With my arms still around his neck, I rested my forehead against his shoulder. I didn’t need another gift. I understood that every group had their courtship rituals, and I wanted him to be happy. I had everything that money could buy and some things that money couldn’t buy. He was all I needed right now.
“BEAL! BEAL!” Someone called from above us over the rushing gushes of the waterfall.
“RAIEL?” Beal shouted back, keeping his grip on me.
“YOU GOTTA COME BACK! THEY’RE AFTER THE SHINY BUTT LADY! THEY’RE AFTER HIS MUM!”
“WHO?” Beal shouted back as my blood ran cold.
Of course, they’d go after her if they couldn’t find me. My poor, sick mother was out there all on her own and probably scared out of her wits.
“She can fight,”my dragon chimed into my thoughts to remind me.
“CLARENCE AND THEM!”
“HEAD TALK!” Beal shouted back.
No! Don’t head talk. I wanted to tell them to keep talking where I could hear them, but Beal was right. The rushing water made it difficult to hear.
Beal’s eyes grew like owls, and he tossed me over his shoulder. My heart skipped a beat. Would he climb up the rock wall underneath the waterfall? He scurried for the grassy land as Raiel joined us in the water. His cousin scurried onto the grass with us a moment later.
“What’s going on?” I demanded wishing we hadn’t left all of our clothes up there. Running around naked here might’ve been fine but we weren’t going to be inconspicuous back on Earthside with our hard dicks bobbing in the breeze.
“Mate of my cousin, I don’t know how to tell you this. Your mother beheaded Jon and another man. She then ran out of the hospital with their heads. Mori – the wolf shaman guy – Crilus’s cousin – came to tell you,” he panted out the last sentence as if his dive and plunge had finally caught up with him.
“What? Stop!” I shouted. “Put me down! Put me down!” I slapped his ass when he didn’t set me on my feet right away.
“Mate? Are you alright?” Beal asked, his eyes searching over my naked body.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I said and stepped behind him.
He turned to face me, but my naked body was mostly blocked from Raiel’s view. Sure, a lot of shifters weren’t uptight about people seeing them naked, but I liked to keep my clothes on. Beal was going to see me naked at some point. That’s like a quarter of being true-mates, right? The seeing each other naked part? The not having to put pants on at home part?
“Like what?” he asked, raking his eyes down my body again.
“Like you’re about to devour me whole in front of your cousin!” I snapped. “Never mind! What’s going on with my mum?”
“She beheaded Jon and Chard and is being pursued by the guards. Apparently, some pregnant bear may or may not have faked labor to give her a head start,” Beal explained. “We’re on our way to – I’m not sure what we’re on our way to do. Save her. Bring her back here. That’s probably the best plan.”
“But if they’re killing people didn’t she do everyone a favor?” I asked, blood boiling over inside my veins.
“Even if they hadn’t, she’s your mother. She has her reasons,” Beal said. “It just so happens that I understand her reasons, even if I chose a different path.”
“Here’s your clothes,” Raiel said, landing with a soft thud next to us.
I hadn’t noticed him leave. Was it because of the news or because of Beal? It didn’t matter. I muttered my thanks and looked up, trying to figure out which path he took to get up.
“I could’ve flown it,”my dragon reminded me.
Of course, we could’ve but time was of the essence and – Ah! The hell with it! I raced to shimmy back into as much of my clothes as my patience could handle, cursing silently as the denim rubbed against my balls. There was a reason underwear were invented but now wasn’t the time to argue about that. As soon as I was dressed enough (I skipped the shirt and sweater, shoving them into Raiel’s empty and wet arms.) I squeezed up my face tight and forced my dragon to unfurl his wings from my back.
“Wh – ?” Raiel started but I didn’t hear the rest of his sentence as I hoisted Beal over my shoulder for a change and sprang into the air. Beal’s laughter shook me to my core. He had managed to get his scrub bottoms back on before I grabbed him up like a dragon pillaging a medieval village but that was goodenough. It had to be good enough because if Clarence or one of his guards hurt my mother, we’d all go out in a blaze of glory.
“I hope Cade’s ready to lead the Moonscales if he’s hurt her. That’s my mummy!”My dragon roared his tone and swirling emotions evoking vivid memories from our hatchling days.
Chapter Nine
Mori
