Page 47 of Gladiator's Bite

Less than a minute later, a partially dressed Selt disappeared through the doorway and the floor cracked where the door had been. We’d have to fix that later and come up with an explanation the council would believe. They might believe the truth but then again, I wasn’t sure what just happened even though it unfolded less than six feet from the tip of my nose.

Sunny kissed the top of my head and stepped away from me. He stepped over the crack in the cement floor and hugged Teddy.

“You aren’t going to sleep for decades like your old man did, are you?” he asked, keeping his tone light.

“No,” Teddy shook his head. “I didn’t expect things to end so abruptly, but we always knew they would. True-mate responses are abrupt. I just---”

“It sucks, huh?” I said.

“Well, sort of, but no, I just hope he believes in himself enough to do this. A lot of people are counting on him. He’s a great guy but –--” Teddy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish he had some or maybe a lot of therapy under his belt before this happened.”

“You’re too good of a guy, Teddy,” Sunny laughed. “Your boyfriend runs off and you worry about him.”

“He wasn’t my boyfriend. My playmate maybe. My friend, definitely. Never my boyfriend. We were never going to be end game. I’ll miss him, though.”

“Sex was killer, huh?” I smirked and Sunny shot me a dirty look when Teddy nodded.

“Eh, if it’s anything like my experience, it’ll be even better when you meet your true-mate and before that could happen, Selt had to leave to find his, apparently,” I said, stepping over the crack to join them.

“Casimir and Castor will be able to tell us how to fix this,” Sunny said, taking my hand and glancing at the floor.

“The council might just write it off as the price of finding a lot of off-world mates,” I shrugged. “I’ll talk to them. I wouldn’t worry about it right now. Let’s get something to eat, I think the babies are hungry.”

“You coming to feed your god kids?” Sunny asked Teddy.

We hadn’t talked about who might be their godparents but Teddy was a good choice. Frey would be mine of, course. Between him and Teddy the kids would turn out emotionally mature asskickers if something happened to both Sunny and me. That was a good combination.

Chapter Twenty

Sunny

Laken was right. Neither the council nor club management was too upset about the crack in the floor. None of us were sure that they believed us on how it happened but that didn’t matter in the long run. They did think Selt’s disappearance was out of the ordinary but since no one felt anything bad happen to him over the flight link they had to assume that he was fine wherever he followed Doris to.

I spent the next few weeks doting on Laken and keeping an eye on Teddy. Though, the whole crew kept an eye on Teddy. They, like I, expected him to be heartbroken and maybe he was in a way we didn’t understand. He kept living. He spent a lot of time helping us ensure everything was ready for the twins but he also returned to the purple district and whatever he did there when I wasn’t around. If he missed Selt on a deep, aching level he didn’t let on. Though, Teddy kept his secrets well. Even Fred asked me if Teddy was acting okay or if he was okay. I knew about as much as his sire did. He acted like he was okay and until he told someone differently we had to go along with him.

Back home, Teddy’s sister Delilah met Rosemary, her true-mate. A huge dragoness who wore so much pink one might think she was a fashion doll little kids played with. They looked happy enough together in all the photographs we saw. Though, I prayed if she ever came here, that the star scale on her chest was pink too. Otherwise she might be disappointed. My dragon rolled his eyes at me. Teddy’s overkindness was starting to rub off on me a little too much or perhaps that was waiting on our twins. I wanted them to live in a world that cared if they were happy or not. I wanted them to live in a world that not only caredif they were happy but that was filled with people who would help them figure out what that meant.

“I think I need to stretch my wings before it’s time to lay these eggs,” Laken announced one afternoon climbing out of the nest. “Wanna come with me?”

“Yes!” I grinned.

We had gone an uncommon amount of time without going for a flight but life had been hectic and speeding by our tails since we met. It was nice to strip down in the garden and fly off together with his whiskers bouncing in the breeze. They fascinated my dragon. He flew as close as he could to Laken without knocking him off course to let the long thin whiskers flow against his scales.

With the land and its inhabitants only tiny specks beneath us it was easy to forget that all three Starscale worlds held their breath and waited for Selt to return. News of his departure had swept across the flight link and gossip roamed the lands. No one except he, us, and Teddy knew exactly what happened in the altar room and even that didn’t match up to Liam’s vision exactly. No one knew when or how Selt would return but we all hoped he would return with the knowledge we needed so badly.

Teddy had tried to draw a door that would lead back to Earthside, but no one answered, and the drawn knob refused to budge. We all agreed that it must’ve been Doris’s magic or perhaps Selt’s that brought his first drawing to life. If not their magic, just plain ole good luck and we couldn’t count on that happening very often.

Laken’s heart skipped a beat, and his part of our mating link became a rush of hurry and activity. He dive bombed toward the ground swerving this way and that as he turned back toward the house his whiskers fluttering in the wind at his sides. I followed him, but whether the whiskers, his age, or his fitness level did it,he was faster than me and was inside the house by the time my claws ever touched ground in our backyard.

“Hurry up!” Teddy yelled from inside.

I’d forgotten he was asleep in the living room when we snuck out for our flight. He was in the nesting room with Laken now.

“I’m going, I’m going,” he said when I stalked into the room.

“You don’t have to,” I chuckled but then glanced at Laken.

My mate’s scent flooded with relief upon seeing me. Teddy was a decent stand in while I wasn’t there but he was also right about leaving the nesting room to give him some privacy.