Dragons of Cinderhollow Bundle

by Hawke Oakley

  “Come to think of it, I believe she delivered Dante and Lorenzo, too,” I said. “She’s like Cinderhollow’s resident baby expert.”

  “Maybe we can talk about something besides babies right now,” Scar mumbled. “Like how white the paint on the wall is.”

  “Okay. We can definitely talk about that. It’s, er… very white.”

  Thankfully, Dr. Lynden rapped on the door a moment later, saving me from having to talk about paint. She entered with a curt nod. “Hello. You must be Scar and Ryu.” Her gaze lingered on Scar, and she added in a gentler voice, “You look well.”

  He paused. “Do I know you?”

  “Not quite, but I know you. I was working a hospital shift the day they brought you in, fifteen years ago,” she said. “I’m glad to see you’ve recovered.”

  Scar rolled his shoulders. He probably felt a bit awkward knowing she had seen him at his weakest and most vulnerable. But Dr. Lynden didn’t dwell on the past long—she flipped through her notes. “It says you’re here for a fertility test, is that right?”

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “Can I make the assumption that you two are together?” she asked.

  “Yes.” I slipped my hand into Scar’s, and I felt how warm he was.

  Dr. Lynden smiled. “Okay. So you’ve been trying to get pregnant?”

  I nodded. “That’s right. But our last test turned out negative, and—”

  “The day they brought me in, do you remember if I was hurt anywhere else? Besides my limbs?” Scar interrupted suddenly.

  Dr. Lynden hummed. “Not that I can recall. But I can check your old charts, if you’d like. They should still be at the hospital. First, let’s run some tests here, shall we?”

  She picked up a small plastic container and handed it to me.

  “What’s this for?” I asked.

  With a stern look, she raised a brow. “Scar is not the only one involved in making a baby. Hop to it. There’s a bathroom next door.”

  My face flushed when I realized what the cup was for. “Oh.”

  Dr. Lynden waved me away. “I’ll run my tests on Scar while you’re gone. Go on, now.”

  I didn’t miss Scar’s snicker as I rounded the corner and left for the bathroom.

  The environment of the bathroom didn’t do much to set the mood, but I tried my best and got the job done within fifteen minutes. When I returned, Scar was sucking on a juice box, looking a bit pale. His sleeve was rolled up and a bandage revealed where he’d had blood drawn.

  “Took you long enough,” he mumbled.

  “It’s not exactly sexy in the doctor’s office bathroom,” I replied.

  He smirked.

  “Where’s Dr. Lynden?” I asked, sitting next to him on the sheet.

  “She’s running the tests right now,” Scar said. “She said she usually sends them to the lab and it takes a while to get done, but… I guess she felt a bit sorry for me and is getting it done as a rush job.” He didn’t seem too displeased about being pitied for once. “Maybe it’s a good thing she saw me all fucked up that day.”

  “Don’t say that…”

  He turned to me with a cautiously optimistic expression. “She examined my body while you were gone. She didn’t find anything physically wrong with me, on the outside anyway.”

  I put my arm around him. “That’s fantastic! See, I told you.”

  “Now we just have to wait for the rest of the tests,” he said with a sigh.

  Scar finished his juice and tossed it. Dr. Lynden returned soon enough. We both tensed, impatient for the results. With her stern expression, Dr. Lynden was difficult to read. All I could do now was pray for everything to turn out okay.

  Finally she stopped and handed Scar a chart. His eyes scanned the page wildly, but it was all numbers and medical jargon he didn’t understand. “What does this mean?” he cried, annoyed.

  A smile broke out on Dr. Lynden’s lips. “It means you’re fertile. I couldn’t find anything wrong with you, inside or out.”

  I nearly leapt out of my seat. “Scar! That’s amazing! I told you everything would be fine!”

  My mate’s eyes sparkled and he couldn’t hold himself back from grinning widely.

  “Now, as for you...” Dr. Lynden took the plastic container from me. “I’ll be right back.”

  Overwhelming joy filled my chest and I hugged Scar. He embraced me back and let out a heavy sigh of relief.

  “Gods,” he murmured. “I was so fucking scared of coming here, but I’m glad you brought me.”

  “Me, too,” I said. “Now we know the truth. It’s not so bad, is it?”

  But now another worry weighed on my mind. What if I was the one with the problem? I’d never been tested for infertility before, and this was my first time trying to conceive. I’d always just assumed that I was fine, but what would happen if I wasn’t? I’d let down my mate...

  “Hey,” Scar said, as if he could read my mind. “Don’t stress. I’m sure you’re fine, and the doc will be back soon.”

  I sighed. “I know. Your nerves must have rubbed off on me.”

  He gave me a quick kiss on the lips that turned my face red.

  Dr. Lynden shouldered her way back through the door. I held my breath, sitting on the edge of my seat. Her cool, unreadable face was going to be the death of me.

  Finally she smiled and said, “Don’t look so scared. You’re fine, Ryu.”

  I let out a heavy sigh. “Thank gods.”

  Scar turned to me in excitement. “Then that means—”

  “Yes, you’re both fertile,” Dr. Lynden finished.

  Scar and I fiercely embraced each other. All the worry and tension faded away into happiness.

  “So we just have to keep trying, right?” Scar asked.

  “That’s the ticket,” Dr. Lynden confirmed. “Of course, trying to conceive during an omega’s heat is still the best option. And you two are in luck. Scar, I took a look at your hormones during your tests, and you should have a heat coming up within the week.”

  Hope flickered in my chest. We exchanged a knowing glance, both of us realizing we probably wouldn’t leave the house for those few days.

  “Here.” Dr. Lynden handed Scar a large bottle of vitamins from the cabinet. “These are on me. Make sure to take one a day after your pregnancy is confirmed.”

  “Thank you,” Scar said.

  We stood to leave and I bowed to Dr. Lynden. “Thank you for all your help. We really appreciate it.”

  “Yes, yes,” Dr. Lynden said, but now it was her turn to look embarrassed by all the attention. “Now go and make a baby. And don’t let me see either of you before then.”

  But as we finished up and left the clinic, my phone rang.

  “Lorenzo,” I told Scar, who instantly looked concerned. I put the call on speaker. “Hello?”

  “Ryu, I think we need to talk about your baby,” Lorenzo said in his usual calm voice.

  Scar tensed in fear. Then we heard a groan in the background of the call.

  “Don’t say it like that! You’re going to scare them,” Raja scolded him. He got closer to the phone and added to us, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. It’s just something you really have to come and see.”

  17

  Scar

  “Who starts off a call that way? I mean, seriously,” I complained to Ryu all the way to Lorenzo’s house. “He nearly gave me a damn heart attack! Which can’t be good for fertility, by the way.”

  “That’s just the way he is,” Ryu said sympathetically with a shrug. “He’s always had a serious tone. You get used to it after a while.”

  “Well, whatever it is, it better not be bad,” I growled. Ever since the call, I couldn’t stop thinking about Angel. I knew she was in a safe place with experienced parents, but I yearned to be with her.

  When we arrived, Gabriel was the one to greet us. In his arms was a baby girl with a striking resemblance to him. “Hey, you two! Come on in.”

  “Noelle is so bi
g already,” Ryu remarked, smiling at his friend’s daughter.

  “I wish she’d hurry up and get old enough to take care of herself,” Gabriel said with a laugh. “I told Dante that after this one, we are not having another.”

  Dante snuck up behind him and rolled his eyes, smirking at us. “You say that now…”

  Gabriel nearly leapt out of his skin. “Cut that out!”

  With a chuckle, Dante sidestepped his mate to stand before us. Angel sat in his arms, and when she laid eyes on us, her face lit up. “Da!”

  I gasped. “She can talk now!?”

  “Well, not talk, but she’s making sounds,” Gabriel said.

  “She is one damn smart baby,” Dante agreed, handing her to me. Gladly, I took her and nuzzled the top of her head. She giggled and slapped her little hands on my cheeks.

  “Is that what Lorenzo was so eager to tell us about?” Ryu asked.

  Now Gabriel and Dante exchanged glances.

  “Not quite,” Gabriel admitted. “Come on in. It’s something you should see for yourselves.”

  “Why does everyone keep saying that?” I muttered as I followed them inside. I quickly glanced Angel over to see if anything seemed different about her, but she seemed the same as ever. I wondered what the big fuss was about.

  Lorenzo and Raja greeted us quickly before we sat around the low children’s table in the playroom. The floor was covered in multicolored puzzle-piece mats, and toys scattered all over the floor. Noah—Gabriel and Dante’s oldest—was old enough to walk and speak in basic words. He and Charlotte played a game together in the corner with a large stuffed animal, while Noelle sat and fussed in Gabriel’s lap.

  It was difficult to sit on the soft plastic mats with my prosthetic leg, so Ryu quickly got a throw pillow for me to sit on.

  “So, what’s going on?” I demanded, getting impatient with all this waiting.

  “Set Angel down,” Dante instructed.

  Warily, I did so. Angel plopped her butt down on the mat and kicked her legs. She gazed excitedly at Dante, as if she already knew what to do.

  “Ready?” Dante said to Angel. A moment later, Dante shifted into a shining black dragon. He flared out his wings.

  I watched in confusion. What the hell does this have to do with my child?

  “Hey, watch the ceiling!” Lorenzo scolded him.

  “Sorry,” Dante said, his voice deep and draconic. “Now, Angel, let’s see you try.”

  “What?” Ryu gasped.

  I was similarly shocked. Did I just hear what I think I heard?

  With all eyes on Angel, the little girl had quite the audience. My heart raced. We’d seen Angel shift only once before—into a fox, to mirror Henry. That meant one of her parents had to be a fox shifter. There was no other way.

  Her shift was clumsy and slow, and only heightened the suspense knotting up in my chest. But finally, her human body disappeared, and was replaced by a small black dragon—almost a tiny, carbon copy of Dante’s dragon.

  Ryu stared in awe. “How did she…?”

  “What’s that mean?” I asked, overwhelmed with confusion. I stared at Dante. “Are you her alpha-father?”

  Gabriel quirked an eyebrow, and Dante groaned. “No, of course not!”

  Ryu was quicker than I was to put the pieces together. “So she can take two shifter forms,” he mused out loud. “That means one of her parents is a Cinderhollow tribe shifter. Ours is the only tribe I know of with the power to take multiple forms.”

  “Right,” I said. His explanation calmed me down, and I tried to work out the truth as well. “And there aren’t many dragons outside of Cinderhollow, anyway, are there?”

  “Some exist, but for the most part, that’s correct,” Lorenzo explained.

  “So Mav’s part of the story was definitely a lie,” Ryu added. He quickly explained the short version of the story to the others. “There were a fox and wolf couple claiming to be Angel’s biological parents, but their true motive was just to get back at us for past slights. But at the time, Angel did shift into a fox. The rest of the story didn’t add up, but we assumed for a fact one of her parents must have been a fox shifter.”

  “So her biological parents are a dragon and a fox?” I suggested. But before anyone could respond, Henry’s taunt reverberated in my mind.

  If we do find Angel’s biological parents, what if they want her back?

  Suddenly overwhelmed by fear, I blurted out, “Maybe we shouldn’t try to find them.”

  Ryu gave me a sympathetic glance and rubbed a hand on my back. “Are you still worried about what Henry said?”

  I nodded miserably.

  Ryu told the others, “The omega who falsely claimed to be Angel’s father told Scar that he hoped Angel’s true biological parents would steal her away from us.”

  I winced hearing the words again out loud.

  Gabriel’s face twisted into a snarl, like a protective father wolf. “That bastard!”

  He quickly realized he’d swore, but thankfully Noah was too busy playing with Charlotte to notice his dad’s error.

  “That’s just sick,” Dante added. “Don’t listen to that guy, Scar.”

  I perked up a bit. It was strange to hear an alpha that wasn’t my mate standing up for me. It felt… nice?

  “And he straight up doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Raja growled. “Didn’t you find Angel abandoned in the first place? Screw them if they want her back! They already lost their chance at being decent parents.”

  “You two are both fantastic parents,” Lorenzo added. “You are Angel’s real parents, no matter what anyone else may claim.”

  They were right, and I knew it. “It’s just hard to shake the feeling,” I muttered. “I mean, you guys are your kids’ biological parents. We don’t even know who gave birth to Angel, or where they are now. And if they’re ever going to take her back...”

  Lorenzo paused before asking, “Do you still not want to know?”

  I sat up suddenly. “Wait. Do you know?”

  “I have a theory,” Lorenzo replied gravely. “There’s something else I’d like to demonstrate first.”

  He glanced at his mate. Raja nodded and assumed his panther form. The great black cat shook out his glossy pelt and loosely waved his tail as he padded over to Angel and touched his nose with hers. Angel laughed, then slapped the mats with her hands.

  In the next moment, she changed again.

  But this time, she was neither a dragon or a fox.

  She was a black panther—the same as Raja.

  The revelation sent me reeling. “What the hell?” I cried.

  “How—how did she do that?” Ryu gasped, similarly startled. “That shouldn’t be possible!”

  “Did you both notice,” Lorenzo began, “that she didn’t shift into a normal golden leopard? She specifically took the form of a black one, like Raja. She did the same thing with Dante. If I had shifted instead, I’m sure she would shift into a silver dragon.”

  “So, she’s mimicking whoever shifts?” Ryu asked slowly, shaking his head. “That still doesn’t make sense. I’ve never seen a shifter able to take more than two forms, even in Cinderhollow.”

  Ryu and I stared at Lorenzo. Gabriel murmured to him, “Go on, tell them what you told us.”

  I growled. I’m gonna wring the truth out of Lorenzo if he doesn’t hurry up and spit it out!

  Lorenzo took a moment to steady himself with a deep breath. “I’m judging this based on a few factors. One, Angel’s features—namely, her light hair and eyes. Second, her ability to shift into multiple forms. Third, her innate skill with magic—especially clear magic, the most difficult of all to use. And finally… The night of her appearance.”

  My heart raced with suspense and I frowned.

  “That night,” Ryu murmured in thought. “The flicker of the barrier—that’s what you’re referring to, is that right?”

  “Yes,” Lorenzo said. “Our initial assumption was wrong. We mistakenly thoug
ht Henry’s supposed magic was somehow strong enough to overpower it, and that lead us to believe he was Angel’s biological omega-father. I realize now we were looking in the wrong direction.”

  My mind was a chaotic blur. Everything I’d known was flipped on its head.

  “So what does that mean?” I asked impatiently.

  Lorenzo wore a serious and awed expression, as if he spoke about something bigger than all of us. “I believe Angel’s true biological omega-father is the creator of the Cinderhollow barrier.”

  Ryu’s face went pale. “You don’t mean…?”

  “Yes,” Lorenzo confirmed. “I believe Halo Fire-Eater is Angel’s father.”

  The room went silent.

  I didn’t know what to say, or how to feel. Lorenzo essentially just told us Angel was the child of a legend. A living legend.

  I glanced down at my baby. Angel blinked, with her beautiful golden-green eyes. Without speaking, I scooped her back into my arms and held her close, like she would vanish at any moment. She hummed and nestled into my chest.

  “What I don’t understand is,” Gabriel began quietly, “if Halo Fire-Eater is still alive, why would he abandon his own child?”

  “He’s one of the most powerful mages in existence,” Dante added with an angry frown. “If anyone could keep their own kid safe, it should be him. So why’d he dump her?”

  “There’s no way for us to know the answer,” Lorenzo admitted. “All we can gather from this is that Halo Fire-Eater is alive, active, and somewhere with access to Cinderhollow. And if those things are true, then we can also assume he’s still interested in keeping Cinderhollow safe, because his ancient barrier still stands.”

  Quiet settled upon us once more.

  I growled to myself. “What kind of parent wants to keep their tribe safe, and not their kid?”

  “I suppose he is keeping Angel safe with the barrier,” Ryu commented.

  “Yeah, but he’s doing a shit job of raising her,” I muttered. Gabriel was too stunned and confused to reprimand me for swearing.

  “So what do we do with this information?” Ryu asked.

  Lorenzo merely shrugged. “I suppose there’s nothing you can do, except continue with your lives. You’re doing an excellent job of raising Angel. I’m sure if Fire-Eater cared, he would agree.”