“I could see that, but it’s also where I come to feed my dragon.” I told him a little bit about how my beast was broken, for lack of a better word. My brothers, when they first learned, had sympathy in their eyes, but with Brent, I saw none of that. I saw understanding, like he’d experienced being broken too, and that was worse.
“It’s like my cat had been hiding.” He rubbed his cheek against me. “We’re kind of the same, you know, you and me.”
“My big, scaly dragon, the same as your cute, adorable, little fluffy kitty?”
“Exactly. You get it. We’re both strong, good-looking, and quirky.”
“And by quirky, you mean…”
“Well, I’m not going to say broken. I know you say that about yourself, but I’ve never seen you that way. Everything you are makes you exactly who I care about. It’s perfect.” He kissed my cheek loudly. “Are we eating or what?”
“Or what.” We’d eat later.
“Huh?”
“You asked if we were eating or what. We’re going to ‘or what.’” I put the backpack on the ground and started taking off my clothes.
“You’re naked.”
“Not yet, but I will be. And so will you. Shed those clothes, mate.”
“You want to…out here? Won’t the mosquitoes bite us?” He was adorable the way he blushed nearly the color of a tomato.
“We’re not doing that, although I’m not opposed.” And if he mentioned it again, I was going to be changing my mind and losing all hopes of following my plan. “Away with that fabric.”
To my surprise, no other questions came from him, and less than a minute later, we were both there, naked. Gods, he was stunning.
“We’re gonna shift now.” I thought it was obvious, but based on the look on his face, I was wrong.
“I don’t know how.”
“Ah, but I think my dragon can show you.” I ran away from him, shifting midway to the next burn pit, and then my dragon turned and lowered my head.
Call to our mate, dragon. Call to his cat. Have him come out and play.
I wasn’t sure it could work. It was the best plan I could think of. I didn’t know any latents who later shifted to ask about it. I was 100 percent winging it.
At first, nothing. Just my mate, standing there in his naked glory. But then, where he once stood, was my favorite cat. He ran and pounced on my head, and I rolled over, giving him his victory.
We ran, I flew, and he jumped, and then, eventually, we both curled up in the sun and fell asleep for a nap. It was so different from shifting with my brothers. With them, it was all about animal instincts and prey, being tough and strong.
This? There was a sweetness to it. Sweetness and love, and I wanted to hold on to this feeling and never let it go.
Chapter Seventeen
Theo
I called Brent as soon as I got off my shift. The longer we were together, the more he worried about my job despite my dragon. The worrying part made my beast huff out smoke through his nose in aggravation. There was nothing to worry about, as far as he was concerned. We could take care of any fire. We were strong and capable.
Omega worries too much. Not good for him.
“Do I get you for forty-eight hours?” he answered. No hello. I loved it.
“Yes, you do. If you want me.”
Brent sighed. “I do, but I have to warn you, I’ve not been feeling like myself for the last couple of days. I’m sick to my stomach and really tired. I might have come down with a bug.”
“More reason why I need to come home. You sound like you need taking care of. Besides, I haven’t seen you in two days. I miss you.”
