Chapter Eleven

 

“Dammit, Nox,” Vyr growled, “get Mr. Diddles off the table.”

The swan in question was standing over a plate of hot dog buns going to town like Cookie Monster. Bread crumbs were flying, and the swan was wagging his little stump tail like a happy golden retriever.

Nox flipped through a daily planner. “According to my daily planner, it’s Torren’s turn to deal with Mr. Diddle’s shit.”

Candace popped a french fry into her mouth and leaned over Nox’s shoulder, squinting her eyes at his notebook. “All I see written in there is ‘I love Nevada’s tits’ and a dick with a smiley face.”

Vyr growled and removed the oversized feasting bird from the table himself. “I built him a castle. A castle! That swan has a mini-mansion, and yet he’s spent the entire winter in here.”

Torren set a plate of burger patties and hot dogs in the middle of the table. “I’ll never get over you calling that bird Mr. Diddles in your fancy-as-fuck voice.”

“There’s a feather in my water,” Vyr groused, plucking a white plume out gingerly.

Riyah giggled and rested her hand on his thigh when he sat down next to her. Three months, and everything was back to normal. The swan honked. Nox sat down too hard on his chair, the leg broke, and he busted his ass. Nevada laughed so hard she snorted. Torren downed an entire hot dog like some giant tattooed anaconda. Candace was yelling, “Yeah baby, one bite, you know how to turn me on.” And Dane was a shifted baby gorilla, climbing up the curtains of the heavily windowed room.

Well…they were back to normal for them.

“You’re quiet tonight,” Vyr said low, leaning closer to her from his spot at the head of the table. “And you’ve had me shut out for a week, but you’re sitting on the edge of your seat and grinning. Nervous. Excited. Nervous. Excited.” He was studying her with his head canted to the side.

Riyah grinned. “I know something you don’t know.”

She felt the tingle of a headache right behind her eyes that told her Vyr was pushing harder to get into her mind. She closed the wall between them and shook her head. “Nuh uh uuuuuh. You’ll ruin the surprise.”

Vyr frowned, his ruddy eyebrows lowering over those bright blue eyes of his. The dragon color wasn’t there quite as much anymore. Victory. “I don’t much like surprises.”

“I really think you’ll like this one.”

He looked so handsome in this light, his cheekbones chiseled, his eyes slightly slanted like a cat’s. His face didn’t look haunted anymore. He’d trimmed his beard shorter, and his arms and chest rippled against the thin fabric of his blue T-shirt. She’d always loved that color on him. Made his eyes pop. Handsome, handsome mate.

“Mmmmm, I heard that,” he rumbled, sliding her hand to his lips.

“Eep!” She shut the wall down tighter so he wouldn’t see into her memories. Over the past few months, the Sons of Beasts had grown closer to Rogue Pride. And for Riyah, she’d begun building a friendship with Ashlynn Kane, the mate of Grim. It was Ash and Grim who were about to change the entire course of Riyah and Vyr’s lives.

When her phone buzzed, she glanced at the text that flashed across the screen. Pulling up now. It was from Grim.

Chills rippled up her spine, and tears were already burning her eyes just from those three words. This was really happening! She had an urge to pull up the picture Ash had sent her last week and look at it for the hundredth time. It was the boy from Beaston’s vision. Ash and Grim had found him without even knowing Beaston’s prediction, but Riyah had been so careful to hide him from Vyr in case something fell through. It had been a huge fear that her hopes would be shattered again. And if her heart was broken again, she wanted to protect Vyr from a broken heart, too.

Torren had been right in the middle of squirting a ridiculous amount of mustard onto a half dozen hot dogs when he froze. His bright green eyes narrowed, and the joke he was telling faded off mid-punchline. “Do you hear that?”

“Yeah, Dane is ripping the curtain to shreds,” Candace muttered, making her way toward the little hellraising Kong.

“No, someone is coming.”

“That’s what she said,” Nox muttered, sketching something into his journal with a piece of charcoal.

Torren gave him a look of pure annoyance.

“Yeeeesss,” Nox said creepily, “hold that frown.” He sketched faster.

“Are you drawing my face?” Torren griped, yanking the journal out of Nox’s hands.

“Hey, give me back my dream journal!” He kicked the leg of Torren’s chair so hard it busted, and the gorilla went down hard.

Riyah barely ducked out of the way fast enough when the notebook went sailing. The sound of shattering glass was deafening, and Nevada and Candace both yelled, “Seriously?”

Already, half the windows were held together with duct tape.

Vyr looked tired as he slow blinked at the newly broken window and chewed a bite of cheeseburger. “I would tell you to pay for that, but we all know you’re just going to use duct tape and buy beer instead.”

“For all of us!” Nox said. “Because I’m the MVP. Every time you go to the fridge, there is a cold one in there just waiting for you. Beer trumps broken windows.”

When Vyr closed his eyes and inhaled a steadying breath, Riyah took a peek into his mind. He was counting to ten, imagining a field of dandelions waving in the wind. Which seemed really peaceful except he was also imagining Nox tied to a chair in the middle of that field, covered in honey and bumble bees. He also had a black eye. Vyr smiled. And then his attention jerked to the window because the sound was getting louder. Torren had been right; there was the sound of a car engine.

They were really, really here.

Slowly, Riyah stood and watched as the navy-blue Ford Expedition with rental plates made its way up the circle drive. “Vyr, I…”

“What’s wrong?” he asked, standing.

“Nothing is wrong,” she whispered. “Something is right. And I think sometimes things happen for a reason. Even terrible things. That’s the only way I’ve been able to make sense of what we went through. Feels like we went through a long storm, but now it’s time for a rainbow.” Her breath hitched as she slipped her hand into his. “I hope.”

Vyr’s eyes sparked with intensity as he looked from her to the car parking outside. “It’s Grim and Rose.” He swallowed hard. “And someone else. I can hear them.” Realization came over his face in a wave. Pulling her, he made his way out the front door, the Sons of Beasts following behind them.

Grim was the first out of the SUV. “Vyr,” Grim greeted him, clasping his hand, but Riyah only cared about greeting another. One small boy. A toddler. Two years old. A lion. Green eyes. Little brawler. Dragon-hearted.

She blinked back tears because nothing was settled. Nothing. If it wasn’t meant to be, Grim and Rose would take the cub back to Ronin of the Tarian Pride. Her hope could still be demolished.

Rose got out, holding him—the boy from Beaston’s vision.

Riyah’s heart recognized him.

He was somber and curious, looking around, clinging to Rose.

Riyah stepped away from Vyr and approached Rose and the little boy. “Hiiiiii,” she whispered, trying to keep it together as she rubbed his little back. She could feel it. The feral little rumble that vibrated through his body. He was growling.

“This is Brayden,” Rose murmured. Her eyes were rimmed with moisture. “We can’t keep him.”

“Why not?” Vyr asked in a careful tone. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, expression unreadable, but every muscle in his body was tense, and his eyes swam with…something.

“His father was Justin Moore,” Grim murmured, “the old Alpha of the Tarian Pride.” His face twisted with fury before he composed it again. “He took an extra female into the Pride before his death. A Dunn.”

“Holy shit,” Torren said. “The child is half Dunn, half Tarian?”

“Yes,” Rose murmured. “When Justin was killed in that war with the Blackwing Crew, the one that so angered you, Vyr, it was then that Callie, Brayden’s mother, ran back to the Dunns. But they won’t accept a half-Tarian cub, and she won’t go rogue for him, so she left Brayden behind. She’s asked us to find him a home.”

“With a lion Pride?” Vyr asked. Oh, that was definitely hope in his eyes. He couldn’t take his attention off the child.

“She doesn’t have a preference. She just asked that he go to a mated pair who could protect him.”

“A dragon and a polar bear would do,” Nox said low.

Grim nodded once. “The Tarian Pride is in the middle of a shift in power. Half are trying to reestablish the lion council. Half are trying to put Ronin on the throne and rehabilitate the entire Pride. They’re monsters. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that much.”

Vyr clenched his teeth hard. “Why do you think my dragon wanted to put an end to them and claim their territory?”

“You lost them,” Rose murmured. Her bottom lip quivered and she rubbed her cheeks, her blue eyes so round and full of emotion. “I can’t imagine what that did to you or your dragon, or what the loss did to Riyah. I can’t even imagine watching a person I love suffer like that. This would be taking in the cub of your enemy and raising him to be better than the Pride he was in. It’s an all-in kind of thing, Red Dragon.”

Brayden was looking at Riyah’s necklace, the locket her mother had given to her so long ago. She held out her hands, giving him the choice, and he took it. Growling little cub, he reached out and let her draw him against her chest.

Rose murmured, “He’s been passed around so much, he’s used to it. He hasn’t formed a bond with anyone. He deserves to settle.”

Vyr’s voice broke on his words. “The Tarian Pride won’t come back for him later?”

“If he goes to the half of the Pride who wants the council back in power, he will be raised to kill. That’s his fate,” Rose said in the saddest voice. “He’s the son of a high-ranking Dunn lioness and the son of a Tarian Alpha. He will be raised like a weapon.”

“Like you were,” Vyr said softly to Grim.

“Yes, just like me.”

Rose explained, “I’m the only female backing Ronin, and I don’t have it in me to raise a baby. I love him, but he needs a mother and a father. Callie is ready to sign the paperwork. And if by some slim chance we win the Tarian War, we have all voted and support you taking the child and making him one of the Sons of Beasts. And if the council is revived and we lose this war…”

“The they’ll have to rip him out from under the wings of the Red Dragon,” Grim finished softly.

Riyah waited, holding back tears, hugging the child as he played with her necklace. He already felt so important. Already felt like hers. She’d seen him long before she’d known him. She’d seen him in Beaston’s mind.

And now she could imagine the years ahead with Brayden, safe in their Crew, Vyr getting to be a father, the dragon having a chance to bond to offspring. To guide Brayden into being a good man instead of the weapon the Pride would turn him into.

Treasure, she whispered into Vyr’s mind. Choose this treasure. For me and the cub, but also for you. For Dane to grow up with. For Nox and Torren to love, for Candace and Nevada to covet and protect. Give the dragon the son I can’t give him.

“Can we do this?” he asked, his voice thick. “I mean…we don’t have anything for him.”

“Not true,” Nox said. “I have the nursery in my closet still.”

“Veto,” Riyah said with a laugh. To Vyr she promised him, “We can figure everything out. Do you…?” She adjusted Brayden on her hip. “Do you want to hold him?”

Vyr’s shoulders rose and fell as he stared at Brayden. And Brayden, brave little cub, he was holding the dragon’s gaze.

Sparking silver reptilian eyes met curious bright green ones.

Vyr stepped forward carefully, slowly, eyes never leaving his. There was no sound. It was as if the entire Crew were holding its breath. As if the wind had frozen and the leaves didn’t dare move on the trees. The birds were even silent. And when Vyr stopped shy of being able to reach the boy, Brayden released his grip on Riyah’s shirt and held out his arms to the Red Dragon.

Vyr closed the gap between them and grabbed Brayden, cradled him close, and walked away. Just…left. He walked to the edge of the woods, and with his back to all of them, he fell to his knees. There was a deafening crack as the earth split in a jagged line leading away from Vyr. The air shook with the chest-rattling noise of Vyr’s growl. No…not growl. As he rocked gently, side-to-side on his knees, it wasn’t a growl that took up every air molecule in the clearing. It was a purr. It was a sound of satisfaction. Of happiness, if a dragon was capable of such.

And from here, Riyah could so easily see the little fists of the child go around Vyr’s neck. Tiny, pale, clenched hands against a thick, tattooed neck. Tiny hands embracing a dragon. Accepting comfort from a dragon.

“C-can you feel that?” Nevada whispered as she stepped up beside Riyah and slipped her hand into hers.

Candace slipped her hand into Riyah’s other one. “Can you feel the bond?”

Riyah closed her eyes, let the power of the dragon’s humming take her over. She let her mind have the bond. It was glowing green and pulsing some beautiful color she couldn’t even identify. She couldn’t feel poison at all in it anymore. She searched for Vyr’s darkness, but there was none.

When she opened her eyes, Vyr’s shoulders were shaking, and she could hear the sniffles of her Crew beside her. Even Grim was wiping his eyes. The wind was whipping the trees all around, but she felt no breeze. Vyr had encompassed them all in a safe little bubble as his powers stormed through the woods.

And she could feel him. Her Vyr. There he was. His aura didn’t pulse a muddy brown anymore, but a brilliant purple. His dragon had so desperately needed an anchor, and now he was holding him—the boy who wouldn’t ever be the blood of his blood, but who could be the blood of his heart.

Come here, he whispered raggedly into Riyah’s mind.

Come here. Just like he’d told the Sons of Beasts all those months ago in the shifter prison.

She squeezed Candace and Nevada’s hands and released them. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she walked to her mate. The wind didn’t touch her still as she sank down beside him and hugged his waist.

“We were supposed to get here, to this moment. To this little lion. Can you feel him, Riyah? Can you feel how strong he is already?” Vyr’s voice was thick, and his eyes were closed as he hugged the boy with one arm and her with the other. “From the first time I knew you were mine, I always felt like there was something bigger, some bigger fate for us.” Intense, emotion-filled silver eyes leveled her. “It’s him.”

“I can feel it,” she murmured, pressing her face against his chest. She slipping her hand onto the child’s back. “Little lion raised as the heart of the Red Dragon.”

“He’s ours,” he said.

Riyah looked back behind them at Rose and Grim, and she nodded. He’s ours. Grim dipped his chin once and smiled.

It wasn’t just Brayden who was their fate. Vyr hadn’t been able to keep away from Grim for a reason, one Riyah hadn’t been able to figure out before now. Grim wasn’t just a monster who matched Vyr. He’d had an important job all along. Everything happened for a reason.

Vyr had given Grim the mountains and a Last Chance Crew to take care of so Grim and his inner Reaper could steady out and be okay. Vyr had saved him.

And what had Grim done in return?

He’d saved Vyr right back.

Good Alphas.

And everything…everything…was going to be just fine.