I never anticipated I’d one day fall in love or find a place among demons, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without them. I wouldn’t take it for granted. I’d make sure no other human suffered the life I did, and I’d do it with Onyx by my side.
Epilogue
Iris was by my side, arm wrapped around me, staring out at the crowd of humans going about their lives the way I never thought they’d be allowed to.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” I murmured.
Her arm squeezed. “But it is, and it’s because of you.”
I side-eyed her with a sassy look. “Um, I think you mean it’s because of you.”
She opened her mouth, but Blade was suddenly in front of us, on his knees with his hands on my stomach, whispering,“Hey, little dragon miracle baby. Daddy Snarls is on his way because he found out I let your mommy venture into town after promising my days of defying him were long over.”
I didn’t have time to respond because I was suddenly cradled in said Daddy Snarls’s arms. Blade had taken a direct kick to the chest and was on his back, laid out with a mischievous smirk on his face. The humans and dragons around us froze in fear.
It didn’t matter how many months went by, but my dragon still struck a menacing figure whenever he was in the city. It didn’t help that this was the second time in two weeks he'd done this in public.
“Love,” he snarled under his breath, “the little one is due any day—”
I dropped my arm around his shoulders and put a hand on my huge and round stomach. “And last I checked, I wasn’t your captive,” I retorted with a smirk of my own.
His jaw clamped shut, teeth grinding. Dark hair fell all around his eyes and his powerful body was covered in scales. He was on the edge of transformation because he was a goddamn worrywart. “It’s not safe—”
“If I called to you, would you come?” I asked, catching the two dragons nearby failing to hide their amusement. “If me or the baby were ever in danger, do you think I wouldn’t call you?”
“I only—”
“Daddy Snarls,” I cut in, giggling. “It’s fitting.”
Onyx’s eyes danced with barely contained rage. Not at me. Never at me. His accusatory stare shot off the direction of the one he blamed for every new nickname I claimed as my own over the last year. The dragon who’d quickly become something of a friend and confidant when Iris wasn’t available.
Blade offered his brother a one-shoulder shrug. “She’s my beloved sister, Daddy Snarls. I’m hers to command.” His eyescaught on the dragon Onyx brought with him. “Boris was in on it, too.”
Boris cursed under his breath when Onyx shot a glare at him over his shoulder. The blonde-haired warrior acted like he couldn’t care less what anyone else wanted, but he always came through for me. He’d been another surprise friend and confidant I hadn’t expected.
The warrior at least had the good sense to look apologetic, unlike Onyx’s brother. “Forgive me, Boss.”
“You know how precarious her condition is,” he growled at the two, ignoring my annoyed sigh.
My big snarly dragon was all rage and wrath until I touched his face and gave him a kiss in apology. “I wanted to make sure the new little ones in the community were doing well. You know how rare it is to have so many born in one month. Their mothers need support the same way I will.”
“You’re due any day, little Moon Beast.”
“I’m aware. It’s me who’s carrying around this little energetic demon every day,” I argued, readjusting in his arms again. I was never comfortable. The last week had been nothing short of torture.
He clicked his tongue in chiding. “Iris and the other females can tend to them. You’re always putting yourself last, love. It’s bloody maddening.”
My eyebrow rose and I brushed the line of his scruffy jaw with my thumb. “Takes one to know one, Daddy Snarls.”
He huffed but didn’t argue. “I’ve asked Iris and Blade to oversee the faction in my stead. No more sneaking off. I’ll be your shadow until I deem you safe and supported. It’s been made painfully clear to me that you’ve enchanted too many in our faction to trust you wouldn’t find a way to evade my orders again. My dragon is very angry with you, little beast.”
“You both are overprotective brutes, you know that?” I complained, sensing his dragon’s irritation. “But I can’t help but love you for it.”
True to his name, it was nothing but snarling complaints all the way back to the castle. It’d been renovated to be something of an educational haven for the new young and human community who’d never been given access to any kind of learning. As it turned out, when you give a species freedom and support, their population thrived.
Iris and I dedicated the past year to cultivating the new dynamic in our faction for its betterment. Dragons and humans alike had become inseparable. Positions were given on merit, not what or who they were. The dragons of old were ousted or chose to pledge allegiance to the new ways, and while it hadn’t been easy, it was infinitely happier. No one could argue otherwise.
The sectors had grown together instead of dividing. More effort was put into universal actions to make each sector thrive the same way as the main city had. And in the last few months, we’d even become friendly with allied dragons and wolf shifters, inviting them to travel in and out of our lands at will. Onyx said it reminded him of the utopias built in the years before the Fall, but better.
