“Decidedly cozy,” I answered.
“May I?”
When I nodded, Jade kneeled down to run a hand over the egg with a thoughtful expression. “According to my notes on dragon biology, it’s due to hatch any day now. You’ve done a wonderful job as first time parents, both of you.”
Crimson and I shared a sheepish, appreciative smile.
Jade stood back up, casting a hopeful glance at the egg. “I’m glad the twins aren’t around to hear me say so, but their idea ended up being useful after all. The Dragonfate Games brought you two together in a way I never expected.”
“Me, neither,” Crimson agreed, looking sweetly in my direction. “But if it means falling in love with Taylor, I’d go through all that nonsense a million times over.”
Feeling too mushy for words, I leaned over to kiss him.
Then, Cobalt’s deep voice came out of nowhere: “It pipped.”
I would never not be startled when that man spoke. I didn’t even know he was behind us until he said something, but I didn’t understand what he meant. Looking behind me, I saw Cobalt—who looked funny wearing only swimming trunks—staring down at the egg.
I followed his intent gaze to the egg’s surface... and saw the tiniest crack in the shell.
My heart skipped a beat.
“The egg,” I whispered, sucking in a sharp breath. “Is it—?”
“Hatching,” Crimson said with wide eyes.
“Wait, what?” Thystle cried. He tossed his headphones down on his beach towel, then bolted over to join the rest of us.
Time seemed to stand still as I stared, unblinking, at the pip in the egg. It was happening. It wasreallyhappening—right now. Our baby was being born into the world.
I grabbed Crimson’s hand instinctively. He put his arm around me, holding me for support.
My paternal omega instincts flared. “The baby can get out, right? What if it’s a tiger and doesn’t know how to exit an egg?” I demanded.
“It’s all right,” Jade said calmly. “The first crack in the shell is the hardest. It already pipped, which means it either has a baby dragon’s egg tooth, or the tiger cub clawed its way out.”
That relieved me slightly, but I didn’t tear my eyes away from the egg. I’d be ready to help if necessary.
The ruby egg shifted, falling on its side. I gasped.
“That’s good,” Crimson told me with a gentle smile. “Look how hard our baby’s fighting to get free. It’s healthy and strong.”
I growled. My instinct as a tiger to lick my newborn vigorously until it was clean and dry, but since his alpha father was a damned dragon, I had to wait until it was completely free of the shell.
The anticipation was too much to bear in human form. I shifted in one fluid motion into my tiger. My tail flicked impatiently and I paced around in the sand. I was this close to flexing my claws to unhook the pieces of shell when acrackresounded in the air.
Our newborn baby—a dragon—smashed a huge chunk of egg shell and thrust itself outside into the world.
No longer able to battle my instincts, I rushed over to my baby and licked it from snout to tail-tip, purring all the while. The newborn squeaked loudly in protest at being bathed. Good. My baby’s lungs were strong.
Behind me, I heard Jade chuckle and comment to Crimson, “Your mate is incredible.”
“I know,” Crimson said proudly.
With my urge to lick satisfied, I shifted back to human form to pick up my baby. It was my first time getting a good look at them, and they were just as beautiful as the egg they grew in. Their scales were a reddish-amber, like a mix of Crimson’s scales and my tiger’s orange pelt, but the most surprising part was the stark black stripes, like a tiger.
Crimson laughed, joy emanating from his voice. “Would you look at that? A striped dragon!”
“That’s a first,” Jade commented.
