And then, just before I lost my patience and shifted, the door clicked and swung open.
I rushed inside without sparing Viol a glance. I ran right to Taylor’s side. To my massive relief, he was all cozied up beneath a pile of blankets. His pattern book lay at his side, untouched. Taylor’s eyes were shut as he breathed hard, sweat rolling down his temples.
“Taylor,” I said, kneeling beside him. “Are you okay?”
He peeked an eye open. “You lizard-brained liar. You were gone way longer than a minute.”
I laughed in relief, kissing his forehead. If he had the strength to insult me, he was fine.
“I’m sorry, I was getting backup.” I lowered my voice. “Did Viol hurt you?”
Taylor furrowed his brow. “What?”
I glared at my brother over my shoulder. He stood in the far corner of the room, expressionless and silent, just watching us.
“Him,” I explained. “Did he do anything to you?”
Taylor blinked slowly. “Well, yeah.” I was about to rip Viol’s head off when Taylor added, “He brought me a hot water bottle.”
“He... what?”
“He came in when you left and asked if I needed anything. To be honest, I was having an awful contraction, so I was in too much pain to be nervous of him. At that moment, I felt like I could’ve killed anybody who looked at me the wrong way,” Taylor said, sounding embarrassed.
I laughed and nuzzled him. “That’s my mate.”
“But yeah. I snapped at him to get me a hot water bottle, and he did.” Taylor blushed. He didn’t like losing his temper, so that was a big deal to him. “And he gave me some extra blankets, too.”
My white-hot rage towards Viol cooled, but not fully. I was still pissed at him for locking me out.
But that didn’t matter right now. I had to tend to Taylor.
“My brothers are here to help,” I said. “Is it okay if they come inside?”
“Sure, as long as they don’t get in my swiping radius...”
I got up to give the others the green light, but when I turned around, I noticed Viol was gone. Putting my freak brother out of my mind, I invited the rest inside. Like Viol, Cobalt kept his distance, watching solemnly from afar. The twins did, too, though I suspected it was from fear of Taylor’s wrath instead of respect. They were probably dying of curiosity to see an egg come into the world.
The ones closest to me were Jade and Thystle. I appreciated Jade’s calming aura, and I suspected Taylor did, too. Meanwhile, Thystle gathered all the supplies and made them easy to access.
With a book propped up on his knee, Jade asked, “Have your contractions begun?”
Taylor nodded. “I’ve had a couple.”
“How far apart?”
“Five minutes.”
“Good, you’re well along already.” Jade smiled. “It shouldn’t be long now. Dragon eggs have a tendency to come out sooner rather than later.”
Thystle side-eyed the book on Jade’s knee. “Yeah, but that’s in dragon omegas. Does it work the same in other shifter species?”
“Taylor is a strong tiger. I’m sure he won’t have any problems,” Jade said calmly.
At that moment, a strong contraction ripped through my mate. He snarled, hissing through his teeth and clawing at the sheets. I put my hand on his shoulder. It was tense.
“Get these clothes off me,” Taylor said. “It’s coming.”
A wave of panic coursed through me before my alpha instincts tamped it down. Now wasn’t the time to freak out. Now was the time to protect and nurture my mate.
