by J. L. Wilder
“Careful, Stacy. She’s not a pin cushion.”
Sasha met Maggie’s eye in the mirror again and made a face. “I guess this is starting to feel really real now, huh?”
Maggie wasn’t sure what it felt like. She’d paid attention during the practices, most of the time, but she’d never realized her role would matter. She didn’t think so much effort would be put into it. It felt so strange. “I’m just trying not to think about how I’m going to be standing in front of the entire clan later, holding Milo like he’s a trophy.”
Laughter could be heard from the girls down the hall, and then they were standing just outside the doorway, their hair and makeup finished. They looked at least twenty-three years old, and Maggie watched Sasha pale. Gabbi grinned at her mom. “I want to wear my makeup like this every day!”
“Can we get this done for the dance?”
Sasha waved them away and tapped her fingers against her mouth, horror evident in her expression. As soon as they were gone, she shook her head and groaned. “They are never leaving this house again.”
Maggie laughed and reached out to hold Sasha’s hand. “They’re good girls. They’re going to be okay.”
She fanned herself. “I think I need a drink.”
When someone immediately appeared with a cup of tea for her, Maggie grinned. She knew Sasha meant something stronger, but she doubted the beauty mobile had liquor on hand. She wasn’t even sure where they’d pulled the tea from.
“I hope the guys are going through the same process right now. That’d make me feel better.”
Sasha nodded. “I hope someone plucked their eyebrows, too.”
Maggie laughed at the image. “I wonder what they’d do with Maverick’s beard. It’s wild.”
“Imagine Jonah and Saul getting prepped like this.” Sasha laughed, clearly feeling better from seeing her daughters look like adult women. “Saul would love it, I bet.”
Anna appeared in the doorway with Milo, both of them grinning. “Hey! Would it be okay if I took him outside to play in the yard? We’re getting pushed out of almost every room. I just had to take a wax strip from him.”
Maggie laughed and nodded. “I’m sorry, Anna. I didn’t know it would be this crazy.”
“No, it’s fun! I like watching it, but I just feel in the way. We’ll just be right outside.”
She nodded. “Go ahead. He has some outside toys in the back of my car that I never bothered getting out.”
Anna laughed as she was edged out of the way by a woman with a huge box of hair rollers. “Okay, see you when you’re done!”
“Just let me know if you need anything!”
Maggie sighed as the place went even crazier. She was poked and prodded and hairsprayed until she felt like a doll. She wanted a break and maybe to escape completely. Sasha looked like she was feeling the same way.
“I think I’m going to live in sweats for a month after this.”
Maggie coughed as she breathed in a cloud of hairspray. “Same. Maybe I’ll donate some money towards climate change research, too. I think I owe the Earth after all this hairspray.”
Hushed whispers from the hallway outside caught their attention and Maggie raised her eyebrows as the sound moved away, like people were moving towards something at the other side of the house. A bad feeling washed over her, and she immediately gathered the bottom of her dress and pulled away from the people trying to work on her.
Sasha was right there with her. “What’s going on?”
Aubrey ran out of her room, a worried look on her face. “Anna’s just lying in the yard. It looks like she passed out or something.”
Maggie’s bad feeling grew, and she shoved past people to get down the stairs and out the front door. In the side yard, she found Anna, face down in the grass. She knelt down and eased Anna over. “Anna, honey?”
The girl had a large bump across her forehead with a cut that was oozing blood. She was breathing, but she didn’t respond to Maggie.
Horror set in as Maggie called for someone to call an ambulance. She looked around, searching for Milo, but she couldn’t find him. She ran through the yard, looking behind the house and on the other side. He was nowhere to be found.
“Maggie? What’s happening?” Sasha was just coming out of the house, her face tight with worry.
“I can’t find Milo.”
30.
***Wyatt***
Sasha called Maverick as soon as they realized Milo was missing. Preparations for the ceremony were halted as they all sped to Sasha’s to help search. The scene they found when they got there was enough to take years off of Wyatt’s life. Anna was being loaded into an ambulance, giant tears rolling down her cheeks as she sobbed through telling the sheriff what happened. Maggie was holding onto the ambulance door for dear life and crying herself.
“Someone h-hit me. I didn’t see who it was. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened.”
Maggie took the girl’s hand. “Not your fault.”
Maverick shoved through a crowd of people and searched the house from top to bottom for himself while Wyatt searched everywhere outside, smelling for Milo’s special scent. Sawyer immediately took charge, telling people to stay where they were so he could see if they saw something, anything.
It was like time stood still as they worked, but by the end, no one had anything. Milo was gone and no one had seen a thing.
Maggie constantly moved, her ceremony dress dragging the ground as she paced and chewed her fingertips bloody. “I don’t understand. This doesn’t make any sense. There were fifty people in the house. How did no one see anything? Why did I let them go outside? God, where is he?”
Sasha was doing her best to comfort her sister, but it was clear she was frazzled herself. She sat with her own kids, all of them emotional. “We’ll find him. We’re going to find him.”
Wyatt pulled Maggie into his arms and held her as his heart raced and he tried to think of anything that would help them find Milo. Then Maverick was there and Wyatt eased Maggie into his brother’s arms and turned to Sawyer. “Where do we go?”
Sawyer growled as someone walked too close to him and tugged his fingers through his hair. Milo was all of theirs. He couldn’t be missing. Nothing could happen to him. “The sheriff has people walking a grid through the neighborhood and seeing if anyone saw anything. Nothing yet.”
Maggie lifted her head and looked at them through bloodshot eyes. “I just let them go outside. The house was too busy. Then people saw Anna on the ground. She’d been attacked. Who would do that? Who would hurt her and t-take Milo?”
Wyatt’s chest felt like it was splintering as he saw Maggie break down. He paced away from them and tried to make sense of something that didn’t make any sense.
Everyone in the clan knew that Milo was their heir. They knew that Milo was loved by a big family and that he wouldn’t go unmissed. Why take him? Why take any child, but especially a child who was the most important child in the world to the soon-to-be new alphas?
Was it a stranger who saw an opportunity and took it? That didn’t feel right. It had to be someone who knew Milo. A nudge of an idea formed in his head and he jerked around to face Sawyer.
Judging by the look on Sawyer’s face, he’d had the same idea. Walking closer, he lowered his voice. “Flints?”
Maggie pushed away from Maverick and narrowed her eyes. “What did you say?”
Sawyer shook his head. “We don’t know, Mags. We’re just trying to make sense of it.”
Her eyes started to glow as she rolled the idea around in her head. “You heard her threaten him, Wyatt. She threatened him and now he’s missing.”
The sheriff hurried over to them at that moment. “A witness saw Ray and Jessi Flint speeding away not too long before we got here. I’d say they’d have a pretty good reason to want Milo away from here, wouldn’t you?”
Maggie clutched at her dress. “What? Because he cost them their chance as alpha?”
Wya
tt felt all the blood drain from his face as he met his brothers’ eyes. “We haven’t taken our vows. Without Milo, technically they could still be alphas.”
“We should’ve protected him. We should’ve thought about it! Fuck!” Maverick yanked at his hair and let out a vicious growl. “We need to find them. Now.”
“They took him to be alpha?” Maggie said the words like they were in a foreign language. “They took our son for this?”
Sawyer saw the rage in Maggie’s eyes and motioned for everyone to get back. There were few things more dangerous than a dragon mother when her child was in danger.
A scream tore from Maggie as she shifted, the sound something that Wyatt would never forget. The pain and anguish in that one sound would haunt him. She stood in front of them, towering over their human forms, dark red and deadly. She lifted her head towards the sky and let out a burst of flames so hot, even Wyatt had to step back.
Maggie let out another pained sound and then stopped. Lowering her head to the ground she inhaled deeply and then growled. “Jessi.”
Wyatt was trying to figure out what the fuck to do when Maggie roared and shot into the air. He stumbled backward and looked up in time to see Maggie shoot forward, her attention focused in the distance.
Maverick shifted instantly. “She’s got a scent.”
Sawyer and Wyatt both shifted and took flight, chasing after Maggie and Maverick. If she led them to Jessi and Ray, they had to be there. Ray could hurt her. She wasn’t used to being in her dragon form. They could kill her without even trying very hard.
They flew fast and dangerously low as they stayed on Maggie’s tail. She had a scent, and she was chasing it hard, darting low to keep it.
Wyatt recognized the direction they were flying towards and felt his stomach drop. There were mines on the other side of the mountain, and enough of them were left open that someone wouldn’t have a hard time finding an open mine shaft. His mind raced with the things Jessi and Ray could do to Milo and he pushed his body harder. They had to get to Milo.
Maggie’s dragon form disappeared over the side of the mountain and before Wyatt could get over it, she was already landing in front of a car on the road, her teeth bared and a mighty roar shaking the earth.
Ray Flint got out of the car and tried to shift, but Maggie was already on him, knocking him back twenty feet and breaking at least a few of his bones. His screams of pain drew Jessi out of the car, and she did manage to shift before Maggie could get to her. Maverick was already diving down, but he was too late to stop Jessi from tackling Maggie to the ground, both of their dragon forms deadly.
Wyatt screamed as he watched Jessi try to dig her claws into Maggie, but Maggie was stronger than Jessi. She easily flipped Jessi off of her and pinned her to the ground with her teeth around the smaller dragon’s throat.
Maverick landed next to Ray and stood watch in case the man tried anything. Sawyer and Wyatt landed next to Maggie a second later. They prepared themselves to watch Maggie rip Jessi’s throat out, knowing that dragon mothers were known to do worse when pushed. Instead of doing it, though, Maggie moved back and snarled in the other dragon’s face.
Wyatt watched as Maggie picked Jessi up and slammed her again the mountain wall, knocking her unconscious but leaving her alive. He stepped out of her way as she moved towards the car, shifting as she went. She was then naked and pulling Milo out of the backseat.
Milo reached for them, his face red from crying but instantly happy to see his mom and potential new friends that were dragons.
Maggie cried into his hair, her body shaking as she came down from the adrenaline and felt the exhaustion of flying. She held her baby tight and then looked up at her dragons. “He’s okay. Milo’s okay.”
Maverick shifted first and ran to them. He hugged them both while Sawyer and Wyatt both shifted and moved closer to see for themselves that their family was okay.
“I wanted to kill them.” Maggie’s voice shook. “I almost did. I wanted to so bad that I could feel it.”
Wyatt stroked her hair back from her face. “Your dragon showed more restraint than any of us expected. Not because she’s yours, but because any dragon mother put in this position would’ve been justified in doing it.”
Maverick kissed Milo’s head and then Maggie’s. “She’s a badass, your dragon. I didn’t know you could fly.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t know I could either.”
Sawyer met her eyes and had tears in his as he looked them over. “You’re both okay. You’re okay.”
She nodded and let out a watery laugh. “I don’t think I want to fly back home. I don’t even know how. I’m so tired. I need a nap, I think.”
Wyatt looked back at the Flints’ car and nodded to it. “We’ll drive.”
“I’m sorry. I’m feeling so emotional. I can’t believe they kidnapped Milo. I can’t believe I flew. Also, I’m pregnant. Do you think shifting and flying hurt the baby?” Maggie held Milo tight to her chest and looked at the three of them with even more tears in her eyes. “I’m pregnant.”
Maverick reacted first, dragging her into a hug and kissing her. Sawyer grabbed her up next, holding her and Milo in his arms for a minute before letting her go.
Wyatt met her eyes and grinned. “Come here, baby.”
She walked into his arms and pressed her face into his chest, her breath fluttery as she let out a little laugh. “You’re all happy?”
Wyatt looked at both of his brothers and felt their bond growing as they all realized they were really starting life with their mate. “Yeah, baby, we’re happy.”
After a few more minutes of celebrating, Maverick grunted. “I’d like to no longer be naked with my brothers now, please. Can we maybe get back to some clothes and then we can celebrate some more?”
Maggie laughed and nodded. “That’s a good plan.”
Sawyer shrugged. “I’m not looking at either of you two losers, so I don’t care.”
Wyatt looked back at the Flints and nodded to Maggie. “Get in the car and pop the trunk, okay? We need to take them back to town and have the sheriff deal with them.”
Maggie nodded. “I’m really glad I didn’t cross any lines...”
He cupped her face and held her gaze, hoping both she and her dragon were listening. “You were in control. You’re strong and brave and you should never let anyone doubt that again.”
A flash of glow in her gaze told him that both parts of her had heard. He gently tapped her ass and pushed her towards the car.
Maverick shoved him as soon as she was in the car. “We both saw that.”
Sawyer snorted. “Like we haven’t both been ignoring your semi.”
Wyatt shook his head. “Let’s just get these assholes loaded up and get off this mountain. The faster I can get my bare ass the fuck away from you two the better.”
“Like I want to be anywhere near you like this.” Maverick scoffed. “Pretty sure there’s a layer of hell just like this.”
They bickered as they loaded Ray and then Jessi into the trunk. Jessi had shifted back as soon as she was knocked unconscious, or they would’ve had bigger problems than arguing every time they accidentally touched while loading up the Flints.
When they got the trunk closed and were moving towards the front of the car, Wyatt stopped and looked at his brothers. His heart felt full and he was happier than he’d ever been, despite coming off of having Milo kidnapped.
“She’s pregnant.” The grin on his face wasn’t budging.
Both of his brothers had the same silly grin on their faces, too, as they climbed in the car and started the slow drive back to town.
31.
***Maggie***
She hadn’t let Milo out of her sight at all in the week that had passed since the kidnapping. She was terrified of something else happening to him, so she hovered over him like a mad woman. At the back of her mind, despite those nerves, she felt a comfort in knowing that if anything happened, her dragon had their back.
It’d taken Milo getting kidnapped and Maggie feeling her dragon’s pain meshing with her own for her to realize that Milo wasn’t just her son. He was her dragon’s son, too. They were both his mother, both parts of him. That went a long way in easing the way with her understanding her dragon more. She’d also realized that her dragon wasn’t violent. She would be if she needed to be, but she mostly just wanted to have lots of sex and fly around. Maggie could relate to that.
She was learning more and more each day that she wasn’t bad, her dragon wasn’t bad, and that she was incredibly lucky to have the things she had in life and that she needed to appreciate them more.
The only thing she didn’t appreciate was that the ceremony had been rescheduled and she had another group, albeit way smaller, in Sasha’s house. They were once again being poked and prodded and shoved into dresses. She held Milo in her lap for most of it, though, and only let family take him from her.
Anna was over, getting ready with the girls. Maggie had decided that she wanted to extend the offer to the girl so she didn’t keep ahold of the guilt that had been clear in her. Maggie wasn’t angry at her at all. She wanted Anna to know that she didn’t blame her. She would eventually let Anna watch Milo again, but it’d only been a week and she didn’t think either of them were ready for it just yet.
Sasha sat next to her, her face pinched as her hair was put into rollers again. She looked over at Maggie and scowled. “This is really inconveniencing me, you know?”
Maggie grinned. “Oh, so sorry. I’ll let the guys know that their alpha ceremony stretched into your sweatpants time.”
“Thank you. That’s all I ask.”
“Did that guy call yet?”
Sasha growled. “Shut up. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Yes, you do. Tell me everything.” She reached over and smacked her sister’s hand, laughing when she got the evil eye for it. “Please?”
“He called and he wants to take me out and I said no because I don’t know if the cancer is going to get worse. There.”