Page 38 of Marked By His Alpha Dragon's Desire

“She likes it.”

Raphael held out his hands. “Well, Sage? What do you think?”

Sage flapped his little wings, unfurling them from his body, then he leapt into Raphael’s arms.

I laughed. “I think he likes his name too.”

Now that they were hatched, we would have to let our pack know. Theo would be coming over so that he could properly introduce himself to his new niece and nephew. Plus, Alpha Tyler would want to get a good look at his two newest pack members.

Soon, we would text pictures and a proper birth announcement to Raphael’s brothers, each of which had found their own mates and had clutches of their own.

I smiled at my mate. The two of us sat side by side. He held our son while I held our daughter. The two of them looked at one another and let out sharp chirps of excitement.

I laughed. “They recognize each other.”

“They do. They are so perfect, mate.”Eventually, they would shift to their human form and stay that way for a while, but for now, I was going to get as much dragon snuggle time as I could.

I laid my head on Raphael’s shoulder. “I love you so much, my mate.”

His dragon hummed with delight. “And I love you, Luca.”

Bonus Epilogue

Raphael

Six Months Later

Luca fastened our daughter into her car seat while I tucked Sage’s toy next to him. At six months old, he could grasp his little stuffed dragon with the ferociousness of a dragon protecting his hoard, and scales forbid if we ever left home without it. He did not do well when his dragon wasn’t near.

Jade didn’t have an attachment to any toys, but she sure didn’t like it when she lost sight of someone. It didn’t matter who it was, as long as she could see someone, she was happy. Which was why we had a picture of all of us on the back of the seat so she could see it from her car seat.

“Do we have everything?” Luca asked.

“Yup. Cooler is all packed with the food, and the gifts are stuffed in the back.”

“Okay.” Luca stood outside the car, clearly lost in thought, going over the mental list of the things we needed for our short trip. This would be the first time we had gone anywhere with the children overnight, and it had taken weeks of preparation to make it possible.

The stars had somehow aligned, and we would be visiting my brothers and their mates after all this time. Brock and his mate were hosting a barbeque. Luca and I had three days off, and we planned on making a mini vacation out of it. Of course, it had taken tons of coordination and a whole SUV stuffed full of supplies in order to make it happen.

“Okay. I think we have everything.” Luca climbed into the passenger seat while I took position behind the wheel.

I grinned as we set off down the road. Sage and Jade happily babbled to each other as we drove. They couldn’t see one another, but as long as they could hear each other coo and gibber, they were happy. Much like when they had been in theirshells, the two of them had a language all their own. Heaven help us when the two of them were mobile and could really get into mischief. Already we had thought about keeping them in separate rooms since they would wake each other up in the middle of the night just to chat with one another.

“I can’t believe we’re finally going to meet the rest of the family.” Luca reached over and held my hand.

We had done video calls with my brothers, their mates, and their kids. We shared pictures and sought each other out for advice on raising young dragons, but we hadn’t seen each other in person in a long time.

Luca embraced my brothers and their mates like long-lost siblings, despite having never met them in person. “I know. I can’t wait to see all the little ones.” It was crazy how many children there were between the three of us. Our two would have more cousins than they could name, and I loved it.

“What if they don’t like their gifts?” Luca asked.

I snorted out a laugh. “The kids are the same age as ours. I’m pretty sure they will be more enamored with the shiny paper the gifts are wrapped in rather than the gifts themselves, mate. But in time, they will love them immensely.”

“It isn’t a silly gift?” Luca chewed his thumbnail like he did when he was nervous.

I grabbed his hand and held it.

Luca and I had debated on what sorts of gifts to get our nieces and nephews. Not that we were expected to come bearing gifts, but we wanted to.

---