Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Nathan

It wasn’t the dragon who answered the door. The guy who answered was too young, with curly hair and big eyes. It took him a second, a questioning look flashing over his face before he narrowed his eyes at my dad, his head tipped curiously.

“Uncle Heath?”

Dad smiled brightly, stepping past me to draw the young man into a hug. “Christian! Look at you! All grown up. Last time I saw you, you still hadn’t grown into your feathers yet.”

Christian blushed, wrinkling his nose as he hugged my dad back and stepped back. “Please don’t tell my mate that. He’ll grill you endlessly, and you’re supposed to be here to see Aiden.”

Dad made a dismissive sound, batting the notion out of the air like a fly. “I’m here to see family. You’re family too. And if your mate wants stories, I got a few he might enjoy.” He ignored Christian’s dismayed look, a mischievous grin on his face as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder at me. “Brought my son with me. Figured the dragon might like to meet ‘im.”

Christian’s eyes widened as he took me in. “Holy crap. I didn’t know Aiden had more grandkids.”

Dad shrugged. “Didn’t talk to the old dragon since I was a kid. He never asked.”

That made Christian grimace. “Yes, well, he’s trying to be better about that. You’re the only child who’s given him the time of day, though. Most want nothing to do with him.”

“Old hurts will do that to ya,” Dad said with a nod.

Taking a big step back, Christian gestured into the house. “Please come in. Aiden went for a walk. He should be back any minute. You didn’t really give a timeframe of when you’d be here, so we didn’t know to expect you.”

Christian didn’t seem put out by that fact, leading us through the house towards the back. If this could even be considered a house. It was more like a compound, with a central building in the middle with the kitchen, living room, and stuff like that, and smaller apartments attached to it with long glass hallways. The windows went from floor to ceiling, so it was almost like you were walking outside. Even the ceiling was glass in the hallways. My tiger couldn’t decide if he liked being able to see everything around us or if he felt exposed by the lack of actual walls. Same here, buddy.

“Andrew is on a call right now. He’s Aiden’s mate. I’ll let him know you’re here when he’s through. And I’ll text Aiden that you’ve arrived. Can I get you something to drink? A snack? You’ve probably been driving awhile.”

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why are you trying to serve us? Are you here willingly? Are you okay?”

Surprise overtook Christian’s face, while Dad rolled his eyes hard.

“Ignore my son. He’s got paranoia issues. A soda will do him some good. Get his sugars back up. Same for me, thanks.”

Christian nodded slowly, but he was frowning at me. He took a step back, studying me, before spinning on his heel and walking out. Dad whacked my stomach lightly with the back of his hand.

“Now why’d you have to go and do that? I told ya, not everyone is out to get ya. Christian works for Aiden as his assistant. That’s why he’s offerin’ to bring us drinks. Never mind it’s polite. Don’t you offer your guests somethin’ when they come to visit?”

Once he mentioned it, I realized it was probably true. It’d been a while since I hosted anyone, though. Still, when Christian came back, I felt like I needed to apologize.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm.”

Christian put the drinks down on the coffee table in front of us, his head tipped like before. If I couldn’t smell the fact that he was a flight shifter of some sort, I’d be able to see it in his mannerisms. I couldn’t differentiate feathers, so I had no idea what kind. I almost wanted to ask, to see if he was some kind of threat, but before I could, the door to the apartment opened and a very irritated dragon strode in.

“Aiden? Is everything okay?” Christian asked.

The growl coming from him shook the air and made me really uncomfortable. My animal protested, scratching at my insides to face the threat head-on. Only Dad’s patient hand on my shoulder kept me in place.

“Runa’s being stubborn. I can tell she’s weak. I saw her movements as I arrived. But she won’t let me contact the doctor to look at her.” He stopped beside a mini bar next to a bookshelf, pouring himself a glass of something and tipping it back without flinching. Whoever Runa was, he was worried about her. Though…

“I thought your mate was a man.”

Aiden jerked to face me, his eyes widening with surprise when Dad pushed to his feet. “Heathcliff.”

Dad grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. “Most people call me Heath. Heathcliff ain’t ever really fit me right.”

Aiden looked a little shell-shocked and my hackles went up. I stood behind Dad, ready to manhandle him out of the room if I had to, but when Aiden’s eyes strayed back to me, his surprise only grew.

“You had a child.”

“I have two,” Dad replied. “Harper moved away with her girlfriend a few years ago. I offered for her to join us, but she’s got school. She’s a teacher. High school math. Smart girl.”

Dad always took any opportunity to brag about his kids. He might be mellow and on his own schedule, but he always showed up for us. He was trying to make up for Mom dying, when Harper and I both knew that wasn’t his fault. She died in childbirth. It happened a lot with shifters, since we couldn’t go to hospitals like normal people could.

Aiden didn’t move, almost like the surprise of our visit froze him in place. Christian’s gaze flicked between us and Aiden, his brows furrowed, like he was trying to figure out how to handle the situation.

“I’ll, uh… I think I’ll go get Andrew. Be right back.”

I swallowed down a protest when he jogged out of the room. With him here, I felt like we were a little safer from the dragon. Now it was just us and him, and he wouldn’t stop staring.

Luckily, Christian was quick, and a guy probably in his mid-thirties followed behind him, his blonde hair immaculate and his stride confident. He went straight to Aiden, dragging his attention off us and onto him with a soft touch to Aiden’s chin.

“Breathe.”

Aiden drew in a breath, eyes locked on his mate. It struck me as odd that an ancient dragon was following the orders of a human, but whatever. As long as that human could keep the dragon under control, I didn’t really give a shit that he didn’t have an animal.

After a minute, Aiden straightened and faced us again. “I apologize. Things have been… difficult this past year. I assure you, you’re in no danger from me.”

Dad looked confused about why he’d mention that until he glanced at me over his shoulder. He sighed, putting his hand on the back of my neck.

“Don’t mind him. He’s had his own issues lately. He’d probably benefit from a shift soon.”

Aiden nodded. “He’s free to shift whenever he wishes. These mountains belong to me, except for some land in the middle that belongs to a small shifter community. The only humans up here are mates.”

“And the construction crew,” Christian added. “But they should be leaving for the day soon. And they don’t venture into the forest. Once you get past the first line of trees, you’re free to go where you want.” He paused, frowning. “Except Runa’s cottage. She doesn’t like visitors.”

That wasn’t the whole story. There was a warning in his tone. Whoever Runa was, he thought she was dangerous. And with my dad right there, it made me nervous. I flicked a glance towards the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of the cottage. I was torn between steering clear and seeking out my enemy. It wasn’t hard to guess which one my tiger wanted to do.

Eventually, with some encouragement from Andrew, Aiden sat in a chair close by. Despite him being a dangerous dragon, I wasn’t getting bad vibes from him. I got good at reading people over the years, and there wasn’t anything in his face that would make me cautious. Regret, remorse, a little yearning. Dad said Aiden was looking to reconnect with his family. I wouldn’t make a judgment on just one conversation, but if I did, I’d say he was telling the truth. Aiden hung on Dad’s every word, and I could see how sad it made him that he missed all of it.

“Why now?”

I forgot for a minute that they were speaking. The paranoid part of me didn’t like unanswered questions, and I still felt like there was something they weren’t saying.

Aiden wasn't mad at the interruption, and remorse crossed his face again. “Keeping my children at a distance was a selfish way to protect myself. After what happened with Tobias, I realized I was not only hurting myself, I was hurting my children as well. I want to make amends for that.”

Dad nodded like he completely understood. Meanwhile, I was still looking for the catch.

“What exactly do you want from us?”

“Nate,” Dad scolded. I brushed him off, glaring at the dragon. There had to be a catch. We went decades without hearing from this guy. There was something he was leaving out.

“What happened to Tobias? Did you kill him? Is that why you’re calling us now? To make sure we don’t do the same thing?”

“Nathan!” Dad protested again.

Shoving to my feet, I cut him off with a snarl. “It doesn’t make any damn sense. You were selfish before. Now, all of a sudden, you changed your mind. Which means there’s something you aren’t telling us. What the hell do you want?”

“Nathan,” Dad growled out a warning. “Go take a walk.”