Page 3 of Doyle

"Will you eat with us?" Porter asked anxiously.

He was the shyer and more reserved of the two.

"Yes, I'll have breakfast with your dads," I told the kids.

I thought of William again and wondered about what might have been. Unlike Otis, William was not an omega shifter but a white magic user.

He'd once remarked about adopting a child or two.

Thinking about this would only dampen my mood, so I shrugged the thought away and focused on the present, on Ariel and Porter.

"Uncle Ivan's also here, along with Uncle Draven," Ariel added.

I scowled at that. Although the kids called me Uncle, I was technically Zane and Ivan's uncle by blood.

It just made things simpler for the kids to refer to me, and now Draven, as their uncles.

If Ivan and Draven were here, then it was easy to conclude Zane had called for an impromptu meeting. I sighed.

I had been looking forward to a pleasant and quiet breakfast with Zane and his family. Otis popped in and gave me an apologetic look.

"Sorry, Doyle. Did they wake you? Come along, kids,” Otis said.

"Not at all," I reassured him.

Otis reminded me a little of my William, and I was glad Zane had found such a kind and patient mate.

As Otis and the kids left, I took a quick shower before heading downstairs.

The kitchen was filled with the smell of pancakes and the sound of laughter. Zane stood by the stove, flipping pancakes with the ease of someone who had done this a thousand times.

Ivan and Draven sat at the table, engaged in a heated discussion, likely about some minor matter.

Draven had been the victim of a black witch, and although we had gotten rid of her, we weren’t naive enough to believe that was the end.

"Morning," I greeted, taking a seat at the table.

The tension in the room was palpable, but I tried to focus on the warmth of the family around me.

Ariel and Porter were already digging into their pancakes, syrup smeared across their faces.

"Morning, Doyle," Zane said, placing a stack of pancakes in front of me. "Hope you're hungry."

I smiled faintly. "Starving,” I said.

As we ate, the adults made sure to keep the conversation kid-friendly. I listened to Ariel and Porter talk about school and their friends.

I found myself drifting, my mind wandering back to memories of William. His laughter, his touch, the warmth of his presence.

It was a constant ache, but being here, surrounded by family, by my pack, made it a little more bearable.

"I'll take the kids to school. See you later," Otis told Zane, kissing him on the cheek before leaving the house with the kids.

Now that it was just the adult dragon shifters in the pack, we moved on to why Zane really called us here.

“There’s been alarming reports that shifter children and teens had started disappearing,” Zane began. “Venom and I decided to look into it. I sent Ivan to work with the bears.”

Disappearances. This sounded eerily familiar. I sucked in a breath.

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