Three hours later, Gregor was up. Unable to sleep, he crossed the floor on nimble feet and moved the thing Ella called a mouse across its pad. The machine in front of him came to life. He sat down, careful not to wake Sebastian, and pulled a blanket across his lap.
Sara showed him how to use this a few months ago, and he had been flabbergasted at the sheer amount of information available in just a few short keystrokes. The Google thing was amazing. Anything he wanted to know, he could find, and it boggled his mind. He'd discovered so many new things and learned something every single day.
Though it was not without its disadvantages. One evening he'd stayed up the entire night and half the morning researching how to plant a garden in a small space. He had not expected to get so much information in such a short time. When he'd finally gotten up from the chair, every single muscle in his body hurt and he had to do over an hour of stretches to feel like a normal person again.
Now he doled out this time and searched only when he wished to know something specific. Tonight's search was one of those.
He pulled up a creative learning tool called YouTube and typed into the search engine.
How to repair a bookshelf.
Gregor leaned in, turned the volume as low as he could, and listened to woodworker after woodworker try to teach him how to repair broken wood.
An hour later, he was no better than when he started. Ella's shelves were different. He did not think it could be repaired with wood glue. The piece Sebastian had broken was massive. Perhaps he could try, but after everything he watched, it was more likely she needed the entire slab replaced.
Gregor frowned at the computer. Back home, they had craftsmen who would take care of this service for him. He knew the same thing existed here, but there were so many, and he realized you couldn't trust everyone these days.
It had been a hard lesson for him to learn. Now, Gregor was much more wary about who he asked for things.
Once he'd exhausted the videos on bookshelves, he flipped to a few of the fringe channels he was monitoring. To the average person, these people would seem crazy. Spouting nonsense and hate was the purpose of the channels, but every once in a while, Gregor would hear something he could possibly connect to Ludovic, the evil dragon who'd been eluding them for thousands of years. They almost had him last time, but he'd escaped, wounded.
They thought they'd gotten him, but Gregor had begun to monitor the internet not too long afterward and information came to light which made them think he was hiding somewhere, licking his wounds.
Gregor had every hope of finding him, and soon. He saw how helpless Daegal had felt when his son was taken by the dragon, and now Ludovic knew they all potentially had mates.
It was dangerous information, so Gregor and the rest of them had all been on their guards waiting for the dragon's return. They didn't think he'd be so bold as to stage an attack in broad daylight, but he had broken in before and taken the new prince, so they knew they weren't safe right now.
They'd never be safe until they took the dragon down.
So Gregor monitored and Edvard patrolled the area listening for any hints of his whereabouts. Sebastian whored around and would occasionally come home with good info, too. More often than not, though, he'd come home with garish lipstick smeared across his lips and a torn shirt.
It was hard to watch.
Gregor tried a few times to pull him to the side and chat with him about his behavior, but Sebastian would have none of it. Eventually, Gregor gave up. Their bodies were their temples, but Sebastian had to do the housekeeping on his own.
He settled on the edge of the bed and lay down, his large bulk taking up the vast majority of it. Sebastian was pissed when he ended up with the couch, but he was a few inches shorter than Gregor and not nearly as wide. Plus, Sara was concerned Gregor would break the couch if he laid on it too often, so she made him take the bed.
It wasn't so bad. Not as comfortable as his quarters back in the palace, but those days were long gone. He settled his head against his pillow and stared up at the ceiling. His sleeping patterns had been off ever since he'd woken up in the sea. It wasn't anything to worry about right now, but a warrior who didn't sleep was a warrior who was on edge.
He would need to ensure he worked out extra if he couldn't get back to sleep soon. Doing so would hopefully wear him out so he could sleep the next night. Sometimes it felt like all he did was exercise his body and search for Ludovic. He was going crazy. A man like him needed a mission. He hated all the sitting around they'd been doing lately.
Before the move, he'd spent some time with Ella, though she was careful to avoid him as much as possible. She'd taught him to surf, or thought she had. There was almost nothing on the water a dragon like him couldn't do. But she had taught him proper form on the board and how to take a fall in the water without damage. She hadn't been gone a single night and he already ached for her. Now that he knew she was his mate, he needed an action plan.
How could he ensure he saw her more often? How could Gregor convince her to let down her guard some and let him in? Perhaps he could claim to need more surfing lessons.
He snorted softly at himself. If ever there was a sorry excuse, surfing lessons would be one of them. She'd already pronounced him as good as her.
He was pretty sure she'd just said it so she didn't have to teach him anymore because he definitely did not have the surfing talent she did. He was just now learning to properly ride the board for more than a few seconds at a time. The right way, that is. Apparently, it was illegal and cheating to use magic while surfing.
Ella's eyes glittered every time she caught him using magic as if she were delighted he couldn't quite figure out how to do the same thing she did on the water. It was difficult not to use his gods-given gifts, but even he could admit there were good reasons not to constantly rely on one's magic. If he were ever in a situation where it failed, it would help to know some of the tips she'd taught him, especially how to navigate a powerful wave when your form was messed up.
Gregor threw an arm over his face and let out a soft sigh. He was never going to get to sleep if he couldn't stop thinking about her. He tried to focus on Ludovic, but it made things even worse.
Gregor was a warrior.
He needed to do something.
Or someone.
With a groan, Gregor turned and punched his pillow.
It was going to be a long night.
3
Ella
Ella's new place was so close to the beach that if she opened a window, she could hear the surf crashing against the shore. One of her favorite things about the place was the location of her bedroom. It was off the side of the house, closest to the front door and to the ocean. It took her a bit to figure out the windows, but when she did, she cranked the handle to crack the window open several inches. It was four panes of movable glass, and when she moved the handle, the panes opened vertically instead of one single pane to open horizontally. More air moved through the room this way, and she didn't have to worry about it slamming shut.
She eyed her bed but she wasn't ready for her evening to be over. Ella reached over to turn the ceiling fan on before she left the room. When she came back in, it would be nice and cool in the room, especially with the wind picking up outside.
Her living room was packed with boxes and possessions she hadn't yet situated. The television hadn't been set up yet because she forgot to call the cable company. Her book boxes were lined up on the opposite wall from her now broken bookshelf. A long sigh escaped her.
One room at a time. It was all she could do. She'd figure out her shelving situation later.
Ella went into her kitchen and reached over for her Bluetooth speaker. She pulled up a music app on her phone and blasted '90s music. Once The Spice Girls came on, Ella twisted her hair up in a knot, secured it with a hair tie she kept on her wrist and examined the kitchen boxes with a critical eye.
Her messy handwriting was scrawled over all of the boxes,
detailing what went where.
Ella went for the baking boxes first.
She'd never met a baking pan she didn't like. Ella wasn't a champion cook by any means, but her baking skills were pretty legendary.
The thing was, Ella usually only baked when she needed to figure out a problem or she was stressed out. Right now, she was both, but unpacking was more important than making brownies.
The only sound in the apartment was the music and the clank of pans as she began to unpack. Ella had every baking accessory known to man. How she managed to keep it all in one room in Sara's house was a minor miracle.
She pulled up an expensive bundt pan and a smile touched her lips. Ten years ago, the life she had now was a pipe dream. She was seventeen, recently emancipated from her family, and doing grunt work online in an effort to show the courts she could support herself without her parent's help.
It had worked and the judge granted her request. Thrust into the real world with no experience, no friends, and no support system, Ella had to work hard to care for herself.
She sprayed out the interior of the cabinets and wiped them down before she put anything inside. Every single thing she stored, she remembered buying. Every single penny she spent, she remembered. Memories were attached to everything she owned.
Ella was almost too sentimental. A bundt pan could easily be replaced, but every time she held it, she remembered a heavily pregnant Sara crying over Daegal and her lost future. Everything worked out, and better than Sara could have ever hoped, but back then, it was a trying time. Ella had used this bundt pan to make Sara a massive chocolate chip bundt cake with a browned butter glaze. They'd all sat around the kitchen table that evening, eating it with their hands. No one bothered to get plates, knives or forks out. They let Sara cry and didn't even tell her she had chocolate all over her face. That's what friends were for. While it wasn't the best memory, the next day Sara had woken up happier. It was all she could have asked for.
She placed the bundt pan down carefully down and gave it a pat. Memories were the best things in her life. She had friends, a new home, and interesting experiences, but the things that made her happiest were the times she played back in her mind over and over at night. Happier times. Goodness knows, Ella hadn't had a lot of those growing up.
She worked through the pans, spatulas, and piping tips, making sure everything had a place. When she finished with that, she rinsed off all of her plates, carefully dried them, and put them away in a top cabinet.
While she worked, she thought. Ella thought about her connection with Gregor and what it meant, if anything at all. Before she moved, she spent a lot of time with him and the other dragons. Not by her choice, and she avoided them when she could, but Gregor was good about finding her and pinning her down.
If there was one thing she was good at, it was avoidance. Part of it was her introverted nature, part of it was the way she grew up. Ella normally avoided fights no matter if she was right or not. She'd tried to get better about it the older she got, but she hated conflict and usually did her best to avoid it.
When the dragons had arrived on Sara's doorstep all those months ago, all they brought with them were bags of gold, the clothes on their backs, and more conflict than Ella ever wanted in her life.
But she still couldn't get the gray-eyed one out of her mind, and to be honest, she was lonely.
Ella had been alone until Sara came along, but the loneliness had struck up again in earnest when she saw the bond Sara and her mate had.
Instead of welcoming something with Gregor, she'd run. That was even if he wanted something with her. He stared at her with unnerving intensity, and she wasn't the best with the opposite sex. Ella could be wrong, but she didn't think so.
She just wasn't brave enough to pursue it.
Ella scrubbed at a particularly stubborn stain on the granite, annoyed because the place was supposed to have been cleaned before she moved in.
Disgusted when she couldn't get it off, she tossed the sponge down, put her hands on her hips, and looked around her new place.
It was too quiet.
She felt overwhelmed, but it wasn't all bad. This was the first time she'd felt like she really accomplished something. At twenty-seven, she was a homeowner. She had a good job she could support herself with, no debt, and a wide-open road ahead of her.
She tugged her hair tie out of her hair and let the strands fall around her. Satisfied the kitchen was now up to her standards, she turned off the lights and walked back into the living room. Even though it seemed full right now, she knew once everything was put away, there would be a glaring lack of furniture in the rooms. She had her comfy chairs and a rickety old stand for the television, but she needed to go shopping for more stuff soon.
Ella reached over for her phone to check the time and winced when she realized it was almost midnight. She put her phone on the charger and padded back to her room. For the next two weeks, she was free to do whatever she needed to get her house in order, so she had plenty of time to unpack. After that, she had to get back to work and normal life.
If her life could ever be called normal.
Ella slipped into a pair of sleep shorts and a tank and slid beneath the sheets. Her thoughts were a muddled mess right now, but the surf lulled her to sleep within minutes.
There would be plenty of time tomorrow to worry about things she couldn't control.
The next morning, Ella punched in Sara's number. Her friend answered with a grumpy hello which told Ella Keanu had probably had a bad night. He was almost sleeping through the night, but dragon babies were different than human babies. Sara had to worry about him flooding the place or other weird things baby dragons with no control over their powers could do.
She was exhausted. Daegal was enamored.
If she knew her friend like she thought she did, she suspected Sara wanted to lovingly smack her husband.
"Hey! I'm calling to see if you wanted to go shopping with me. I have to set up my office and a guest bedroom. Plus, I need to get some more stuff for the living room."
Sara hesitated over the line. When she spoke, Ella heard remorse. "I really wish I could, but Daegal is training with Sebastian and Edvard this morning. Some new weird technique he'd picked up at the local dojo." Ella could almost hear the eye roll. "So they're on the balcony injuring each other for at least the next few hours, and I need to be here to bandage the resulting boo-boos. Jillian and Carrie are in Maui registering for an upcoming charity surfing tournament, so I'm the only reasonable person left here."
"Oh," Ella said, unable to keep the disappointment from her voice. "That's okay. We can wait for another time." She was about to say goodbye when Sara spoke again.
"Wait!" she exclaimed. "What about Gregor?"
Ella froze. "What about him?" A hesitant note had crept into her voice.
"He's free! You could take him." Sara's voice sounded way too excited about the prospect.
"Oh, I couldn't. I don't think he'd do well at Mobler."
"Are you kidding? It would be perfect for him. He's always asking me to show him the human way to do things. What could be more human than spending money on furniture that's almost impossible to put together?"
Ella did not want to take him. "Doesn't he have to train with Daegal?" She cringed at the whiny note in her voice.
"Nope," Sara said. She sounded smug. "He's all up to speed on this technique and Aikido, if you can believe it. This guy takes overachieving to the next level. I find him exhausting. He's like a teacher's pet on steroids."
"Sara," Ella said, her voice low and warning.
"Oh, come on, Ella. You've avoided these guys like the plague and they've noticed. They want to be your friend and you keep pushing everyone away. What kind of harm could one furniture shopping trip do? Plus, you’d have a one-man lifting machine. He can carry everything into your apartment with zero effort. Just feed him, and I'm sure he would be ecstatic to come."
"I don't know," Ella drawled. In her hea
d, she counted all the ways it could go horribly wrong. It was hard to pass up free lifting help though.
Sara's voice lowered. "He just sits here, mopes, and surfs the internet these days. Gregor is bored, Ella. It's just one trip. Please?"
Ella blew out a breath. "Fine," she growled. "Tell him to get dressed. And tell him not to wear anything too weird. He needs to look like a normal person."
Sara laughed. "So no leather?"
"Absolutely no leather. No weapons. No ironic T-shirts he doesn't get. Help him dress. If I show up and he looks like he rolled out of a novel, I'm leaving him with you."
"Fine," Sara said, though there was laughter in her voice. "One dragon suburban dad coming right up. Be here in an hour."
They disconnected and Ella stared at her cell phone. How had it come to this? A dragon shopping for office furniture. Did they even have that back in their homelands? Or did they have servants to do all their dirty work?
A sigh escaped Ella and she shook her head. There was nothing to do about it now. She should have expected Sara to dump Gregor on her before now. Ella padded out to the kitchen and made herself a full pot of coffee.
She enjoyed Gregor's company, but she'd never been in close quarters with him without someone else being there. This had the potential to be a disaster.
When she poured her first cup, she closed her eyes and let the steam drift up her nose. Few things were better than a well-roasted bean. Ella took a sip and sighed. She might need a lot of coffee to get through today.
Padding back to her bedroom, Ella flipped through her closet and finally settled on a pair of gray cargo pants, a white tank, and a lightweight teal cardigan. She slid her feet into a pair of black ballet flats, pulled her hair up in a tight ponytail, and put her black-rimmed glasses on.
Ella grabbed her lip gloss and slid the berry color across her lips. She wore makeup but not often. It took too much time to apply, and she wasn't all that fussy.
The Alpha Dragon's Mate (Dragon Shifters of Kahului Book 2) Page 3
