by Marcy Jacks
Before they’d heard the snap of bones behind them, and the wail of their father as he had been forced to kill his daughter, Erin’s sister.
Their pack had been in flames, and it had been so long since one of the betas had been able to bring down their father.
He and Marco had come back when the dust settled. They’d had to. They’d needed to bury their father and sister.
Erin had never seen Marco again after the funeral, but he had to be alive.
Just because Marco didn’t talk to him didn’t mean the man was dead, or had been captured by the Dog Catchers.
The fucking assholes. Nothing but a bunch of losers who couldn’t get real jobs as far as Erin was concerned.
The only reason they were allowed to do what they did was because the world at large didn’t want to deal with another outbreak, with more shifters who would go on a random killing spree.
Nowadays, it was pretty dangerous to come right out and live as a canine shifter out in the open. The people who tried tended to disappear, and they were never seen or heard from again.
Which was why people ran when they spotted a Dog Catcher van outside their house, or five floors down from their apartment window.
Erin got up. He needed to know who these other omegas were. He needed to see them.
He was going to get his chance sooner or later as Silver’s mate. He might as well make that sooner.
He left his room. He didn’t leave the house right away, however. He wasn’t sure of the rules of being in a dragon shifter clan. Getting an idea of how many people there were, and what they looked like, could help him out.
Even a stoic guy like Silver had to have a couple of photographs lying around. Right? Maybe even a little black book, kind of like the one his pack used to keep, with the names of the new omegas who lived here?
If he could find that book, if he could see Marco’s name…
Silver would never let him look at it. That was the only reason why he was going to be a little less than tactful here.
This seemed to be an average-sized house. Silver had to have a bedroom up here somewhere.
Erin found an office. He already knew where the upstairs bathroom was. There was another guest room, of all things, and then he found a bedroom that smelled a little more heavily of his mate.
Erin paused at the threshold.
He stared into the bedroom. The curtains were closed, giving it something of a darker tone. The bedsheets were blue, the headboard a dark wood, as was the floor. There was a flat-screen TV on the wall, and a couple of books on the shelf.
Erin went to those first.
He smiled, pulling one off the shelf.
Clive Cussler. Dan Brown. The Bourne Identity and Jack Reacher series, along with a few DVDs of the James Bond Collection.
Well, at least now he had an idea of what his mate was into. Erin personally would have gone for a comic collection on his shelf. The classics, with maybe some newer DC stuff, and definitely the Marvel movies.
Even though their tastes in movies were different, Erin had to admit, he liked seeing what Silver’s interests were. It made him feel closer to the other man. As if he could finally see another layer of him.
That was never a bad thing. Not in his opinion.
He went around the bedroom, taking in the scent. Erin let his hand slide along the bed. He was going to be in here soon enough, he supposed.
Unless Silver didn’t want to share a room.
The thought made his blood chill with ice crystals.
What if his mate really didn’t want Erin in the same bed as him? Would Erin really be in a position to object? And what would it cause if he had to pester his mate into letting him sleep in the same bed in the first place?
If the man didn’t want Erin there, then there wasn’t much that he could do about it. Silver might even grow to hate him if Erin tried to get close to him and Silver didn’t want to.
Erin pulled his hand off the bed. He was still trying to get to know Silver. Having to think about this on top of everything else was not something Erin wanted to deal with.
He moved to leave the bedroom, but then stopped short at the doorway, something catching his eye just before he could make his exit.
It was on the nightstand next to the bed. Erin wasn’t even sure what it was about it that had pulled his attention to it, but once he looked at it, he couldn’t look away from it.
A photo frame.
As simple as that, that was all it was, but Silver was pictured in it, smiling, with someone else at his side.
Erin went to the photo. He picked up the frame.
The man had long black hair and blue eyes. He was almost as tall as Silver, but not entirely.
He looked like an alpha. He had the broad shoulders for it, and the sweaty, dirty look of both men suggested they’d been roughhousing before the photo was taken.
It was outdoors. Maybe a football match or something?
They looked so happy. The year was even on the photo, as though it had been printed off at a grocery store, one of those places that could add a caption.
Five years ago.
A single word in pretty script was horizontal across the top corner.
Always.
Could this be the mate that had died?
Erin blinked hard down at the photo.
Really? But…how? Erin didn’t know alphas could mate with other alphas.
Silver could deny it all he wanted, but he was clearly an alpha. Maybe not officially, but it was all over him.
Dragons were so weird. Whenever they denied they could have alphas, no one really believed them. Then the sickness came in, hitting all wolf, fox, and cat type shifters. Anything that was a mammal, basically. The dragons hadn’t been affected, proving they weren’t alphas in the same sense as the wolves could be.
But he was still very much an alpha personality type. Whatever little differences there was between dragons and wolf shifters, it had been enough to prevent them from getting that alpha killing disease.
From his body type, to his strength and personality. There was no way he was anything less than an alpha, and the man standing next to him looked to be one, as well.
Wow. Erin was shocked.
And then he felt incredibly sad.
If Silver’s mate really had been an alpha, then there was only one way he could have died. It might have been shortly after this photo was taken.
When all the alphas got sick and lost their fucking minds.
It had been bad enough to see his father and sister like that. Erin could only imagine what Silver had gone through when he’d seen his mate in that state.
“What are you doing in here?”
Erin jumped. In his shock, the photo slipped from his fingers. It dropped hard onto the hardwood beneath Erin’s feet, the glass shattering all across the floor.
And Silver’s eyes turned into an enraged shade of red.
Erin was in trouble.
Chapter Six
Silver marched forward. He grabbed his new mate by the back of the neck just before the man could back up and step onto the broken glass.
Broken glass he’d created by being a complete idiot.
“Get out of here! Are you out of your fucking mind? What made you think you could come in here?”
“I’m sorry! I’m real sorry. I’ll clean this up.”
Erin bent down, as if to do just that. Of course Silver grabbed him and pulled him back up before he could even think of doing something as foolish and stupid as that.
“No. Get the hell out of here right now.”
Silver looked down at the broken glass and cracked frame. He bent down to pick it up, gently pulling the photo of himself and his mate during one of the last times they were happy.
Before he got sick.
Before he…
Silver growled. He couldn’t help it. It just came out, and when he looked back at Erin, his new mate cringed.
“I’m really sorry. I’ll replac
e the frame.”
“You’re my mate. Any money you replace this with will come from me.”
“I’m sorry! Okay? I don’t know what you want me to do.”
“Try staying out of my room next time.”
His mate flinched.
Silver ignored the flare of heat, and guilt, that rose within him.
It wasn’t Erin’s fault this was happening. It wasn’t his fault that Silver was still thinking about Ajax, even all these years later.
It wasn’t his fault they were mated and bound together.
Dragons took care of their mates. Even unwanted ones.
Now Silver had to deal with all of these emotions directed toward him.
Silver didn’t want to be affectionate toward the man, and because of that, he was going to end up pushing him away.
He was going to hurt Erin. Silver didn’t want to hurt him.
He didn’t want these growing feelings, or the mating, but ultimately, he didn’t want to hurt the man either.
“Please, go downstairs and wait for me. I’ll be there shortly. The rest of the clan wants to meet you.”
“But I…”
Whatever else Erin had been about to say quickly died on his lips. The omega clearly decided it was best for him to do as Silver asked instead of arguing.
Silver was glad for that.
As he stared down at the photo of his mate, he realized just how much he needed to see Ajax right now.
He’d missed his mate. Missed him so much that it hurt.
Knowing that Erin had been in here, that he’d lifted this photo and gazed upon Ajax’s face…
There was something about that, that seemed so utterly wrong on so many levels.
Silver didn’t have the words to describe it.
He pressed his lips to the photo paper before setting it down onto the nightstand. At least the paper hadn’t been creased. There was always that to be thankful for.
Silver set about to cleaning up the glass before he went downstairs.
* * * *
Erin paced, waiting for his mate to come back down here. He couldn’t believe it. What in the world had he been thinking to do something like that? Violating the other man’s privacy had likely been one of the stupidest things Erin had ever done in all of his life.
And he’d seen Silver’s first mate. Of course the other man was going to be angry about that. Fuck, and Erin still hadn’t managed to get his hands on the black book of names.
Would it really have been so bad for him to wait until he could see the omegas with his own eyes before he went snooping? Or to even ask Silver if he knew Erin’s brother? Those seemed like the much safer options right about now, and he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t taken them when he’d had the chance.
When Erin heard the sound of Silver’s heavy footsteps walking down the hall upstairs, then spotted the man coming down the stairs, he went back into damage control mode.
“Silver, I’m really sorry. I swear, I had no intention of—”
“Let’s just go.”
Silver marched right by him. If Erin hadn’t gotten out of the way fast enough, the dragon shifter might have slammed their shoulders together.
Erin looked at Silver’s back as the man walked away from him, and all he could feel was shame. Shame for what he’d done, for not minding his own damned business.
Really, it was an easy solution to a hard problem. He didn’t have to do anything, and he didn’t have to go snooping around. He could have stayed in his room and waited for the other man to come back, and that would have been enough. Silver wouldn’t be so angry with him right now.
The man walked to the door, opened it, and looked back. “You coming?”
Erin didn’t suppose there was much of a choice. He followed after his mate.
Outside, there wasn’t exactly a lineup of people waiting to greet him. It seemed to be more of a casual thing than anything else. A few people had come to the front of the property, while others went about their business, doing pretty much whatever they wanted while pretending they weren’t checking out the new guy.
Erin totally knew what that look was. He could tell what it was from well over a mile away.
But the property itself looked so utterly normal that it was kind of a shock.
“What’s the look for?”
Erin shook his head. “Nothing. Sorry. Just wasn’t expecting this.”
Silver lifted a brow at him, but there wasn’t anything else Erin could tell him that would make the man understand.
Not without making Erin look like a complete asshole.
He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but this wasn’t it. It wasn’t the suburbs, but there was definitely a sense of community here. The houses were small, but they looked relatively new. The oddest thing about it was how the roads weren’t paved between them, or the road leading into this cluster of houses either.
Maybe it was because most everyone here was dragons? Any decent vehicle could get on and off roads like this in a pinch, but if you could fly, why bother driving?
The omegas could also shift into their animal forms and go, basically, wherever they wanted anyway.
Silver pressed his hand to Erin’s back, pushing him forward just a little. “Guys, this is my mate. Erin, this is the clan. If anyone needs help with anything, you’re going to provide it, got it?”
He blinked up at Silver. “Even though I’m your mate?”
There were a few disapproving whispers from the small crowd. Even the people who had been pretending to not pay attention seemed to catch on to that.
There was a lot of snickering around the clan, and the instant Erin realized what they were all laughing about, his face and body heated with humiliation.
Silver shook his head. “Yes, little wolf. Even the mate of the clan leader is expected to pull his weight. This isn’t a wolf pack.”
Erin was suddenly very aware that everyone was looking at him now, and he didn’t like it. “I…didn’t mean it like that.”
Not that there was much of any other way to take it.
“Sorry, I just—” Erin stopped himself, remembering that he was supposed to be asking about his brother. “Before we do anything else, is there an omega here named Marco?”
Silver blinked at him. “Marco?”
“My brother. We haven’t seen each other since our alphas…”
He didn’t want to say it. Silver would know what he meant anyway.
Erin honestly hadn’t expected the look of sympathy in Silver’s eyes. It was kind of shocking.
“No. There is no omega here by that name.”
Erin tried not to let that news deflate him so much.
Really, what was there to be disappointed about? He should have known that he wouldn’t get the answer he wanted. What were the odds?
The sympathetic look in Silver’s eyes didn’t go away when he put his hand on Erin’s shoulder.
“I’ll introduce you to my dragons. They want to meet you.”
Erin imagined they did, and he didn’t want to be a complete downer, which was why he forced a smile onto his face, sucked back all of his lingering sadness, and decided to move on with it.
There were quite a few, but only a handful that Erin got the feeling were very important at all.
“This is Rey. He is my second in command. Whenever I am not here, you will defer to him. Understand?”
Erin nodded quickly. He held out his hand to the dragon. Rey hesitated, and at first, Erin thought he wouldn’t want to touch him at all, but then the other man reached out and took Erin’s hand in a solid grip.
He had a green dragon scale tattoo beneath his right eye, and blond hair that was frosted at the spikes with green tips.
“I guess you turn into a green dragon?”
Rey smiled at him. “How’d you guess?”
“This right here is my brother,” Silver said. “His name is Gold.”
Erin blinked. He looked at the man Silver pointed his
hand to with wide eyes, immediately understanding their names.
Silver had silver eyes, and his dragon was black with a silver-looking color running around his scales and through the veins of his wings. Erin knew this because he’d seen the scales on Silver’s face when the man had partially shifted the night before.
His brother looked exactly the same, only his eyes were gold, and the little tattoo beneath his right eye was also gold.
He might even turn into a black dragon with gold outlining his scales and running through the veins of his wings.
Gold and silver twins.
Those were supposed to be incredibly rare and beautiful.
Mating to either of the pair, or having them for children, was supposed to be good luck.
Erin cleared his throat. He held out his hand again. “It’s…really nice to meet you.”
Gold smiled at him. He took Erin’s hand much sooner than Rey had. “It’s good to meet you, brother.”
Something bright and warm sprung up in Erin’s chest at that. Yes. He supposed it made sense. He was this man’s brother now. At least his brother-in-law. Something to that effect if he was going to be the life mate of Silver.
“Take care of my idiot brother for me.” Gold grinned as he pulled his hand back. “Silver likes to get into some shit from time to time.”
Silver growled. “Don’t be feeding him any of your dumb ideas.”
Gold shrugged.
Erin had no idea what that was supposed to be about, but he figured he was going to find out soon enough.
Meeting Lightning was a bit of a different matter. Unlike the gold and silver twins, Lightning was entirely albino. White skin with red eyes. His tattoo was a red teardrop, or was it blood? Either way, Erin was the one to hesitate this time when Lightning held his hand out.
He had to suck back a breath and pull in his courage before reaching his hand out to shake.
Lightning still growled at him. They both pulled back quickly.
“Don’t worry,” Silver said. “He’s not bad luck. He just likes everyone to think he is.”
Albino dragons were supposed to be incredibly bad luck. They were usually cast out from their clans because witches and warlocks were constantly fighting the clans to get at them. They thought eating albino dragons would give them powers.