Page 60 of Hoarded By the Dragon

The bite I’d given her during my heat is a neat scar. The white mark doesn’t stand out too much against her skin. It had healed over very quickly for a witch.

I should have known then.

But it wasn’t until the moment we believed her to be in danger that I’d known for sure.

Somehow, even without the ability to form a complete bond, my dragon has claimed Katarina as his mate.

He’s ready to accept this youngling into our lives despite the catastrophe of last time.

I’m the one who is still broken and unable to move on.

The cat leaving its place on Katarina is the only warning I get in the hurricane of my thoughts. The doors to the office burst open, and Katarina startles awake in my arms.

“Alright, old man, I’m here. The dagger barely touched me, but I figured you needed to make sure I was alive with your own two eyes—oh, shit!” Gage freezes midway in the room at the sight of Katarina on my lap.

“Dagger?” I ask, becoming more aware. “What dagger?”

22

KATARINA

I blink,trying to shake the fog from my nap. I’m still in Kalos’s lap, and there’s a surprised man that I don’t know staring at me.

The man’s face creases in confusion. “I thought—you know, that’s not important. Why did you want…” he trails off as his gaze drops to my stomach.

My very obvious stomach.

I may not recognize the man, but his presence feels like Kalos. His coloring is even similar, though his dark hair is wavy and his golden eyes have a warmer tone.

“Is this your son?” I ask, and Kalos flinches.

The man’s lips compress before he smiles. It’s a friendly, bewildered smile edged with a bitterness I can taste.

“No. Just his godson,” the stranger says.

“Katarina, this is Gage. Gage, this is Katarina…” Kalos trails off as if not knowing how to describe our relationship.

I shrug. “The woman miraculously pregnant with his baby without being mated to him.”

Kalos stiffens under me, and I push out of his lap, standing to offer my hand to shake.

Gage’s eyes widen. His eyes not moving from my belly. He doesn’t take my hand.

“I think—I think I’m going to come back later,” he says. There’s something warring behind his eyes.

Kalos massages the bridge of his nose. “That may be for the best.”

Gage doesn’t waste any time in escaping the room.

“Gage,” Kalos calls out, and the man stops at the threshold. “I’m glad the dagger barely touched you.”

Gage doesn’t turn. He just nods before leaving.

“Apologies,” Kalos says. “He needs time to process.”

I want to curl back up in my dragon’s lap, but sit on the edge of the desk instead, giving us both some space.

“You raised him?” I ask. I want to ask more questions, invasive questions, but Kalos’s shoulders are tight. He’s struggling, and my questions won’t help at this moment. Later I can interrogate him and make him tell me all about his history so I don’t trip over painful subjects like I just did.

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