Page 16 of Dragon's Revenge

Was he saying too much? No, this was all factual, not colored by his feelings for Adar. Well, maybe a little, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true. “Layers. I see lots and lots of layers.”

“Like what?”

“Like fated mates, friendship, and found family. But also trauma and pain, panic attacks, and more. A genuine desire to make things work, but with a layer of honesty that sometimes helps and sometimes hurts. All the good intentions are there, but still, people end up hurt. I think all three of us are hurting.”

Adar slowly nodded. “And what do you see when you look at you? At yourself?”

Delton’s throat constricted. “A beta who doesn’t belong with anyone, who can and does help everyone else but can’t fix his own problems. The eternal best friend, the best man even, but never the chosen one, the groom.”

His voice broke, and to his horror, his eyes filled with tears. Oh no, he was not going to do this. He refused to break down in front of Adar. He was better than that.

But no matter how hard he fought the tears back, they wouldn’t subside, and before he knew it, a sob forced itself out between his tightly pressed lips.

“Delton…”

Adar sounded alarmed. No wonder. The man had not signed up for this.

“Ignore me. Or even better, I’ll…”

Words failed him and so he simply got up. He hadn’t put one foot in front of the other before Adar grabbed his wrist and tugged him backward. Delton tumbled onto his lap, and the alpha wrapped his strong arms around him. “You’re not walking away again. Your tears don’t scare me.”

Why did he have to be nice about it? If he’d been an asshole or had reacted in the classic frightened way most alphas did when confronted with tears, Delton would’ve been able to walk away. He would’ve told himself he was better off. But that wouldn’t fly when Adar held him so tenderly, with this softness and care that was such a contrast with his size.

“Maybe it’s time for someone to hold you while you cry,” Adar whispered, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The dam broke, and Delton burst into tears, violent sobs tearing through him as he cried and cried and cried. His head cleared to the point where he didn’t even know why he was crying, except that he was sad, so deeply sad.

But what he did know was that Adar never wavered. He sat there, holding Delton in his arms and pressing him against his chest. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. His actions spoke for him and showed nothing but understanding and patience.

And so Delton cried until he had no more tears to spill, and then he just sat…and reveled in the sensation of being held by the man he’d dreamed of for so long.

ChapterSeven

Oliver had spent a whole week debating it, but in the end, he saw no other way. He’d have to suck it up. If therapy was the only way he’d get to talk to Delton, then therapy it would have to be. Nothing else seemed to work.

Adar had talked to him. Even if the alpha hadn’t told Oliver, he would’ve found out through the pack’s gossip, which seemed to function extremely well. And Adar had certainly provided them with a juicy topic after collecting flowers for Delton and then walking over to offer them before holding Delton while he bawled his eyes out. All the omegas—dragons and wolves—had sighed at the thought of that big alpha trying so hard to win Delton back. Probably because they knew what it cost Adar to swallow his pride.

Hell, he’d even asked Sivney for help. Not that Sivney had blabbed about what they had discussed. The pack’s second-in-command never gossiped, which was as admirable as it was annoying at times. Like now. Oliver would’ve loved to know what Sivney had discussed with Adar, but Adar hadn’t wanted to share, and no one had even attempted to pry it out of the omega. It would only piss Sivney off, and nobody wanted to be responsible for that.

Oliver had wracked his brain trying to come up with something he could do to reconnect with Delton, to tell him how sorry he was, but nothing had come to mind. Nothing, except taking Delton up on his offer for therapy. They’d only done that one session with Adar present, and then everything had gone to hell.

The problem? He still had trouble using his voice. He’d managed a few words here and there with Adar and Fallon, but with everyone else, he was back to square one. Would he even be able to talk to Delton? Unfortunately, he wouldn’t know until he tried, so he’d texted him and asked for an appointment. He’d been sick with nerves that Delton would turn him down, but he’d agreed to see him two days later.

Oliver had taken his time dressing. He wasn’t sure what the appropriate outfit was for therapy, but he wanted something pretty without it being too obvious that he’d made an effort. He could hardly show up in full makeup with that blue shirt that made his eyes pop, no matter how much self-confidence that outfit would’ve given him. Instead, he’d opted for a dark-blue shirt and a pair of tight pants. According to Fallon, his ass looked amazing in them, so he’d have to trust his friend’s judgment.

He showed up right on time, practically shaking with nerves.

“Come on in, Oliver,” Delton said, opening the door wide for him. He sounded almost normal, except for that little hitch in his voice near the end. Somehow, knowing that this didn’t leave Delton unaffected helped Oliver feel better.

“Tea?” Delton asked.

Oliver nodded.

“I have your favorite, lemon tea.”

Oliver watched Delton as he used the electric kettle to heat water, then made a big mug of lemon tea for each of them. He brewed it exactly as Oliver preferred: so weak that you could still see the bottom of the mug. And no milk or sugar for him, please. Ew.

Then it struck him. He didn’t like tea with milk or sugar. That was a food and drink preference, wasn’t it? Like he’d talked about with Adar and Delton before. He’d told them he didn’t have any since he was still so grateful to even have enough to eat and drink, but here he was.

“Do you want to tell me?” Delton asked, and Oliver looked up to meet the beta’s kind eyes. “You clearly just realized something.”

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