Alpha Dragon's Jackal (The Dragonfate Games Book 3), page 19
“He’s right,” Jade said with an encouraging smile. “Whatever lurks beyond this door is your passion. We’re dragons, Cobalt. We all understand that.”
Since I wasn’t a dragon, I’d never fully know what it felt like to have a hoard, but I knew it was deeply special to each individual. Maybe it was the way I felt about Blueberry, but times a million.
The resolve hardened on Cobalt’s face. Having his brothers’ unconditional support gave him the last scrap of strength he needed to open the door.
“All right,” Cobalt said. “Come inside.”
I smiled as the brothers excitedly burst into the aquarium chamber. Its blue light spilled out into the bedroom. It reminded me of the egg’s glow.
I rubbed the shell’s sides. In the past few days, it exuded more warmth than usual. I was all for the egg taking its time to hatch, but I was keen to see my baby, too.
“Must be tough waiting.”
Viol’s gruff comment startled me. I whipped around to see him standing by the bed. His sharp purple eyes were focused on the egg.
“Oh, hey, Viol,” I greeted.
He looked confused when I patted the space next to me for him to sit down, but sat anyway. He perched on the furthest possible edge, keeping his distance from me, almost like he was afraid to get too close. Maybe he didn’t want to accidentally poke my eye out with the studs on his leather jacket. What a thoughtful guy.
“Not interested in Cobalt’s hoard?” I asked, nodding at the open chamber. I heard the dragons’ voices mingling in excitement as Cobalt gave them a tour.
Viol snorted. “What do I care about another dragon’s hoard? Egg’s more interesting.”
Underneath his hard tone was a current of softness, one he couldn’t hide.
I grinned. “Do you wanna touch it?”
His eyes widened. Slowly, he asked, “Can I?”
“’Course you can.”
Viol’s calloused hand trembled as he reached for the egg. He placed his palm on the shell with great reverence. The intensity of Viol’s dark eyes softened as he stroked the eggshell. Then, as if he couldn’t bear to touch it a second longer, he drew his hand back and abruptly stood up.
“Thanks,” he mumbled roughly.
“No prob.”
By the time I got the two words out, he’d already hurried out the door.
I shrugged and glanced down at the egg. “Uncle Viol’s a funny guy, isn’t—”
The rest of my sentence came out as incomprehensible gibberish.
Because there was a big hole in the egg.
And a tiny blue paw sticking out of it.
“Uh,” I said, my voice raising in volume. “Um, um, um?”
Cobalt stuck his head into the bedroom. “Is everything all right, Muzo?”
I flubbed my words until I finally blurted out, “Egg.”
Cobalt couldn’t see the hole from his angle. He furrowed his brow in confusion. “Yes, that’s right. We have an egg together.”
I grabbed the discarded piece of shell and waved it in the air frantically to get my message across.
Cobalt’s eyes widened with understanding. He rushed over to the bed, then gasped when he saw the hole.
“The egg,” he uttered.
“That’s what I’m saying!” I cried.
Cobalt’s breathing quickened as he leaned in to watch the dragonet’s tiny paw move around. I was shocked at the newborn’s mobility—hell, it wasn’t even technically born yet, since most of its body was still trapped inside the shell.
“C’mon, you can do it,” I urged.
“What’s going on out here?” Saffron asked, nosily sticking his head into the bedroom. When he saw me and Cobalt hovering next to the egg, he yelped and ran over. “Is the egg hatching? Oh Holy Drake, it’s hatching. Everyone, get your asses in here!”
The urgency in Saffron’s voice summoned all the dragons from the other room. Crimson and Thystle—the seasoned parents—gave us room to breathe, along with Jade, who naturally figured we needed space. On the other hand, Aurum and Saffron were all up in the egg’s business, unable to contain their curiosity. Saffron’s golden eyes beamed with interest, while Aurum’s gleamed with guarded wonder.
Cobalt squeezed my hand. “Look.”
Apparently, our egg appreciated an audience. It threw itself onto the quilt and rolled in a circle. A flurry of annoyed squeaks echoed inside the shell.
“Good, healthy pair of lungs,” Cobalt commented warmly. The baby hadn’t fully hatched yet and he already radiated with pride.
The dragonet kicked hard. A piece of shell flew off the egg and hit Aurum in the face.
“Ow!”
“Haha,” Saffron said a moment before another chunk of eggshell smacked him, too. “Ow!”
Aurum rubbed his cheek. “Damn, not even born and already attacking their uncles...”
I snorted with laughter. Our baby had a feisty attitude all right. It made me even more excited for the last pieces of the eggshell to fall.
My heart squeezed like I was on a roller coaster. Cobalt’s shoulder brushed against mine, a calming reminder of his presence. This moment we shared was magical, and I was so happy to be here with him.
Finally, the top half of the shell cracked open, and a little blue dragonet exploded upwards with a triumphant baby roar.
The floodgates to my parental instincts burst. Tears of joy sprung to my eyes. Suddenly overwhelmed with emotion, I picked up my baby. The little blue dragon whimpered and squirmed, but calmed down once pressed to my chest. A warm, dreamy feeling spread throughout my body. It was a kind of happiness I’d never experienced before—similar to my love for Cobalt, but different. It was deep and ancient and protective.
The instinctual overload tipped me into shifting. Once I was in jackal form, I licked my baby dragonet from head to tail. They protested with an irritable squeak.
Once my jackal soul was satisfied, I shifted back with a sigh. “There we go. All clean.”
Cobalt chuckled and reached for the baby. “Good job, Daddy Muzo.”
I grinned. “Daddy Muzo, huh? I like the sound of that. What are we gonna call you, Cobalt?”
He smiled as he gazed into the baby’s eyes. “I want to be Papa.”
“Aww,” Saffron cooed.
Aurum snorted. “Okay, even I have to admit, that’s kinda cute.”
A dark figure skidded in the doorway, then rushed inside. Viol breathed hard, like he’d run all the way back here.
“Is the baby—” He stopped, eyes widening when he saw the dragonet. “Oh.”
Every hard line and sharp edge of his face softened. He stepped closer, standing in line with the rest of his brothers as he gazed upon the baby.
“They’re beautiful,” Viol murmured.
I could barely hear him. It was almost like he was talking to himself.
“What’s this cutie’s name? Do you have one yet? Ooh, if you don’t, can I pick one?” Saffron begged.
Aurum snorted. “Nobody wants the crappy names you cooked up, bro.”
“Shut up, they’re not crappy!”
“Nobody can spell Phthalo, let alone say it.”
“But it’s cool, and it means blue!”
Cobalt raised a hand to cool the twins’ argument. “Thanks, you two, but we already picked a name. You know, as a couple?” he added, raising a brow.
Crimson stepped in to grab the twins by the backs of their shirts. “Yes, and now the couple gets to enjoy alone time with their newborn without Thing 1 and Thing 2 bothering them.”
“Hey, I don’t consent to being thrown out!” Aurum pleaded as Crimson dragged him outside.
Saffron was also being hauled out of the room as he cried, “Yeah, we don’t even know the baby’s name yet!”
Cobalt and I exchanged an amused look. I decided to break their suspense.
“It’s Lazuli!” I called.
“Oh shit, that’s an awesome name!” Saffron’s ecstatic voice called back from around the corner.
“Thanks!”
After congratulating us and wishing us the best, the rest of Cobalt’s brothers followed suit until the bedroom contained only our little family of three.
Four, if you counted Blueberry.
Twenty-Six
Cobalt
Lazuli blinked at the aquarium with electric-blue eyes. Their sky-blue scales seemed to glow beside the dappled light of the tank. In the weeks since they’d hatched from their egg, their rambunctious, loud personality shone through every second. I couldn’t remember what I was like as a young dragonet, but I wasn’t as boisterous as Lazuli.
Yet whenever we plopped Lazuli in front of my hoard, their demeanor changed. They went silent as a mouse, content to stare at the dancing kelp, darting fish, and slow-moving river snails.
“Isn’t it weird?” Muzo asked. “I mean, no offense to you or your hoard, obviously—but for a kid, you’d think it’d be boring to watch.” He nodded at Lazuli sitting comfortably on a pillow, their snout inches from the glass. “But our kid’s obsessed.”
“I’m not offended,” I assured him. “I’m aware that it’s boring to most people.”
“Except me,” Muzo pointed out.
“Except you.”
Muzo kneeled down and patted our dragonet’s head. “And Lazuli. Maybe they’re gonna grow up to hoard snails too, eh, Cobalt?”
I chuckled at the idea. “I highly doubt that. Dragon hoard affinities aren’t genetic, as you can tell from my brothers.”
“How was your little tour, by the way?” Muzo asked, tilting his head.
“It was nice,” I said, glancing up at the tank. I watched the resident pair of snails share a fresh cucumber slice. “They asked me questions. A lot of them. It was like... they really cared. I didn’t expect that.” I smiled at my mate. “You were right after all.”
Muzo’s grin lit up his face. “See? I told you! Man, I wish I could’ve seen it. I wanted to eavesdrop, but as soon as you guys left the bedroom, Viol showed up to chat.”
My brows rose. “He did?”
Muzo sat next to Lazuli on the pillow. “Yup. He was super interested in Lazuli’s egg.”
I recalled all the times Viol offered to babysit Ruby, Heather, and now Lazuli, too. His keen affection for his young charges was only matched by his hostility toward us. But he wasn’t nasty to Taylor, Matteo, or Muzo. In fact, the three omegas had a completely different relationship with him than we dragons did. I wondered if he cleaned up his attitude for them since they were newcomers to our family, or if he just had a soft spot for omegas and children.
But then I remembered our confrontation before the Dragonfate Games began. Viol’s aggressive concern for my safety stopped me from leaving the island to chase Muzo down. It wasn’t jealousy, or that he wanted to keep us apart. Viol wanted me to find my fated mate, but deep down, he was fueled by fear.
I found that odd. Viol was harsh, rough, and cold. Why should a man like him be afraid of anything?
My protective instincts had evolved since falling in love with Muzo, and Lazuli’s hatching. They were stronger than ever, and they extended to my entire family. Whatever was paining my brother, I wanted to know.
“I’m going to talk to Viol,” I said, scooping up my dragonet.
“And you’re bringing Lazuli as a bribe?”
“Exactly.”
Muzo chuckled. “Have fun. I’ll stay here and keep feeding the snails.”
“Not too many treats, remember?”
“I know, I know.” He reached into the food bucket and pulled out an apple slice. “I’ll keep it to one. Or three. Or seven.”
I huffed in amusement at his antics. I’d never win this battle, but that was fine. An extra apple slice or two or seven never hurt anybody. Besides, the shrimp and fish did an excellent job polishing off the extraneous treats Muzo snuck into the tank when he thought I wasn’t looking.
On my way out of the bedroom, I noticed something off. I squinted at the bed.
Blueberry was gone again.
I sighed. This was a regular occurrence lately. Blueberry would go missing, then conveniently show up, then disappear once more. It was like the thing had a mind of its own. Either that, or there was a plushie-kidnapping crusader in our midst.
I thanked Holy Drake that Lazuli didn’t give a damn about the plush toy, otherwise I’d put more effort into getting him back. But unlike his baby, Muzo did care about Blueberry. He went frantic every time the plushie went missing. I considered commissioning Taylor for an identical one so Blueberry Version 1.0 could live his life in peace, wherever he was.
“Ready to see Uncle Viol?” I asked Lazuli on the way to his room.
Lazuli let out a tiny, eager growl.
They couldn’t speak yet, and hadn’t yet had their first shift, but that was normal for a dragonet their age. I enjoyed this sweet age to the fullest, and I couldn’t wait to see the person they’d become.
Viol answered on the first knock. “What?” he snapped before his gaze fell on Lazuli in my arms. “Oh. Hi, sweetie.”
“I wasn’t aware we were that close,” I joked.
He arched a brow. “Using your kid as an emotional shield is dark-sided, Cobalt.” His cold expression broke into a smirk. “I like that.”
“Speaking of emotional shields, let’s talk... Violet.”
Viol’s dark eyes flashed. He bristled like a jungle cat about to spring, but when I plopped Lazuli in his arms, all his bluster fell away. His face warred with itself. Eventually it settled into a half smile, half snarl as he snuggled a very happy Lazuli close to his chest.
“What do you want?” Viol growled at me.
I didn’t bother wasting time. I’d already skipped straight to conflict by addressing Viol by his full name. There was no use beating around the bush now.
“What happened to you?” I asked quietly.
He side-eyed me. “Gonna have to be specific.”
“You know exactly what I mean,” I said, matching his unyielding tone. “As a teenager, when you left the island. What happened? What changed you?”
Viol stared at me for a few long moments before yanking his gaze away and glowering in the opposite direction. “Why do you care?”
“Because you’re my brother, and I love you,” I said.
He groaned. “Gross. You’ve been an overemotional sap since you became a dad.”
I decided not to bring up the fact that if anyone was uncharacteristically emotional about the concept of parenthood and children, it was him.
“It’s not gross, and I don’t care if you think that,” I stated. “It’s the truth. You’re different than you were back then. I just want to know why.”
His face hardened. “It won’t change anything. So, why don’t you focus on me now?”
I blinked. That statement rewired the way I thought about the situation. He had a point. Sating my curiosity wouldn’t help Viol with whatever inner turmoil he faced—but supporting him in the present moment would.
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” I said.
Viol stopped scowling. Just as his words perplexed me, mine had the same effect on him.
“No matter what happened, just know that I care, and that I’m here for you. We all are,” I promised. I gently took Lazuli’s paw and patted Viol’s chest with it. “Even Lazuli.”
The last of Viol’s guard crumbled. He breathed out a rough laugh. “Especially Lazuli.”
I remembered Muzo back at my hoard chamber. I itched to return to his side. He’d made it abundantly clear that he wanted some special alone time.
“Do you feel like babysitting this afternoon?” I asked Viol.
Viol hiked Lazuli up in his arms with a grin. “Do I? What d’you think, Laz? Should we have a play date with Ruby and Heather?”
Lazuli playfully chomped his finger, which in dragonet terms was a resounding yes.
I returned to my hoard to find Muzo bouncing off the walls like a kid overdosed on sugar.
“I didn’t realize you were that excited for alone time,” I teased.
Muzo slammed into me, pointing frantically at the tank. “Cobalt, Cobalt, Cobalt—”
I was starting to think his explosive excitement wasn’t about sex. “What is it?” I asked, following his gesture. Aside from the seven illicit apple slices, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The tank looked the same as ever.
“The snails!” Muzo cried. “They did it!”
“Did what?”
Muzo grunted in exasperation. “Oh, just come and see!” He ran behind me and shoved me closer to the aquarium, then jabbed his finger against the glass. “There!”
I focused on where Muzo was pointing—and then I saw it.
The baby river snail.
There were three Chromatimaeus river snails in the tank.
“They did it,” I breathed, shocked and elated to my core. “They actually did it.”
Muzo shook my arm, unable to control his excitement. “I told you! They literally did it! I don’t know how, ‘cause I don’t know anything about snail sex, but that’s okay because they had a baby together!”
His giddiness infected me. I chuckled and hugged him as he bounced up and down. His zest for life always uplifted me. I couldn’t remember what my life had been like before him, and I didn’t want to. The only thing that mattered was our bright future.
“We gotta name the baby snail,” Muzo announced.
“Sure. But the parents don’t even have names,” I reminded him.
He pointed at the big snails. “Okay, how about this. That one’s Apple, and that one’s Cucumber.”
“I see you’re a fan of food-themed names.”
“Oh, just wait until you hear the name I had in mind for the baby.” Muzo grinned. “How about... Raspberry? ‘Cause it’s small and cute like a raspberry?”
I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Raspberry is perfect. And it matches with Blueberry.”
I wondered if I should tell him about Blueberry’s latest disappearance, worried it might distract from his happiness, but Muzo was currently too enthralled by the infant mollusc to worry about his adventuring plushie. It was sweet how his parental instincts extended to the smallest of creatures.
