He was about to reply when he felt a slight pressure in his stomach—followed by a burp that was just a hint of smoke. He shifted Marcie to one arm, lifting the bottom of his masks slightly so he could blow out the smoke.
Except someone saw him.
Marcie gave Doc a wide-eyed stare. Then she kicked and smiled, and—Something sprouted from her back, trapped and flapping uselessly inside her shirt.
Oh no.
“Sweetheart?” Doc asked, tugging the scarf over Marcie’s back. They shouldn’t be out in public. Especially if she might shift into—
Marcie shifted completely, into a tiny red baby dragon.
Holy fuck.
10
MY BABY IS A WHAT?
Ottis lookedup when Doc made a choked sound, only to see the alpha grabbing a handful of red lace and dumping it on a red shape in his arms.
What?
“Sweetheart, get me a blanket,” Doc hissed, darting his eyes wildly around them.
Why the hell had he thrown lace all over Marcie?
Why was Marcie... red?
Ottis was about to say something, when a tiny red wing popped out from the pile of lace.
A redwing.
What the fuck? Was thatMarcie?
And wasthatDoc’s idea of a disguise?!
“Holy fuck,” Ottis whispered.
“That’s what I thought,” Doc said, turning to fumble around in the cart. “Blanket, sweetheart. Now.”
Ottis scrambled for the cart, yanking out a pair of soft, colorful sweatpants. They were bright enough to distract from the red, but maybe they would attract too much attention. He tossed the pants at Doc anyway, then ripped the packaging off a soft pastel blanket. Ottis threw the blanket at the wriggling lump.
Before the blanket covered Marcie fully, Ottis caught the gleam of a red eye, and a scaly snout with only two teeth.
Oh Mother Moon, it was her.
“My pup is a—”
A dragon.
“How the hell did I not know this?!” Ottis whisper-shouted. “I’m her dad! I’ve been taking care of her foreight whole months.”
“Sometimes they present late.” Doc smoothed the blanket gently over Marcie’s restless shape. He rumbled low in his chest.
To Ottis’ surprise, Marcie calmed down and rumbled back, her voice higher-pitched than Doc’s.
“How adorable is that?” Ottis said, his heart tumbling. He hurriedly suppressed that feeling and glanced around.
Dragon shifters were rarely open about their identities. Poachers had been hunting them for centuries for their impervious scales and magical blood. But it wasn’t just the poacher threat; there had been a recent spate of baby kidnappings, where bad guys tried to steal dual-species babies to create some army. It was worse if the babies also belonged to a rare species.
