Page 19

Gods, Uriel had a dragonet, and Bruiser didn’t.

Bruiser swallowed his envy.

Maybe he made a sound. Cassie turned back to watch him with her huge eyes.

What color were her scales? If Bruiser shifted, would Cassie shift too?

No, he shouldn’t do that. She wasn’t his.

“Sorry, kid,” he muttered, standing up.

As he did, Cassie belched another lick of flame. It hit the playpen’s sheer netting and disappeared.

Of course the playpen was fireproofed. Uriel’s clothes too. He was a mage and he knew he was dealing with fire; he could protect himself from it easily. No one had mentioned that his baby was a dragonet, though.

Bruiser was about to back away, when Uriel snuffled and jerked awake.

Bruiser froze. He should’ve been in the kitchen ten minutes ago, but moving now would just attract Uriel’s attention. Not moving would also attract his attention. Fuck.

“I haven’t been watching you sleep,” Bruiser said.

Uriel’s eyes flew open. He sat bolt upright, his pulse thundering.

That was... not a normal reaction for an alpha.

Then Uriel saw Bruiser, and his heart slowed, but his shoulders bunched up.

“What do you want?” Uriel growled.

Bruiser shrugged, taking a few steps back. He held up his hands in a gesture of peace. “I just happened to pass by. You want some breakfast?”

Uriel squinted. “Really?”

“There’s still leftovers in the fridge,” Bruiser said. “Or I can order some food from the diner.”

“I don’t need—” Uriel’s stomach growled.

He looked down at himself in sheer betrayal, the tips of his ears turning pink.

Was he... blushing?

Bruiser stared. Why am I staring at him? He shook away those thoughts and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll see if there’s coffee around.”

“I’ll order some breakfast,” Uriel muttered, looking at everything but Bruiser.

That felt... wrong, somehow. But Uriel was the one who knew what his baby needed, and besides, he was an alpha. He could have a turn at buying food.

If Uriel were an omega, Bruiser would’ve refused to let him pay. But he wasn’t, so Bruiser began searching in the kitchen cabinets for coffee. He needed some caffeine, stat.

“Don’t worry,” he said over his shoulder. “You didn’t tell me any of your secrets while you were asleep.”

For a moment, Uriel tensed up again. Then he relaxed, a forced drooping of his shoulders.

So, Uriel had secrets.

Bruiser thought about the scars he had seen on the alpha—a fuckton of them. Some looked like burn scars, others were knife scars, and even a bullet scar or two. They were signs of a hard life, but they didn’t seem like something an alpha needed to hide.

Bruiser found a bag of coffee grounds. He cheered up and began to fill the coffee machine.