Page 2 of The Monster at the End of This Courtship

"I just met my fated mate."

"Yeah?" His gaze was soft and a little sad. "That's great, Tuft! I'm happy for you."

"I'm pretty sure he hates me."

"He can't hate you. Did he smell you?" Weld sniffed the side of my neck. His breath tickled. "You smell fucking delicious."

"You think all omegas smell delicious."

He laughed. "Guilty."

"We're meeting to discuss fated mates. Priestess Alma said to bring you to the cathedral."

Weld sighed. "She would."

"She's been nothing but kind to us."

"Coz and Grindl had their babies." Weld's voice was barely a whisper in my ear. "Three betas."

Instead of sassing I had eyes, too, I murmured, "I'm happy for them."

I'd felt terrible when we'd stolen a cavern from the mated pair. Weld had sworn it couldn't be helped, not if we wanted our own eggs to survive.

It hadn't mattered in the end. Our two eggs hadn't developed. Weld blamed the cold, but I knew my body was the culprit. I hadn't made enough slick to keep them nourished.

Now, our village had a new lease on life. The dragon hadn't burned us to a crisp for being above ground. They'd reserved that sentence for the changeling spell circle.

When we arrived at the cathedral, I saw Dirk, another omega from my class, already flopped over one of the kneelers. I took the one next to him and scooted over, so Weld had room to kneel beside me.

While we waited for Priestess Alma, we gossiped about the dragon and what it might mean for us. We hoped the priestess would let omegas roam the grassland outside and live aboveground. For some reason, the dragons had never botheredthe betas who came and went as they pleased and the alphas in their huts, but we omegas were told we couldn't leave the protection of the giant obsidian building we called the fortress unless we wanted to die in a gout of flame.

"I really hope this means we can go outside," I said. "Look at us. We're lizards. I want to lie in the sun."

Weld laughed and kissed my temple. He had always been affectionate with me, and I couldn't deny the comfort I had taken from his attention. Now that I'd met my fated mate, I felt guilty, like it was wrong to let another alpha touch me.

Even so, both Weld and I needed comfort in these times of uncertainty. I would wait until we were alone to share my feelings about future displays of affection.

Now, it was time to listen to Priestess Alma. She entered the cathedral with several younger kobolds, including Axel. Like him, they all had tails. She led them up to the front and motioned for them to sit on the stone floor at her feet.

"Welcome back, youngsters! We are so glad to have you on Ignitas, but I must admit this is not how we planned it. You were supposed to stay on Earth until your twenty-fifth birthdays. The dragon you saw when you arrived has changed all that. They destroyed our changeling spell circle, which brought you back early."

I followed Axel's every move as he sat quietly near the middle of the group. He seemed to breathe easier, but he didn't look any happier when he glanced over his shoulder at me.

"Some of you are alphas, and some of you are omegas. Some have even met your fated mates already. I doubt you know what to do with them, since you still have tails. We'll begin training you on our mating behavior as soon as possible. When your tails fall off, you can take part in our alpha and omega meetups to confirm your mated pairings."

Priestess Alma smiled at them. "I know, all of that seems like a lot of gibberish to you now, and you probably want a place to rest and recover from your journey." She waved toward the cathedral entrance we'd all come through, closest to the omega wing. "Omegas live here in the fortress. I'll have our betas show you to your rooms."

She waved to a tall alpha with silver hair standing beside the rear exit. "Alphas, follow Merritt outside to your new cabins." She nodded to Weld. "Weld, would you please help our new alphas and omegas find their groups?"

"That's my cue." Weld patted my knee. "Are you going to be all right?"

"Yeah, sure." I gave him my best smile, but I didn't feel it. My stomach hurt. I had been staying in the omega wing since our clutch failed, but I was sad to see Weld go. Even if he wasn't my fated, he had been my friend. I hoped that didn't change now that my fated alpha had arrived.

Chapter 1

Tuft

Another day, another rejection from my fated mate. This time, we crossed paths outside the alpha classroom while I walked to the cafeteria for breakfast. He sniffed the air, turned, took one look at me, and then hastened away.

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