Eight

Micah

The next morning, I insisted we have a 'lazy day' before we went to talk to Cam's dads, mostly because my mate was running on fumes. Cam was a high-energy person, but more often than not, he forgot that he also needed to refill the energy he depleted. What would he do without me?

"I like this," he said after a few minutes of silence, and I smiled.

"I'm glad." We were lying on a giant bean bag in my room, with Cam's arms wrapped around my middle and his legs tangled with mine. Saaya was lurking somewhere close. I could sense her but not see her, so she was probably hiding in the shadows.

The house was quiet downstairs since my dads were out on a shopping trip while Mateo and Miles were at the packland. Our welcome home party was scheduled for tomorrow—another reason to take some time to relax today—and they were helping Noel set up.

The clan parties used to be small get-togethers, but over the years, the Mistvale clan had grown quite big, which meant the parties had too. I hadn't been to one since we started on our trip, and I was both looking forward to it and dreading it. I loved the Mistvale clan, but they could be a bit much all at once.

Cam took my hand in his, then started fiddling with my fingers, making me smile. He could never quite stay still for too long, and he loved touching me, which was why, whenever I thought he needed some down time, we did this. He could touch me all he wanted when he felt like moving, and cuddling kept him relaxed and helped him rest. It was the only way I could get him to stay put, not that it was a hardship. I loved touching and being touched, and not even in a sexual way. I loved platonic snuggles, and when I was younger, I used to cuddle with my dads, sometimes all day when I was having a bad day. But once Cam and I became besties, he was the one I went to.

I loved this man more than anything in the world, and I would do anything to make him happy, including sharing him with two other people whom he might end up loving more than me. It was my biggest fear, and dumbest too. I'd talked to Joy and his mates about their relationship quite a bit, and I knew they didn't love any one of their mates more than the other, but I was still afraid.

I knew it was because of my own insecurities and not anything Cam had done, which was why I hadn't told him about it. I didn't want to cause him unnecessary worry, and I was going to get my shit together and deal with it like I should've already. It'd been a long time since we found out we had two more mates, and I needed to get with the program before we met them.

"Micah? You okay?"

"Hmm?" Blinking hard, I turned my gaze to Cam, who watched me with warm green eyes tinged with concern. "I'm okay, sorry. Lost in thought."

Cam smiled, then tilted his head. "Did you hear some interesting gossip?"

It took me a moment to realize he meant if I'd read someone's mind—seriously, what was up with my brain?—and I shook my head, giving him a sheepish smile.

"Nothing like that. I was just thinking."

"Okay, no worries. Do you think Kezan and Ezra will be at the party? I really want to see them."

Kezan Demonique was a djinn, my ex-boss, and a good friend. He'd hired me to work at his clothing store, Wish For It , when I was fifteen, and I'd worked there until we left for our trip. I'd loved working at the store and helping people find the perfect outfits for them with the assistance of Kezan's djinn magic.

Cam and I had helped him when he'd found his mate, a human named Ezra, mostly by encouraging him when it looked like he'd give up.

"I think so, yeah." While Kezan hadn't originally been a part of the clan, we'd slowly pulled him and his mate into it, and now he was close to a number of people. Being a clan member was also good for his business, because Cam had practically ordered everyone to get clothes from Kezan...not that anyone minded. Kezan's magic allowed him to find the perfect outfits for every person who stepped through his doors, so there was no better place to buy from in all of Mistvale.

"Good. I want to see Russ again too."

I grinned. Russ was their dog, and like every dog Cam had ever come across, Russ loved him. Cam used to have a dog, but after he'd gotten in an accident, Cam had refused to adopt another one. It'd been a while since then, and I wondered if he'd be up for getting a dog with me. Maybe I'd ask him once we'd settled into a new house. Our house.

"I'm sure everyone will be there. Dad said it's been a while since the last party, so they're all probably eager to get together, even Tate."

Tate was one of Joy's mates, a werewolf, and though he'd gotten his sight back years ago, he still didn't do too well with crowds. When he did attend one of the parties, he tended to stay at the sidelines with his mates. I didn't blame him. The Mistvale clan could be a lot, especially when we were all gathered at one place like that.

"I can't wait!" Cam was practically vibrating beside me, and I had a feeling we were going to be done with relaxing very soon. He'd stayed still for longer than I'd expected, though, so I was calling it a win. "Can we go talk to my dads now?"

I raised a brow at him, and he gave me his puppy dragon eyes. I was such a sucker when it came to him, always had been, and he knew it too.

Giving a put-upon sigh, I said, "Fine," and Cam shot to his feet instantly. How he managed to get out of the bean bag so gracefully, I didn't know. He held his hand out and helped me up. I, of course, stumbled quite a few times, and definitely pulled something in my leg before I escaped the sinkhole that was the bean bag.

"Come on, let's get ourselves a new home!"

Cam

Micah and I walked to my dads' place hand in hand. We'd locked the doors at his place and left the key with April, who'd stayed home, probably to watch over us. In her opinion, we'd probably need babysitting until we were a hundred, but Micah had managed to convince her to stay home and wait for Cassian and Gus or the twins.

As my thoughts drifted, I wondered how people on the outside saw us. Micah and I lived in luxury because of our dads. We didn't have to work, we hadn't gone to college, and we had basically no responsibilities. We looked like spoiled rich kids, and we were. Me more than Micah, since I'd grown up in a house with loving parents from the moment I was a baby. Parents who loved me and wanted me to be happy, who wanted me to be myself.

Sure, I'd almost died at one point, and I'd lost my mom, but then I'd gotten another dad who loved me just as much, and I'd become a dragon. I'd gotten back a lot more than I'd lost—though nothing could replace my mom—and I hadn't lived a hard life.

It was different for Micah. His birth parents had been assholes, and he was put through a lot of pain before his dads found him and brought him back to Mistvale. Micah rarely talked about his time in Ravenshire, which was how I knew it still haunted him. If I had it my way, I'd fly to that stupid island and rampage all over it in my dragon form. Hell, I still might someday. My dragon side was always itching to get revenge for Micah, but I knew he didn't want anything to do with that island of assholes, which was the only reason I held back.

"Anybody home?" Micah called as he pushed open the front door, and I turned my attention back to the here and now.

"In here," Ames called, and we followed her voice to the living room, where DD and Dad were sitting close together on the couch while Amelia sat on the coffee table, a remote in her hand that she was using to flick through products in an online store on the big TV screen. Why they couldn't shop on their phones or laptop like normal people, I didn't know.

"Wait, are you working on the nursery?" I demanded as I saw the products were all baby things, and Ames nodded, her long, straight black hair hanging forward until she tucked the strands behind her ears.

"Yeah, We were just looking through it. We were actually just about to call you," she said, then smirked, her dark brown eyes gleaming. "Or maybe not."

Rolling my eyes, I pushed her off the coffee table, grabbing the remote as she tried to keep herself from falling.

"Kids," DD said with a resigned sigh.

"Don't forget you're making more of us." I grinned, jumping back as Ames lunged for the remote.

It'd taken us a few years to go from the 'extra nice to each other because our relationship was new' stage to the typical older sister-younger brother dynamic we had now, but it'd been worth it. I'd never wanted an older sister before Amelia joined our family, but then I'd realized that an older sister was the perfect mark. Over the years, I'd enjoyed inventing new ways to annoy her, and she'd given back as good as she got. It'd been my way of showing her she was part of the family, and it'd worked wonderfully.

I stumbled back as my right foot was suddenly encased in marble, the floor coming up to grip it as Amelia reached forward and took back the remote.

"Amelia, please don't use your powers to disfigure our house," Dad said, and Amelia shot him an apologetic look before the marble retreated back into the floor. Her earth mage magic had some handy perks, but I wasn't without my own power either.

Before I could step forward, though, Micah grabbed my hand, giving me a narrow-eyed look. Remember why we're here?

Oh right. I'd forgotten all about our house-hunting expedition.

"We'd love to pick some stuff out for the babies," I said, ignoring Amelia as I turned my whole attention to my dads. "But we actually came to talk about something else. We were wondering if any of the houses you bought are still empty? We wanted to move into our own place."

Dad blinked, surprise flashing across his face, while DD almost looked relieved. I supposed I would be too if I had to listen to my adult son having sex with his mate. Sometimes, supernatural hearing could be the worst power to have.

"You're moving out?" Dad asked, and I nodded, sharing a glance with Micah.

"Yeah, we think it's time. The only reason we didn't do it before was that we were going on a trip. The house would've stayed empty all that time, so it would've been a waste."

"That's true," DD said, a thoughtful look crossing his face. "Actually, I think I might have the perfect place for you. It's a townhouse similar to this one, and it butts up against the cul-de-sac. Four bedrooms on the second floor, two with their own bathrooms and a third communal bathroom, and a living room, dining room, and kitchen on the first floor, along with a bathroom."

"That sounds...big," Micah said as I tried to imagine how much space it was. Actually, it might be the same size as this house, except here we had another bedroom instead of a dining room, and all four bedrooms upstairs were occupied—dads' bedroom, Amelia's, mine, and DD's hoard. What would we do with four bedrooms?

"Well, your other mates might need their own space, especially in the beginning. Or you might have friends over. You could use the extra bedrooms as guest rooms, or your hoard—" that was directed at me, "—or for something else. It doesn't hurt to have some extra space."

"And no one else needs it? Like a big family or something?" I didn't want to get a larger house just because I was DD's son, not if someone else needed it more.

"Nope. We haven't had a new resident for close to a year now, so the house has been sitting empty for a while. It might need some minor repairs. How about you guys go take a look at it and then make a decision?"

I glanced over at Micah, finding him chewing on his lower lip. He stopped, then nodded. Grinning, I turned back to DD. "Where's the key?"