19. Aurum

Nineteen

After an exhausting day,I carried Mylo back to my room. It didn't feel right to dump him at the hotel after the emotionally charged shit we'd been through together. I wanted him with me, in my space. Besides, since he was my fated mate, he needed to get used to the castle, right?

As we flew back home, Saffron's wing tip brushed mine in a silent display of solidarity. I nudged him right back to say ‘I'm here.' I couldn't put into words how amazing it felt to bury our beef. It already felt like it happened a millennium ago. What had we even been arguing about? In the grand scheme of things, it was unimportant. I was just glad to have my twin back in my life.

Mylo was wiped. It had been a huge day for him—the challenge, the custom tailoring session, the shower sex, Jade's little ‘horseback' misadventure, and finally, the blowout with Billy. Vindication surged through my body when I thought about that asshat. I blamed myself for not understanding Saffron's suffering. I should've taken my head out of my ass and paid closer attention to his pain. But I understood now. After falling headfirst into love with Mylo, I finally grasped Saffron's desire for a fated mate. It was really goddamn special. Whenever Saffron sought to find his mate in the future, I—and Mylo—would be there for him.

We landed quietly on the dragon-sized clearing in front of the castle, then shifted before sneaking inside. Mylo was so exhausted, he'd nodded off in my paws during the flight despite the cool night wind in his face. I carried him in my arms bridal-style so he didn't have to walk on his tired, sore feet.

"Put me down. I'm too heavy," Mylo protested weakly.

I snorted. "You are not, dummy. How dare you doubt a dragon's strength."

When he flashed a brilliant grin, I saw the moment of anxiety vanish from his expression. I felt proud whenever I did that. No matter how many times it took, I'd crush Mylo's self-doubt until he finally realized just how special he was.

Saffron and I ducked into the castle, glancing around like a pair of nervous mice watching out for a hawk.

"What're you two doing?" Mylo whispered.

"Oh, nothing. Jade will just have a fit if he catches us sneaking you in," Saffron supplied.

"Yeah, this is super not allowed, probably," I agreed. "But it's fine as long as we don't sleep in and miss the third challenge."

Mylo sighed, rubbing his weary eyes. "Why am I always getting you into trouble?"

Saffron smirked. "Don't worry about it, Mylo. We're the ones getting us into trouble."

"Anyway, he's already punished us tonight with the horseplay."

Saffron snorted in amusement. "Didn't know he was into that."

"Dude, I'm telling you, he's a freak in secret. Remember those BDSM books we borrowed from his library that one time?"

Mylo's eyes widened. "BDSM? Are you... into that?"

"Nah, not my cup of tea. We were just curious." I smiled down at my mate. "But hey, if you're into kinky stuff, I'll try anything once."

Mylo waved his hands. "N-not me. At least, I don't think so..."

He was so damn cute, I had to press a kiss to his forehead. "We've got the rest of our lives to think about it, right?"

"Yeah," he replied wistfully.

We crept up the staircase as quietly as possible. It was late. Usually our brothers were in their respective rooms at this hour. As long as we didn't cause a commotion, we wouldn't draw Jade's ire. He'd snuck off the set at one point during the evening, leaving Gaius and the crew to handle everything, so his location was a terrifying mystery. Was he milling around his office, jerking off to paperwork—or was he lurking in the shadows, waiting to punish us for our millionth misdeed?

Thankfully, the halls were empty. We reached our room without a hitch.

Until we stepped inside and found it occupied.

I nearly had a heart attack when we flicked the lights on to reveal a tall, shadowy figure in the middle of the living area. In a dark blur of lightning-quick motion, he tossed something aside too fast to discern it, then he froze.

"Holy shit, Viol, are you trying to kill people?" Saffron blurted. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Same," I muttered. "What are you doing here?"

Viol scowled at us. "Nothing," he spat, like we were the ones intruding on him. Then he focused on Mylo, his gaze softening. In a genuinely curious voice, he asked, "Who's this?"

I checked Mylo's reaction, hoping my crazed brother's random presence hadn't scared him, but Mylo smiled as if entertained.

"Hi, I'm Mylo. I'm, um, Aurum's mate."

Viol's dark brows arched. He glanced over me. "That right? Congrats. Didn't think the little snot was ready to be an alpha, but he looks more mature already."

"Thanks for the backhanded compliment," I mumbled. "Anyway, I dunno what the hell you're doing in our room, but Mylo's tired and needs to sleep, so..."

"I'm not doing anything," Viol retorted.

His blatant defiance practically confirmed he was lying, but I was too tired to care why. I yawned, ready to collapse into my bed and cuddle with Mylo, when my mate suddenly looked over at our media zone and gasped. His eyes lit up, and every scrap of his former fatigue vanished.

"Is that the newest HyperStation console?" he demanded.

"Yes," I said slowly, a great feeling of passion trickling over me. "You play video games?"

Mylo radiated joy like a supernova. He skipped two steps ahead of my question. "Do you have DreamHunt 14? Are you playing it?"

My jaw dropped. I stared at Mylo like he was an angel sent by Holy Drake himself.

"Dude," I said. "I'm literally at the secret boss right now."

Mylo squealed. "Me too! I was fighting him—and I almost won—when my parents barged in and distracted me." His face fell as he shook his head. "I wiped."

"They what?" I roared. "No. You know what? We're gonna do this together. You and me, and our whole party."

Stars gleamed in Mylo's eyes. He looked so happy he might float away.

"What the hell are they talking about?" Saffron mumbled to Viol.

He shrugged. "No fucking idea."

"Hey, gamers," Saffron called. "You can't stay up late, remember? Jade?"

I groaned loudly. All I wanted to do was plop on the couch with my arm around Mylo and play our game together.

Viol glanced at the console, then back at me with a grunt. "Why don't you just tell Jade to center the third challenge around video games?"

A light bulb went off in my head.

"That's... actually a really good idea," I admitted. "Man, I wish I'd thought of that earlier. Who knows what kind of bullshit he cooked up?"

As we spoke, Saffron seemed distracted. He squinted at the floor as if searching for something. Viol's shoulders were rigid as he watched Saffron from the corner of his eye.

"Ugh, I'm too tired to go find him right now," I complained, wiping a hand over my weary face. I hoped my whining would inspire either of my brothers to talk to Jade on my behalf, but to my dismay, neither of them listened to me. "What are you guys doing?"

Nobody responded. Saffron frowned, kneeling over in the corner of the room, while Viol tensed his jaw so hard I was surprised it didn't shatter.

A moment later, Saffron replied in a tone full of vindication and disgust. "I'm discovering a crime scene."

"What?" I asked.

"It's not what it looks like!" Viol objected.

Mylo and I exchanged a confused glance.

Saffron thrust his arm into the air. Clutched in his hand was a blue plushie.

I narrowed my eyes. "Is that... Blueberry 1.0?"

"The very same," Saffron confirmed, shooting Viol a nasty glare. "And he's not alone. Look at this!"

He thrust a second plushie out to join the first. This one was bright yellow, and very familiar.

"Is that Saffron Jr?" I asked incredulously.

"Um... who are Blueberry 1.0 and Saffron Jr?" Mylo whispered.

"They're plush dragons that Taylor sewed for me and Muzo," Saffron explained, still staring venomously at Viol. "And for some reason, Blueberry 1.0 kept going missing under mysterious circumstances. He disappeared so often that Taylor sewed a Blueberry 2.0. But now I think we know why he vanished. Isn't that right, Viol?"

Viol flinched like Saffron had pointed a sword at him. "I don't know what you're saying," he muttered, but his eyes darted away.

I shook my head at the ridiculous situation. "Wait, are you saying Viol stole the stupid plushie?" I demanded.

Viol turned on me with a snarl. "It's not stupid!"

The room went dead silent for a few seconds until Saffron exploded into vindicated laughter.

"It is you!" he cried. "You're the plushie thief!"

"Shut up," Viol growled, baring his fangs.

"You'll never silence me, villain," Saffron shot back. "I'm not scared of you. I have witnesses!"

Mylo flashed me a look of concern. "Are they actually arguing? I can't tell."

"Honestly, I'm not sure, either," I admitted.

Saffron continued his moral crusade. "I can't believe you broke into our room so you could steal Saffron Jr, too. How evil do you have to be to steal an innocent plushie? Haven't you done enough?"

"Fine, I get it," Viol snapped. "I'm leaving."

I raised a brow at the fact that Viol hadn't denied anything. I wondered briefly why he bothered stealing other people's toys, then realized I didn't care.

Well, I cared for my twin's sake. Stealing Saffron Jr was too personal.

"Not so fast," Saffron declared. "You think you can skulk away unpunished?"

Scowling, Viol turned on his heel. "Oh, for fuck's sake. What do you want?"

Saffron raised his chin and hugged the plushie protectively to his chest. "You can atone by talking to Jade about the challenge tomorrow."

Viol narrowed his eyes suspiciously, like he thought Saffron might follow up by clawing his face. "That's it?"

"That's it. For now." He smiled at me. "I just want Mylo and Aurum to have fun tomorrow."

Viol rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll go talk to the snake." He glanced at Mylo curiously like he wanted to ask something, then changed his mind and strode off in a huff.

I yawned again. "Well, that was weird. Anyway, I'm going to bed. Night, bro."

Saffron hugged both rescued plushies in his arms. "Night. See you guys tomorrow."

After what felt like a century, Mylo and I were finally alone. I kicked the bedroom door shut behind me, then plopped onto the bed with a satisfied groan.

Mylo sighed contentedly. "I can't believe you carried me that entire time... You're really strong."

I grinned, flexing my muscles. "Alpha dragon power. Did you like getting whisked around like that?"

He smiled shyly. "Yeah, I did."

"Then I'll do it again whenever you want."

Mylo's brown eyes shined with affection. He cuddled closer to me, burying his face in my chest and taking a deep breath of my scent. I didn't waste an opportunity to do the same to him. His scent drove me wild. I'd never get enough of it.

"Love you," Mylo murmured.

Those words awakened butterflies in my chest and sent them fluttering every time he said them. It took a long time, but I finally understood why every alpha sought to find their fated omega. This moment, right here. This was why.

"I love you, too," I promised.

"And I want to play DreamHunt 14 with you forever," he added confidently.

I laughed, kissing his forehead. "Oh, trust me, Mylo. We will game together. Don't you worry about it."

"'kay," he murmured sleepily.

I held my mate with a smile on my face until we both dozed off, ready to face the next day's challenge together.