Then again, being found in Jade’s bed after a dinner date wasn’t exactly subtle.
“Right,” I replied, suddenly finding it easier to talk to the obnoxious alpha.
“And that meanswecan have some alone time,” Aurum teased as he pulled Mylo closer by his thick waist.
“Uh, what about the whole dealing-with-the-challenge thing?” Saffron asked. “Don’t you have to be there for that?”
Aurum shot him an angelic grin. “That’s what having an identical twin is for. See ya!”
He ran off with Mylo in tow before Saffron could argue.
Saffron scowled. “I’m so getting him back for that later...”
After the restof the parents bid us good luck and left, Jade and I wrangled the miniature pack by ourselves. It turned outthat their good behavior was an illusion—as soon as their dads were out of the picture, they devolved into wild animals.
“Kiara, Desiree, get out of Jade’s hair, please. Thank you—hey! Donoteat that stuffing!” I cried.
Diving between the ferret twins and the chewed-up remains of my slippers, I wrenched the stuffing into the air. As they both grunted in disappointment, I sighed in relief. I didn’t need the girls to eat plastic on my watch right after I’d earned Mylo’s trust.
Meanwhile, Jade coaxed a scrap of fabric—torn from my pants five minutes earlier—away from Ruby and Lazuli, who were fighting over it like vultures with a bone.
“Please, you two, there’s no need to argue,” Jade said civilly, as if they understood his appeal. “There’s plenty of other toys to go around.”
Ruby hissed like a tiger cub while Lazuli barked at him. Jade leaned down to intervene, but Ruby’s lashing tail slapped the glasses off his face.
“Oh, shoot,” Jade mumbled. “I can barely see without those...”
As he felt around for them, the two dragonets launched at each other and tumbled around in an orange-and-blue blur on the rug.
I picked up his glasses and handed them to him. “Jade, they’re toddlers, not members of high society,” I pointed out.
He sighed as he put his glasses back on. “It’s been a long time since I had to deal with toddlers by myself...”
“Excuse you. I’m here, remember?”
He smiled. “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry. Ah—look out, Heather is about to jump off the couch.”
My animal reflexes kicked in—I shifted into cat form, leaping onto the top of the couch and bit Heather on the scruff.
“You are not going anywhere,” I declared, the words muffled through a mouthful of baby dragon.
Heather struggled against me, but my parental instincts awakened hard and fast. There was no way I’d let this toddler topple from that height. I sank my claws into the couch for support—sorry, dragons—then carefully carried Heather down to the safety of the rug.
At once, the kids stopped what they were doing. They stared at me in curious awe.
“What?” I said, flicking my tail.
A second later, they scrambled towards me. To my surprise, they cuddled against my fur, mewling and squeaking contentedly.
“Ah, I see,” Jade said, amused. “No child is immune to the cuteness of a cat.”
“I am not cute,” I grumbled. “I’m stunningly handsome.”
The dragonets yawned and nestled their heads into my neck fur, while the ferrets quieted down, burying themselves between my front paws.
An instinct burst forth from within me—I started purring.
Jade laughed. “Sorry, Alaric. You’re cute, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
