Page 14 of Dragon's Midlife Secret Baby
“I’ve been rude. This is my mate, Chelsea, and our son, Corbin.” It was strange to introduce one group of virtual strangers to another when they all knew him individually. Beck felt he was at the hub of a universe he simply didn’t understand.
Lilith perched on the arm of the sofa, not far from Ewan. “This is all so terrible to hear, but how can you suddenly have a mate and a son if you’ve only been back for such a short time?”
“Chelsea and I had met before I was captured.” Beck recounted how Jace had brought him back home, only to find his mate was right there.
“If that’s not fate for you, then I don’t know whatis!” Lilith said, clapping her hands a little. “I just love it. That’s better than all those romantic comedies they put on TV.”
“Those are crap anyway,” Griffin snarled. “I don’t see why you watch them.”
Lilith’s narrow chin lifted sharply. “Some of us like to have a little joy in our lives.”
“Some of us are busy running the clan,” Griffin shot back. “I’ve had to step into Beck’s place while he’s been gone.”
“It’s not like he’s been partying on the beach,” Ewan reminded him casually. “And don’t act like you’re so burdened. We’re a small clan. We’re not exactly high maintenance.”
Beck tried to keep track of the conversation happening around him. “What do you mean, step into my place?”
“You’re next in line to be Alpha,” Kendrick explained. “I don’t have any surviving heirs of my own, and your father has been gone for quite some time. That just leaves you.”
“Alpha?” Beck repeated. His higher self, which Maeve contacted through hypnosis, had said something about his uncle being the Alpha, so all this lined up. Still, it was different to hear it from anothermember of his clan. He hardly felt qualified to run his own life at the moment, much less manage a clan. “I don’t know about that.”
Kendrick clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t you worry. I’m eyeing retirement, but it’s not like it’s going to happen tomorrow. We’ll get you fixed up, and then everything will be right again.”
“How are we going to do that?” Griffin asked. He moved away from the window and came over to lean on the back of the sofa where Ewan and Lilith were sitting. His dark hair was shaved down to the skin on either side, matching the darkness of his eyes.
Though Griffin had asked the question, Kendrick’s answer was directed at Beck. “I was thinking about that while you were telling us what’d happened. It’s an unusual situation, for sure. If there’s any precedent, then I don’t know of it. What Idoknow, is that if this was a result of some sort of injury or drugging, then shifting into your dragon form ought to fix it.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea!” Lilith enthused, her eyes wide and her mouth pursing.
“What, here?” Beck asked, seeing how expectantly everyone was looking at him.
Kendrick went to sit in an armchairnear the fireplace. He lifted one hand and held it palm up. “I’m not going to say it’s ideal, but there aren’t very many places where it’s safe for one of us to show our other form. There’s enough space in here, and I do think it’s worth trying.”
Beck sighed. He could see the sense behind the idea, but he felt very exposed. He glanced at Chelsea, who had a remarkably patient Corbin on her lap. The boy had changed into his other form for the very first time in front of Beck, a man who was a stranger to him. Somehow, the little beast in him had known its family, just as Beck’s dragon knew these people around him were his family. If he didn’t try, he’d never know. “I haven’t done that at all since I’ve been back,” he said.
“It’s just like riding a bike,” Lilith said. “I lived right in the middle of Paris, and you couldn’t stick your elbow out without hitting someone. I had to stay in my human form for years. Do you remember that?” As soon as she said it, she pressed her fingertips to her lips. “Sorry. I guess you don’t.”
“No, but that’s okay. I’ll take any clues about my past I can get.”
“Then I suggest you go find your own,” Kendrick urged. “I know it’s easy for us to sit around and tellyou what you should do, but it’s likely your best bet at the moment.”
“All right.” He still felt a little odd about it, but what was he going to do? Just not try? Beck didn’t know himself as well as everyone else did, but he was fairly sure he wasn’t the kind of guy who just gave up.
To make a bit of space for himself, he got up off the couch. As though his beast understood what was happening, Beck could feel it writhing inside him. It wanted out, he thought. How long had it been kept at bay? He had no idea. Beck closed his eyes and reached out with his mind toward this other self. It rose up quickly, almost ferociously. It grew stronger as he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, and soon he could feel it pulsing just under the surface of his skin. His human body suddenly felt too small, too cramped. With another breath, his dragon burst forward.
His bones cracked, and he heard the reverberation inside his skull as it changed shape. Every muscle in his body stretched or twisted, and he cried out with both pain and pleasure. Two sharp lines cut through his back as his wings extended. Griffin jumped out of the way as Beck’s newly-grown tail flicked out acrossthe area rug.
“Dadda!” Corbin said, clapping his chubby little hands together excitedly. “Dadda!”
His head felt a bit wobbly on his long neck, but Beck managed to crane around a bit to look at himself. He had the same deep emerald green scales he’d so recently seen on Corbin. His claws were long, thick, and sharp. Picking up his front leg, he wiggled his fingers experimentally. These were true weapons. Gliding his narrow tongue along his teeth, he remembered they weren’t the only ones he had.
“How does it feel?” Kendrick asked. His dark eyes were dancing with light now.
“Good.” His tongue and teeth didn’t quite work in unison, and his voice sounded clumsy in this body. He’d forgotten that he could even still speak in this form. Of course, he’d forgotten a lot of things.
Chelsea was off the couch now, and she stood next to him. She carefully touched his scaly shoulder. “Does it help?”
The moment his thoughts turned inward, a deep sense of unease rippled through his body. “I feel like I want to fight back against something, but I can’t. It’s stronger than me.”
