Scorch: M/M Gay Shifter Mpreg Romance (Dragon's Destiny: Fated Mates Book 2) (14 page)

F
inding Devin had been
the first time I’d ever felt the kind of love where another person became more important than breath, where someone else’s happiness mattered more than my own, and the idea of laying down my life to protect that person suddenly made perfect sense. I’d thought it would be the only time, because he was my forever. But then our sons were born.

It was hard to believe that I hadn’t somehow known there would be two. Not just because Devin had been so big, or because there was any way I could have predicted it, really, but simply because, now that they were here, the idea of either of them
not
being was… inconceivable.

I loved them. Instantly, fiercely, and with an overwhelming intensity that would have scared me if it hadn’t felt so perfectly
right
.

My family…
my
family… my
family
… They were cuddled together on our bed, Devin holding the two boys in his arms as he leaned back against the headboard, propped up with pillows, and positively glowing. He was amazing.

“
They’re
amazing,” he insisted, reading my thoughts as he looked down at the two most beautiful faces ever made.

“They are,” I agreed, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him and trailing a finger down the impossibly-soft cheek of the oldest-by-one-minute boy. “But you are, too. You…
did
this. It’s incredible.”

“Hold one?” he offered.

I had, earlier, in my other form, but looking down at the tiny little bundle in his arms I suddenly felt too big, too awkward. Ironically, I hadn’t worried at all when I had held them in my other form, but the calm confidence of my otherself deserted me in this human body. The babies were so…
small
.

Devin laughed, sensing my nervousness. “Maks, take him. You’ll be fine. I promise.”

I plucked the child from my mate’s arms and pulled him against my chest. He didn’t weigh any more than a feather, and he smelled like heaven. Something instantly familiar, even though it was new… like a little piece of the love that was brimming over in my heart. His eyes fluttered open and he looked up at me like a calm little buddha. Ben had told us that the dark blue color was common to all babies and that it would change in time—I secretly hoped they would lighten to match Devin’s. They already had his dark hair and cute little chin, and I would like nothing better than to see them both look exactly like my mate. He was so fucking beautiful.

I looked over at our younger son, snuggled against Devin, and frowned. “How are we supposed to tell them apart?” I asked.

“You’re kidding, right?” he asked, laughing at me again. “
Look
at them.”

“They both look like you,” I said, smiling. “But… they also both look like each other.”

“No, look. Michael has—”

“Michael?”

Devin blushed. “Well, I know we probably need to talk about it. I just… I started thinking of him that way in my head. Obviously, you should have a say, too.”

He was getting flustered, and it was adorable. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t given their names any thought before now. Names would definitely help me start thinking of them as unique individuals, and Dev had obviously given it some thought. The way he was looking down at them made my heart ache. I could tell that whatever he’d come up with was important to him, and I was more than happy to go along with it.

“I like Michael,” I said, kissing the top of our son’s sweet-smelling head.
Michael.
It fit.

“I had a brother once,” Devin said. “I mean… not really. My mother, she was pregnant when I was in high school. It was a boy, and I was really excited about it—I think I wanted him more than she did. I know it’s probably not the typical reaction for a teenage boy, but I loved him from the moment I found out she was expecting. I had all these plans for him…”

He glanced away, his eyes growing damp. He had told me some of this before, but not all of it. I shifted little Michael onto my other shoulder and pulled Devin against me, kissing the top of his head. “What happened, love?”

“She died,” he said on a soft sigh. “From complications to do with the pregnancy. It was… hard. The baby didn’t make it, either.”

“His name was going to be Michael?”

“Yes, for her father. Michael Zachary.”

I smiled, nodding toward the child in his arms. “So this is Zachary?”

“Is that okay?”

“I love it. Michael and Zach. They’re perfect names, Dev.”

“Thank you,” he said, beaming up at me, then yawning.

I knew that my dragon’s power had already helped his body fully recover from the pregnancy, but he’d also been up all day with the babies. The sun had set a few hours earlier, and I realized it was time to figure out sleeping arrangements. We’d only bought one crib. Was it safe to put them both in it? They were small enough, but… would they roll over and squish each other?

Devin laughed. “Maks, they were squished together inside me for the last six months. I think it will be okay for tonight. Besides, they’re not exactly that mobile yet.”

That made sense, but I couldn’t believe how much I didn’t know. Did all new fathers feel this way? My mate seemed so… calm. Confident.

“Maybe we should move the crib in here, though?” I asked.

What if they needed us, and we didn’t hear them? I knew we had some sort of monitor, but what if it didn’t work? What if the battery died? Or we slept through it? The idea of these tiny, precious bundles all the way across the hall in the nursery…

Without any warning, that worry was eclipsed by something more urgent.

I sucked in a sharp breath, stiffening. I’d been completely captivated by the wonder of having the twins with us at last, and I hadn’t given a single thought to Ivan all day—but now I felt him. My dragon sense roared to life, telling me that he was on the move. On his way
here
.

I didn’t waste any time wondering how he could have known that the babies had been born. I thrust Michael back into Devin’s arms and yelled for Ben. I didn’t pause to explain myself to my mate. I knew he would understand through our bond, and every second was precious.

“Keep them safe,” I said as soon as the other dragon appeared in the doorway.

I was poised on the balcony, and as soon as I saw Ben nod, I shifted and leapt off into the night. My brother was already close, and I raced over the dark ocean to intercept him.

I
t was too
dark to see him, but I didn’t need to rely on sight. My dragon could always sense another in our territory, and my sense of Ivan was even clearer than most. If I’d had any doubt that I was headed in the right direction, though, the sudden burst of flame directly in front of me would have confirmed it.

Ivan must have been able to sense me just as easily as I did him.

I extended my claws and ducked under the fire, shooting up toward his gunmetal-gray belly. I hit him hard, slicing into his hide and drawing out a squawk of pain. I cringed, then hardened my heart. He would heal, and he had brought it upon himself.

Ivan jerked away, circling around above me to bring his jaws to bear again. I managed to dodge his next blast, slashing at him with my claws as I rolled away and managing to gouge two long furrows in his flank.

The light from his flame reflected off a glittering rain of his blue-tinted scales from the damage. I’d learned my lesson about dragon fire. Before he could aim it at me again I surged above him and hooked a claw behind his neck, forcing his head down so that his flame couldn’t reach me. He arched his strong neck against my hold, straining to break free as he thrashed this way and that, but my grip was too strong. He roared, flaming again anyway, but only the edge of his fire licked against me—not enough for me to lose any of my senses.

“I won’t let you touch my family,” I hissed into his ear. “Go home, Ivan!”

“Your child will grow up weak if I leave him with you,” he answered, turning a burning eye on me as he thrashed against my restraint. “A disgrace to our lineage.”

He struggled beneath me. My claws pierced his hide, their grip the only thing keeping him from plummeting toward the water. But he still struggled, flailing about wildly in an attempt to get free of my grasp. Ivan was almost as big as I was, and the strain of holding him up while keeping his head pinned down was almost too much.

“You’re not going to get past me, brother,” I promised him. I didn’t care what it took, I would not let Ivan harm the ones I loved. “You will never get what you want, or touch my mate.”

Ivan froze. “Your ‘mate?’” he repeated the word in shock, becoming a sudden dead weight as he stopped even trying to use his own wings. “The child was born,
nyet
?” he demanded angrily. “Your human can’t still live if you took it from his body.”

Ivan had seemed so well informed, even though I still didn’t understand how he knew so much about my family. Whatever the source, the information had clearly failed him in crucial ways. He knew that Devin had delivered, but still didn’t realize that we’d had twins… and he clearly didn’t understand
how
my mate had given birth. It seemed obvious that he didn’t know there was any alternative to my sire’s brutal approach, and the thought of what he assumed I’d done sickened me.

“He does,” I said. “He is
mine
. I have claimed him and bound him to me, Ivan. His life is tied to mine.”

My brother was staring at me in shock, still not moving, and I lost the battle with gravity. Ivan and I plunged into the ocean, still locked together. As soon as the cold, salty water closed over our heads, Ivan twisted away from me, dislodging my hold and swimming deeper to avoid my grasping claws. I managed to hook one into his wing before he got away, and he turned back, spitting flame as he tried to yank free. The fire sputtered in the water, but the force of it still hit me face-on and blinded me for a moment.

My bond with Devin flickered for a split-second, and as it wavered I felt a subtle othersense. It was a bond, but not with my mate. It was something that had been a part of me for as long as I could remember, and it was as familiar to me as breathing—so familiar that I’d never even realized it was there.

It was Ivan.

And then he tore away from me, escaping while I floundered to clear my vision. I couldn’t see to follow him, so instead I headed up toward the surface. As soon as I cleared the water, I saw Ivan’s dark form burst out of the ocean near the shore of my island.

I roared, exploding out of the water as I shot over the waves after him. Before I could reach him, though, he landed, shifting into his human form and racing inside my home. Going after my family.

A
s scared
as I had been when Ivan had tried to grab me on the beach, it was nothing compared to how I felt now. Michael and Zach were so small, and even though I clutched them against me, my arms felt like poor protection for such valuable cargo.

“He won’t touch them,” Ben promised me grimly, seeing my fear.

I was used to easy-going, gentle Ben. Maks had told me that the red dragon had a hot temper, but it only seemed to come out when people he loved were threatened. If I’d had any doubts that we were in that category for him, watching him pace in front of the balcony doors would have banished them. I could see the tension radiating off him, and his body rippled and twisted in subtle, eye-twisting ways as he fought to hold himself in this form.

I swallowed, closing my eyes to better focus my attention on the bond with my mate. Normally I considered him indestructible, but it made sense that if anything were to be able to harm him, it would be another of his kind. I couldn’t bear that.

The information I was getting through our bond was disjointed—impressions of Maks’s emotions, rather than the events that caused them. I was left wondering about the details of the fight, and while I wondered, I worried. He was full of protective rage, but also sadness and a melancholy guilt. When all of that was suddenly replaced by terror, I sat bolt upright, squeezing the boys too tightly. Michael squirmed against me and Zach stiffened, letting out a fierce squawk. Ben was at my side in an instant.

“What is it?”

“
Ivan
. He got away from Maks. He’s coming. He’s—”

“I am here, human.”

Ben whirled around to face the intruder, launching himself across the room with a roar. Ivan jerked away, avoiding the attack, but as he took in the sight of all us his eyes widened in shock and his distraction made him slow. Ben was on him in an instant. The two men were about the same size, but when Ben grabbed Ivan by the throat and lifted him up against the wall, the rippling quiver that rolled through Ben’s body as his otherself fought to take over made him seem bigger.

“Who
are
you?” Ivan croaked. “My brother allows another beast in his territory?”

Ben didn’t bother to answer, intent on choking off Ivan’s air, and I scrambled off the bed, holding the twins close. I moved toward the french doors, hoping to see my mate appear, but the balcony outside was empty and faced the wrong direction. Maks would be coming from the west, and as soon as I had the thought, I turned toward the bedroom door and realized he was already here.

“Ben is a friend,” my mate said grimly, answering Ivan’s question. He entered the room and moved to stand behind Ben, putting another barrier between Ivan and me. “And he will no more allow you to harm my mate or children than I would.”

“Children,” Ivan repeated, his hands scrabbling at Ben’s wrist as he fought to suck in air. He managed to sound incredulous despite croaking the words out past the other dragon’s stranglehold. “There are
two
.”

“Obviously,” Ben hissed. “But you can’t have either one.”

“I… I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Ivan said, not even struggling anymore as he tried to take it in. “Any of this. Your human, how did he survive the birth? And…
twins
, protected by another… dragon… who is… is… ”

“Who is my friend,” Maks said when Ivan failed to come up with an explanation for Ben’s presence. “Ben, let him down, please.”

Ben grumbled, but released Ivan without any other protest and then took a few steps back, crossing his arms and doing a damn good job of looking threatening.

“You are weak,” Ivan spat at Maks, shaking off his confusion and replacing it with the cold sneer I remembered from the first time we’d met. “You surround yourself with weakness, with attachments. You will not be able to hold onto them when you can’t even stomach holding
me
, your enemy.”

“You’re not my enemy, Ivan,” Maks said. “You’re my brother. You would be welcome here if you had come under different circumstances.”

Ivan’s sneer slipped for a split-second, but then he caught himself. “There is nothing I would want here, except your hatchlings. With two, I can help our sire expand our territory all the faster.”

“It’s not going to happen,” Maks told him in a steely voice. “Do you really think I’d allow you to touch them? That you could make it past both Ben and me?”

Without answering, Ivan feinted toward my mate, then pivoted toward Ben and blinded him with a spurt of flame. The fire spilled around the room, its dragon-enhanced heat instantly racing across the wooden floor and licking up the bedspread. I clutched the babies against me, backing into the corner as I instinctively retreated from the flames. Maks launched himself at his brother, but Ivan shoved Ben toward Maks and leapt past the two of them toward the far side of the burning bed. His form rippled as he landed in the middle of the flames, and he crossed the king-sized mattress in one stride, stepping down in front of me with a cold stare.

“Give them to me,” Ivan hissed, his eyes dropping to the twins. “You are not fit to raise our kind.”

Flames from the bed licked up his clothes, rippling over the cloth and Ivan’s skin as he reached for us. He snatched at Zach, grabbing onto his tiny shoulder and yanking him half out of my arms. The cry that burst out of my son made me see red, but my rage was eclipsed by a spike of fear as the dragon fire raced over the baby’s skin. The blanket he was wrapped in started to burn. I kicked at Ivan, struggling to loosen his hold on my son.

“NO!” The word burst out of me, a roar of sheer desperation. Without meaning to, I had pulled on the power of Maks’s dragon, and the air in front of me visibly quivered. Even though one dragon couldn’t control another, the sheer force of it made Ivan pause in shock. I pulled Zach out of his clutches, and before Ivan could react Maks was on him.

Maks grabbed Ivan from behind and heaved him away from us, then tackled him when he tried to scramble away. The flames had risen to engulf most of the room, and I lost sight of the two of them as soon as they moved away.

My clothes were burning now, too, but I fought down my instinctive fear and reminded myself that with Maks’s fire inside me, it couldn’t hurt me. Michael burrowed into my shoulder, but didn’t flinch away from the heat. Zach was wailing as the fire engulfed him—the sight was horrifying, but it only took a heartbeat to tell that the baby was scared, not hurt. Neither one of them seemed affected by the flames any more than I was. I wanted to get them out of the room, away from Ivan and the destruction around me, but it was hard to see through the heat.

“You are weak,” I heard Ivan say to Maks disdainfully, his voice coming out in grunts mixed with the sounds of fighting. “So concerned for a human who has already served his purpose.”

And then I heard the roar of my mate, and the crashing of glass as the french doors shattered. The flames around me roared with new life as the sea air rushed in to feed them.