12. Two Dragons, What Is My Life #2
Emre frowned, picking through the hazy memories of his latest heat. It had happened after he’d left Ronald, barely after his injuries had healed. At that point, he had been sore all over, but he’d needed an alpha to help take the edge off his need.
The alpha had been... okay. He hadn’t aggravated Emre’s newly healed wounds, but he hadn’t taken special care with them, either.
“He smelled like the sea,” Emre said.
“Hmm. Sea lion shifter? Octopus shifter? Maybe Griff’s omega might know more.”
They pulled up to a set of iron gates that was part of a tall, imposing hedge. As the car slowed down, the gates rolled open. Zenith drove right through. Did he live in a gated community?
Behind the hedge was a small forest. They followed a winding road through the forest to a majestic building, with wide front steps leading up to a set of huge wooden doors. Picture windows dotted the two-story building, framed by brightly colored curtains.
It blew Emre’s mind. The forest dulled the sounds beyond the hedge; it felt as though they were in the middle of nowhere, instead of a town with tall buildings and countless people.
“Welcome to my lair,” Zenith said warmly.
“This is an amazing place,” Emre said, shifting back into a human. He gathered Abbie and her blanket nest into his arms.
Zenith jogged around the car, opening the door for him. “Here, let me carry Abbie. I have some baby things gathered, but I wasn’t expecting to set up a nursery yet.”
Emre frowned. “You have space for a nursery?”
Zenith gestured vaguely at the building. “Plenty of space.”
“Is your apartment in the front?”
“My... apartment?”
“This is a gated community, right? Although I was expecting more buildings.” Emre looked around, but he didn’t see any others.
Zenith blinked. “No, it’s just this one building. Not an apartment. All of this is mine.”
Emre froze, doing a double-take. “Y-you own all of this?!”
“Yes?” Zenith blushed. “I saved up every dollar I earned to buy this place, although my dads insisted on helping when I told them I was going to be an author.” He made a face. “So if that makes me a less worthy alpha, I’ll understand if you—”
“No, no!” Emre cried, waving his hands. “You own a mansion. That’s... a lot. I’ve never been in a house even a quarter the size of this place.”
Zenith shrugged, looking shy. “All the better to provide with.”
“So this is why you didn’t need to bring along any clothes or food,” Emre said. “You already have it all here.”
“Like Huxton said, the apartment has been stripped down so I can focus on writing my book. No internet, no TV, no distractions.”
“And now you’re back here because of me.” Emre winced.
“It’s fine. You needed to be somewhere safe.” Zenith gave a hopeful smile. “Would you like a tour?”
“Sure.” Emre tried to wrap his mind around all of this. First Abbie, now a mansion.
Zenith scooped Abbie out of her bedsheet nest, carrying her little winged form easily in one arm. With his other arm, he helped Emre out of the car. “Got the keys?”
Emre hefted the backpack onto his shoulder. “Yeah.”
Something squeaked behind them. Emre turned. Buttwheel had followed them all the way here. He couldn’t help smiling. “Hey, Buttwheel.”
The shopping cart flipped its wheels, rolling up to nudge him lightly.
“That’s a very good cart you have there,” Zenith said.
“Buttwheel is the best cart.” Emre patted his cart and frowned at it. “Try not to go exploring in the trees, okay? You might get stuck and I don’t know if I’ll be able to rescue you. I can’t walk very well right now.”
“I’ll rescue it if it does,” Zenith said. Buttwheel squeaked and nudged the alpha too.
Emre beamed. Then he squawked when Zenith scooped him up with his other arm. “Eek!”
“Don’t squirm,” Zenith said. “I only have one arm to keep you balanced, but it’s faster this way.”
He carried Emre all the way up to the front doors and paused. “You have a set of keys now. Unlock the door, sweetheart.”
Emre blushed. Zenith actually gave me the keys to this place. He fumbled with the backpack and pulled out the keys—his keys!—pausing at the frowning keyhole. “Will it... recognize me?”
“Hey, Lockerson,” Zenith said, with a sideways glance at Emre. “Yeah, I named all my locks. Anyway, this is Emre. He’s authorized to unlock and enter the house.”
The keyhole smiled.
“Hi,” Emre said, before staring down at the five silver keys.
“Fire key,” Zenith said. Only then did Emre realize that one of the keys had a fire motif on it. He slid that into the keyhole, half-expecting it to chew up his key. The lock clicked.
“Thanks,” Emre said, opening the door so Zenith didn’t have to put him or Abbie down.
Inside, the mansion was huge. He felt as though he was in a giant’s home; the hallways and doorways were much larger than Zenith.
“Why is everything so huge?” Emre blurted.
“So I can move around in here as a dragon.”
That made complete sense. And it also blew Emre’s mind. “Was this place custom-built for you?”
“Yes?” Zenith offered a shy smile.
“It’s amazing,” Emre said.
The walls were a soothing shade of cream, with exposed hardwood pillars and windows edged with the same dark wood.
The living room was made up of huge plush couches, large enough that a dragon could lie down on them.
A giant fireplace took up one side of the room, and all the end tables looked sturdy.
When they passed the kitchen, Emre gasped.
It was something out of a magazine, with stone countertops and redwood cabinetry. The fridge was a huge, humming steel monstrosity, and bar stools lined the island counter on one side. There was even a breakfast nook next to a picture window, with an amazing view of the forest beyond.
“It all looks so cozy,” Emre whimpered.
“You haven’t seen my bedroom,” Zenith purred.
“Oh gods, your bed is going to be amazing, isn’t it?”
“It’ll be better with you in it, honestly. Would you like to test it out?”
“With the foot in my mouth?” Emre said.
Zenith laughed and carried him through the rest of the mansion. They passed a spacious office and a home gym, then a steel door with a large black sensor pad.
Emre gasped. “Is this your secret treasure hoard?”
Zenith looked extremely shifty. “Maybe.”
“What’s in there?”
“... Nothing of value.”
Except Zenith was looking at everything but Emre.
Emre stared at the steel door until they turned a corner, and it was out of sight.
“It’s just junk,” Zenith mumbled.
Why protect it with a steel door and a sensor pad, then?
Emre shut up before his mouth could betray him.
They were going up the stairs when his belly clenched. Emre hissed.
Zenith froze mid-step. “Emre?”
“Contraction,” Emre said through gritted teeth.
Zenith looked panicked. “Fuck. Are you sure you’re not going into labor?”