Page 66 of Dragon Keeper
“I am. I’ll show you soon, but I can’t splash Mama. It makes her tired.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that.” Sloan’s voice held amusement, but only of the gentle kind. “Maybe a snack will make her feel better.”
“I like snacks,” Fredda stated. “They always make me feel better.”
“Me too.” Sloan stroked his skin slowly, not to arouse, but just to comfort, he thought. “Aleana. Bright blessings. How are you feeling?”
“Better now. I think your pool has some lovely healing qualities to it.” She smiled over at them. “I was just telling Tyr that I had a few difficulties before we made our way here, but I’m feeling good now.”
“I’m glad. It wouldn’t do to start your visit on a bad note.”
Tyr saw his sister begin to frown a little bit, her eyes becoming damp, no doubt about Mari, so he quickly turned around to wade toward the edge of the pool. “Shall we see what there is to eat? Aleana, my sister, have you ever had olives?”
“I have not. Are these a food from the human realm?”
“They are. Sloan tells me they grow on trees.”
Taking his cue, Sloan agreed. “They do. They’re a fruit, but they taste like a vegetable. I think you’ll like them very much.”
Crisis averted once more, they climbed out of the pool, all of them pulling on some sort of clothing because it was chilly once they were out of the heated water. They settled in to have a snack.
Tyr loved his family, but he was afraid that it was going to become very complicated extremely quickly having all of them around, and Sloan seemed completely intent on that happening.
He laughed along with his sister and his mate when Fredda tried an olive, and her eyes crossed. She spit it back out right away.
Then again, having them here would be utterly worth it. He just knew it.
Chapter
Twenty
Sloan flew alongside Cade, Brayden on his other side as they made the rounds. They had started just above Cade’s home, their guardian flight overlapping with that of Zeke and Beau from up at the Rocky Mountain clutch, who were soaring over the mountains and where he knew the grove was inside the forest.
He and Brayden would sweep down from Cade’s house along with Cade toward the sea, where they would meet up with the patrols he knew Mari’s people had put into place. Some of the big alphas had stayed behind as the others went fishing.
Better safe than sorry, he thought, because whatever it was the Onyx dragon had meant to tell them, they were going to make sure it did not come to pass.
I hope Tyr and his sister are getting along,Cade told him on a tight mental band.
Well, I think his sister is…He thought about whether it was his news to tell Cade about Aleana’s pregnancy, but then he supposed it might be a good idea to give the man some warning.Aleana is also pregnant so she’s hormonal, and she and Tyr are teasing one another very hard.
Ah.Cate’s mental chuckle came soft and warm.Tyr might seem so sedate these days, but he and his siblings have always torn it up together.
I would have thought Harden was the one to do that, he’s so grumpy. He scanned the ground, trying to make sure there was no one there that he didn’t know. They took turns looking up and down. Brayden was on watch above them right now.
He can definitely be caustic, but Tyr and his siblings have always given each other a hard time. Nothing ever comes of it, though. They love each other very much, rather like you and Brayden and Riley.
That’s good.
Their wings touched just briefly, and it wasn’t an accident.Speaking of Riley, how is he?
He could almost hear Brayden’s ears perk at that, the tip of Brayden’s tail flipping.
The last I heard from him he was fine. He has been traveling ever since the end of sports season. I think that he intends to be here in a few days for the Friends’ Meal.
That was what the dragons here were calling Thanksgiving, and he had learned that if he called it anything else a lot of them had no idea what he was talking about.
Oh, I would hope so. I would not want him to miss it.
