Conrad
THIRTY-FOUR
Tyson was six days old, and I was in the garden with him.
It was early in the morning because babies, or our baby, didn’t like to sleep in.
My son was asleep on my chest in the carrier Grandpa had brought over.
He was warm, much warmer than any baby should be.
Treyton had no experience with dragon babies, but Tyson was part dragon, and the literature said that not all dragons were born of eggs if they had one non-dragon parent.
My beast was curled around me in a protective posture he'd adopted since the birth. He adored Tyson and nagged me if I did something he didn’t agree with. His new favorite pastime was taking his scales and “babysitting” Tyson. But he couldn’t fly yet. It was too soon after the birth.
Madd was inside making coffee. I could hear him through the open kitchen window, talking to my son even though Tyson was out here with me.
That was something he did which was adorable.
He narrated his actions to the baby regardless of whether Tyson was in the room.
He’d explained how the coffee machine worked, the morning news, and cheese puffs to a six-day-old who was asleep for all of it.
I smelled them before I saw them and suddenly the sky was filled with dragons.
The warm morning and the lack of sleep had made my beast drowsy as I wandered around the garden checking on the flowers and the vegetables. I stiffened, and with my beast’s help, my vision sharpened. The air carried heat which signaled dragons were close by.
I was on my feet with Tyson held against my chest and my hand already reaching for the phone in my pocket.
“Madd.”
He appeared in the doorway and took one look at my face. He sagged against the door before recovering and racing toward me.
“Take him.” I lifted the carrier over my head and placed our son against his father's chest. Tyson stirred and complained before Madd stroked his tummy and he went back to sleep.
“Conrad, no.”
“Take him inside. Lock the doors and call Flint. Go into the basement.” I was already pulling off my shirt because what was coming next required me to take my scales. “Don't come outside.”
“You can't fly, you just gave birth.”
“I don’t have a choice. Please take our son inside.” I wanted to hold them both and say it would be all right. That we’d eat breakfast together later.
We shared a glance. My mate and my son had to survive and live a good life. But there was no time for a speech. Madd took the baby and disappeared into the house.
My dragon had been waiting to shift for the past few months. He’d been so patient while he protected our little one inside me. But that was over. Tyson was born and safe and in his father's arms, and my dragon needed to protect our family.
Shifting this soon after giving birth wasn’t advised, but most new omega dads weren’t faced with their mate and child being kidnapped and their own death.
My body ached and my bones cracked as if someone were splitting firewood.
My wings unfurled, and they were too big for the garden.
The fence went down and the climbing roses scattered, and I was airborne seconds later.
Above me, five dragons were circling in formation, and at the center, the largest of the beasts was flying with a precision that was almost beautiful if he’d been anyone else. It was my brother.
His scales were the same dark blue-green as mine, and his wingspan was identical. To anyone watching from the ground, they wouldn't have known which was which.
But I knew, and I could find Evander in a sky full of dragons the way Madd's wolf could find me on a crowded street.
I climbed up to meet my twin’s dragon. The other beasts broke formation as I approached, and three of them peeled off, heading in the direction of the compound.
In the distance I heard the compound alarm.
Flint and his brothers along with the rest of the La Luna Noir pack would have to deal with them.
Vasik’s beast circled us, but my twin’s dragon raised his tail and flicked it at the other dragon, and Vasik’s beast followed his flight mates toward the compound.
Evander and I met at eight hundred feet.
He didn't roar or circle. Instead, his beast came straight at me, and we collided in midair. His claws raked across my dragon’s shoulder, and blood spattered over my beast’s jaw and horns.
The remaining blood spurted into the air before the ruby-red droplets fell to earth.
My beast howled more in fury than pain because he’d endured the agony that I had during childbirth.
This was my twin I was fighting, the person I spent nine months with inside an egg. But whatever tenuous ties had bound us had been severed when Madd followed me from Father’s compound.
My dragon didn't hesitate. Whatever grief he and I carried, he ignored it. Evander was a threat to my family, and only one of us would emerge from this battle alive.
We twisted in the air with our beasts’ claws locked and their wings beating against each other. Fire erupted between us. My dragon’s scales protected us a little from the flames, but the heat was unbearable, and it seared the soft skin on my neck.
When the flames died, my beast’s mouth filled with blood, and skin flaked off his body not covered in scales. His wings ached from months of not flying, but he powered through the pain, driven by something ancient.
Evander’s dragon fought as if he had nothing left to lose, and that made him dangerous in a way my beast couldn’t match. Except me and my dragon had an edge because I had something to go back to. My twin was fighting to take what was mine, and I refused to hand it over.
The dragon who fought to keep his family would tear the sky apart before he let go.
The other beast slashed my dragon’s underbelly from his chest to his tail. Pain ripped through both of us. He was losing blood, and unless he injured my twin’s beast, his wings would be useless and he’d spiral and hit the ground.
But years of my mistreatment had nurtured a ferocity inside my dragon. He roared, creating a flame that was so hot, it burned almost white in the center and had a bluish hue on the edges.
The narrow flame acted like a blowtorch.
Evander’s scales glowed before shaking and shattering, reminding me of dropping a ceramic plate on concrete.
Except this wasn’t a piece of crockery. This was my brother, my twin, and I might have dealt him a death blow in order to protect the alpha I adored and our son.
The air was clogged with the acrid stench of burning flesh, and my twin’s dragon spasmed and his wings locked. His beast’s mouth opened, but there was no roar, just a guttural gasping, and he fell. But his wings clipped mine, and he took my beast down with him.
Break free of him, I begged my dragon, knowing I was of no use.
The two dragons were tangled together, and my beast didn’t have the strength to pull away. I had to give him some of my own. He was weakened, and siphoning off my energy would reduce mine to almost nothing.
Each second brought us closer to the ground, and I closed my eyes and channeled my energy to my dragon.
Now, I yelled, and he flapped his wings hard, pushing Evander’s beast away as my twin’s dragon plummeted. The tips of my dragon’s wings ripped as they were caught in his opponent’s claws. He gained control and rose up as Evander’s dragon hit the earth. He lay still, and my dragon landed beside him.
My twin shifted to his human form. He lay on his back in the grass in the early-morning light, and his eyes opened and found mine.
I shifted too and knelt beside him, and both of us were naked and bloody. With a hand on my jagged belly wound, I leaned over him.
“I felt it too.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “When Madd arrived, I felt it, just a little. But I knew it wasn't real, though I wanted it to be.”
There was nothing I could say that would matter now, but despite all the pain he’d caused, I wept for the man who should have been my closest friend.
“I’m sorry.” His eyes were losing focus. “About Father and everything.”
His hand reached for mine. I took it, and he squeezed once before his hand went limp.
I kneeled on the grass holding my brother's hand, and my dragon howled. No matter what had happened since we were born, I had lost my brother, and my dragon was mourning his dragon twin.
Evander had spent our lives competing with and resenting me, and yet we never really knew one another. And now we never would.
The compound alarm continued to blast, followed by the crack of the net launchers I'd installed on the rooftops.
They were cable rigs designed to tangle wings and drag dragons to the ground.
Once grounded, a dragon surrounded by wolves had no advantage.
Three of Evander's dragons were already falling with cables wrapped around their wings.
A shadow overhead alerted me that Vasik had not been caught at the compound. If he wanted to fight on my brother's behalf, I had nothing to give. My beast and I couldn’t even get off the ground.
But he landed and shifted. His gaze rested on my twin’s body. He stared at it for minutes and finally gave it a nod of respect. Then he got on his knees, vowing that I was the flight Alpha.
“Evander and your father are gone, and you are the only one left, for now.”
“Oh no, no. You’ve got it wrong. I’ve left that life behind, and I’m part of La Luna Noir now.”
“For now, Conrad.” He stayed where he was on the bloody grass. “You would be similar to a regent.”
The blood my beast had lost, and my injury was making me dizzy, and I rubbed my head. “What are you saying?”
“The eggs. Evander laid eggs, three of them, and they’re waiting to hatch.”