| |
Ari sat, waiting for the men to finish their goodbyes. The wooden chairs were hard, but roomy enough for a large man, thank goodness. The kitchen smelled pleasantly of dinner and the platter of treats June had brought in. Ari grabbed one and bit it. It was tasty, if a bit sweet for him. It crumbled easily on his tongue, practically melting. Ari popped the last half in and quickly ate a second. He rumbled. He could easily enjoy these daily, if available. He wondered if Hope knew how to make them.
Crag reentered the room and leaned down. “Ari, I have Faith’s scent. I’m going to see if I can follow it for a bit.” He nodded toward Henry. “I don’t think he knows, but it looks like his daughter left on her own.”
Ari raised a brow. That did put a different spin on things. If she left, she must have had a destination in mind. Maybe Crag could find it. If he found her and she didn’t want to return, he would be able to reassure Hope and her family that she was okay.
“Okay, Crag. Let me know what you find out. Stay safe.” He stood and hugged Crag.
“I will. Keep your little fireball in line.” Crag laughed. “I’ll return when I find something.”
Ari laughed. “I will.” Crag left, exiting after the last of the men and headed toward the woods.
“Thank you.” Henry shook Crag’s hand before he left.
Henry shut the door and sat down. “Ari.” Henry looked at him. “I don’t want to lose Hope, but she appears happy with you.” He shook his head. “I had no idea about Jacob. I can’t believe that was going on and no one knew.”
Ari wanted to point out that the women knew, but none of the men would listen. That would never go on in a Weyr. Every drake knew better than to ignore a female. They did so at their own peril.
“She makes me happy, too, Henry.” Ari looked around the kitchen, and moved to look out at the yard. He watched Hope and her grandmother head into the barn. He wondered what Hope was up to. He turned to face Henry. “Did you ever want to leave? How do you manage to feed everyone?”
Henry stood and strode to the counter, to lean against it. “I’ve always wanted to leave. But where would we go? How would I feed my family? We are bursting at the seams with no relief in sight.”
“Hope will live with me. We will not stay here, especially to be a burden. My home.” Ari thought of the consequences, but the good outweighed the bad. “My home has plenty of room. More room than in this town. The only homes, so to speak, are mine and my brother Crag’s. My parents and grandparents are near, but live in their own homes. The rest of my siblings currently live with my parents.”
Henry looked at Ari. “Are you asking us to come with?”
Ari slowly nodded. “I believe I am.”
Henry laughed. “You don’t sound too sure.” He sat back at the table. “You need to think about it some more. There are almost double the people you’ve seen. My eldest three sons all have families. I can’t guarantee they will want to come, either.”
“You don’t sound too sure about coming.” Ari paused and sat back down.
Henry munched quietly on a cookie; a contemplative look on his face.
“Why?” Ari waited while Henry finished.
Henry waived a hand around him. “This is home. It’s all I’ve ever known. I don’t know if I want to or am able to start again. What if we can’t make a go of it?”
Ari nodded. He did understand. “You would. My family and I would help. Hope would love it if you all came.”
Henry lounged back in the chair. He tipped back. The chair creaked.
Ari was not sure how he was able to do that on such a hard chair.
“I don’t know. I think I would have to see it first. It’s not a decision to make lightly. On the other hand, food is getting scarcer the bigger the family gets.” Henry seemed to sink deeper in thought. “I need to think on it a bit.”
Ari nodded. “I can understand that.” He was silent, and then spoke again. “I could take you there; let you see it, before you discuss it with anyone.”
“We wouldn’t be able to come until we found Faith. I wouldn’t feel right leaving and her returning to think we had abandoned her.” Henry went silent.
Henry thought about it, Ari could practically see it. The kitchen was quiet; murmurs from the children settling to bed could be heard. Suddenly, a scream ripped through the evening.
Ari and Henry were up and running outside. Ari headed to the barn at a run, outpacing Henry. Hope had headed there with her grandmother. From the corner of his eye he saw Rog and Hark running toward the sound.
Ari flung open the door and started to laugh.
****
“Grandma, I want to show you something.” Hope guided her grandma over to a stool along the edge of the wall. “You need to sit still, I don’t know how else to show you that Ari and his brothers are not monsters. You know I’d never hurt you, right Grandma?”
When her grandmother nodded her head in agreement, Hope stepped back. She hoped this wouldn’t ruin her dress. Though she had other clothes here, she loved wearing Ari’s scales. It satisfied the craving to have his arms were wrapped around her when he wasn’t near.
“Okay, I don’t want you to be afraid.” Hope smiled at her grandmother. “Just remember it’s me, okay?”
Her grandmother stared at her with a worried frown. Hope didn’t think that she was very reassured but she didn’t know how else to show her. Hope stepped back, looked around make sure nothing was in her way and concentrated on changing. Suddenly, she was a dragon. Hope wiggled, making sure she was comfortable in her form.
She turned her head to look at her grandma who sat there in stunned silence and then started screaming at the top of her lungs. Hope tried to bury her head to muffle the sound. This had not gone at all like she expected.
Hope bellowed. Her grandma had jumped up and was beating her with the broom while she screamed. “Let her go, you monster! Let my Hope go!”
“Grandma, it’s me, Hope. Stop it!”
Hope heard the barn door open and suddenly Ari stood there, taking it all in with a glance. He strode over and wrapped his arms around grandma, setting her back on the stool and tossing the broom away. He went back to Hope and gave her a kiss between her eyes.
Hope looked at him tearfully, then narrowed her eyes. Ari was laughing. She just knew it was at her. Hope butted him in the side with her head. He ran his hand down her side, checking the area were her grandmother had hit her. Hope looked up and in the doorway was her father, Rog and Hark.
“Hope, my little fireball, I think you need to change back.” Ari whispered in her ear. He was looking at her father and her grandmother. “I had planned on telling them, you know.” Ari smiled at her. “But not quite so dramatically.”
It wasn’t easy to pout as a dragon but Hope managed it. She looked around. The horrified look on her grandmother’s face made her realize that maybe her idea hadn’t been well thought out. The questioning look on her father’s face and the laughter of the other dragons confirmed it.
Hope looked at Ari and wiggled until she was mostly hidden behind him. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She squeaked when Ari’s arms slid around her.
“Did my clothes stay on?” Hope whispered. Her eyes were still closed.
“Kind of.” Ari laughed. “I didn’t know my scales would stretch so much.”
Hope opened her eyes and gasped. She scrambled to pull her dress back into shape. It was now the size of her dragon. Ari watched her with a twinkle in his eye and pulled his shirt off, sliding it over Hope’s head. Hope peaked around his side. Her grandmother had started to cry. Hope rushed over to her, tripping on her dress. She impatiently kicked it aside. She tried to comfort her grandma; ignoring the sight of Ari in just his pants. All that skin showing made her insides melt.
“Grandma, what’s the matter?” Hope hugged her. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I only wanted you to see that we weren’t monsters.”
Her grandmother’s arms came around her and her crying slowed.
Hope hugged her while trying not to ogle Ari.
“Could you tell me the meaning of this?” Henry waved his hand toward Hope. “What just went on here? Ari? Hope? Care to explain?”
Ari’s brothers were still laughing, blocking the door. Hope heard them but ignored it, concentrating on reassuring her grandma.
Ari turned towards Henry. He looked from Hope to Henry. Hope was busy with her grandmother while sneaking peeks at his chest. Her arousal made it hard not to snatch her away and lose himself in her. “Well, I hadn’t really meant to tell you like this. But, Hope does seem to like to rush things. My brothers and I are dragon shifters. We can change from man to dragon. Dragon is our natural form.” Ari looked at Hope and smiled. “Hope is my mate. Dragons can change their mates into dragons.”
Henry stared from Ari to Hope. He shifted and looked at Ari’s brothers. “Let me get this straight. You all,” Henry pointed to Ari and his brothers, “are dragons?” He turned and pointed at Hope. “And you made my little girl a dragon?”
Ari nodded.
“Did you force her?” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine Hope agreeing.” Henry looked at Ari with narrowed eyes.
Hope looked up. Her father was not looking too friendly towards Ari. Hope wasn’t sure she should step in, her last idea seemed brilliant, but was maybe not so much.
“Hope is my mate.” Ari just stared at her father. Hope knew he wouldn’t give her up no matter what. It probably was time for her to step in. She had caused this mess. She didn’t want her father to blame Ari.
“Daddy, Ari didn’t force me. I may not have known the exact consequences, but I agreed.” Hope’s eyes sparkled. “Daddy, being a dragon is awesome.” She pouted. “Except when grandma beat me with the broom.”
Her father laughed. “We should have done that to you more often when you were a child.” He sobered. Hope didn’t think it would be that easy to get her father to accept it. “I’m just not that sure about all of this.”
Her grandmother gave a watery chuckle. “You shouldn’t have scared me like that, Hope. Why couldn’t you just have told me? Instead of showing me.”
Hope looked down. A blush spreading up her face. “I didn’t think you’d believe me, Grandma.”
“Hmm, I may not have. But you scared me.” Grandma smiled at her. “Are you the same Hope you always were?”
Hope and Ari both nodded.
Grandma turned to Ari. She nibbled her lip. Hope knew Grandma had a question.
“Ask it, Grandma.” Hope said.
“My sister Sarah. One of you took my sister. What happened to her?”
Ari and his brothers frowned, looking at each other. Ari spoke. “I don’t know. It was not one of us.”
Hark spoke up and smiled at her grandma. “Maybe if we knew more, we could find her.” Hope’s grandma smiled brilliantly up at him.
Hope rolled her eyes. He could throw on the charm when he wanted.
“I would like that. Thank you. You’re sure she’s not dead?” Hope watched Ari and his brothers shake their heads in the affirmative.
“We don’t kill our mates. I imagine she’s still around somewhere. Sarah, you say?” Rog asked. Grandma nodded. “I only know of one Sarah, but I’m not sure it would be your sister.”
“Could you check?” Grandma asked hopefully.
Rog nodded.
“I have a question. Why are your mates changed into dragons?” Henry interjected. He had been quiet. Hope thought he was thinking of questions to ask. “You can become human, why not leave them that way?”
“Dragons live longer than humans, much longer. A dragon only mates once. Think how tragic it would be to live for centuries without your mate. Changing them into dragons lets them have the same lifespan. When one mate dies, the other follows soon after.” Ari flashed a grin. “Besides, dragons like hatchlings and we would not be able to have any if we weren’t both dragons.”
Hope didn’t think that was such a good thing to mention. Her father’s face grew stern. Hope didn’t think her father wanted to think about her having babies. She was his little girl, after all.
“Hatchlings? You mean babies?” Hope looked towards the door in surprise. She hadn’t realized her mother had heard everything, too. “You mean Hope’s going to have my grandbaby?” She saw her mother wiggle between Rog and Hark to enter the barn. She had a big smile on her face.
Henry walked over to June, put his arm around her waist. “You heard everything?”
“Yes. When I finally got through those two.” She gestured towards Rog and Hark. They smiled at her disgruntled look.
Henry looked at the two of them. “So, you just want to introduce Hope to your parents, correct? You already know she’s your mate and that won’t change? Is there any reason to think your parents will not accept her?”
Hope saw all of the dragons shake their heads. Ari answered. “There will be no problem accepting her, she is my mate.”
“So, when will Hope have my grandbaby?” June asked.
“Mom, not for ages. We don’t need to have a baby right away.” Hope looked around at the expressions on Ari and his brother’s faces. “Right? Right? What aren’t you telling me?”
Hopes eyes narrowed she looked at Ari. He was looking everywhere but at her. “Well. Not exactly.” He smiled at her. She heard her father sigh.
“So, Ari. What does not exactly mean?” Henry drawled.
“Well, Hope is already pregnant.” It came out in a rush. Hope’s eyes widened. She gasped, her stomach twisting like she’d been sucker punched.
“What?” She gasped. “What do you mean I’m already pregnant?” Hope shot a dirty look at Rog, when he started laughing. She was so going to flame his ass. Ari gathered her in his arms. Hope purred at the feel of his naked chest against her. It almost distracted her from his answer.
“When the mating ritual is performed, the female becomes fertile and the male completes the ritual of the change by inseminating the female dragon.” Ari kissed her head. “It’s what completes the change.”
Hope and her parents just stared at Ari. Hope didn’t know what to think. She was amazed and shivered, remembering the heat of Ari inside her and how her body had exploded with joy. She just knew that was when she had become pregnant. Hope sighed and a smile formed on her face.
“Oh.” She couldn’t help it, she threw her arms around Ari’s neck and kissed him. He smiled down at her and kissed her back.
“That settles it. You two are getting married tomorrow.” Her mom and dad nodded. “I take it you’re not upset.”
Hope shook her head no.
“Tomorrow will be no problem then.” Ari said, responding to her parents.
Hope ignored them. She had no problem with that. She already had everything she wanted. She snuggled into Ari’s arms. She was happy. Her family would come around. They had already started to. She had the man of her dreams, a dragon to boot, a long life to look forward to, and babies to come. The only problem was her missing sister, and she had every confidence in Crag finding Faith.