Cam
SEVENTEEN
I’d been sharing a bed with a dragon shifter for months and living in a house with him and little dragons even longer. But I’d never met my mate’s fiery beast.
Price hadn’t done a full shift that day in the studio.
He’d had scales on his forearms and chest, and he’d produced fire, but his dragon was tucked inside him.
I’d sprinted to the car and hadn’t hung around asking to see the rest of his beast. My mate’s dragon was part of him, and I should have been present when he shifted long before now, but that day was seared into my memory, and whenever I pulled it up, my body was wracked with tremors.
I was Price’s mate, his life partner, his happy ever after, and he was mine, but I’d asked for time.
He didn’t prod me, and I didn’t bring up the topic.
Not that he didn’t talk about his beast. He’d mention how grumpy he was or how he wanted to hunt.
But the one issue hanging over us was me meeting the dragon, and we’d detoured around it.
My mate usually flew at night, and my reading or work would be interrupted by wingbeats over the roof that reminded me of a sail captured by the wind. I’d jump out of bed and peer up at the night sky but was never able to see much.
Isla often drew her papa’s dragon, and the three children talked about their dragons they were yet to meet just as human kids discussed how tall they were going to be or what they wanted to be when they grew up. I’d listen and ask questions, though I’d never been eye to eye with a dragon.
But my due date was drawing closer, and if I was going to give birth to a dragon shifter, I needed to be in the presence of the baby’s father’s dragon. And today was the day.
The kids were at school and Price was working from home, so I strode into his office before I could talk myself out of it.
“I need you to show me your dragon.”
He set down his coffee and glanced at me.
“Not a fly-past-the-window and no loop-de-loops. I don’t want you showing off, because this baby is almost here and I can’t be scraping you off a tree while I’m in labor.
” I cradled my belly. “Our little one will probably have wings one day, so what sort of parent would I be if I can’t look your beast in the eye. ”
Price scoffed that his dragon would never go splat, “And especially not in a tree.”
“Okay, forget that, but I need to introduce myself to him.”
He got up and walked around the desk. “You ran last time and all you witnessed was fire and scales. Are you sure you want to do this now?”
My bump pressed against him, and I stroked his cheek. “I am. This needs to happen.”
My mate pointed out the window. “Can you hold that thought until tonight? I’d be asking for trouble if I took my scales in the middle of the day.”
Damn, I’d gathered my courage, and now I had to sit on it and contain it until this evening. “Okay, after the kids are in bed.”
The children could have shared the experience, they’d seen their dad’s dragon many times. But I needed to be alone, in case I wobbled, choked, or raced inside and hid under the bed.
“Is the baby coming?” Bea reached for her tablet, and I was ready to shut down any documentary speak. She understood she wouldn’t be witnessing the birth but was eager to add any finishing touches to her project. “You can’t keep still, and you’re constantly glancing out the window.”
“Is that where the baby is?” Jack peered outside.
“No, I’m tired and can’t wait to meet your new brother or sister.”
Price did the bath-and-bedtime routines, but when the kids were asleep, he held my hand and we wandered into the back garden.
“I need plenty of space because of my beast’s wingspan.”
Did I need to pee? I had an inkling I might, and what if the kids woke, though I had my phone with the baby monitor app. And when was that logo due? Perhaps I should rush back to the house and finish it?
Price squeezed my sweaty palm. “You can change your mind.”
No, no. This was going to happen despite me shivering in 90F heat. “Take your clothes off and shift, please, babe. I have a bed that’s calling my name.”
My mate unfolded a deck chair and told me to sit. He got undressed and folded his clothes. Thank gods one of us was tidy. My mate would set a good example for the baby. But my side of the bed was messy. Should I fix that now? I tugged at his hand, but he didn’t let go.
“You’ve got the look, as the kids used to say.”
Huh? That was when he and I were circling around one another.
“Your mind’s racing, making to-do lists.”
“Pfft.” I shook my head. “No.”
Price grinned and walked away from me, and my belly rumbled with nerves as scales appeared and swallowed his skin, reminding me of the heated glass my mate worked with.
But it was when the wings emerged that my mouth fell open.
He wasn’t just majestic. That word was inadequate.
Instead of describing him, I felt the power of his wings sprouting, the pink and gray scales Isla had captured in her mural, those same scales rippling over his legs and tail and the spikes shooting upwards and stabbing the sky.
“That’s… that’s your d-ad.” I patted my belly, and the baby kicked.
The dragon’s dark eyes blinked, but he planted his four feet on the grass and didn’t move.
“You’ve got me, right, baby?” There was another comforting kick. Our little one may have wanted to be out here. I’d exchange places in a heartbeat, but as Price’s mate, I had to meet his other half.
“We’ve got you.”
“What?” I twisted around and almost toppled thanks to my altered sense of gravity. But my three kids formed a protective ring around me. “You should be in bed.”
“That’s Daddy’s dragon, Camcam.” Jack waved at the beast.
“It’s okay, Dad. We’re here.”
Bea slipped her hand in mine. “Nothing bad’s going to happen, C.”
That name was what she called me now, and I loved it. It gave me an espionage-vibe, and I lifted my chin.
Jack took off running toward the dragon, waving and shouting.
Isla grabbed my free hand, and with her and Bea at my side, we walked toward my mate’s beast. My heart was pounding so hard and so fast, I expected to see my shirt billowing.
And it was, but it was the baby kicking.
And like their siblings, they were looking after me as I went to meet their dad’s beast.
Jack hugged the dragon’s tail as it wagged, and our son told us to hurry.
I paused a foot away, and my gaze locked with the beast. He didn’t blink, allowing me to study him. But instead of fire and fury, there was warmth and… and affection and the same eyes as Price’s human ones.
“They’re the same.” They were the ones that looked at me over breakfast, read stories to our children, and fixed my car when it broke down. “His eyes are the ones I know.”
“That’s because he’s Dad.” Bea rubbed her shoulder against mine.
I closed my eyes, and my mate’s scent, the one that greeted me every morning, washed over me. Even if I hadn’t known, I would have recognized him by his scent. It was Price with an earthy twist.
Isla let go of my hand and joined Jack. The pair leaned against the dragon and asked if he was going to fly or just stand there.
“Ready? Do you want me to hold you?” Bea’s encouraging smile made me determined to do this.
“Just stay close. All of you, please.”
I outstretched my hand and placed it on the dragon’s leg. I’d expected the scales to be cold, but they were warm, like my mate’s skin. The baby kicked again, and I moved closer so my bump brushed over the beast.
“Here we are.”
“We’re all together.” Isla pulled me in for a hug.
Bea slung an arm around me, and Jack whispered he’d like a ride.
“No rides.” Was that a thing?
“He’s not allowed. We don’t do that.” Bea gave her brother a stern look.
I glanced up at the tiny tendrils of smoke escaping the beast’s nostrils and beckoned him closer. He lowered his head until it was level with my bump, and he pressed his snout against it.
No one moved. And then the baby started playing football or maybe basketball. They kicked and shoved their fist up. Jack squealed, saying the baby had a drumstick. But our little one was engaging with his alpha father.
Price had felt the baby kick many times, but this experience, in dragon form, was ancient and impossible. My thoughts raced back thousands of years to an omega standing in a forest with a protruding belly and a dragon nuzzling his bump.
“This is us, our family.” I stroked his snout and more smoke erupted.
“He wants to fly.” Jack told us to stand back.
We stood with our arms around one another as my mate’s beast lifted off into the cloudless sky. I squinted up as his wings flapped and pulled him skyward. He circled the house and landed on the flattened grass where he’d been a minute before.
The scales fell away and the tail and spikes vanished. I tossed Price his pants, and the children rushed toward him. I lumbered rather than walked and fell into his arms.
“I don’t want to know how you three knew what we were doing, but I’m glad you’re here.”
I rested my head on his shoulder. “The baby loves your dragon already.”
The kids ran ahead to the house, and for a few steps, it was us, in the dark with me waddling. Price was quiet until we were almost at the back door. He brushed his arm on mine.
“You didn’t run.” He stared at the grass below his bare feet. “At the studio, you drove away, and it was the perfect image of all my fears. When a human sees me, all of me, they leave.”
He faced me, and we stopped walking. “But tonight, you walked toward me.”
I nodded. If I’d spoken, I would have sobbed, but I was holding that in.
“You have no idea how that affected me.”
“I think I do.” I put his hand on my bump where our child was doing cartwheels. “I wasn’t going to run like the first time. Looking back, I understand that was the last time I ran away, and now I run toward.”
Price placed a kiss on my brow. “How do you feel?”
“I’m conflicted because I’m in love with two people. One very hot alpha and his equally hot beast.”
He cocked a brow. “Careful. I might get jealous.”