Page 31 of The Dragon's Flamebound Mate

“It’s a celebration!” Scott shouted.

“We heard you didn’t have a nest, and we wanted to make sure you got the best one that the school could provide,” Christa said. “We all helped.”

They didn’t buy it. They made it… for us.

Ash squeezed my hand and gasped. “Really? For real?”

Emotion clogged my throat. The swell of warmth in my chest stole my breath. This was more unexpected than finding my mate. Nests weren’t random things you picked up; they were important and held such meaning in my community. Seeing everyone come around us to help create one for our family was almost too much.

We walked forward and the crowd parted. On the front porch, directly in front of the door, lay a large nest. It was about five feet across and a foot deep. The inside was smooth, while the outside was woven with different-toned wisteria vines to create an intricate pattern.

“It’s gorgeous.” Ash’s voice cracked.

“We’re hoping it will serve you well for this clutch and more. We’re honored to be able to gift this to you,” Commander Emmon said.

He was met with cheers.

I looked around at the people I had worked with for half a century. They were clan members, as close to me as my own family was, yet this was so unexpected. I hadn’t seen it coming. I wanted to say something profound to show them what this meant to me. Instead, all I was able to say was, “Thanks.”

Kellen and Hayden gave me and Ash a hug, while the team wrestled the nest into the living room. The task was easier said than done, but we managed.

“This is for our clutch.” Ash hugged me close, his voice cracking. “I never thought… when I came here… I don’t—”

“Cake time,” Hayden called out.

“They even have cake.” That was when the tears of joy started freely flowing from my mate’s eyes. Mine too.

We ate cake, opened presents I had noticed them bringing, and celebrated our clutch with the people who would be our dragonet’s community, their family.

What a difference only a few months made. Back then I was a loner wondering if I would even have a job, and now I was a mated, father-to-be who had the support of an entire campus and a team ready to take on the Dragon Games. What could be better than this?

“More cake?” Hayden held out a piece to me.

“Absolutely.” Because all of that with cake was better. Not much else.

Chapter 16

Ash

Nowthatmynestwas here, tucked tightly into the corner where the broad bay window shone the most sun down on it, I was in full nesting mode. It surprised me how quickly everything was suddenly moving. I barely found out I was pregnant and now I was nesting like a boss. I much preferred it this way. I couldn’t wait to meet our young. Humans having to wait nine months sounded horrible.

We’d moved my nest at least a bazillion times before I finally settled on this location, and now that I had, it felt right location-wise. Comfort-wise? It still had a long way to go. There weren’t enough warm, thick blankets in the house for me to be content with the nest. Therefore, I called for reinforcements.

What a great feeling to know that as I was getting ready to have my clutch, I had so much support all around me. Sure, there was family, but it was so much more than that. We had friends, co-workers—and an entire community.

When they asked me how to help, I let my parents know that I needed blankets. They understood the assignment. Blankets of all kinds began arriving in droves—a box full of homemade heirloom quilts, then another box full of trinkets that I could include in the nest. The colors of the quilts varied between pastels and bright reds and blues, while the trinkets were related to my family’s personality. Some of them I recognized. Others were new to me. But there was no denying that each of them was handpicked with love. This wasn’t a “collection” or a “theme” inspired situation. They didn’t come close to going together, and yet they completely did.

Two of the other items they sent out to me stood out. My omega father had taken a rock and painted a likeness of my alpha father and him in their dragon and eagle forms on it. At least that’s what I thought they were meant to be. He was hardly the world’s best artist, but everything he created was made with heart. I knew better than to ask, instead going with pouring out my gratitude for how it made me feel.

The second item from my family that was more of a hug than an object came from my younger brother. He’d gifted us a silk scarf from his collection, one I knew he adored. It wasn’t an afterthought. He wanted our clutch to be surrounded by one of his prized possessions.

Nesting hadn’t just hit me alone. Nope. Zayne was hit with it too. He’d begun taking some of his favorite spoons and tying them to the vines so that the rim of the nest was surrounded by them. Eventually, those might become little toys for the kids to play with. I thought it gave it an extra bit of shine when the sun came in and hit the silver just right. A few of the spoons even had jewels encrusted on them. I loved how his hoard worked so beautifully with our clutch’s nest.

I told my mate he had to give me the history of each of the spoons when our clutch arrived so they could hear it too. I loved listening to my mate talk about the things he had experienced in his younger years, and just from the few tales he’d already told, I knew that every spoon mattered. The discovering how was going to be so fun.

After placing a pillow that one of the cooks in the cafeteria sent over in the nest, I stood next to it, my chin resting on my hand while I looked it over. It was missing something, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I circled it a few more times. It was fine but not perfect, and that was bugging me more than I cared to think about.

Zayne came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle. His big hands resting over my plump stomach. “And how are you today, mate?”

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