Greg… His Bedroom

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“Greg, Greg can you hear me?” The deep voice was that of his leader and friend, Lucien Drake.

What was Luc doing in his bedroom? The question didn’t take long to connect with his recollection as Greg’s eyes popped open.

His mate still slept in his arms in the same position they’d fallen asleep in. He forced the fog of sleep to the background as he accepted Lucien’s neural link.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“You finished mating? The Lair is sparkling with all the new energy created by your joining with Zia. All I can say is we’ve been waiting for you to finish and grab a nap. Unfortunately, I couldn’t wait much longer.”

“Why, what’s up?”

“First things first, congratulations to you and Zia. I hope she’s feeling better now that you’ve mated. Seeing as I’m pressed for time, I’ll cut through all the other formalities. If you have any questions about your mating, I’m here for you. I remember how you helped me with Quinn. Know that I’ve got you and am here to return the favor—when I get back.”

“Thanks and get back from where?”

Lucien ignored his question and posed one of his own. “How are you feeling? Do you have your strength back?”

Greg took a moment to tap into his life-force. To his amazement, he felt like his self again, only better.

“Ah, thanks for the mating well wishes and yeah, seems like I’m back to my old self.”

“Good. If you’re like Jax, Matt and I were, you’ll need to stick close to Zia for a while for the energy force between you two to settle. That’s why I hate to intrude now, but must. We got an assignment to go to the portal.”

Before Greg could say he’d be ready in a flash, Lucien spoke again.

“Hate to ask, but could you meet me upstairs to go over the plans for while I’m away?”

“What do you mean, while you’re away?”

“I mean that this assignment should take no more than one or two earth days. Matt has agreed to go with me for hand to hand combat since it’s so short of a trip. I’m allowing the others to stay in their deep sleep until a larger assignment comes up. That will leave you and Jax on surface guard. And, before you ask, Wren gave us her blessing saying she didn’t foresee any complications that we couldn’t handle.”

“Luc, I’m able to go with you. Zia will understand, and I’m back to full strength.”

“I already told you we’ve got it handled. Quinn agrees with Wren that this is a routine tour that won’t take too much time to complete—only a few days. You’ll be here with the mates and to keep Ajax on track for his training along with other things I need to go over.”

“What other things?” Greg found himself asking, skepticism permeating his mental tone.

“Some surface stuff with you that I want you to handle while I’m gone. Can you do that for me?”

Greg knew that when Lucien got that tone, he wasn’t in the mood for negotiation.

“Yes, I’ve got your back, always.”

“Good. Matt and I need to leave within the hour. That should give you time to grab a shower and let Zia know you’ll be back in bed with her shortly.”

“Oh, so you know what we’re doing?” Greg teased.

“If you’re the Gryphon and Dragofin Clan member I expect you to be, that’s where you’d better be, honoring your mate. I didn’t let Quinn out of bed for—”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember. Okay, give me about twenty minutes, and I’ll be up there.”

Greg closed the neural link and bent over to kiss Zia on the cheek. Her scent had changed. He sniffed her again. The faint hope that he was reading her scent right had his heart pounding. An internal check of time let him know that they’d been asleep for a little more than a few hours, plenty of time for the miracle to have happened.

He wouldn’t get his hopes up, though. It was too soon to know for sure. Greg kissed her on the corner of her mouth and whispered for her to wake.

Sleep drunk, Zia opened her eyes, sat up and looked around. He waited for her to get her orientation. She stared off into the distance for a minute before Greg waved a hand in front of her eyes for her to focus on him.

“Heya,” she said, lazy and sexy as fuck.

His cock twitched, but Greg forced his duty to the Clan to triumph over his arousal. This woman had him wrapped around her little finger with how much love he had for her.

“Hey there, my love.” He stole a kiss from her before proceeding. “Lucien just called. He and Matt have some work to do at the portal. I need to meet with him before they leave.”

She grabbed his arm as a flash of fear shot through her eyes. “Are you leaving with them?”

Glad he’d listened to Lucien, Greg quickly said, “No, I’m staying here with you and the others. This will be a quick one to two-day trip for them. I’ll be in charge surface-side while they’re gone.”

“But doesn’t that mean you’ll still be gone.”

“No, not that I know of. I’ll be here with you. The Portal is the gate to this world the Dragofin Clan and others like us are tasked with guarding. There will be a time when I will need to go, but that time isn’t today.”

He saw her body visibly relax at that. He had to give it to his leader. The man had quickly eclipsed him on how matings worked. It was true; experience always trumped theory.

Twenty-five minutes later, Lucien and Greg were in the main meeting area.

“Be on the lookout for more Egolars when you take Zia to move out of her apartment. Get Jax and Hildy to be on standby if you see anything.”

“Yes, I know. Standard protocol.” Greg tried to keep his tone even but now that he was mated any and everything to do with his mate had him hypervigilant. “You don’t have to worry. I won’t put her at risk. First sign of trouble and I’ll give the call.”

“Good. When I get back, we should all canvas that area for a new Egolar den. Oh, and before I forget, Miss Connie said she and the triplets would be by tomorrow afternoon after the lunch rush to take a look at Zia. I want to get to the bottom of what happened to her last night. Anything powerful enough to breach the wards of the Lair is something we need to know about—and take out if necessary.”

Greg nodded in total agreement. Most of the meeting with Lucien was more of the same. His leader continued to run down all the things happening over the next few days that he wanted Greg to attend to.

The list kept growing the longer Lucien spoke.

“I thought you were only going to be gone a few days. This has to be a week’s worth of items.”

Lucien looked up from his notepad to eye him. “Nope, things kept moving while you were ill. Now that you’re back to normal, it’s time to play a little catch-up. Plus, you need to learn how to juggle your responsibilities while keeping your mate happy. Consider this your baptism by fire.”

“Oh, thanks,” was all Greg could mutter.

“Looks like you’re learning fast that the blessing of a mate comes with a whole new set of challenges. Just wait until you go to the portal for the first time, now that you’re mated. That will be an… let me shut up and allow you to experience it for yourself.”

“I already got a brief taste of it today when Zia thought I was going to the portal.”

“Yeah, it’s harder leaving your mate than anything else in life. Your mind will fight you with constant thoughts of the safety of your mate when you need to be focused on the job at hand. I still have a struggle with it, and my mate has proven over and over again that she can take care of herself.”

“I wonder how Matt is going to hold up now that Wren’s expecting?” Greg let his thoughts drift about how a babe factored in when leaving your mate.

“He says she’s the one urging him to go. Something about smothering her, him being underfoot when she went to The Diner and needing for him to get back to work,” Lucien said, chuckling at the idea of Matt being a newly minted father-to-be.

Greg thought of telling Lucien about Zia’s scent change but decided to hold off. As his mate, she needed to be the first person he discussed such a private matter with. He needed to rethink how he operated in every way. Greg had a mate to consider now. She would always come first.

“Look, bro, I know this is bad timing with your new mating and all, but it’s been hard not having you at full strength. I promise to give you a break to nest with your mate as soon as we get back.” Lucien closed his notepad. “Time for Matt and I to go. I’ll leave a link open, in case you need to reach us before we return.” Lucien stood to signify he was done with the meeting.

Greg stood too. “No worries about the timing. We’re Warrior Guardians.”

“Who happen to have the best Goddess-blessed mates around,” Lucien added. As he walked to the door, Lucien tossed back, “we still must deal with Quinn and Zia’s relationship when I return as well. Can’t have them at each other’s throats all the time.”

“Yeah, there is that.”

Lucien clasped him on the shoulder in a show of solidarity. “Never you worry, the Goddess is good and doesn’t sow discord. Our mates are chosen and blessed by the hand of the Goddess. Something tells me they’ll work things out before long.”

Greg nodded, not as certain of that. “Time will tell. Until then, I’ll be on watch to make sure they play nice.”

“Good, if anyone can bring them to peace, it’s you.” Lucien looked at the double doors of the entry into the massive meeting area and then back at him. “Going to get Matt and they we’re off. Glad your back to your old self. Thanks for making the sacrifice to watch over everyone until we get back.”

“Go, I’ve got this. My mate is still sleeping, so I have time to do a few of the administrative things on your long-ass list.”

“Right, be back soon. And, don’t let that little shit, Jax, off too easy with his daily drills. Hildy is great, but she still coddles him a bit. If you have time, put him through a proper Gryphon attack.”

A competitive fire stoked Greg’s heart. It was time to test out what he could do, now that he had the Goddess blessing and strength of his mating. Who better to assist with that, than their young, Dragonling brother, Ajax? He was back to full strength and ready to test his metal.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make time. Matt might be the master trainer, but I’m the eldest brother and still have some moves Jax needs to experience.”

Lucien laughed hard as he walked out of the room. Yes, Greg was back and ready to face combat. Thanks to his mate, he felt like years had melted off the weight of his soul. Visions of all the drills he’d make the Dragonling go through tomorrow danced in his head with delight.

Lucien disappeared down the stairs, and Greg turned back to the room. He sat at the large conference table with his notes and one of the laptops and began to hammer through the mountain of paperwork Lucien had left him to handle. “Time to start earning my keep again around here.”

Soon, Greg had slipped into his zone of concentration. He worked through the backlog of reports and other tasks that were due. The reports had piled up for the last three-plus months. Lucien hadn’t wanted to burden him with carrying his full weight, and this was part of the result of that.

Greg eyed the extension date for all past-due reports to be submitted to the Galactic Council on their Clan’s events and sighed. Reliving all the shit storms that had taken place since Hildy showed up helped him see how long he’d been out of the game.

It was because of the mates that the Lair had been turned on its head. The best blessing still had a price to be paid. Now that he was fully mated to Zia, a new dawning of how much pressure rested on Lucien’s shoulders began to take root.

Being mated was great. Being the best mate and Guardian Warrior was a feat the brothers of the Dragofin Clan had to conquer soon. This backlog—he looked at the stacks of notes and supporting documents—couldn’t become the norm.

When he reached the information concerning Zia’s bakery and the claim Lucien had filed for compensation to her for damages, Greg stopped to process the amount of destruction that had been done. Seeing the documents sobered him enough to realize what Zia had gone through and given up from a new viewpoint.

She no longer had her business, autonomy to live anywhere she wished, nor the guarantee of a safe and simple life. All because she was his mate.

His capacity to love her expanded exponentially. Greg refused to entertain the small sliver of a chance of her changed scent being anything other than his hope grasping at the slightest signs of that miracle.

Greg would become the better man and beast both Zia and the Clan needed. He’d make up for not pulling his weight as the second-in-command while learning how to be the best mate his Zia could have.

Vigor to redeem the time had him diving in to tackle his tasks with gusto. He’d put in the time here and then back downstairs to wake his mate and see what new treasures lay in wait for them to explore.

His smile broadened at the thought of his mate.

He’d work to give her as much time as possible to finish her nap. With how strong his love and desire were for her, Zia needed as much rest as possible for what he had in mind.