Page 63 of Dragon's Revenge

“It wasn’t that traumatic,” Adar protested, finally able to speak again.

“Don’t minimize it. You almost died. You thought you wouldn’t make it. That leaves a mark on you, whether you want it to or not.”

He sighed. His mate would never let him get away with lying to himself, and he had to love him for it. “I don’t like it.”

“I know, but fighting it is a waste of your energy. It’s okay to feel like this, baby.”

Baby? Delton had called him baby. His eyes filled with tears all over again. Fucking hell. But Delton was right. Fighting this was useless, so he sighed deeply and let the tears fall. “I love it when you call me that…”

Delton’s smile was sweet as he wiped a tear from Adar’s cheek. “I’ll have to do it more often then.”

Adar leaned his head against Delton’s for a moment. “I was so scared this day would never come, that I fucked things up too badly for the three of us to ever be together again.”

“I keep thinking about what Oliver said, how we needed this to grow to where we were ready for each other. He’s not wrong. I don’t think we would’ve made it if we’d found each other sooner.”

Adar pondered that statement. He couldn’t deny he’d changed because of what they’d been through. If not for Oliver’s scheming, Adar might’ve never seen the real Oliver instead of his idealized dream version of the dragon omega. And he certainly would’ve never seen how sweet Delton was, how smart and kind, and he wouldn’t have fallen as hard for him as he had. But Delton had been the one who’d suffered, who’d been hurt and rejected. That made it so hard for Adar to say it had been necessary because wouldn’t that imply he was okay with what they’d done to Delton?

“Because of Oliver and me and the growing we had to do. And you were the one who paid the price for that.”

Delton shook his head. “I don’t see it like that. I had my own journey to walk, like learning to see you for who you were rather than this perfect mate.”

Adar snorted. “I’m about as far from perfect as you can get.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t see that…like you didn’t see Oliver for who he was.”

“I hate that you got hurt…”

Delton wiped away another of Adar’s tears. “You’ve apologized enough, and I’ve accepted. You’re forgiven, baby. It’s done now, okay? We need to move on, move past it, or we’ll be stuck here forever. And I don’t want that. I want a future with you. With both of you.”

“I want nothing more than that.”

“Then let’s look ahead and focus on that.”

A future with his mates. Now there was a prospect Adar could get behind. What would their future look like in a year? In three or even ten years? Would they have kids, like Duff had so rudely suggested? They’d be hatchlings. Baby dragons. Funny enough, the idea didn’t scare Adar at all.

And if Oliver didn’t want to become pregnant—and Adar could sure think of plenty of reasons why he wouldn’t—they could look into adoption, maybe, or even surrogacy. Something like what Yitro had done for Rhene, and if the rumors were correct, what Finlay had offered to do for Erwan. He’d never gotten the chance, of course, what with Rhene being kidnapped, but maybe now that their pack alpha was back, they could proceed?

Adar was fine with whatever. Kids, no kids. Hatchlings, puppies, both. All good with him. As long as he was with his mates and they were happy, nothing else mattered.

They sat for a while, Delton playing with Adar’s fingers as he was lost in thought. Something so simple and innocent, yet Adar was filled with contentment beyond anything he’d ever experienced.

“What would you want our future to look like?” he finally asked. He could make all the plans he wanted, but it might be smarter to get his mates’ input. “Would you want kids?”

“Only if we all agreed we wanted them, and I’m not sure Oliver will. At least, not carrying eggs himself.” He frowned. “Is that the correct term, carrying eggs? I don’t even know what to call it.”

“Me neither, but we can ask him later. And I was thinking the same thing. There may be too much trauma associated with it. We could also adopt or use a surrogate if he doesn’t want to carry them.”

Delton nodded slowly. “I would be perfectly fine with that. I can’t remember who mentioned it, but someone said the city is desperate for foster families and adoptive families because the civil war resulted in a lot of orphaned kids.”

The idea immediately appealed to Adar. What could be better than offering some lost kids a home? Not right away, of course, but down the line? Hell, yes. “I’d like that.”

“It would mean no alpha heir for you.”

The thought hadn’t even occurred to Adar, but now that it did, it was an easy one to deal with. “I don’t need one. I mean it. It’s fine. As long as I have you two, I’m the happiest man on the planet.”

Delton shot him a goofy smile, then snuggled close to him again. “For a man who keeps saying he doesn’t have the words, you sure know how to say the right things.”

Oh, that praise spread through him like a slow-burning drug, making his arms and legs tingle. “I’m just saying what’s on my heart.”

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