Page 61 of His Unicorn Alpha
“You know, I’ve never actually tried to use the ultrasound machine on a shifter before…” Eric mused.
Brandt let out a dragony growl.
I snorted. “I don’t think starting with Bran is a great idea.”
“No,” he replied sarcastically, “you don’t say.”
I couldn’t contain my amusement, and my inner horse nickered happily as well. It turned out, he felt like Eric met the family criteria as well. In many ways, I supposed that the dragon did.
He was my bonded mate’s brother, after all. That essentially made him my brother-in-law. And, with all the time Brandt andI had spent with Eric, I had actually come to see him as a pseudo sibling. Even Sage and I had started joking with each other, though I didn’t feel quite as close to him yet. I supposed that was because he was off scouring the world for more information about the old ways and the magic, so we hadn’t really gotten much of a chance to properly bond as in-laws.
Turning my back on Eric, I stripped and shifted, still not completely comfortable with my wings and horn. In the months since discovering the change to my shifted form, I had gone on a couple of runs with the pack, and that had gone a long way in helping me embrace the changes…but it was still weird.
No weirder than the knotting thing, though, I supposed. Or being able to communicate emotions and concepts through the magical bond I shared with Brandt.
I guessed I was just sad that it was one more thing to set me apart from the family I had grown up with, even though my parents seemed just as excited about my new form as they had been about my being an alpha.
Shaking the musings from my head, I trotted over to my large, grumpy mate and rubbed the side of my face along his muzzle. His jaws were large enough that, if he opened them wide, he could probably swallow me with one bite, but he let out a sound which I could only describe as a purr when I greeted him affectionately.
And that was the other issue I had with my updated form: I couldn’t nuzzle him the way I craved. Not without the weapon jutting out from the middle of my forehead gouging him, anyway.
Stupid horn, I thought irritably. Then I sighed.
In all likelihood, our daughters would be unicorns like me. I didn’t want them feeling self-conscious of their forms, so I knew I had to work on the issues I had with my own.
A warm puff of air ruffled my mane and I concentrated on trying to send feelings through the bond. It was harder when we were both shifted, especially when I was practicing sending an actual message instead of spikes of random, deeply felt emotions.
I focused on sending calm, vividly imagining Brandt curling up on the ground like an oversized, scale-covered cat, and then added the image of me curling up against him. I focused on how warm and safe that would feel, and a jolt of surprise came traveling through the connection we shared.
Immediately concerned, I took a few steps back, staring into his huge, dark eye. He huffed, sending up a cloud of dust and dirt from the ground. Then he closed his eyes and I wasn’t sure if it was just that he was tired, or—
Holy shit,I thought as I felt the warmth of his scales along my flank, despite not being pressed up against him.Okay, yeah, I get it now.
With enough concentration, we could send each other physical manifestations of what we were imagining.
No wonder Beck and Ollie use this for sex…
I wanted to experiment with that idea myself, but Brandt had been too uncomfortable and too exhausted, and I wasn’t the kind of alpha who would demand sex from his heavily pregnant mate just because he was horny.
Instead, I had been getting reacquainted with my hand and my toys, and had taught myself how to shield my orgasms from travelling through the bond when I got myself off in the shower or after Brandt had gone to bed at night.
Maybe that was why I was able to accidentally send him that mental image, or sensations, or whatever — I was getting better with my control over my end of the connection we shared.
By unspoken agreement, we practiced with it some more before Brandt’s large eyes began to droop. I felt his side of ourbond dimming with his drift into sleep —a familiar sensation which no longer startled me— and I used the side of my face to nuzzle the end of his muzzle again, willing him to rest.
Once he drifted off, and the bond went dark (for lack of a better description), I made my way to his side and lay down on the grass by his side, folding my long, golden legs underneath me. The warmth emanating from his scaled belly was almost enough to lull me off to sleep as well…until something inside him moved, thumping at my side.
Our giant babies, I realized, snorting with amusement. I assumed his dragon form had thicker skin, plus the shield of scales, which meant our girls couldn’t stretch his shape out quite so easily. But I could feel at least one of them giving it a red-hot go.
Be good for Papa, girls,I thought, unable to voice the words I had spoken so many times by that stage.We’ll get to meet you soon.
Chapter Twenty-One
After shifting back to my human form following an extended nap, I had to admit that I felt better for it. In fact, I feltgood. It was actually strange to feel energized after weeks of lethargy and discomfort, but as Micah helped me climb back into my sweatpants and stretched-out t-shirt, I stretched and grinned salaciously at him.
“What?” he asked, smiling back at me.
“You are going to so much effort to dress me when all I can think about is getting us both undressed again as soon as possible.”
