"I've already opened one," he said, holding up one end of the yarn-disaster to prove it.
"One present, uncle Maks," Elise told me seriously, patting my knee. "Daddy said not two."
"Well, I haven't opened one yet," I told her. "And really, this is more a present for me than for Devin."
She looked up at me skeptically, then finally nodded in approval.
I handed the shiny package to my mate, clamping down hard on our bond as I had been doing for weeks to try to keep it a surprise.
"Okay," Devin said, pulling the paper off and blushing at the attention. "What is … oh. That's pretty."
He pulled the little diamond-studded golden egg out of the satin box that it had been cradled in, turning it this way and that and looking a little confused.
"Where did you find that, Maks?" Anik asked, smiling from across the room. "It really does look like one of ours."
"Ours?" Dev asked, looking up curiously.
"There was a time when our hatchlings really did come from eggs, before we'd been joined with humankind. But that was a long time ago."
Devin smiled, his hand moving to his flat stomach and his eyes finding mine. "I'm glad things changed." Then he looked back at the little egg in his hand. "Oh … does it open?"
He found the subtle seam as he said the words, popping it open with a thumb.
I knew he was mine. My dragon had claimed him with fire, but I wanted to claim him in a more traditional way, and as his eyes widened I dropped down to one knee in front of him.
"Devin, I love you, baby. I know how much marriage means to you, and I-"
"YES!" he said, cutting me off as he tackled me. His enthusiasm knocked me on my ass, and I could hear Dane and Ty laughing behind him.
"Wait, love," I said, for once trying to dodge his kisses. "I have … all these … words … I-"
I finally gave up trying to talk when I realized he wasn't going to stop kissing me.
"Come on, Ty," I heard Ben say. "Let me show you how to get these little ones to sleep."
"Is that even possible?" the soft-hearted soldier asked, following my friend out of the room with Zach in his arms.
Anik and Mikkel were right behind them, and our other friends herded their children to bed with promises of dancing sugar plums and stockings to open in the morning.
"How do you always know everything I want?" Devin asked once we were alone.
Snow was falling outside the dark window, and Luke had flipped the lights off when he left, leaving us bathed in the multi-colored glow of the tree. It felt magical.
"You didn't even let me ask properly," I said, pulling him against me.
"You know I get a little impatient sometimes," he admitted, blushing. "And as soon as I saw the ring, I heard what you were going to say." He tapped his temple, letting me know that my attempt to block our bond had failed. "It was romantic and sweet and perfect." And now his eyes were tearing up, and he held my face and looked into mine, letting me see into the deepest part of him.
I loved him.
"I love you, too," he said, reading my mind. "And the answer, to everything-always-is yes."
~ THE END ~
Other titles by Wolf Specter
A Warlock's Charm
Dragon Fire
Becoming Omega
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Other titles by Angel Knots
The Dragon's Destiny: Fated Mates Series
with Wolf Specter:
Heat
The Top Dog MPREG Trilogy:
Choosing The Omega
Betraying The Omega
Avenging The Omega
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Preview: Dragon fire
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Chapter One
-Shane-
It smells like burnt beef.
That's the first thing I notice as I step out onto the crime scene, and sure, it's not going to end up in my official report, but fuck. It smells like somebody left their steaks on the grill for a week.
"God damn. Smells like your dad's been cooking burgers out here, McKenna."
That's one of the things I like about my partner. He's one of the few cops I know who isn't afraid to crack a few jokes at my dad's expense. Probably has something to do with the fact that Russ isn't from Boston. Not like me and everyone I know. And Russ definitely isn't Catholic. I've gotten used to his swearing, but when we were first partnered up, I used to look over my shoulder every time he did it, half expecting my mom to just appear out of thin air and shove a rosary into his hands.
So far it hasn't happened. Thank Christ for that.
Russ shuts the driver's side door of our squad car, and shields his eyes from the morning sun. It's a little after dawn and still cold as balls out here. It's not so bad in the city, but out in the country, without a ton of buildings to block the wind, I can feel the cold slicing right through my jacket.
I can hear dogs barking and the puttering of a truck in the distance. As Russ and I climb a small hill, it looks like Apocalypse Now up here. At least a good half mile is burnt. Bare patches where grass used to be. Ash piled up in a line, in what I can only guess was once a fence. And to our right, there's a huge burnt building. A barn that hasn't crumbled all the way to the ground yet, but with one heavy snowfall it'll probably get there.
Russ takes a peek as we pass, and his gloved hand clamps over his mouth.
Great. Guess I'm going to be the one taking an inventory of the evidence.
The truck I heard earlier comes into view. Two dogs are following behind the dropped tailgate, but they stop as soon as they hit the edge of the green pasture, where it turns to dead, scorched ground. Smart dogs. Which makes us the stupid ones, but what are you gonna do?
"This is probably the guy who called it in. You wanna get his statement and I'll take a look in here?" I ask, knowing Russ is probably thinking of just how he can bribe me to switch up our usual roles. I could let him squirm, but I've never been good at playing bad cop. That's more my dad's thing.
"Have fun in there," Russ says, though his expression is relieved and grateful. "Save me some marshmallows."
"No promises."
The truck door closes, and Russ goes up to meet with the owner of the barn as I pull out my flashlight and size up what's left of it. It looks like a deathtrap, and I should probably wait for the fire guys to come back before I go in here, but there's no telling how long that'll take. They serve a pretty wide area, same as us. They probably had to pack it in and head to another fire as soon as they got this one under control.
So it's all on me now, and I step over a fallen beam that was blocking what's left of the door. All those fire safety lessons must have paid off, because I check the handle first to make sure it's not hot. But just like everything else out here, it's fucking freezing, and when I pull the barn door open, the latch seems like the only thing holding it all together. Some burnt wood falls out of the frame, crumbling on the ground, and I wince.
I hope that's not going to count as tampering with the crime scene, but I guess it doesn't really matter. This looks like a controlled burn that got out of hand. Way out of hand. So few people live out here that it would've taken a lot of effort for somebody to come out, start this fire, and somehow keep it from burning down a twenty mile radius.
It isn't long before I see what Russ saw. If there were separate stalls in here, there aren't anymore. It's just a pile of ash and debris and corpses. Mostly corpses. Suddenly I'm grateful it's so cold out, because this whole scene doesn't need to be helped out by the stench of rotting flesh and the loud hum of flies.
Still, I pull part of my jacket up to cover my mouth and nose. It's a good habit to have, and something I probably got from one of the many germaphobes in my family. Not that a quarter inch of cloth is going to stop anything from burrowing into my brain, but it's a small comfort as I step over charred carcasses.
I shine my flashlight around, looking for any signs that the fire originated here. If it was arson, this seems like the most likely place. I don't see anything, but I don't exactly have intensive training, either. They usually call in an expert for that.
My best guess is that if we follow the trail of burnt grass, we'll find a compost heap or something else that was being burned on purpose.
After ten minutes of looking around, I'm pretty much ready to get the hell out of this place and tell Russ I don't see anything that suggests foul play when I hear the door of the barn open suddenly. It scares the shit out of me and my heart pounds in my ears like a freight train rushing through my head. I don't know what I was expecting or why I'm on edge, but I shine my light toward the door, even though the sun's starting to throw some rays through the big gaping holes in the ruined building.