Chapter 26
Jade
Guardians of Glitter Bomb Territory
I lay face down on the bar with the world coming in and out of focus.
Inside his inner sanctum, my lion rolled around as if someone dosed him with draconic catnip.
The irony didn’t escape me. This was where my carrier laid, face down and pants down, the first night he was in the GGB.
It might not have even been the GGB yet.
Still, he’d runaway from home and my literal psycho grandfather and then Liam shot him in the ass with a crossbow.
“Not my ass! Only Beryl can touch me there!” my lion said and made the closest sound a lion could to laughter. I laughed too and my carrier smoothed down my hair.
“It’s okay, baby,” he whispered to me. “Beryl has Jondi. They’ll be here soon.”
“He’s a good dad,” I whispered. “Hey! Is my baby okay?” Panic cut through the laughing gas.
“Yes,” it was Doctor Lawngry speaking now. “Remember? We did an ultrasound before we got you settled on the bar. The blow didn’t land near the baby and they’re just a little jellybean. We’re ensuring you stay as relaxed as possible. That’s all you need to do for your baby right now.”
“Okay. Okay. I can do that,” I said as the mask was slid back over my face.
The doctor and my carrier talked but I couldn’t make out their words.
The next time I woke up there was a pillow under my head and an otter asleep across my legs.
On my pillow was the little rock with the face to keep me company.
I smiled. I almost tested my wing but remembered someone told me they had set it and wrapped it and I should try not to move it too much.
I didn’t remember shifting back into human form after biting out the belly of my attacker but somewhere along the way I had.
Wait! Beryl ripped that fucker in half! I raised my head up to look around.
“Shhh… I’m here,” Beryl whispered from the barstool nearest my head. His mom and Bree sat at a table on the other side of the room. Poor Bree looked so pregnant. “They’re moving the wedding back again.”
“No,” I sighed.
“Yes,” he nodded. “They’re not going to have a wedding that we can’t be at. Plus, I think Mum might’ve come around to the idea Bree might not lay her egg until she’s near more water. I don’t think either of them thought it would be a problem, but maybe…” he glanced worriedly at his moms.
“But not because of me,” I said, hating that I ruined everything.
“That’s the pain meds talking or coming down from the pain meds talking, I should say,” Beryl took my hand in his. “You didn’t make those bears do that.”
“There’s something you’re blocking from our link. I don’t like it. Who died?”
“No. Well, a lot of mercenary bears,” Beryl sighed.
“But that’s not what you’re hiding. Did Jondi get hurt? Did they attack the school?” The questions tumbled out of my dry mouth.
“Do you want an ice cube?” he asked.
“Yes, but…” I didn’t get to finish what I wanted to say because Beryl spooned an ice cube into my mouth.
“My dad is in town. I don’t know how I feel about it and I don’t think this is the right time to talk about it.”
I opened my mouth to ask if it was the dragon who smelled sort of like him but thought better of it. He said he didn’t want to talk about it after all.
“I met Volex too. The one from Medwin and Clarence’s book. It’s him. We’re on a flight or a family link or something. He knew Pras. Of course, he knew Pras,” Beryl said. “Shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be talking about any of this right now you need to rest.”
“Distract me from the fact I don’t know if I can sit up yet or not,” I said and squeezed his hand.
“Volex wants to work at the playroom once it’s all fixed.
The damage was all on the outside and the big window.
They’re already working on fixing it. Canton’s down there himself.
They don’t know why the bears decided it was a good time to attack but they helped the wrong side of the war in London too. It’s all so bloody stupid.”
“It is,” I nodded.
“Then Pras told my dad to come meet me,” he sighed.
“As soon as they let me sit up, I’ll eat all of them,” I grumbled and my stomach growled.
“Michael, is he able to eat yet?” Beryl called out and I sniffed around for the doctor.
Doctor Lawngry came over, felt my head, and asked me how I was feeling.
“Stiff to be honest. It’s like someone tied up all my bones in my shoulders and back.”
“That’s exactly what we did,” he nodded. “Does it hurt?”
“In a stiff way,” I nodded. “But not like it did when it first happened. I’m sort of itchy too.”
“Itchy is a good sign. I used your sire’s alpha cells because he was a nearby and close match. You’ll probably be extra hungry for a few days until your body uses them up,” the doctor said.
Doctor Michael Lawngry was one of the first, if not the very first, recorded healer to use healing cells from alphas to accelerate healing in omega and beta shifters.
The therapy worked better in omegas than beta patients since we technically had something for the cells to latch onto.
Everyone with the Alpha/Omega gene had technically had both parts.
Only one was turned on in the gene at birth and the other was dormant.
The therapy wasn’t enough to ‘turn’ an omega into an alpha but it was enough to aid our natural healing.
We healed faster than non-shifters even on our own but not as quickly as alphas.
“I wanted it to be someone related to one of you two because of the baby,” he went on to explain. “Your sire was here and willing. Plus, he was the only reason your lion didn’t try to eat me.”
“I didn’t mean to,” I yawned. “But can I eat?”
“Yeah, I think so. We’ll start small, though. Maybe try out some water or iced tea first,” he said. “I’ll have someone go into the kitchen and get it. If that stays down, we’ll get you something real to eat, okay?”
“Can I sit up?” I asked, hopefully.
The doctor glanced at Beryl and together they helped me sit up. By the time it was all said and done, my carrier had lifted my little sleeping Jondi into his arms and Beryl sat behind me for support on the bar. I leaned my good side against him, and he rested his hand on my belly.
“I know you’re mad at him, but I think your dad saved me,” I whispered.
“I know he did but it seems like the least he could do,” Beryl said.
“Why does Volex want to work at Flight School?”
“He said he’d work for free,” Beryl sighed. “He just wants to work there so no one else dares to attack it. He talked a lot about how alphas aren’t as high quality as they use to be and that back in his day they knew they should be good fathers and also badasses.”
“You went to our baby,” I grinned up at him.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “As soon as they opened the damn doors! I didn’t want to leave you, but I’m not a healer and you were okay. You weren’t bleeding from anywhere I could see and…”
“Don’t you apologize for going to Jondi. I can fight. I was with my carrier. While Jondi wasn’t alone, in his mind he was,” I frowned.
“He finally settled on the title of Dragon Dad for me,” Beryl chuckled and kissed my cheek.
“I’m so glad you were able to help him when I couldn’t,” I said, leaning my head back against him.
“The whole town came out. I swear, people were everywhere. They were at the playroom fighting and at the school ready to eat people.”
“That’s how we do it here. There are people I don’t like but I’ll be damned if someone is going to attack them in our town. I’m not moving. I know we didn’t really talk about it, but I’m not.”
“I know,” he nodded. “Your business is here. This is Jondi’s home. I’ve been here and there and everywhere in between. Now, the only place I want to be is where you and Jondi are.”