Wyatt Drake

by Emilia Hartley

  When she stepped into the living room and saw the furniture he’d bought, a round reading chair that looked big enough to sleep in, a deep-set couch that looked like the perfect place to cuddle, her heart clenched. Everywhere she turned, she could envision Wyatt. The life they could have had was written all over the things he’d bought her.

  It felt…wrong. And, yet, so right.

  She collapsed on the couch and buried her face in her hands. Nothing was fair. She never felt more alone, despite the people crowding around her. It wasn’t the number of people moving in and out of the room, but the knowledge that they didn’t really care about her. She could up and leave once again, and no one would bother to find her.

  Just like everyone else.

  “Do you think that bed is big enough?” Wyatt asked.

  She drew her hands away from her face to find him standing before her, hands on his hips and eyes on the bedroom doorway. The question made no sense. She wasn’t a big woman. A bed was a bed.

  Then, he looked to her, and her stomach flipped. Everything that had once been numb suddenly thawed. It felt like an iceberg breaking and crashing into an ocean of emotions. It dragged her deep into everything she’d tried not to feel in the past twenty-four hours. Or more, as she realized she had no idea how much time had passed since she saw Wyatt with his ex-girlfriend.

  He belonged to the other woman now.

  Why was he standing in her apartment and asking her if the bed was large enough?

  Ashton, Griffin, and Jasper left without saying good-bye, though Ashton did wink and salute her. Kennedy found herself scowling in confusion again, a look that had become a permanent fixture on her face.

  Then, Wyatt dropped to one knee.

  Her heart slammed into her throat while her stomach dropped to the floor. She eyed him warily, unsure of what he was trying to do. There was no ring box in his hands, no diamond anywhere she could see.

  “I want to apologize to you,” he began.

  She held up a hand to cut him off. “All you needed to say was sorry. You didn’t have to buy me anything. You didn’t even have to come back. You could have texted me.”

  Kennedy couldn’t let him stay in her life. She looked at his lips and felt hunger gnawing at her stomach. His eyes, flashing with he beast inside him, drew her in and begged to swallow her whole. There was no denying the way he called to her. Kennedy knew that looking at him and knowing he would never be hers would hurt more than losing him completely.

  “You’re not listening to me,” he said, gently. “I want to apologize for Nicole’s behavior. For letting her know where I am and letting her come between us. Kennedy Mortenson, you are my mate and I am never going to look at another woman the way I look at you.”

  She couldn’t help the choked sob that rose out of her. The word “what?” came out as a strangled gurgle. Second by second, she pulled herself together. Her mind tumbled back, to the magazine at the convenience store, the one Makenna had rolled up and shouted over.

  “Oh, my god,” Kennedy managed to say past her tears.

  Wyatt laughed. He dropped to the floor and leaned back against the chair, laughter now bubbling out of him.

  “She came back because she thought you were a millionaire!” Kennedy began putting the pieces back together. “I can’t believe her. I mean, I have to because I saw her with my own two eyes, but it still boggles my mind.”

  “I would have said Nicole was the greatest mistake I ever made,” Wyatt began, suddenly somber, “but now I know letting you run out of there was my biggest mistake. Because I didn’t stop you and tell you what you meant to me right then and there, you suffered. For that, I’m sorry.

  “I will tell you now that she tried to pull some shifty shit on me after you left. Once Nicole realized I wasn’t going to fall back into her arms, she acted like I’d hit her. She tried to convince everyone in the hotel lobby that I was hurting her, just so she’d have a lawsuit against me. I got lucky—no, that’s not right. Here, in Grove, I am loved. The town loves me, and they want to protect me as much as I protect them.”

  Kennedy knew she shouldn’t laugh, but she did as she slid to the floor across from Wyatt. “You and I attract the worst kind of people. How did we ever find each other?”

  She thought of the creepy dragon shifter who aggressively hit on her when she’d first arrived in Grove. The man had been no better than Nicole, a woman scheming for the most money.

  Suddenly, Kennedy felt like she’d been hit with lightning. Her mind backtracked through everything Wyatt said in the past few minutes, back to the beginning. There, she found the word she’d been avoiding. The one that meant more than just lovers, more than just dating.

  “You called me your mate!”

  His grin split wide. “Yes. I did.”

  “So…so, it’s true? We’re mated? Mates?” Kennedy was still processing what that meant. Its definition was infinite, so deep she didn’t know if she would ever find the root of it.

  All she knew was the tug in her stomach, the knots that released and bound her to him. To Wyatt.

  “I couldn’t let my mate sleep in an unfurnished apartment. Could I?” He lifted himself from the floor and drew her up by her hand.

  The home around them coalesced into something more. It was theirs. It was a space meant for the two of them, where the feeling of home that was inside them could spill out. Kennedy had never known the sensation before. Warmth surrounded her, filled her. When Wyatt pulled her into him, it flared hot.

  “Oh! I forgot.” He scrambled off the floor, leaping to his feet and dashing to the kitchen. When he returned there was a donut box in his hands. “This is what I left for that morning. I planned on surprising you with donuts, but then Jasper had to do what Jasper does best.”

  Kennedy recalled what Makenna told her at the karaoke bar. “Jasper hurt you. Didn’t he? More than he did the first time.”

  Wyatt paused. “My wings…” he choked. “Jasper ripped my wings the day you found me in the woods. I hadn’t shifted since then, so they never fully healed. It…my wings…”

  Kennedy inched closer to him, to her mate. She set a hand on his leg. His pain was not something she could ever fully understand. The best she could do was remind him that she was there, the same way he’d come back to her when she’d been in pain.

  Wyatt pressed his eyes closed. For a long moment, he was silent. Then, when he spoke, his voice had strength again. “They will heal in time. I feel useless, but they’ll heal.”

  She snuggled into him, wishing she could offer a bit of herself to help speed up the process. She couldn’t wait to see him take to the skies again, see his body catch the light of the sun and cast blinding rays upon the earth. Watching him fly would be like listening to a symphony.

  Wyatt cleared his throat. “I forgot something.” He pushed up from where he was sitting and reached for a bag left forgotten on the floor.

  “What’s this?” She sniffed the air, but it didn’t smell like food. There was something slightly chemical about the scent coming from the bag. It was then she noticed how strong her sense of smell had become. “Omg, I can smell everything. Is this normal? I know I’m not pregnant.”

  Though, for a second, she panicked. There was a possibility, or so she thought until Wyatt chuckled. She narrowed her eyes at him and his laughter.

  “I’ve heard about human mates picking up some dragon traits, but I’d never seen it before.” He shrugged. “Not that seeing the sense of smell is all that easy. It seems that some of what makes me…well, me has bled into you. Is that alright?”

  Kennedy thought it through, trying to pick out the cons of the situation. “I’m probably going to have to shower more often, but I guess it’s okay. What else do you think will happen?”

  He shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait and see. For now, we have to unwrap our gifts to each other.”

  At first, Kennedy was confused. She didn’t remember swapping gifts with Wyatt, but as she backtracked through
the past week, she recalled the day they’d spent painting in the craft shop. Wyatt must have gone back and picked up the mugs once they were finished firing.

  Her heart leapt excitedly, and she sat up straighter. Wyatt pulled out the first paper wrapped mug and handed it to her. She glanced to him before peeling back the paper, seeing her happiness reflected in his eyes.

  The mug was a pale lavender color, a stark contrast against her dark hand. The more paper she peeled away, the more she revealed. And the more confused she became.

  “I can’t believe you took the time to paint… what is this?” She couldn’t help the giggles that burst out of her. She was looking at the shapes of animals painted all around the cup, but they were either pink or white and studded with rainbow dots. Then it dawned on her. “They’re iced animal crackers!”

  Kennedy couldn’t stop the warm prickle of tears in her eyes, but at least she knew these ones were from happiness. The mug was ludicrous in all the right ways. She held it close to her chest, still laughing at his attention to detail and the things she mentioned.

  Wyatt moved to pull her closer, but she snatched the other paper-wrapped mug from the bag and pushed it at him. She was no longer sure he would love it. She worried that her art was shoddy and that he’d take one look at the fat dragon on the mug and chuck it across the room. The last thing she wanted to do was offend him, especially after he’d given her something so adorable.

  He watched her as he tore back the paper. She scowled and gestured to the mug, as if to say pay attention to what you’re doing. Still, he held her gaze a moment longer, like he couldn’t bear look away from her until the last moment. She smiled, unable to deny the fuzzy feeling blooming in her chest.

  Finally, he looked down at what lay in his lap. Her heart stopped beating, her breath held until he did something. Anything. A minute ticked by and still he hadn’t reacted.

  Kennedy worried that everything they thought was a farce, that she wasn’t truly his mate and that she was still only a rebound. Then, his lips spread into the widest grin she’d ever seen before. Her heart thumped once, slamming so hard she thought it might burst.

  “You only saw my beast once and you still managed to capture it perfectly!” He held the mug up, twisting and turning as he inspected all sides. She watched him run his thumb over the small, raised scales where she’d carefully laid paint over and over. The look of awe on his face was worth every painstaking moment.

  She inched close to him and tucked herself beneath his arm. He let it fall over her shoulder and pulled her closer into his body.

  “We should use these for something.”

  Wyatt frowned. “I forgot to buy a coffee maker. Who forgets the coffee maker? I have donuts and coffee mugs, but no coffee.”

  She laughed. “You bought nearly a whole house’s worth of furniture. Besides, I’m sure they don’t offer coffee makers on the furniture showroom floor. Not unless you plan on stealing the one they use for complimentary coffee, and those make just plain bad coffee anyway.”

  Wyatt let his head fall onto her shoulder, laughter shaking his body. It was the happiest she’d seen him and knowing that she was the cause of it made her happy, too. Kennedy knew it wasn’t her job to provide his happiness all the time, but it felt good in that moment. They had a long way to go.

  While they knew they were fated mates now, neither had lived with the other. They still barely knew one another. The next few weeks would be a trial, at best. Kennedy hadn’t lived in any one place for longer than a week or two. Her new stationary life would need time for adjustment. She’d laid down roots, but they were still uncomfortable and new.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Kennedy’s belongings had arrived. Wyatt helped her hand the art she’d gathered across the world, and laughed at the triptych painting of octopus tentacles she insisted on hanging in the bathroom. He thought it looked like a mythical kraken trying to break through their wall, but he let her have it.

  Learning to sleep beside someone took Kennedy a week to figure out. She’d spread her feet and try to take up most of the bed, kicking him in the process. He would push her back to her own side of the bed each night only to have her try it all over again. Eventually, he learned to gather her into his arms. There, she stayed still and content, letting them both sleep through the night.

  His beast liked it better that way anyway. The creature had returned to its docile self, never pushing too close to the surface unless Kennedy was in danger. Or, the beast thought Kennedy was in danger. It was overprotective of her, but she always shrugged it off, taking her life one second at a time. The things that happened no longer mattered in the moments to come.

  He loved her for that. No matter what happened, she would turn to him and say that it no longer mattered. Whatever they had to fight about, whatever trouble fell into their laps, wouldn’t stay in their lives long enough to break the love they had for one another.

  His life had become the very thing he’d been searching for all along. He knew now that he’d been going about it all wrong. Every time Wyatt had been presented with an opportunity to find love, he’d tried to force it into spaces where it wouldn’t fit. Kennedy was an open book, or an open field. There was no forcing anything as it all fit perfectly.

  “Are you sure you want to do this again?” Wyatt asked, eyeing her with his own hesitation. He’d tried many things over and over, and this was the one thing he didn’t think he’d ever get used to.

  Yet, she insisted. Week after week.

  ***

  “Don’t be such a big baby,” Kennedy told him, waving off his trepidation.

  How many times had they done this now? Wyatt should have become accustomed to it, but she was seeing that he still dreaded it every week. She deflated, trying to come up with something more encouraging.

  “There’s no avoiding this. You know that, right?” She knew this wasn’t the right thing to say. Pausing, she tried again. “This isn’t going to kill you. At best, you’ll leave with a few scrapes. Maybe a bruise.”

  Wyatt grumbled, unbuckling his seatbelt. Seeing him give in, she twisted and reached for the cake carrier in the back seat. The moment Wyatt’s door opened, Ashton came barreling through the front door of the house. He swept Wyatt off his feet. Her mate pleaded with his eyes as Ashton spun him around and around, but she couldn’t stop laughing.

  These family nights weren’t as bad as Wyatt made them out to be. For once, Kennedy felt like she belonged to a family. Everyone here, even Jasper, cared about her. Makenna came and took the cake carrier from Kennedy’s hands, ignoring her mate the entire time. Griffin passed by on his way inside, waving over his shoulder like he couldn’t be bothered to be as enthusiastic as Ashton.

  To be fair, no one was as enthusiastic as Ashton.

  He was the heart, she thought. Her mate was the brain, and Ashton was the heart. She’d yet to figure out what roles Jasper and Griffin played. There were walls around them that they kept locked tight. Nothing got in and nothing got out.

  The smell of slow roasted beef filled the air the moment she stepped past the doorway. It was rich and made her stomach rumble. Jasper was a fair cook, though he would never tell her who taught him. He kept his secrets to himself. That was fine, because Kennedy resolved to use his future mate against him.

  Some woman would come by and break through the walls he kept held so tight. Then, Kennedy would use the power of sisterhood to convince his mate to spill the beans. At least, she hoped there would be mates for Jasper and Griffin. Both needed someone in their lives if they refused to let their family in.

  “What are you thinking about?” Wyatt whispered when he tugged her into his body. “You look worried.”

  She snuggled into his shirt and coat, savoring his warmth. “I was thinking about your family, how the others need mates. They deserve that kind of happiness. The kind we have. You know?”

  He nodded and laid a kiss on the crown of her head. “Maybe then they won’t be a couple assholes. J
ust wait. I heard Ryker will be here in a few days. He’ll be worse than Ashton. I can guarantee it.”

  Kennedy couldn’t imagine anyone more rambunctious than Ashton. The thought was almost frightening. “He’ll have a partner in crime.”

  Wyatt snorted. “Or someone else to butt heads with.”

  They followed the others deeper into the house. Snow drifted outside the windows. While it didn’t bother the dragon men, it was still too cold outside for Makenna or Kennedy, so they chose to stay inside for the night. That meant crowding four dragon shifters around a table to play a board game.

  The first five minutes went well, but the game quickly devolved when Griffin and Ashton started to argue over money. Kennedy used the moment to steal away from the table in search of a bit of silence. She knew she’d suggested attending the family night, but even she had her limits.

  She crept outside to lean against the deck railing. Snow had recently fallen over the world of Grove, like a heavy down blanket. She closed her eyes and soaked in the silence it had brought with it until familiar hands found her. Wyatt’s warmth sank into her as he ran his hands along her back. She leaned into him as if he were the sun and she a plant.

  “It’s cold outside,” he warned her, voice filled with concern.

  While she was human, she was no longer only that. Part of what made Wyatt magical had seeped into her. It granted her a few small gifts like her sense of smell and a newfound warmth. She liked to think it was because she had a beast of her own now. The primal voice in her head hungered for Wyatt, making her twist in his arms so she could take his face in her hands.

  Mine, the voice whispered, proud and happy. All mine.

  “Do you think they’ll notice if we slip away?” Kennedy asked. Her voice was husky with desire.

  Wyatt grinned. His cheeks darkened, turning a shade of brick red. “No one will say anything. Not until we come back. Then they’ll tease us.”

  “I can handle some teasing.” She looped her arm around the back of his neck. It was a fair trade if it meant she and Wyatt got to be alone for a while.