She didn’t really know how they were supposed to work. Every day with Reece was a lesson in loving someone, but they always managed to make things work. If they didn’t resolve an issue when it came up, they took their time to organize their thoughts and met with each other again. They gave it their all.
Which meant more than anything to her. She’d never had anyone fight so hard to love her. She gave the same effort in equal amounts. That had to mean something.
“I don’t know,” Teagan said. A smile curled over her lips. Her cheeks heated thinking about Reece. “But I love him with or without it.”
Grinning like a fool, Ember gave her sister a knowing nod. She leaned closer and whispered, “I think we both know what that means.”
Teagan’s gaze travelled across the room. She found Reece watching her. He gave her a wave, and her heart flipped in her chest.
They were mates.
Real, actual mates.
The thought made her feel like she was soaring high above the clouds. Nothing could bring her down. Not even her father’s moods.
Which, thankfully, seemed to have diminished. Callum brought out a baking sheet stacked with barbeque glazed ribs. Dragonfire ribs, he called them. Everyone else called them delicious.
This evening marked a new beginning not only for Teagan, but for her whole family. Their numbers grew when the sisters welcomed mates into their lives. The family became tighter when Callum finally accepted those mates, as well as his past mistakes.
Ember leaned in and whispered in her sister’s ear again. “We should find Dad a mate next.”
“None of that,” Callum barked.
“I don’t need any more women telling me what to do with my life.”
Cash shook his head. Reece piped up.
“That just goes to show you that you haven’t found the right woman yet.” Reece set down a cleaned bone. He glanced at Teagan, a sly smile across his lips before he wiped at them with the back of his hand. “The right woman is your partner, not your adversary. Maybe that’s your problem. You just keep trying to fight everyone.”
Callum narrowed his eyes at Reece. Teagan and Ember tensed. They placed their hands under the table in unison, preparing to flip it as a distraction so they could all get out before Callum wrecked the house in his rush to throw the first punch.
To their surprise, that didn’t happen. Callum scowled and grumbled, but he didn’t leap across the table to wrap his hands around Reece’s throat.
It seemed that a lot had changed in the past weeks. The sisters shared another look, a silent message passing between them. Perhaps Callum was ready to find his own love, after all.
The dinner had several more moments of uncertainty, but everyone kept their hands to themselves for the most part. There was an incident with the last half-rack of ribs, but Cash and Reece had decided to play rock, paper, scissors for it. When Cash won, Reece swiped two ribs and booked it out the door.
Cash gave chase and left the ribs behind. In the end, Reece had two ribs while the sisters shared the ribs Cash had forgotten about. Callum got a good laugh out of it. They felt like a family for the first time in years. Not a family pieced together out of people trying to fill roles they weren’t meant for.
No, this was the real thing. Teagan leaned back in her seat on the front porch. The metal fire-pit crackled happily in front of her. She’d shaken her head at the audacity of dragon men who wanted fire-pits on their wooden porches, but didn’t argue.
She’d never been more at peace in her life until Reece bounded up the stairs, lifted her from her seat, took it, and settled her onto his lap. She pulled her knees up to her chest and sank into him. She ignored the stares of those around her, those who never expected the little owl girl to fall for the enemy’s big bad dragons.
After all, they were both children of dangerous beasts. She was no stranger to finding the best in the least likely places.
What’s Next In the Great Plains Dragon Feud Series?
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Wings of Destiny (Great Plains Dragon Feud Book 5) Page 14
