Page 4 of The Monster at the End of This Courtship

"A child after my own heart." I beamed my best smile at them and gave the new parents another round of hugs. "I'm so happy for you, truly."

"Yeah," Weld grumbled. "And I'm sorry I put their lives in danger. I thought I was doing the right thing."

"Well." Grindl looked taken aback by the apology, but he also seemed wary. "I'm sorry your eggs didn't mature. I doubt ours would have survived in the grotto, but up here, they're thriving. Your next clutch will have better odds."

"They will." Weld wiped at his face with the backs of his hands. "Thank you for introducing us to your boys."

Grindl smiled. "They're looking for teachers for the school. Betas will teach our boys, of course, but the alpha and omega rooms for older children will need help."

"I've never been great with children," I said, but it sounded like an excuse, even to me. It wasn't like I was doing so well with my mate, either. Maybe teaching the children would take my mind off Axel until he was ready for me.

Then I remembered, I had no patience for children. No teaching for me.

Weld, however, seemed intrigued. He agreed to meet with Priestess Alma at the cathedral the next morning.

Rory found the bag of goodies on the table, and all hell broke loose when the three boys started fighting over a blueberry muffin.

"Sorry for the chaos!" I shouted over the din.

Grindl shoved us both out the door with a grin and a wave while Coz pulled their boys apart by the scruffs of their necks.

"That went well," Weld said as we returned to the fortress.

"I can't seem to do anything right nowadays." I heaved a frustrated sigh. "Do you want to come back to my room?"

"I'd better not." Weld smiled at me to take the sting from his words. He wasn't supposed to be in the omega wing unless he was with his fated mate. We'd gotten away with playing the part, but now that my fated had arrived, we couldn't pretend anymore.

"I'm sorry," Weld said. "It's better this way. You don't want your alpha to scent me on you, and my omega might be here somewhere, too."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," I reassured him. "I wanted to talk about displays of affection, but it sounds like we're on the same page."

Weld nodded. "I'm sorry it didn't work out between us. I know you'll make your alpha very happy, Tuft. If things were different …"

"I wouldn't have done it any differently." My chest ached, but I smiled through the pain. "I'm glad we tried. If our babies had survived, I would love them to pieces."

"So would I." He pulled me into a hug, and both of us sniffled a little when we parted ways at the entrance to the grotto.

I walked to my room in the omega wing alone. I didn't like being alone, but I had no choice. The sooner I convinced Axel he was my fated mate, the better.

Chapter 2

Axel

Ignitas. I was somewhere called Ignitas, in a body I didn't recognize, in a classroom where a wizened lizard with a shock of silver hair described our dynamics like a wolf pack. Merritt, the guy's name was. Everyone here had strange names, where before, I was the weirdo.

So far, Merritt had taught me I was an alpha. That weirdo I'd met the first day, Tuft, was an omega. The priestess was one of a handful of females, and most of our kind were beta males who couldn't reproduce.

It didn't make any fucking sense. I was supposed to be back on Earth getting fitted for my wedding tux. My fiancée, Rosanna and I were getting married in two weeks. One moment, I was in the dressing room at the rental place. The next, I was standing naked in a field with a bunch of bipedal lizards with stripes, tails, and claws like mine.

I was straight! Rosanna was pregnant, for fuck's sake! Now, Merritt was telling me I should be attracted to omegas instead of the priestess, and that I should get my omega pregnant as quickly as possible to further our race. Kobolds had neared extinction after a dragon like the one we'd seen the day we arrived had attacked the village and nearly wiped them all out.

I was supposed to believe I had been a kobold my entire life. I'd been sent to earth to live as a changeling when I was a baby, and I'd been returned early, no thanks to the dragon.

"What about my fiancée on Earth?" I asked when we finally got a chance to ask questions in class.

"He won't remember you," he said.

"She's pregnant!" I said. "What do you mean, she won't remember me?"

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