Chapter One
Theo
I loved my brothers. I really did. But there were some days when I would rather stay home and be by myself. “Some days” meaning most days. It was a lot of work putting on my happy,I’m okaydisguise when I was with them.
Ever since their parents, now my parents, too, took me in, they’d done nothing but make me feel like I belonged. They loved me. They messed with me the way brothers do, and they looked out for me. They even trained me to do tattoos like them, wanting to have a Three Bears Tattoo Shop with me.
Except I’m not a bear; I’m a dragon. They knew that. I knew that. But my first week at my new home, I’d been terrified and waiting for the foster care lady to tell me I had to move…yet again. I told myself that as long as I could fit in, I could make them like me enough, could show them I wasn’t broken and wouldn’t be a drain on them, that I’d be able to make this my real home.
My new family had deserved so much better from me. They didn’t need the fake version that I hoped would make them comfortable. They wanted the real me. I was already living on my own when I figured that out. Not that I did a lot to change my old ways. They were habit now, engrained in me.
Back then, I was doing anything and everything to fit in. I became a lover of chores, someone who never disobeyed, and quiet, quiet, quiet. I went so far as to insist I was a bear, too, despite the winged beast I already could feel inside me.
My brothers humored me. My whole family did. After my first shift, I was sure it would change. They knew what I was and had the proof, right? Except, when I shifted back and sobbed,telling them I was sorry I wasn’t a bear, they told me I’d always be their third little bear.
Gods, I was lucky to find them, which was why I was currently digging through my drawer to find a decent-enough shirt for a night out with them. I’d rejected their past two invites, and it was time.
I’d gotten to marking on the calendar when they asked me anywhere. I could decline two or three…possibly four offers, if I was on shift at the fire department, before they started to get worried and showed up at my house. I was not in the mood for that. It was one thing to have them come eat burgers on the grill and then go shift together, another when it was theirwe’re worried about yousit-downs that required Oscar-worthy acting for the next month.
I grabbed a shower, threw on my clothes as well as my best smileyeverything’s greatpersona, and off I went.
The night was pretty fun, despite the crowded nature of the pool hall. My brothers teased me the way they often did, and they even acted as wingmen for me and Brent, the human best friend of one brother’s new mate.
I didn’t do dating. I was too broken for that. And I certainly didn’t do one-night stands. It was 100 percent the single life for me. But when I outed myself as being into Brent and asking if he was single, my brother decided to announce it to the world. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to beat my brother or hug him because later that night, I found myself walking to the car with Brent, hand in hand.
“Are you okay with me driving?” I asked. I’d had a beer, but even if I’d had five, being a dragon, it wouldn’t have impacted me. I wasn’t a jerk about it, as in demanding I was fine to drive, no matter who the passenger was. I’d seen enough drunk humans do that to know how that played out. I wanted tomake him feel comfortable, and if he decided it was time for a rideshare, I was doing it.
“Can you?” He looked at me, but almost as if he was looking past me.
I didn’t think he was drunk, but he was very distracted. If I thought he had too much to drink, we wouldn’t have gotten as far as this conversation. Drunk hookups were a hard pass for me.
“Listen, we can do this another time.” It was a lie. Once this magic was broken, we’d probably not see each other again. But I refused to ever pressure anyone.
Brent surprised me by leaning in and brushing his lips to mine. My dragon stirred, the scent of the omega overwhelming my beast and me both. I’d never smelled someone so delicious. It was intoxicating, far more than any beer could be.
“Let’s call a car,” he whispered in my ear. “I’m not sure I want to be all the way over on the passenger side.”
There was no argument from me.
The ride home was a blur. If the driver had a camera, he definitely got an eyeful because once his lips brushed mine, it was all over. We tumbled out of the car, and I dragged him toward the house, not giving him the tour, showing him the woods behind, or even telling him where to leave his shoes.
Once inside, he pushed me against the door and slammed his mouth to mine. As hot as it had been in the car, he kicked it up a notch, and now, there was nothing left but feeling his lips on mine, his tongue exploring my mouth, his hands grabbing my ass, then pulling at my shirt, making my heart race. His chest vibrated almost like a purr, and no longer was any of this enough. I reached behind his thighs and pulled him up so his legs were wrapped around my body, and I carried him straight into the bedroom.
“Tell me you want this, omega,” I mumbled against his lips as I set him down.
“More than anything.”
We yanked at each other’s clothes, both needing to feel each other, taste the other. I laid him on the bed, his cock at attention, calling to me. I climbed on the foot of the bed.
“I need a snack first.” I licked my lips, and his head fell back.
I lowered my head slowly, watching him as the anticipation built. No slow tease, my patience wasn’t that strong. I took him into my mouth, no nibbles or licks first. I needed him. He wanted this too, his moans filling the room attesting to just how much.
I bobbed up and down, his hands grabbing the blanket beside him, his encouraging sounds making me wish we had more than just tonight to explore each other’s bodies. As much as I wanted to wait to watch him come undone, I needed to be inside him first.
But not just yet. Instead of lining myself up and slamming into him the way I wanted to, I went lower, lapping up slick and showing him with my tongue what I planned to do with my cock. He was so responsive and the more sweet-yet-feral sounds he made, the more I had to hold back my own orgasm, and I’d yet to be inside him.
“Alpha,” he cried out. I looked up at him, his hands still fisting the sheets, his body squirming as if seeking something more.
