Page 91 of Alpha Dragon's Mating Contract
“Have you been bored all day, sweetheart?” Raptor asked, stroking his warm, heavy palm down Walren’s back. “I know you can entertain yourself with Zebbie and your phone, but a tiny office isn’t the best place for a bouncy gazelle like you.”
Walren shrugged. “It’s not so bad. I’ve been through worse.”
Raptor stopped in the middle of the employee parking lot and looked at Walren in horror. “Worse? In what way?”
It was early evening; the restaurant was still running. The night shift would take care of the dinner rush and closing duties, so Raptor could bring Walren home and continue working on his nest.
Walren was glad for the change in scenery. Not the part where he and Zebbie were in plain sight, but he loved having the breeze in his hair.
“I mean, I was kidnapped,” Walren said. That still gave him nightmares. “We were stuck in that room for weeks, with just us and a bunch of babies that they stole.”
Raptor’s gaze went ice-cold. “I remember that,” he said darkly. “Those asshats won’t be stealing any more babies.”
Maybe Walren should be feeling some trepidation at the murderous intent rolling off Raptor, but right now, all he felt wassafe.
And aroused.
“I know,” he said quietly. “Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
Raptor smiled and squeezed Walren’s hip, his large hand sliding up Walren’s side. “I appreciate the discussion about that chapter of your life, sweetheart, but I didn’t mean for you to compare my office to a human trafficking cell. That isnotthe baseline for any comparison.”
“Oh,” Walren said sheepishly. “You’re right.”
“What about your life before Cartfalls? I hope you weren’t stuck in a tiny office for hours.”
“I don’t think you know what a step up this contract is for me,” Walren admitted. “I used to work in the back room of a tailor shop for an eighth of my current pay and fifteen-minute lunch breaks, from 6 AM to 8 PM—”
“What?” Raptor growled. “Jobs like that exist? ... Who the hell am I kidding? Of course they exist. Fuck.”
Walren shrugged. “I needed the money.”
“I’m very sure you could’ve found a better job with your skills,” Raptor said darkly.
“I—”
Walren was about to say more when a loud squeaking cut through the air.
Both of them froze, heads snapping toward the sound.
“Get back here, you damn basket case!”
Across the parking lot, a shopping cart darted between the parked cars, something bright yellow in its cargo basket.
Metals contained magic. It began as wisps of magical energy in metal ores, that accumulated when the ores were melted and purified. Over time, these magic-rich metals were turned into objects like shopping carts and faucets. When their metal parts moved and interacted, their magical energy changed, and the objects turned sentient. It was how door locks could smile, faucets could bite, and shopping carts could frolic in parking lots.
This shopping cart careened closer, leading the angry alpha toward them.
“You fucking thief!” the alpha yelled.
Abruptly, Walren recognized his face.
Larei.
He was the last person Walren wanted to see, when he had Zebbie out in the open. What if Zebbie accidentally breathed fire?
“Fuck,” Raptor muttered. He stepped in front of Walren and Zebbie, using his own body as a shield.
The shopping cart, recognizing protection, darted behind Raptor.
