8. A Secret Between Fang And Steffie

8

A SECRET BETWEEN FANG AND STEFFIE

Steffie didn't quiet down the moment Fang went to her. She fussed and refused the bottle of formula he prepared, and kept on wailing.

She didn't need a diaper change, either. He could smell that she didn't.

Unwilling to wake Wren after he'd promised to take care of this, Fang had dragged Steffie's travel crib into the bathroom to muffle her crying. He scooped her out of the crib now, making soft, comforting sounds.

Steffie shrieked, and flames sprung up all over her body.

Had she been anyone else, Fang might've dropped her. As it was, he gritted his teeth and held on, settling her gently back in the crib.

Fang made sure she wasn't burning all the linens in the crib. Then he held his burned-pink arms under the bathroom faucet, looking over his shoulder.

Steffie watched him tearfully, rolling onto her front and kicking her legs.

"We don't set our friends on fire, kiddo," Fang said dryly. "I'm not here to hurt you."

They stared at each other for an extended moment. Steffie's wailing quietened into little hiccupping whimpers, her eyes wide as she tracked his movements. Encouraged, Fang crouched by her crib railing and allowed his shift to come over him.

His body shimmered and changed, his limbs shortening, his other bones stretching and growing. By the time Fang nosed at the bars on the crib, Steffie had stopped making unhappy sounds, reaching between the bars to touch him.

Maybe she recognized his abilities in herself. She grabbed a handful of his fur, and he nudged his nose against her soft palm.

She smelled like baby, like innocence and drool.

Better now? he wanted to ask. He couldn't in this form, though. Instead, Fang went up on his hind legs and leaned over the railing, nudging her face with his snout.

Steffie giggled. Fang's insides fluttered.

He nuzzled her for a while, until she was the calmest he could get her. Fang shifted back into a human and, when she didn't start crying again, he scooped Steffie into his arms, tugging the crib back into the bedroom.

There was plenty of space on the king-sized bed. Fang set Steffie on the mattress beside Wren, leaning in close.

"I won't tell him about your little fireball trick if you don't pull that on me again," Fang whispered. "No burning good people, okay?"

There was so little distance between their faces, Steffie went cross-eyed when he tapped her nose. Then she beamed brightly, and Fang couldn't help grinning back.

"Damn," he said. "You're a cute one."

She blew a spit bubble.

Fang shifted back and climbed easily onto the bed, curling up around Steffie so there was no way she could flip over and roll off.

She was safe. He was protecting her. He liked the thought of that.

Fang nuzzled her face until she finally yawned and fell back asleep. Then he lay in the darkness of the room, just listening to the sounds of their breathing, their hearts beating.

His phone lit up with a few messages in a row. Fang cocked his head. When more messages came in, he sighed and shifted back into a human again, frowning as he lowered the screen brightness so it wouldn't hurt his eyes in the dark room.

Onyx

Fang, do you have an update on your location?

Valor

It's late, maybe he's resting.

Mav

There's no response from Wren, either. I hope they didn't run into trouble

Doc

Give them a while. Maybe until morning?

Griff

How can you sit around waiting until morning for a reply? That is too long. Quinlan and I encountered trouble when we made the trip

Fang

We're safe now. Sorry for not updating you guys. We ran into trouble on the way

Valor

Damn it. What kind of trouble?

Fang

Someone tailed us on the highway. We had to pull away and lose them. Wren did all the work, really. He turned us invisible and then changed the paint job on the car. He's sleeping now.

Telos

(whistles) So, did anything happen between you two?

I know you've been eyefucking him for a while now

Fang

A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell

He was amazing with his spell work though. You should've seen him

Telos

Yeah, yeah, show him off to those of us who have abysmal luck in the love department

Mav

Ask Santa for some luck. Who knows? You might get some this year

Telos

Ha ha, very funny

Raptor

So, Fang, are you going to kidnap this Wren guy?

Fang

... What the hell? Who are you?

Griff

My brother!

Blade

And mine too, unfortunately

Onyx

You must've missed the new additions while you were driving. We added Griff and Blade's brothers to the chat earlier today

Fang

... Plural? BrotherS?

Ace

Me too!

Fang

Oh, dear gods.

Ace

I, too, would like to know if you are kidnapping Wren

Griff

An appropriate question

Fang

How the fuck is that appropriate?!

NO, I am not kidnapping anybody.

Griff

I kidnapped Quinlan and he likes me (smiling emoji)

Mav

For the love of all things holy, swear to us that you won't be kidnapping anyone.

Ace

Do we have to?

Raptor

We are good people! Good dragons.

Onyx

Don't give us a reason to kick you off this chat

Raptor

You welcomed Griff even after he kidnapped his mate

Fang

No part of this conversation is setting my mind at ease

Neither of you have agreed

Raptor

Fine, I agree not to kidnap anyone

Ace

But borrowing is fine?

Mav

(facepalm emoji)

Telos

Off topic - hey, Mav knows how to use emojis! I thought he was too much of a caveman to understand his phone keyboard

Mav

Fuck off, Telos

Telos

No way, I won't unless you acknowledge that pterodactyls are superior.

Valor

... This again

Mav

Just because you lack so much confidence that you need to prove yourself, Telos, doesn't mean I'm obligated to stroke your ego

Telos

I bet you'd run if I said you can stroke something else of mine

Mav

Wtf

Telos

See!

Fang

Look, I need to catch some sleep. I'll send y'all our GPS coordinates

Don't kidnap anyone, even if you want them to be your mates. ESPECIALLY if you want them to be your mates.

Just open your mouth and ask if they would like a date, for gods' sakes.

Valor

Are you doing that with Wren? Asking him on a date?

Blade

I heard something about a trade...

Fang

Fuck off, that's none of your business.

Blade

I'm fucking right off. If any of you is talking about kidnapping, I did not hear it.

Let me keep some plausible deniability

Mav

Ace, promise us you won't kidnap anyone.

Fang would've stuck around to see the end of that conversation, but the day of driving was hitting him hard.

He set his phone on the nightstand and carefully scooped Steffie into his arms. Slowly, he placed her back into her crib, listening to her heartbeat to make sure she wasn't about to wake up again.

When he was satisfied, Fang got into bed behind Wren, and curled himself around that man.

He fell into the deepest sleep he'd had in a while.