Page 23 of Marked By His Alpha Dragon's Desire

I turned to Raphael as we sat down at a picnic table. Both of us had filled our plates—Raphael’s high enough to necessitate needing two, but he still only had one. The paper strained under the weight of the food.

He winked when he caught me looking. “Shifter trait. We eat a lot.”

“I’ll say.”

We were quiet for a moment. I looked around at everyone. There were so many people that I knew, all of them enjoying the gathering.

“I can’t believe they all went to such lengths to keep this all a secret from me. I feel terrible that they all had to hide themselves like that.”

“They love you. You shouldn’t be surprised at how much everyone likes you, Luca. You’re amazing.”

“You’re biased,” I said.

He chuckled. “Perhaps, but that doesn’t change the fact.”

Chapter 13

Raphael

“Tomorrow, we’ll be back to our regular schedules,” I said to Luca once we settled onto the couch in our living room. Luca snuggled close to my side, resting his head on my chest, his arm draped over my middle. I hugged my arm around his shoulder.

There was not a moment in the past week in which the two of us didn’t spend touching one another. The instinct to keep my mate close and protected at all times was strong, and I didn’t try tofight it. I liked him close by where I could smell the freshness of his scent.

“When does your shift start?” he asked.

“Seven, same as yours, except I have three days on.”

“The house will be lonely without you,” he said. His lips turned down in a pout, then he blinked it away as if he was going to be strong for me.

“I know it,” I agreed. “Luckily, you aren’t far away.”

“What’s the policy on mates staying at the station?” Luca hugged me tighter, like he wanted to crawl into my skin.

I laughed. “Unfortunately, you can visit but not stay the night.” Not that I had double-checked the policy or anything.

“Surely, Tyler will let us break the rules.”

I laughed heartily at that. “If only. Technically as a new hire I’m still on probation, so I probably shouldn’t break the rules.” I doubted Tyler would fire me, but I didn’t want to find out.

“We will be fine, mate. I know how important your work is.”

My dragon rumbled happily at that.

“He likes when I call you mate.”

“You can feel him?”

“I can—a lot. Is that normal?” Luca toyed with the hem of my shirt as if he was considering taking it off me.

“It is,” I said. “At least, I think it is. Obviously, you’re the only mate that I have.”

“I better be,” he said, and he poked my middle.

“I want you to meet my brothers.”

“I’d love that,” Luca said. “Have you told them about me?”

I nodded. “I sent them messages. They had a lot of questions. Both of them are on their own journeys right now. Once things settle, we will all have to get together.” We had a lot to talk about. Based on the details they’d shared, they had each been on their own exciting adventures as well.

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