A sharp pain stabbed Mason’s chest causing him to wince. He wasn’t sure about the cause, but it had been happening more often and he’d finally decided to see Mac about it. Resisting the urge to rub the spot on his chest, he replied, “Yeah…well only time will tell if Alex has tamed our brother.”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed after he’d caught Mason’s quick grimace. His gut told him he wasn’t well, but there was no sense in asking about it since his brother would never tell him. Mason had perfected the art of masking his emotions and, while Hunter valued that attribute in business, the same couldn’t be said when it came to his brothers’ health. Ignoring it for now, he asked, “Have you seen the mating gift Fionn gave Alex?”
“No, what is it?”
“It’s better if you see it in person since my description can’t do it justice,” Hunter said, smirking.
“Oh shit! That doesn’t sound good.”
“No…it’s good…really. It’s just that you have to see it to truly appreciate its beauty.”
“Huh uh…tell me, does our brother like it?”
“Sawyer? Yeah, he does…so does Alex.”
“What about Glenn?”
“Him? Maybe not so much,” Hunter replied.
“Why is that?”
Grinning, Hunter said, “Ask me that again after you see it.”
Chuckling, Mason said, “Okay, color me curious now. Is it here or back in France?”
“Here. Alex insisted that it be up in their room and I’m sure he’ll be delighted to show it to you.”
“Good…I was just about to go see our newest cousin, Maxwell James.”
“I’ll go with you, but I have some news to tell you.”
“Oh fuck! Don’t tell me Fionn’s pregnant!”
“What? Hell no! What the fuck made you think that!”
“I don’t know. The way you said it just gave me that feeling.”
“Well, if it did, I didn’t mean it to,” Hunter said, shuddering slightly.
“Fine…got it…no little one in the forecast for you. Now, what’s the news?”
“It appears that Fionn has inherited the estate of his uncle and his cousin and he wants to use some of that to start a fund to help gay dragons, especially those whose parents have rejected them.”
“That’s great. I suggest you talk to Steel or Maximus about how to do it.”
“I plan to, but this is where you come in. Fionn wants to give part of the money to Beowulf Trust…to invest. Is that okay?”
Stunned, Mason stared at his brother, simply nodding, speechless after hearing what he’d said.Fuck!Having a dragon for a client was almost unthinkable—they were notoriously suspicious of all financial institutions. ThatFionn would even consider it, much less follow through on it, would be a major feather in their cap. Finally, finding his voice, Mason said, “I’ll draw up the papers and when you two are ready, I’ll go over them with Fionn.”
“Great,” Hunter said, getting up from his chair. “Let’s go congratulate Dakota and Steel on the newest member of the pack.”
~/~/~/~/~
Awestruck, Theo just stood there taking it all in. The secret clearing all a-glow in the afternoon sun, was surrounded by virtually impenetrable trees. His gaze followed the trees upward into a soaring, lacy canopy where sunlight and green leaves intermingled together creating a magical space. Then he did what Slate had told him to do—he spun around in a circle, feeling the kaleidoscopic effect of the space on his soul, knowing it was the result of good spirits dancing all around him. Exactly what he wanted for Smokey—to give him some much needed peace after his recent run-in with Josiah.
“Wow! Just wow!” Fionn murmured.
“Perfecto!” exclaimed Kieran, clasping his hands together over his heart.
