Page 29

Bruiser hadn’t seemed shocked, so maybe Cassie had only breathed smoke or fire, instead of shifting. He hadn’t seen her scales.

Uriel relaxed slightly. “Fine,” he said. “I’m only doing this to shut you up.”

He turned to the nearest exterior wall and pushed magic into his fingertip, drawing out a quick rune for sound dampening. Not enough to completely mute the loudest sounds, but enough to cut off some sound.

Bruiser’s shoulders sagged. “Thanks.”

“You’re paying for dinner,” Uriel said.

The alpha frowned. “But I paid for lunch.”

Uriel rolled his eyes. “And I flew you there and back, and brought you lunch.”

“Fine.”

“That explains why you don’t have an omega,” Uriel muttered.

“What?”

When Uriel turned, he found Bruiser staring sourly at him.

“I don’t have an omega because I choose not to,” Bruiser said.

“Right. Not because they don’t want you.” Uriel unwrapped Cassie from her harness and set her in her playpen.

“They want me,” Bruiser said, but he sounded almost... unsure.

“Really?” Uriel glanced over; Bruiser squared his shoulders. “You had someone who got away?”

Bruiser looked away. “No.”

Huh. Who could it be?

Not that Uriel would know; Bruiser was a dragon, and much older than him. It could be anyone.

He was still an asshole though.

Uriel shed his shoes and climbed into the playpen with Cassie, just because he could. He felt better whenever he was close to her, and he hadn’t had the chance to spend time with her all day.

“Hey, hon,” Uriel said, sitting cross-legged in front of her. “How’ve you been?”

She crawled over his feet and onto his thigh, nosing at his chest. So he pulled up his shirt, letting her latch onto a nipple.

Only then did Uriel relax, the tension in his muscles draining away.

“How?” Bruiser blurted.

Uriel twitched; he’d almost forgotten Bruiser was there. “How what?”

“How are you feeding her?”

“With my chest?”

The alpha rolled his eyes and growled. “Yes, but how? You don’t have any scars there.”

Uriel stared at him, the sheer magnitude of everything he’d suffered pressing against his skull. He wasn’t going to tell Bruiser, though. Bruiser was never going to earn that, so Uriel wasn’t even going to try putting it into words.

Bruiser folded his arms and waited. Uriel ignored him, turning his attention back to Cassie.