I started towards shore and Samantha turned the boat to follow. When she caught up, I shifted back into my human form and climbed aboard to relieve her of the rowing duties. She signed up to assist in teaching not to hunt down thieves.
“Does this fall under hazard pay?” She asked.
“If it doesn’t, it should,” I said as our little boat neared shore.
Out over the water, Brendan circled Matthew’s boat. The wolf swore under his breath and dove overboard. Brendan swooped down like an eagle and snatched him out of the water. I beamed despite myself. His black scales shined in the glow of the sun shining through the storm clouds. He was gorgeous and strong. Brendan was nothing like the mouthy if ballsy dragon the lore made him out to be. It was time for me to start treating him like the man he was and not the man from a story that didn’t tell the whole truth.
“You got him, babe!” I cheered.
Samantha rolled her eyes.
Brendan circled a few times before heading to shore. Matthew squirmed between his toes and claws cursing and yelling, but the tides out roared him. Samantha ran back to the tree line as they neared the shore. I backed up but didn’t go far.
“I’m going to drop him, Alpha. I’ll fly low but be ready. I can’t land with him. I have too many scales on my back. David’s on my back. We can’t let anything happen to my passengers. Samantha has a gun. She’ll be okay.”
I glanced over my shoulder to Samantha holding a handgun out in front of her.
“Do you want me to shoot him if he tries to run?” Her voice trembled.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’d hate for the program to lose its funding, but don’t let him get away,” I said looking skyward.
Brendan swept low over the beach. His powerful wings swept up sand. David buried his face in his arms to protect himself, but I didn’t take my eyes off the squirming wolf my mate was about to drop. A few feet from the ground, Brendan let go of the bastard. He hit the sand hard and before he found his bearings, I was on top of him.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I shouted as Brendan took to the sky again. “Why the fuck did you come to this island?”
“Why should that little mousey piece of shit be the only one in on the secret dig? If it weren’t for my family there’d be no Moonscale Academy!”
“This is private Moonscale property!” I growled and drew my fist back to punch him.
“Bullshit! It’s nowhere on the map! It can’t be owned!” He growled and tried to break free. “I overheard that overgrown lizard and mouse talking about it! Sorry to tell you, teach, but your mate is a fucking delusional loon! He thinks he’s the prince from the kid’s story!”
I smashed my fist into his face. Bones cracked under my knuckles and I drew back again. Blood gushed from his nose and he squirmed under me kicking up sand. I lost my grip on one of his hands and his fist collided with the side of my head. Stars flew before my vision and I swung at him again. He bit into the arm I held him with. I yowled in pain and shifted. I dashed for his throat but missed.
“Matthew stop it, or I’ll shoot your fucking balls off!” Samantha shouted and we both turned to look at her.
“What the fuck? I’m glad I didn’t fuck you on the plane! You’d probably try to bite my dick off!” Matthew held up his hands.
Samantha’s finger twitched on the trigger. I dove into the sand as the bullet cut through the air and landed square in Matthew’s knee.
“He tried to run,” Samantha took a deep breath and put the gun into her waistband.
“That’s what we all saw,” I nodded. “Use my phone to call Clarence Moonscale.”
“Should I call the dean?” Samantha asked taking my phone with trembling fingers.
“No. There’s something Clarence should know about. Believe me, you want Clarence to be the one to handle this. I wasn’t lying when I said the island belonged to the Moonscales or at least a Moonscale. It’s his damn academy and it’s about time he did something to improve the quality of its students.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Brendan
Not trusting the bastard to not pull a runner, I didn’t land until Samantha and Rhett tied Matthew up. All his shouting meant he knew what he was doing and that the island wasn’t open to him. David shivered on my back as I descended to the beach.
“Thieving wolf roasting on an open fire,” my dragon hummed. “His nuts roasting on a dragon’s pyre.”
I didn’t have the energy to tell him to shut up. Rhett smirked at me as I landed and waved. He was on the phone with Clarence Moonscale getting ahead of everything. The mild-mannered TA shot Matthew. Now, she was tending his wound to ensure he didn’t bleed out.
“No more crazy wolf nipping at our heels,” my dragon continued his song.
“Samantha, when you’re done with him help David unload Brendan’s back so he can shift back,” Rhett said before walking farther away to continue his phone call. I could have listened in if I really wanted to, but watching Matthew took all of my attention.
“Where should we put these?” Samantha asked once David climbed off my back.
I pointed with my wing to an area full of fallen and decaying trees.
“Really?” She sighed. “This dig just keeps getting crazier, doesn’t it?”
After they relieved me of my burden I shifted back into my human form. My eyes remained draconic, because I wasn’t about to shut off my primal instincts now. Not with someone like Matthew around. I walked over to where he lay bound and gagged in the sand. He growled through the torn t-shirt shoved into his mouth. I reached into his pocket where he stashed whatever he’d picked up from the sand.
“This belongs to me,” I growled holding out a small black scale. “You have broken dragon law by stealing a scale that you are not entitled to. I could roast you and not a single dragon alive would blame me.”
“Babe!” Rhett motioned for me to come stand by him.
“You better be glad he’s here. If it were just you and me, I’d show you how we handled thieves in my day. You could call it some firsthand experience of the past. This is my scale! Mine! Whatever you were planning to do is a roastable offense!”
My stomach flipflopped as I tread through the thick sand to Rhett. Bile rose in my throat. Beads of sweat dotted my forehead and I ran for the bushes.
“He’s poisoned me!” My dragon cried out. “He had poison on his skin!”
Rhett dropped his phone in the sand and sprinted next to me. He patted my back and rubbed in circles until the sick episode passed.
“Are you okay, mate?” He asked.
The edge of anger disappeared from his voice as he spoke to me.
“I am most certainly not okay! That wolf poisoned me! I touched him and now this…”
I didn’t hear what he said next because I got sick again. I shook and crawled farther away from Rhett. He didn’t need to see me sick. Thankfully, I didn’t have to explain this to him, and he waited for me to finish and come out of the bushes.
“Did he really poison you?” He asked looking over my hands and arms searching for any sign of foul play. His warm hands felt like home on my skin, but nothing hurt. My limbs hung heavy and I just wanted to lay down.
“YES!” My dragon roared.
“I don’t think so. Most poisons don’t work on dragons. I think it’s just stress or maybe the eggs from the frozen breakfast didn’t settle well,” I shook my head. “I need to sit down.”
Rhett pulled his shirt over his head and laid it across a soft patch of grass far away from the bushes. We sat down and he looked me over again. His protective feelings washed over me through our mating link and lulled my angry dragon. They lulled me too, but no amount of comfort was going to bring back my energy. I curled up in a ball and rested my head on Rhett’s lap. He stroked my hair.
I turned my face so I could keep an eye on Matthew too. Escaping and running away while Rhett was focused on me would be the cowardly thing to do and Matthew was a cow
ard.
“You rest, babe. I’m watching the fucker. He’s not going anywhere.”
“I don’t want to close my eyes. What if he put something on me like Corden did?” I whispered.
“I don’t think he’s that smart,” Rhett huffed, “but even if he did, your antidote is right here.”
I wrapped my arms around him and nuzzled into his stomach. I felt small laying there sick and woozy.
“Besides, mate, if he runs Samantha will shoot him in his other leg.”
“He shouldn’t have hit on her.”
“He shouldn’t have harassed her. This isn’t Samantha’s first dig. She’s levelheaded. If she felt shooting him was called for, he did more than flirt,” Rhett said.
“I’ll roast him when my stomach feels better.”
“You don’t have to. Clarence is on his way. He’s the current leader of the Moonscale Flight and the academy really belongs to him. All things Moonscale belong to him at the end of the day.”
“Not my island,” I shook my head.
“No, not your island.”
I dozed on and off under the warm morning sun. The sounds of waves echoed whispers of the home that now lay in ruin. If I squinted, I could still see my parents on their balcony enjoying their morning tea and planning their day together. Phantom whispers of construction crews and their constant building echoed just for me. This was my home. A mile from here my egg hatched and I came into the world. My father used to joke the world wasn’t ready for the likes of me. Now, I know he was wrong. I wasn’t ready for the likes of this world. Now, with Rhett by my side the world wasn’t ready for the likes of us.
I opened my eyes when something overshadowed my patch of sun. A blue dragon not much smaller than me flew into view.
“Clarence?” I looked up at Rhett.
“That’s him,” he nodded.
“He’s still young. He won’t be as big as me for another century,” I chuckled.
As dragons we constantly grew. Our human forms eventually stopped, but our inner beasts shed their scales and grew larger with each passing year. Corden’s curse didn’t hinder my growth. So, now it seemed I was bigger than some of the ruling Alpha dragons.
Clarence flew low to the beach and set something down gently. I sat up and squinted against the bright sunlight shining around him. A small dark-haired child pushed himself to his feet and tottered towards the ocean. I smiled despite my horrible morning. The little one was a Moonscale hatchling. There was no mistaking that tottering swagger anywhere. With a gentle wing, Clarence nudged the boy away from the water and shifted into his human form. He looked a little like Bashi with his dark hair and narrow nose. The family resemblance stung, but was a soothing balm for the holes left by those who moved on. Corden didn’t win. The Moonscales survived.
“Don’t stand up on my account,” Clarence said in lieu of hello. “Medwin would flog me if I made a pregnant omega stand to greet me.”
“Pregnant?” Rhett and I asked in tandem.
Shock settled over me. With how much time Rhett and I spent together it was bound to happen sooner or later. I hoped to have the island restored before it did, but any worries I had dissipated when I saw Rhett’s corny astonished grin.
“I could smell your pheromones coming in, ancestor,” Clarence smiled.
The little boy wiggled out of his arms and landed with a soft thud on his butt in the sand.
“Congratulations,” Clarence said and scooped the boy back into his arms.
“Down, Da-da. Down!” He roared in the cute way hatchlings do.
I laughed despite the situation.
“This is Cade. The youngest Moonscale and one day the heir to all of the Moonscale fortunes.”
“Hi, Cade,” I waved at him.
“Hi, ant-sister,” he waved.
“An-cest-tor,” Clarence sounded out the word for him.
“Ant-sister! That’s what I said, Da-da,” Cade laughed.
“I wish our first meeting had happened over a more joyous occasion,” Clarence said jerking his head in the direction of the bound wolf. “It smells like the bleeding stopped, though. I hate to burden you in this time of great joy, but I need to speak with the TA who s-h-o-t him. Would you mind watching over Cade for me? I won’t take long. Usually, I’d leave him home with Medwin, but he’s off to get his scales polished for the ball tonight. He won’t be happy to find out I dragged him along, but business is business.”
“We’d love to,” I reached my arms out for the little boy.
I couldn’t remember the last time I saw a child. Dragons don’t have children often. Eggs can be few and far between these days. Dragons take up a lot of resources and time. I still hoped for a houseful of hatchlings and since Rhett was a wolf, I just might get them. Just like my Moonscale ancestors Frost and Juda.
“He groped me on the plane!” Samantha shouted at Clarence who nodded politely.
I covered Cade’s ears and he wiggled away to run back to Clarence.
“Guess, he wants his daddy,” Rhett laughed.
“One day that’s going to be you. The king of the island with an adoring baby chasing after you,” I smiled at him. “Let’s go find out what really happened on that plane.”
“He groped me! I slapped him.” Samantha said.
Her face was bright red and her hands trembled.
“He stopped after that and left the others alone. I thought maybe he was going into a rut and was just acting out,” she explained looking down at her feet.
“Sweetheart, let me clear something up for you,” Clarence said. “I don’t care if he was walking around with his knot caught in his zipper because of a rut. That’s not acceptable behavior at my school or anywhere else. The creators gave him two working hands for a reason. That wasn’t the behavior of an Alpha in a rut. That’s the behavior of a predator and I’m not having a Jeb situation happen at my school.”
Everyone went quiet at the mention of the name Jeb. Without speaking I pressed my forehead to Rhett’s and caught myself up to the situation. He was a bad vampire who kidnapped omegas and tried to impregnate them against their will in America.
“What are you going to do about it then?” I asked Clarence.
“He’s off the dig. He’s outta my school. Matthew Tidmore is once more his father’s problem. Hopefully, the old chap can set him on the straight and narrow. If I hear of such behavior again in my territory, I’ll put his head on a spike and be done with it.”
“Thank you, sir,” Samantha smiled still looking down at her feet.
“If something like this ever happens again, call me,” he said and gave her his card. “If it would not inconvenience you too much, Samantha, I’d like you to continue standing guard while I catch up with my ancestor.”
“It wouldn’t be an inconvenience at all, sir,” she grinned. “I’m still fully loaded.”
“Good. He’s lucky it was you and not me. I’d shoot him somewhere that would render him incapable of ever rutting again.”
The three of us and Cade returned to my sunny spot. Clarence allowed Cade to roam, but only within in arm’s reach of him.
“You must have questions, ancestor,” Clarence finally said.
“Why aren’t you surprised to find out about me or the island?” I blurted out.
“Because Moonscales keep very good records. We track the island and ensure you’re not disturbed. Our scouts informed us of your awakening, but said you were in the capable hands of one of my professors. That made a lot of sense actually. I was certain your mate was quackers with how obsessed he was with your story. I figured, if you wanted to reach out you would when you were ready. It was only today I learned that Rhett was still leading the dig. The dean is on probation. He is not to interfere with Moonscale mating. Especially, that of our oldest living ancestor.”
“So, you’re not going to try to take my island?” I squared my shoulders.
“That is not the way of the dragon,” Clarence said. “Much has changed since you
last woke, but we do not take by force from our own and certainly not our elders. We try not to take by force from any, but at times it cannot be helped. This is your island. You are the rightful heir to Moonscale Island. No one will rob you of your birthright. I wouldn’t have bothered you at all if not for the call today.”
I nodded and breathed out a silent sigh of relief. Sometimes dragon flights do fight amongst themselves and you never know how a leader thinks until you know them.
“Is Corden really dead?” I cut to the chase and asked the most important question.
“We don’t know for sure. Corden is a unique individual. He was once the mate of a Moonscale omega and I’m not speaking of your carrier. His true-mate was one of our relatives. We think he died and Corden’s magic ate away at his mind. We believe he is gone, but unfortunately I can’t provide you with proof of his demise.”
“I have one last question for you right now, but it’s more of a favor,” I said unsure if I was pressing my luck.
Alpha dragons can be fickle in their favors and temperament.
“What can I do for you, ancestor?”
“Call me Brendan, but that’s not the favor,” I laughed nervously and tightened my grip on Rhett’s hand.
“Alright then, Brendan, what can I do for you?” Clarence asked.
“Do you have access to a construction crew?” I asked him.
“You want to rebuild the island?” Clarence tilted his head.
“Restore the island,” I corrected him. “I want it exactly like it was before down to the last detail.”
“There’s only one way we can make that happen,” he said.
“How’s that?” I asked trying not to cringe.
Dragons were tricky when they wanted to be. I wasn’t about to let this hatchling scheme me out of my island.
“If you’re here instructing the crew and of course, Rhett, loans us a few of his students to help restore lost items.”
“He will. I’m already borrowing David. You can’t see him, because he’s hiding behind the totes in his mouse form. He’s bashful, but he’s a hard worker.”
The Sleeping Omega Prince Page 13
