“Hey, Jade, could I talk to you for a—”
Jade let out a sudden choking sound before he composed himself. He sat upright in his office chair, his hands white-knuckling a stack of papers in front of him. A rosy blush dusted his cheeks. He cleared his throat loudly.
“Saffron,” he said, sounding stilted. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah, you can. Uh, are you okay?” I asked.
Just as the room went silent for a second, I heard a peculiar wet, gulping sound coming from beneath the desk.
Oh.
Great.
Alaric was under that desk, wasn’t he?
“Never mind, gotta go, bye,” I said in a single breath before getting the hell out of there.
I practically flew downstairs to the kitchen, trying to forget that mental image before it burned into my retinas forever. Thankfully, I was distracted by Viol flipping pancakes.
“Oh, thank Holy Drake you’re here,” I said through breaths. “I just saw—”
Viol cut me a glare. “Keep it rated G. We have company.”
He nodded over his shoulder to where Mint sat in a high chair by the counter, eagerly awaiting Uncle Viol’s pancakes. The furry little dragonet squeaked when he saw me.
Well, that explained who was babysitting Jade and Alaric’s son.
I sighed, slumping on the counter next to Mint like a haggard patron of a bar. “Can I have pancakes, too? It’s been a long morning.”
Viol snorted. “It’s 8:30 AM.”
“On the first day of my season of the Dragonfate Games,” I moped. “And none of our brothers care.”
“Nobody cares about shit at 8:30 in the morning. I wouldn’t even be awake if it weren’t for the kid,” Viol retorted, dumping a pancake on a plate and sliding it towards me. “Don’t take it personally.”
“Thanks. By the way, what’s with the swearing? That’s not very G-rated.”
“I didn’t swear,” Viol lied. “Eat it before it gets cold.”
Eager to drown my sorrows in maple syrup, I shoveled the pancake into my mouth. My worries melted away as the soft, buttery flavor hit my tongue. Man, when did Viol get so good at cooking? He was going to make an amazing alpha partner someday—if he ever gave love a chance.
My grouchy, leather-clad older brother sat at the counter, cutting Mint’s pancake into tiny bite-sized pieces. He fed them to the dragonet with a colorful plastic spork. The juxtaposition of his dark, intimidating aura with the baby-sized spork amused me.
When I’d finished eating, I asked, “Viol, do you think I’m too much?”
“Yes.”
“Gee, thanks,” I mumbled.
Viol shrugged. “You asked.”
“Okay, let me rephrase that. Do you think I’m too eager to find my mate? Like, do you think I’ll scare him away?”
Viol shot me a softer glance. “If you’re really fated... then, no.”
His frank words surprised me. To be honest, I hadn’t expected real advice from him. I’d just needed to dump my feelings to somebody, but Viol’s engagement made me lean into it.
“But how will Iknowwithout a shadow of a doubt that I’m fated to him?” I asked, shuffling in my seat.
