“What?” I lunge for the card and look at it like it’s gold leaf. “Are you serious?”
“Am I ever not serious?”
I give Ronnie a deadpan look. “You’re a fox shifter. It’s in your DNA.”
“Okay. Besides that. When it comes to work, money, and computers, am I ever not serious?”
“Thanks, Ronnie.” I flip the card before setting it on the bedside table. “I’ll call them this afternoon.”
Ronnie shoves his laptop back in his bag. “I gotta head out and run some errands. Wanna come with?”
“I’ll pass this time. I want to make sure my resume is up-to-date before I send it.”
“Alright, dude. I’ll call later if I run up on anything new.”
After Ronnie leaves, I grab my own laptop and start to work on my resume. This is a chance I can’t afford to blow.
This isn’t a career path I’m looking to do long term but in the short term, it’s money I need.
Even though I’m a dragon shifter like my mother, I only ended up with part of her generous inheritance. My dad took the rest. I never got a straight answer about what he did with it. Only that I got a small part, some went to my aunt to make sure I had a good home, and my father has the rest stored up somewhere. Gods only knows what he’s done with it. Any time I’ve asked before, he gets all bent that I would even ask.
Then never answers the question.
So this chance to make some money is a welcome relief.
Ever since meeting Nyve, I’ve felt more emboldened than ever to finally move out of my aunt’s house and assert my own independence.
I don’t know if he’s given me courage, or if I realize that I can’t stay here forever.
Maybe it’s both.
Along with the prospect of finally being rid of the intrusive surveillance of the stupid drone my aunt had designed to follow me everywhere.
When I was twelve, it was kind of cool.
Now that I’m twenty-two, not so much. In fact, it’s put a crimp in my dating life. It’s technically illegal for her to have the drone to spy on me.
I know she doesn’t mean anything by it. Ever since I first moved in, she’s had this obsessive fear about losing me. So she got the drone.
Overkill, I think, but what can I do. I know she does it out of love and not nosiness. Since I’ve been living here, she’s been very respectful of my privacy.
Having the drone follow me everywhere has a plus side. It’s really helped me sharpen my own coding and hacking skills to stay creative in finding ways to co-opt the video feed so that she doesn’t know all my business.
Someday I’ll introduce her to Nyve. I’m not ready to do that because I’m not even sure about him. And me. And us.
One step at a time. There’s too much going on at once for me to try to sort all this out. Right now, things are comfortable between me and Nyve. I need it to stay there for a while until I at the least have a part time job.
That’ll do wonders for my feeling of independence.
Something I sorely need now more than ever. It’s like an itch on the back of my neck.
I wouldn’t have even considered it before meeting Nyve.
Damn dragon. He’s turned my life upside down and it’s a very welcome change.
10
Nyve
“You’re okay to lock up tonight?” Taran’s hand lands heavily on my shoulder. I look up from my sketch book and nod.
“It’s been a slow night,” I say, putting the pad to the side. Bronaz is the only other one in the shop with me and he’s fiddling with some cube puzzle he picked up from an antique shop. “I think we can handle it.”
“Alright. Call Varos back in if you need someone. I think Sako is at his parents’ so he might not be able to make it back in time.”
I shoo Taran off. “Get home to Nosko and Charity. I think we can muddle through without you. In fact, we may close early if no one comes in soon.”
“Alright. Night ‘Naz,” Taran says on his way out.
“Later, Taran.” Bronaz sets the puzzle to the side. “I think it’s unsolvable. Want to give it a try?”
“No thanks. I don’t need a block of plastic to make me feel inferior.”
Bronaz laughs and heads to the front of the shop to do some stocking.
I decide to start clean up in the shop and get things ready to shut down for the night. It’s a weeknight and ever since we’ve been open, business usually dries up by ten.
Half an hour before we officially close, Bronaz and I decide to call it, lock up early, and head home.
I take my time heading back to my place, stepping off the bus a few blocks away to walk the last bit to clear my head. Recently, I haven’t been all that enthusiastic to go back to an empty townhouse.
Having Austin stay the night wasn’t one of my wiser moves. Not that Austin didn’t fit in to my life. I wasn’t in the least bit territorial when he made himself at home in my place.
Which is the thing that bugs me.
He fit perfectly into my life. Having him there, in my space, close enough to put my hands on him whenever I wanted, was exactly what I’ve wanted in my life.
Finding my fated mate was something on my mind for decades. And I’m of the firm belief that there’s only one out there for me. I’ve found him now in the shape of a half-dragon shifter who is considerably younger than I am.
Sometimes I wonder if that makes me a pervert. Robbing the cradle. No doubt Austin is a grown man and not a teenager. There are times when he says or does something that reminds me of the large age gap between us. Dragons are long lived. We’ll be around for many decades to come. I’m testament to that, pushing at 77 years with no intention of slowing down. I’m just entering my prime as far as dragons are concerned.
But in looking at the years alone, it’s a fairly large gap to me.
Not that there’s any chance I’m giving Austin up. I know he’s mine. He’s acknowledged that I’m his. He’s said he needs the space to grow and I’m willing to wait as long as it takes for him to find his way in the world. He won’t be rid of me.
Waiting is going to be hard on me.
But… I’ve waited this long, I can endure another few years.
I’m so wrapped in my thoughts I almost miss my street. I step around the corner to find a shadowy figure stepping from around one of the houses. The gate to the house’s backyard swings shut with creak and a rattle and the person coming to me is hard to make out in the dim light. The streetlight at the middle of the block is blocked by the hedges, making it difficult to see.
Whoever it is stops when they see me. I stop in my tracks as well.
Deep within, my dragon stirs. Anger boils in my gut. The mugger has some cheek to come this close to my home. My instincts are immediate and swift to strike. The dragon takes over and wants to rise, to snuff out this threat to someone I love.
My worry, my concern, my fear for Austin’s well-being can be justified in a moment. My dragon assures me that the situation can be handled and no one would be the wiser.
The stretch and pop of my joints starts in my hands and my feet. The pressure of my nose starting to elongate tugs at my skin as it morphs from human to scales.
I see red as all I want to do is devastate this worm once and for all.
Then the man steps into the light. It’s a neighbor from down the street. He glances back and waves at someone behind the fence. A good night is shared.
I pull back into the shadows to get my dragon back under control and stop my shifting before I completely blow it.
The man walks away, not knowing how close he came to being eviscerated here on the street.
I stay in the shadows until the man is out of sight, breathing in deep gulps of night air. When I feel that I’m under control again, I break into a light jog to get to my condo before something happens.
It’s when I finally lock the front door and can lean against it that I relax.
That was too close.
&nb
sp; This thing with Austin is throwing me off my game. I need to have it wired tight before I make a fatal mistake.
I crash on my sofa and stare at my cell phone. Part of me wants to call Austin, to make sure he’s okay. To hear his voice. To know that nothing has happened to my mate.
I decide on a better way.
The top floor balcony of my townhouse is private for the times I want to be away from neighbors and prying eyes. It’s there I fully give over to my dragon and shift. The night sky is cloudy, although there’s no call for rain, and I wait until the moon is obscured by clouds before I shake off my human form and allow my wings to stretch from one privacy partition to the other. I listen with enhanced senses—no one is around to watch as I launch into the air with heavy flaps of my wings.
Long years have honed my ability to stay out of sight as I fly high above the city. I circle around until I come up on Austin’s neighborhood from the west side. I don’t need to be in close proximity to sense him. Just close enough to smell him.
I search through all the sensory input from the neighborhood and finally find him. On top of a municipal building, I settle in and let my eyes drift shut as I lurk in the shadows. My ears sift through all the background noise until I hear his voice.
He’s talking to someone. There are kitchen noises. A television. Water running. A woman’s voice. That must be his aunt. They laugh.
There’s no stress in his voice.
I stay there a long time, listening and watching and sensing. Waiting for something to happen.
Things settle down in his home. I feel his energy as he goes to sleep.
All is well.
I’m satisfied he’s okay and I return home, content.
“I’m so sorry I haven’t had a chance to see you,” Austin says as he sits down at the small table in the restaurant. “I got a job and I’ve been busy trying to get acclimated to it.”
I reach across the table to hold his hand and he takes it, his fingers folding against mine. “It’s fine. I’d hoped it wasn’t because of me but I trust that you’ll tell me.”
“Oh definitely not you. I miss you so much.” He laughs and leans back when the waitress brings our drinks. We place our lunch order and wait until she’s drifted off before we continue talking. “I guess that sounds pretty clingy of me.”
“I don’t mind,” I say. We’ve settled into a dating pattern. It’s not optimum. It’s certainly not what I want but Austin says he needs it. I respect his need for it and so I battle my dragon every day, suppressing my alpha desire to simply demand he submit to me.
That’s not the way to win my feisty omega. I wouldn’t have him be any other way, so we play it like he wants it.
“So you think we can get together this weekend?” Austin asks with a hopeful look on his face.
“I’d like that. I’ll even swing getting off early on Saturday night if you want.”
Austin lowers his eyes to look at our hands clasped together. “Or you can ask for Sunday morning off?”
I like the implication of that question. “I’ll handle it when I get back to the shop. Consider Sunday yours.”
His smile is brilliant when he leans back. “Great!”
“So, tell me how the job is doing.” I find everything about him fascinating and I want to know what is keeping my mate from me every day of the week.
“It’s really taxing my computer knowledge. Most of what I know I learned from Ronnie. He’s really the best in the area. So I’m bringing it to the table for the company. I can work from home, which is a great thing. I’m getting a bit tired of my electronic watch dog.”
We both glance outside to see the drone hovering over the bushes across the street.
Beneath it, a young woman walks with her two children. One toddles beside her, taking the awkward, unsure steps of a newly walking child, the other she holds in her arms. A pacifier sails over her shoulder and a stranger stoops to pick it up and hand it to her.
I’m reminded of how Charity keeps both Nosko and Taran on their toes as she’s learning to walk on her own as well. I remember Taran’s sleepless nights when his little girl had the flu.
Watching something like that is difficult. It sends a deep, throbbing ache through my body.
I want children. I want children with Austin. But after he put the brakes on getting too serious too quickly, I can’t quite figure out where children even fit in his life at the moment. I’m barely understanding where I fit in.
I glance away to see that Austin is still watching them. And he’s smiling.
Perhaps I need to simply ask instead of making guesses?
I am supposed to be the more mature of the two.
“Do you ever see yourself with children, Austin?” It’s a valid question. Many omegas decide against having children for a host of reasons. Age is a big deal for him so I expect that it is a deciding factor in his answer.
“I do, actually.”
I sit back in my chair, astonished.
“You look surprised.”
“I am. I didn’t think you were ready for commitment and family and,” I wave to the young mother as she keeps walking, “children.”
“It kind of surprises me, too.” Austin turns back to face the table again. “I’m not sure where they fit in how I see my life playing out. There’s so much I don’t know about how it works. I know very little about how it’ll happen. I mean, I didn’t even really understand how fated mates worked. Having kids? How does the biology work? Will it hurt? What are the complications? All these unknowns and I just…” He shrugs with a shy smile. “It scares me.”
“Well, it’s not like going to the store and buying a baby doll. Just pop it out of the box and play.”
“You play with dolls much, Nyve?”
“Brat. You know what I mean.”
Austin plays with the straw in his water. “I really haven’t given the mechanics of it much thought. But I do think about having kids. With you.”
“I don’t know what it’s like. All I remember is what I saw of Nosko and Taran when they had Charity. Secondhand experience only gets me so far. But it’s not like you’d go through it alone, Austin.” I extend my legs beneath the table to tangle comfortably with his. “You won’t have to do all the hard work.”
“Just most of it.”
“The important part.”
“I thought knocking me up was the important part.”
“Having a baby with my mate is the important part.”
Austin pulls the straw from the water and flicks it at me. A drop lands on my forehead and he laughs. “We need to work on your seduction skills.”
“Do I need to seduce my mate?”
“It’d be nice. Lurking outside my window kind of falls in between romantic and creepy.”
My eyebrows lift high. “You knew I was there?”
“Not at first. It was when I was going to bed I could, I don’t know, feel you there.”
“That’s our fated mate connection. It’ll be even stronger once we officially bond together.”
“Another shifter ritual that I know nothing about. Why were you there? Why didn’t you come to my window?”
“Would that have been romantic or creepy?”
His lips purse in thought. “Both. Probably best you didn’t.”
I smile. “I’m not a complete idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot at all,” Austin says. He reaches across the table this time to take my hand. “I feel like I’m stringing you along with promises that I’m not sure I can keep.”
I lace our fingers together. “I’m a grown man. I can take care of myself. I have faith that you’ll be mine when it’s right.”
“When? When is that time the right one? I feel like I’m flopping around like a limp fish. This job… this is the first time I’ve done something for me. It’s building towards my independence. Until I met you, I had no idea what I was missing. I mean, not like this. I’m starting to taste it, this elusive thing called freedom. What i
f I screw it up? What if I screw it up with you?”
My hands tighten and I lean in. “You can’t screw up with me unless you push me away. And then, it’s not a screw up because I know what I want.”
“Even if I’m not sure what I want?”
“Do you want me?”
“Yes, I do. I just don’t know when I’ll be ready to make that next step.” The expression on his face is pained and I want to kiss it away.
“I can wait for the when, Austin. I promise you that. You’re my mate. Nothing will break that.”
“How can you be so sure? I’m not sure of anything.”
“Are you sure about knowing I was there the other night, watching you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then that’s how you’ll know. When it finally feels right to you. Until then, I’m here in whatever capacity you need. You’re not getting away from me, Austin Kells. I know what I want. I’m willing to wait for it. For you.”
Austin shakes his head. “I don’t know if I deserve that kind of patience.”
“You let me be the judge of that.”
“It must be nice to have all this confidence. I keep waiting for mine to kick in.”
I reach across the table to cup his chin. “I have enough for the both of us, Austin. You do what you need to do. I’m here to help you and support you. And apparently creep on you.”
Austin turns his face to kiss the palm of my hand. “I actually thought it was romantic.”
“Good.”
Because it isn’t going to change. Austin is mine. I’m not about to let anyone take him away from me.
11
Austin
The jobs I used to have growing up are nothing like what I’m doing now. Being a bagger at a grocery store is physically demanding but by the end of the day, I went home and didn’t think about work until I went for the next shift. Ditto for working in the gaming shop.
It put spending money in my pocket, which is what all high school kids want. It was a system that worked for me.
Now?
Alpha Dragon_Nyve Page 7