Cowl
They were arguing again.
“I still don’t think we should do as they say!” Ivore pounded a fist into his palm to emphasize his point.
“Do you think they’re lying, then? They have evidence. The dragons who have fought them have scars. These things are real, brother.”
Cowl hesitated. Did he really want to enter the apartment the three of them shared and get involved? He’d been blessedly absent a lot lately, spending all his time with Andria, and he’d completely forgotten the ongoing battle between his two older brothers over whether they should stay or go.
“You stay and commit suicide then. Cowl and I are going to leave.”
Caine growled angrily. “No, Cowl is staying with me.”
Truthfully, neither of them had asked him what he felt and where he stood on the issue. They both just assumed that he would go along with whatever they decided, as per usual. Often Cowl did just to make life easier, even if he didn’t always agree with the choice. It was easier than trying to persuade them otherwise.
This time though he had some scales in the game, and wasn’t willing to just follow their orders.
“Cowl, what are you going to do?” Ivore glared at him. “You don’t really want to stay, do you? To put up with this madness?”
“We have to stay,” Caine countered. “They need our help. We owe it to them. We protected our kingdoms in the past. Why should that change now? The humans need our help. As stronger beings, we should look out for those who are weaker than us. It is our duty.”
Both brothers fell silent, looking expectantly at Cowl, as if they both knew he was going to side with their decision.
Cowl knew his answer was going to cause a whole different set of problems. It wasn’t the way he wanted to bring it up, but the opening wasn’t going to get any better. “I’m going to do whatever is best to protect my mate. She is my priority.”
Both brothers’ mouths fell open. “You found your mate?” they asked together.
“I did.”
A barrage of questions followed. When? Where? How do you know? What’s her name? When do we get to meet her? Are you sure? Are you on drugs? How could she possibly like you? Are you pretending to be one of us? Does she know you have a micro-penis? What about your chronic flatulence, how will she put up with that?
The questions got worse from there, and by the end the trio were all laughing, the earlier dramatics and tension forgotten. Cowl felt relieved. He’d been worried that this would provide more drama. In the end his brothers were his brothers, and they did love each other, even if they had a dragon-sized amount of sibling rivalry.
“Okay, okay,” Caine said at last, quieting the room, motioning them all into seats. “Now, Cowl. You’re positive about this?”
He nodded, relaxing into the comfortable chaise of their sectional. “Completely. I told her the truth.”
Caine was about to say something else, but this revelation paused whatever he’d been about to say.
“You told her the truth?” Ivore asked, frowning at his younger brother. “Like, the entire truth?”
“Everything. That I’m a dragon, and that she is my mate.” Cowl shrugged, confused about the less-than-thrilled looks on both Caine and Ivore’s faces. “I didn’t speak about the Outsiders or anything of course. I just told her what I am.”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Caine said quietly.
Cowl lifted his eyebrows. “What? Why not? She is my mate. She deserves to know.”
“Because, Cowl. You should have come to us first. You should have mentioned it to us.”
Ah. So there was the truth. They were unhappy that he’d made a decision without them. “Why?” he snapped. “So you two could just argue over it again while dismissing me and my opinions some more? I’m tired of being treated like a child by you two. I can make my own decisions.”
Caine rose to his feet, thunderous clouds forming in his eyes. “Well maybe you should stop acting like a child then, and think your actions through!”
Cowl was on his feet as well, standing eye-to-eye with his eldest brother. “She is my mate. What more is there to think about? It’s not like I sprang it on the first date, which you would know if you paid attention to me and asked me where I’ve been the past week. I know what I’m doing, I don’t have to ask your permission for it.”
Veins began to pop in Caine’s neck. “Actually, brother, you really should have.”
“And why is that?”
Caine spoke softly. “Because by revealing your secret, you’ve also revealed our secret, without asking us how we felt about that. Before we’ve even met her. Shouldn’t we have some sort of say in that matter? Does our privacy not matter at all to you?”
Fuck. Cowl hadn’t thought about it from that angle. He’d been so concerned about how Andria would react when he told her that he hadn’t really thought about how it might impact his brothers. That they might feel exposed. He’d known he should have talked to them, but for different reasons, to confirm that what he was doing was the right move.
This…this was something else.
All at once their cell phones began to ring. Together.
“It’s Colonel Mara,” Caine said, pulling his out.
The others agreed.
“What the hell does she want?” Cowl mused.
“Only one way to find out.” Caine pressed the answer button on his phone. “Hello?”
“Caine, are your brothers there?”
“Yes.”
The other two phones stopped ringing. Cowl looked back and forth between his brothers. Whatever this was, it couldn’t be good. Colonel Mara was in charge of the dragon program. She’d been the woman in military dress observing them when they’d first awoken, and they’d dealt with her a lot during their orientation sessions. She was a formidable personality.
“We have a problem, and you need to know about it.”
Cowl spoke first. “What problem?”
“We have proof now that somehow the Outsiders are infecting shifters, merging their DNA with yours. I just finished having a meeting with others to let them know, but I felt it prudent to warn you as well. You three need to be more careful. Being out there without mates, you’ll be encountering lots of people. We don’t know how they’re doing it yet, but you need to be on the lookout.”
“We weren’t invited to the meeting?” Caine sounded irritated.
“No, you need to be out looking for your mates.” There was a pause. “How’s that going?”
“Good.” He answered before either of his brothers could.
“Oh?”
Caine glared at him. “Cowl believes he has found his mate. Ivore and I are still looking.”
“Very well. I hope you’ve found her, Cowl. The rest of you, keep looking. We need all the help we can get. We believe there’s at least one more infected dragon out there, but we have no idea who.”
Cowl tried not to feel smug. He was well aware of why the issue of finding mates was such a big deal. Apparently the bond between a dragon and his mate acted as some sort of shield against the lifeforce-stealing powers the Outsiders possessed. Nobody knew how it worked, but a number of other dragons who had fought the Outsiders had verified the claim’s accuracy.
The more he thought about it though, the less smug he felt. Yes, he’d found his mate, but she still hadn’t accepted him. Now, on top of the men giving Andria trouble, he had to worry about himself becoming infected and turning against his brothers and everyone else.
“Is there any more information you can give us?” Caine asked before she hung up.
“Not really. The only thing we have so far is a report from an onyx dragon and his mate that the effects seemed similar to that of a drug addict gone bad. Loss of weight, gauntness, paled skin, and redness around the eyes. They also seemed to stop taking care of themselves. Not shaving and the like. Other than that, we have no signs. It’s still too early to tell.”
They acknowledged the risks and Colonel Mara hung up. The three brothers looked at each other, for a moment none of them moving. Then, as if by a mental agreement, they all stood up and went their separate ways. Caine headed to his room. Ivore the roof.
Cowl headed for the pub. It was time he went to work.