“Not sure of what, pet?”
“Well, usually when a dragonlet is born, everyone in the family gives a gift which ends up becoming quite a sizable hoard. But in this case, there isn’t any family left except me, so I’m not sure what to do. Should I give my nephew more than one gift or should I give him an enormous one? See I just don’t know.”
“Why must he have a hoard? Alex doesn’t.”
Flopping down on a solid gold throne, Fionn scrunched up his face. “I know…I never heard of that happening. Dragons and hoards go together. I wonder why my…our father didn’t allow Alex to have an hoard.”
“If Alex’s birth wasn’t registered…”
“Of course!” Sitting upright, Fionn continued, “It wouldhaveto be registered and the keeper would have to be approved, so if our father didn’t record Alex’s birth…”
“There’d be no way to explain it was Alex’s hoard, without endangering him.” Hunter said. “Instead, he set up a trust, probably with the profits from his businesses. Totally untraceable in the dragon world.”
“Exactly. Dragons absolutely do not trust banks, even though they use some owned by paranormals. But they only keep a small balance there…mainly to cover credit card purchases.”
“Hmm…I don’t think Alex can register his son at birth, either, because that would alert the authorities of his existence,” Hunter said.
“So my nephew can’t have a hoard,” Fionn said sadly.
“I don’t think so, but maybe there’s a way around it.”
“How?”
“Not sure…but we have time, right?” asked Hunter, pleased to see his mate nod in agreement. “In the meantime, do you want to see the picture Sawyer sent of Alex?”
“I guess,” Fionn murmured, wondering if his brother looked like their father.
Walking over to his mate, Hunter found the recent photo his brother sent him on his phone before handing it to Fionn. “The other guy is Glenn…Willow’s son.”
Staring at his brother, Fionn could see the happiness on Alex’s face as he stood between Sawyer and Glenn. “He doesn’t look like our father at all.”
“No?”
“Uh-uh,” Fionn murmured, his eyes roaming over the photo. “There’s kindness in his face, something our father never had.”
“He must take after his other father,” Hunter said softly.
“Yeah…” Fionn’s voice dropped off as he continued to stare at his brother. “He looks different than I expected.”
“Good different…or bad different?”
“Uhmm…good, I think. There’s something about him that just draws me in but I can’t figure out what it is.”
“Your brother is an Omega…someone who cares about people…someone who would have been horrified to hear what your father was doing to you.”
Glancing up at Hunter, Fionn asked, “You think so?”
“Pet, it’s the Omega’s nature. They are nurturers so it pains them to see someone hurting. If your brother knew what your father was doing to you, trust me, he’d have done everything in his power to stop it, even though Artur was his father, too.”
Touching his brother on the screen with a fingertip, Fionn wondered what it would have been like to grow up with Alex. “Far different, I bet,” he whispered, answering his own question. Committing the picture to memory, he finally knew what to do. Rising, he handed the phone back to Hunter before saying, “Mate, I want to meet my brother.”
Smiling, Hunter asked, “Ready to go back?”
“In a minute,” Fionn replied, “I want to pick out something of mine to give him for a mating gift.”
Hunter’s gaze swept the huge cavern, then chuckled. “Any ideas? Or should I figure we’ll be here for a while.”
Batting his mate’s chest, Fionn headed over to a particular spot where he figured he’d find exactly what would be perfect for Alex. “Don’t get too comfortable,” he called over his shoulder.
