Page 70 of Ronen
“This tattoo,” he whispered softly. “The one you said you dreamed about, and had Charlie draw? Your dragon. It’s me. Right down to the colors of the scales. You’ve been dreaming about me your entire life.”
I stared at him dumbfounded, not comprehending what he was telling me. Finally, I whispered, voice shaky, “But dragons are extinct. They don’t exist. They’re like unicorns.”
Mason gave me a small smile. “And that’s why we don’t tell anyone about us. There are only a few of us left throughout the world. Imagine if people found out we do exist? We can’t take the chance. And there are dragon rules, passed down from one generation to the next, that say we can only reveal ourselves to our true mate.”
“Holy shit.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Mason
Ronen had taken the news of my secret relatively well, though he had muttered, “Holy shit,” the entire ride into town to the clinic, while giving me some serious side-eye.
Honestly, his response was a bit anticlimactic from what I was expecting. Not that I was sure what to expect, but I could admit I’d been hoping for my revelation to generate a little bit more excitement than it had in the moment.
Maybe he was in shock. Between the baby news and the dragon news, it was a lot to process.
His cousin had met us at the employee entrance, sipping on a large coffee.
Logan Sinclair was a tall alpha wolf, with dark hair, gray eyes, and a warm smile. I recognized him from around town, and had seen him a few times in the coffee line, while I had waited at The Sweet Spot, but this was the first time we had been formally introduced.
I liked him instantly, mainly because he didn’t ask too many personal questions, and he easily teased Ronen. They were snarky with each other, but it was in the relaxed way of people who had known each other their entire lives and truly liked one another.
Following Logan into an exam room, he pointed to a low padded bed. “Lay down, shirt up. Push your pants down past your belly button. Here’s a sheet to tuck into them so the gel doesn’t get on them.”
Ronen fiddled with his clothes, and I helped him secure the sheet, while Logan lowered the lights. He messed with what looked like a computer screen, typing on the keyboard, while a black and white screen came to life.
When he was ready, he held a wand over Ronen’s tummy. “The gel should be warm,” he smiled as he spread the goop over Ronen’s skin.
Running the wand thingy over Ronen’s lower belly, Logan concentrated on the gray and white images that suddenly appeared on the screen. It all looked like blobs of nothing to me.
Squeezing Ronen’s hand in mine, I gave him an encouraging smile.
Logan didn’t say anything for several minutes, until he finally stopped moving the wand.
“There’s your baby,” he pointed to a circle on the screen that still looked like nothing to me, but since he was the one with the medical degree, I would take his word for it.
Ronen pushed himself up on his elbows, staring intently at the blob on the screen. “And it’s a baby, not an egg?”
Logan looked startled, “What? An egg?” He eyed me up and down, before asking, “What the hell kind of a shifter areyou?”
“None of your business, that’s what,” Ronen told him shortly, “Baby or egg?”
“It’s not an egg,” Logan rolled his eyes, clicking some keys on the keyboard, then he handed Ronen a towel to wipe up with.
The machine whirled and two pictures printed out. He handed one to each of us. “In August, you should have a bouncing…something.”
“August,” Ronen whispered, staring down at the black and white picture. “Matty’s birthday is in August.”
“Well, have the baby on his birthday, and you probably won’t owe him a present for the rest of your life. You can’t really top that gift,” Logan joked, before turning serious. “Make an appointment tomorrow with Lily. Limit your caffeine intake. We suggest one cup of coffee a day only.”
Ronen made a horrified face at the thought. “But I can have other caffeine, right? Tea,” he shuddered, “gross, but it has caffeine. Soda, something.”
“What part of limited caffeine are you having trouble with? No. One cup of whatever you choose a day. One.” Logan pulled some pamphlets off the walls, where they were stored neatly in bins. “Here’s some information you can read over until you see her. Do’s and don'ts. No shifting after the twelve week mark. You’re about four, four and a half weeks now. Any morning sickness?”
I took the pamphlets, while Ronen finished straightening his clothes. “No, but I got a little dizzy this morning.”
“He was throwing up last night,” I felt the need to tattle since Ronen didn’t feel he needed to mention it.
