babies will be dragon knights. But you’re not a female, so those rules don’t apply. We could have dragon knight babies or—”
“Or wolf babies!”
His excitement was infectious. He nodded. “And that means in the future, our babies could help both species increase their numbers.”
It was simple, but so fucking brilliant.
“What are the downsides?” I wanted to hear it all.
Kip nibbled his lip. “Honestly, I’m not sure if there are any. I know that sounds too good to be true, but I think this is good, for everyone involved.”
“I’m more than willing to do it.” I swallowed. “Will your bite hurt?”
He slid a hand up and touched my neck. “Yes, but it’s an erotic pain. A white-hot flash that’ll zip through your system, causing you to clamp down on my cock, which will cause the bulb to swell in your ass.” Kip smirked. “It’s all very scientific, you see.”
I rolled my eyes. “In other words, you don’t know either.”
“Haven’t a clue, other than what Dad told us about the dragons and the bees.”
The dragons and the—
Damn, that was cute.
I still had questions, but the phone rang, putting paid to all of them. I answered it.
“Mason, you and Kip need to come to the police station. Now.”
I sighed. “Sure, Dad. We’ll be right over.” I hung up, then gazed at Kip. “This will have to wait.”
“It’ll keep. After all, once I give you my bite we’ll have plenty of time for talking.”
Shit. He wasn’t kidding.