Page 16 of Dragon's Midlife Secret Baby
At this, Beck realized just how lucky he’d been. Jace had found him at the docks and unknowingly brought him to his mate. What if Jace hadn’t been there? He might never have known about Chelsea. The thought was enough to make him set the rest of the scotch aside.
“I’m not trying to put you off your drink,” Kendrick said softly. “It sounds as though you’ve been through a lot. We Alexanders have seen our share of tragedy. We’ve lived all over the world, some of us coming together through blood and others through circumstance. The long time we’re put here on Earth makes me think a lot about how easily things could be different.”
“Chelsea told me that we came to Salem because of the ley lines. I guess I’d told her. We could’ve moved some other place, though.” And if they had, Beck might never have met Chelsea at all. Corbin might never have been born. That single decision had already changed at least three people’s lives.
“Precisely. We can think about the good consequences or the bad, but it would be different nevertheless.”
“Is something wrong?” Beck asked.
“No, no.” Kendrick shook his head. “Ignore the rambling of an old man. I guess I’ve gotten a little philosophical in my old age, and your situation has made me think. I really just brought you in here because I wanted you to understand that you still have your place here. Nothing has changed. You’re still the next in line to become Alpha. You’re also welcome to come and stay here at the clanhouse.”
It was tempting. After all, these people knew him. It seemed that they’d known him for quite some time, and they also knew what it was like to be with a dragon. There was a lot he could learn from them.
Thoughts of Chelsea gave him pause, however. She and Corbin were established at the covenstead. It wouldn’t be right to ask them to uproot themselves so quickly after Beck had come back into their lives, but he couldn’t live without them, either. The merest thought of it gave his dragon that tense, panicky feeling once again. “I appreciate it, and I’ll keep it in mind. For now, I need to staywith Chelsea.”
Kendrick smiled. “I had a feeling you’d say that. “I hope we’ll at least be seeing more of you.”
“Yes.” There was so little he knew, but of this, he was certain. Beck did belong here, and these were his people. They could help him, even if he had to leave his forgotten memories in the past and forge ahead to make new ones.
7
“Are you okay, honey?”Maeve walked out onto the back porch, a mug of tea in her hand.
“Yeah. Just working. Why?”
“I could hear you typing from the other room, and when I came out here, it looked like you were trying to shoot laser beams from your eyes at some internet troll on your screen. You usually enjoy your work more than that, unless I’m mistaken.” She leaned against one of the columns that held up the roof over the porch.
Chelsea pulled her hands back from her laptop. Now that she’d been called out on it, she could tell how pinched her face was and how tense her shoulders were. “I do enjoy my work. Granted, I prefer doing my in-person appointments at Tina’s shop alittle more than just the online side of things, but I’ve had too much going on lately to worry about that.” Her sister’s shop, The Crystal Cauldron, had proven to be the perfect place to find customers interested in their natal charts or who wanted to see what the stars and planets had to say about their future. Having an on-hand astrologer in Chelsea as well as a tarot card reader in Kristy worked well for Tina, too. If someone came in for a reading, they usually walked out with some incense, crystals, or even a leatherbound journal to start their own grimoire.
“All the more reason for me to ask if you’re all right,” Maeve pointed out calmly. “You were a bit distant when the three of you came back from the Alexander clanhouse last night, and it doesn’t appear that anything has changed.”
Making sure she had the current chart she was working on saved, Chelsea closed her laptop. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what Beck said he felt when he shifted. There weren’t any concrete memories, just feelings.”
“Emotional flashbacks, I’d guess,” Maeve replied sagely. “Those can happen for anyone who’s been through something traumatic.”
“Butwhat exactlydid he go through?” Chelsea asked. Her mother didn’t answer, probably becauseshe knew Chelsea didn’t really need her to. “We know someone kept him captive. That’s bad enough. But he also wasn’t allowed to shift. How can that happen? Even if they put him in a small space, it’s not like he couldn’t take on his other form if he wanted to. That was already bothering me, but then yesterday, he said he remembered being bound, but no ropes or chains were holding him.”
Maeve sucked in a breath. “Do you think?”
Chelsea nodded. “I really do. It bothers the hell out of me.”
“But,” Maeve held up one finger, “that might mean we can do something about it.”
Chewing her lip for a moment, Chelsea finally nodded. “Will you help me?”
Her mother’s cool fingers brushed her cheek. “As if you have to ask. Where is he?”
“Playing with Corbin.”
“Making up for lost time,” Maeve corrected as they stepped back into the house and headed to the bedroom Chelsea shared with her son. That was where most of Corbin’s toys were kept.
Chelsea found them on the floor. Beck sat with his legs crossed, making a perfect spot for Corbin on his lap. Beck was reading a picture book,patiently waiting while Corbin looked carefully at each page before flipping it.
“Look!” Corbin said, pointing enthusiastically to one of the illustrations.
“I see,” Beck replied patiently. He had his back to the doorway and hadn’t heard them come in. “There’s a little dragon. I know another little dragon.”
“Me!”
