Chapter One

Castor

Everything was purple and it wasn't just the hue from the alien sun either. I'd left the meeting with Hush Starscale an hour ago. He hadn't seemed very interested in our report about how little ground we covered in connecting his flight with the rest of the known universe via the Other World Gateway system. Back home on Earthside, Clarence and Medwin Moonscale, the leaders of my birth flight, the Moonscales, would've been nose deep in our asses demanding more progress. Hush and the leaders of the other two Starscales worlds didn't seem concerned about being connected. They were fine if it happened and fine if it didn't. They didn't care who helped us as long as those who helped weren't coerced. The same dragons who organized food without a price tag attached to it for three planets seemed to have little planning skills in most of the other areas. At least as far as magical research went and I had to admit it probably would be magic, not science, that connected this lost flight back to the rest of existence.

The rest of the crew of the Medwin 2 were back at the ship. While Fred, Elio, and Marsin called it the estate, I preferred to still think of my ship as what it was – a space worthy vessel, tried and true. It was also home to me and my cousin, Casimir, for the moment. We'd only been on Starscale 1 for a few months, but like most worlds it was too big to see all of in such a short amount of time. We only discovered our primary mission after landing our ship on the first of three alien planets. Only, the Starscales weren't really aliens. They were Other Worlders and Earthsiders just as the Moonscales are. They just migrated out into space and built up three planets one-by-one as the need arose. The only problems they seemed to have were that far-voyaging space travel had dwindled in their flight and they weren't connected to the Other World gateway system. So they couldn't reach the space in between worlds or travel through it to Earthside or anywhere else their true-mates might be. If they weren't born alongside their mate on one of the three planets they were SOL.

Elio and his brother, Marisan, used an ancient, stolen elf spell to cast scrolls through nearly every Other World gateway on Earthside to get Fred Moonscale's attention. Fred was one of Elio's true-mates and that meant poly mates were becoming more common. It also gave me the chance to test out the ship I built, the Medwin 2. The ship was my real first love: Sleek, shiny, my home that could blast off and fly me away from the shittiest situations.

I scratched at the mostly new black star-shaped scale on my chest. The Starscales would've been an anthropologist's dream, if we had brought one along. I thought about the story as Elio told it to us as I strolled along the purple district of Starscale 1. Two men tongue fucked each other against the corner of a lilac building. They weren't the only ones having fun. I wondered if their stars glowed for each other. It didn't matter in this district. Only consent mattered in this adult oriented district of the biggest city on Starscale 1.

If the lore of the Starscale Dragon Flight was to be believed their ancestors crafted the spell and the star-shaped scales on the chests of every member of the flight before they ever left the Other World. The spell continued to create these scales for newly born souls and those who came into Starscale Territory and had a true-mate within it. All of the crew had these stars now, including me. Somewhere in this territory my true-mate lived. I hadn't given much thought to the alpha I shared a future true-mate bond with. While other omegas I knew dreamed of beefy men sweeping them off their feet, I dreamt of the Medwin 2 – and all the ships that might come after. I took my flight into the furthest reaches of space anyone besides the Starscales had ever came. I gave them the blueprint for freedom in the skies beyond what our wings would ever provide. I gave them ---

Well, I didn't give them as much as the guy with the purple pants around his ankles gave to the lady leaning her hands against the wall calling out "SYFE!" over and over, but it was damn close to it. My dragon chuckled inside his inner sanctum. I had a feeling both of our fearless flight leaders wouldn't approve of the purple district. Fred would've loved it back in the day before he met either of his true-mates. I'd forbidden the crew from coming here. As the captain of the Medwin 2 in this strangely familiar place, I was the closest thing anyone who came on that ship had to a flight leader. The last thing I needed was one of them egging an omega Starscale dragon unknowingly. Still, I couldn't stay away from the district Elio warned me about. I avoided it for months, but after my meeting with Hush Starscale ran short I decided I could use a drink.

I'd spent most of the last few months rejuvenating the Medwin 2 after her flight here. She was as good as new and would lift off without a problem if we needed to make a quick escape. That hadn't left a lot of time for me to explore the city. So, the only place I knew for sure I'd find a drink was the purple district. Sex and liquor went together like ham and cheese.

Music pounded from most of the buildings I passed. My drink was nearly forgotten about as my eyes skimmed over their colorful, shiny signs and the paved purple roads, not to mention the couples and groups all half naked and enjoying the fresh air on their asses while they brought each other trembling, growling, and shouting over the edge of bliss and oblivion.

The whole damn place smelled like sex, sweat, and cigarettes. The Starscales had their own form of Earthside's tobacco plants. The stuff grew up from the ground bright teal and when made into cigarettes the cherries burnt that same teal color. The Starscales were so much like my own flight, but different too.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" A tall lady with breasts pushed up high and tight in a black leather corset asked me. "You're one of the Moony guys right?"

"I'm the ship's captain, ma'am," I nodded, looking at her eyes on purpose. I was never interested in women, but breasts offered up like they were in the purple district made me nervous.

"Whatcha lookin' for, Captain?" she asked, leaning closer.

"A drink," I said.

She laughed and leaned back against the purple brick wall. She was beautiful and her laugh sang of dragons long ago. Like most dragon shifters, the brunette in the leather corset in front of me was timeless. She could've been old enough to be my great grandma or young enough to have been my daughter in a different life.

"A drink? That's it? All the time on the ship and you Moonys haven't even came to play. Everyone wants to meet you. They're all ready for you Moonys to meet your true-mates or at least take up with some playmates."

I sighed and fought off the urge to rub the bridge of my nose. Everything she said was true. Even Hush Starscale encouraged me to send my dragons to play here in the raunchiest district he had to offer in hopes they'd meet their true-mates. Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for that to happen in here.

"You're beautiful, ma'am, but I---"

"Oh, honey, I know that. You had your eyes glued to Syfe's dick for almost a minute. Fortunately for you he likes to show it off. Unfortunately for you, he's straight."

"Good for him and er… her too," I laughed, trying to appear more relaxed than I was.

"I'm Melon," she said, offering her hand.

I shook it and she laughed again before lifting my hand to her lips. She was an alpha. I wasn't sure if she was security or just hanging out waiting for someone to play with.

"Castor. Some of my friends call me Cas," I introduced myself, hoping to get that drink recommendation soon.

"Well, Cas," she slid her hand through my arm. "I'll walk you to the end of the block. That's where you'll find Sprinkles. That's the best place for a drink or a fuck. The strippers are hot and clean. The drinks aren't watered down."

"Tell me they don't drop sprinkles from the ceiling," I sighed, remembering Fred's club, Glitter Bomb.

"They better not. She'd fuck them up!" Melon laughed, tossing her head back.

We passed a man getting his dick sucked by someone with long crimson hair flowing around their face. The suckee looked in our direction and Melon waved. She whispered their names in my ear, but I wouldn't remember them later. With each step, my face flushed hotter. It wasn't a professional look for a captain, but then again, coming here wasn't professional at all.

At the end of the street sat the tallest of the purple buildings of the district. A huge sign read "SPRINKLES" in big shiny red letters. Cartoon breasts sat atop the letters and the head of a cartoon penis poked out of the loop of the R. At least the sign left no doubt that onlookers were about to walk into a strip club.

"Tits and cocks," my dragon said, imitating a parrot my uncle had when I was a hatchling. "Tits and cocks!"

I was about to remind him that he didn't like breasts when Melon pressed a button and the door slid open. Music thrummed around the crowds and vibrated along the floor under the tables. Dragons whooped and hollered. The whole place smelled like a den of sex and liquor and that's what I was looking for.

The dancer on stage was doing that move that must've been the first one that everyone learned at erotic dance school. It was mostly humping the floor as if an invisible partner lay writhing under him. The dancer had a nice firm ass that I might've slapped in the bedroom if I was the one under him. My dragon purred and I gave him a good hard mental shake as we made our way to the bar. It'd been too long since we last gave in to that calling, but it was best for us to keep it that way.

Later, at home, on the ship, I'd jack off thinking about the muscular curve of his back and his naked ass gyrating over the stage, but for now a drink would be enough. The dancer turned his face toward the crowd. His eyes settled on me. No, they couldn't have. He'd just conquered that skill some entertainers had where they made the whole crowd feel as if they were the only one in the crowd getting their very intimate attention.

The dancer pushed himself upright and the crowd cheered. He had a body worth cheering for too. Tall, broad, and muscular. Fit and healthy. I sniffed the air out of habit, but he was too far away to smell. Melon shoved me forward a bit as my eyes raked down his almost nude body. He had dark hair and shiny blue eyes. The star on his chest was as black as the cod scale over his groin that kept his dick and balls tucked away safely for now.

"Bring him to me!" The dancer bellowed and pointed into the crowd.

"Looks like you caught Axlin's attention," Melon laughed as two big dragons with white star-shaped scales on their chests came from either side of the building. "It's just part of the show, love! Have fun and when Ax is done with you, I'll buy you that drink and give you a cigarette. I've seen him perform. You'll need it."

"Huh?" I blinked, questioning all my life choices that brought me here.

I wouldn't have been caught dead at a strip club back on Earthside and now it seemed Axlin the stripper with the black cod scale wanted me to be part of his act. He didn't know my scale was as black as his so it couldn't be for aesthetics. It was probably because I was new – a novelty.

Melon's laugh echoed around the room and I growled out of instinct more than anything else as the bare-chested goons with the white stars approached me.

"It's all in good fun," one of them laughed. "I think you'll be getting to know Axlin quite well in the next few days anyway."

"What?!" I asked, as one slid an arm under either of mine.

I glanced at Melon. Was she a set up? A trap set to lead me here? The club roared with laughter and hoots. Someone let out a wolf whistle and I glanced around the room looking for a familiar face. I'd met quite a few Starscale dragons since landing the Medwin 2 here. None I saw now or at least none I recognized half-naked and aroused.

"Let's see what happens," my dragon said. "It's not like they could kill us and get away with it."

Could they, though? It's not like Clarance and Medwin could send the army to us where we were. The journey took us fifteen months more or less. By then all of us ‘Moonys' could be dead. I reached out to the others in the crew, my fellow Moonscale dragons, letting them know to pay attention. There probably wasn't a need to panic yet, but they should definitely pay attention to me and what was going on. I didn't like the thought of them knowing I was at Sprinkles, but I liked the thought of being torn apart by a strange flight of dragons even less.

The white scales carried me onto the stage. Off the side I saw more dragons, men and women and those who might've been something in between.

"Non-binary," my dragon said the term my tongue wouldn't conjure up.

All the stagehands had white stars. As the two brutes carrying me sat me down on a dark wood chair, I realized they probably painted them all to match for the club's atmosphere. I hadn't met a single dragon with a real white star on the chest before this. So, I had no reason to think otherwise.

Axlin grinned down at me, and a chill ran up my spine. I sniffed again and still couldn't smell the fucker. He must've been wearing pheromone blocker spray along with his black shiny cod scale. The goons passed him rope and I started to stand up.

He put one massive hand on my shoulder and whispered, "Come on. Be a good sport. Give the people a show and then we'll talk."

I opened my mouth to ask about what, but he captured my lips in a long, slow kiss that made the crowd go wild. I froze, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as his tongue slid into my mouth. A second later, I kissed him back. What the hell? I'd come to the purple district for a break from my crew and a good time. I still hadn't gotten my drink. Maybe I'd make this over-grown stripper bring it to me personally. So, against my better judgement, I let Axlin tie me to the chair. He wound the cord around my chest and torso, careful to avoid the star scale under my shirt. He kissed up and down my neck as his long, nimble fingers tied the knot in the back. I didn't test the rope. I didn't want to know if it couldn't be broken. If I had to I'd break the chair instead.

"You smell feisty," Axlin whispered in my ear, his voice low and husky, as he rounded me.

"I can't smell you at all. Whatever you use that survives the sweat and the bright light works wonders," I said, trying to sound as feisty as he thought I smelled.

"You'll get that soon enough," he winked at me.

The flirting was over the top here. Maybe it was the way of life in the purple district. I didn't have long to think about the cultural lives of this still strange-to-me dragon flight. Axlin circled round me and dropped to his knees in front of me. I wasn't short for a dragon omega. I was on the taller side if all the ship's healer's charts were to be believed. Still, Axlin was giant even on his knees. He sank low, stretching his legs out behind him with his hands and forearms on my legs. I burnt hot at the touch of this stranger. Almost too hot. He humped the air and I stared into his eyes. They shone with something more now. Something primal that made me want to sink into them. My dragon purred and the mechanical sound echoed around Sprinkles. I let out a long breath. His hands weren't on my dick, but I was hard and slick, nonetheless.

I swallowed hard as he pulled his knees back under him and moved his head. A scorching blush spread over my face and neck as he simulated the motions of sucking a cock. I bucked my hips, playing along. My hardon brushed against his face and the crowd went wild. He nuzzled my hard dick through my pants. My heart pounded in my ears and I swallowed hard, rubbing against him, taking all the nuzzling at me through my pants as consent.

I glanced down the hard muscular plane of his torso. I couldn't tell if he was hard behind the cod scale. Even back home on Earthside, most of them were enchanted to hide such facts. A moan bubbled out of me as he pressed a hard, firm kiss on my shaft through my pants. His body quivered as his lips stayed there a second or two longer than I expected.

He stood up and waved over one of the white stars and whispered something I couldn't make out in his ear. Then, turning to me, he grinned and picked up the chair with me in it. He was strong. Maybe even stronger than he looked. His muscles flexed as he carried me and the dark wood chair off the stage.

The crowd cheered louder as we disappeared backstage. Melon might owe me more than a drink and a cigarette after all this. Axlin didn't set me back when the curtain fell on the stage. Another dancer, this one tall with blond hair and a green star on his chest sauntered in the center spot where Axlin carried me away from.

"Where are we going?" I asked Axlin who only answered with a grunt.

He carried me up a flight of skinny back stairs and down a long hallway with a bright purple carpet. I almost asked him again, annoyed that he wasn't giving me a straight answer. Actually, the grunt wasn't really an answer at all. He sat me and the chair down outside of a door that had his name on a gold plaque. Once it was opened, he carried me inside. The room was clean and just as scentless as his body proved to be. What the hell did these Starscale dragons do to hide their scents? He sat me down in the middle of the room and while he shut the door I glanced around. There was a huge wall of mirrors with a vanity table in front of it. Clothes lay across every available surface and none of them would've covered much of the giant dragon who carried me inside.

Axlin rested his palms against the door with his back to me. The muscles in his fingers strained as if he fought against something. The muscles in his back drew taut and then relaxed before he turned around to face me again. Those shiny blue eyes caught my gaze, and he flashed me a grin that wasn't for the stage. That one was only meant for me. He crossed the room in long strides and stood with his legs on either side of mine. He ran his fingers through my hair, sending a chill down my back. Then he kissed me again, long and slow. His tongue danced inside my mouth until I kissed him back, sucking at the tip of his tongue. I could've kissed him forever, but that made no sense. I didn't even have being drunk as an excuse for the fact that if he tried to rip my clothes off, I wouldn't stop him.

"I'll be right back," he said, stepping away.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he'd already disappeared into the room adjacent to his dressing room. I almost poked my crew, but water ran in the next room, and I let out a sigh. I couldn't reach my phone in my pocket all tied up like this, but maybe I didn't need it. My heart pounded in my chest. My dragon sat upright on his haunches inside his inner sanctum.

"Hopefully he's not the sort who takes an hour in the shower. Your fingers will probably go numb by then," my dragon observed.

Taking my inner beast's words as a warning, I curled and uncurled my fingers a few times. The rope bit into my arms, but didn't cut off the circulation, thankfully. I was still hard and slick and by the time the bathroom door opened I wished I brought extra clothes. Mine already smelled like sex despite having never been taken off.

Steam billowed out of the bathroom casting a hazy glow over all the discarded clothes in Axlin's dressing room. He stepped out of the bathroom naked and hard. A few beads of water rolled down his bare skin, having been missed by his towel.

"I'll lick him dry," my dragon whispered into my thoughts.

The steam carried his scent now. The water must've washed away whatever the Starscale version of pheromone blocker spray was. He was mine. MINE! My heart thumped against my ribcage hard and fast. He had smelled me before I smelled him. He had smelled me when I sauntered into Sprinkles with Melon on my arm.

"Did they all know?" I asked, feeling like an idiot as soon as the words left my mouth.

"You've got to learn how to workout the signals of our flight link, mate," he grinned, leaning against the bathroom doorjamb on one arm. "I thought you knew. Thought that was why you played along."

I opened my mouth to talk about all the discussion around culture back on Earthside before I flew off into outer space on the Medwin 2. Only that might've been boring and boring Axlin was the last thing I wanted to do. Instead, I blinked up at him. I knew this would happen somewhere on the Starscale worlds. The black star on my chest said as much, but for a moment I couldn't wrap my head around it. Axlin grinned at me as he watched the thoughts roll across my eyes.

"You must like being tied up," Axlin chuckled.

"You left me like this," I laughed, my fingers trembling now that I knew who he was and who he'd be in my life. I traveled across the galaxy to meet him and now my brain was refusing to function and making an ass out of me.

"They're not strong ropes. Couldn't hold a horse," Axlin laughed. "Maybe you just like waiting on me."

He crossed the room and squatted down behind my chair to free me. A scuffle sounded in the hallway, and he stood up, both our heads turning toward the door.

"Fucking Moonys," someone shouted outside and I sprang to my feet. I had pinged the guys to pay attention after all. Then I went silent on them. Shit! Shit! Shit!

Axlin beat me to the door and didn't seem bothered by wrenching it open naked and half-hard.

"Castor?!" It was Sunny's voice that reached my ears first.

"He's not that tied up right now," Axlin chuckled, and I ducked under his arm as Sunny drew back his fist.

"Oh! Shit! Were you trying to tell us you met him? It felt like a distress signal," Sunny said as Teddy caught up with him.

"It's cool, Max," Axlin waved away a dragon in a security uniform. "Family squabble, apparently."

Teddy turned his back to the door flushing at Axlin's naked body and his cock still half hard. For a second I wondered if he forgot the black cod scale no longer adored his crotch, but this was the purple district and nudity was the norm.

"Can we have a minute?" I looked from Axlin to the security guard still waiting in the hall.

"He yours?" Max asked Axlin over my head.

"All mine it seems," Axlin smirked. "Let them know for the calendar."

"If I hear one angry shout, they're both out of here, Ax," Max said before walking away.

"If you yell at him I'm okay with it," Axlin said to me. "If he yells at you, well, let's not see that happen."

"Do NOT threaten my dragons," I turned to Axlin. "I am the captain of the Medwin 2 and what happens between me, and my dragons is none of your business."

Axlin held up both hands as he stepped back into his dressing room.

"He's inside now, Teddy," I sighed.

Teddy and Sunny were the youngest of the Medwin 2's crew. They were almost night and day to each other but had become fast friends in some athletic league back home on Earthside. Teddy was softer, more emotionally intelligent, more like his carrier, now deceased. Sunny was loud, boisterous, and everything you'd expect a child of our flight leaders to be.

I didn't speak again until Teddy turned to join the conversation.

"Thank you both for coming to check on me," I said, keeping my tone level despite how badly I wanted to crash through the dressing room door back to Axlin. "We had a little cultural misunderstanding, and he was, at first, wearing their form of pheromone blocker spray. That shit's really good. Teddy, you ask around and find out how they do it or where it comes from. Sunny, I'd prefer if this stayed between us. There's no reason for the world to know what transpired here this evening."

"Why aren't you telling him that?" Sunny smirked and jerked his thumb in Teddy's direction.

"He has his mother's grace. You have your sire's affection for knowing the story first. You may inform the crew that I have met my true-mate and may be absent some days. All the rules are still in effect."

"So, only the captain can break them and let's say come to a strip club in the purple district?" Sunny arched a brow.

"We will discuss the rules further upon my return. Casimir is in charge while I'm away."

Sunny wrinkled his nose at me. Casimir and Sunny grated each other the wrong way sometimes and I knew why, but that was a problem for another day. Once upon a time Casimir was Sunny – full of life and the idea that nothing bad would ever happen to him.

"Don't look at me like that," I shook my head. "Get home. No stops."

"We will," Teddy said.

"He doesn't want to have any fun," Sunny rolled his eyes at us both.

Teddy didn't argue about not wanting to have fun. He liked to have fun as much as the next guy. The purple district just wasn't his scene.

"I'm sorry for the false alarm, Teddy," I said, ignoring Sunny instead of feeding into the dramatic discussion he wanted.

"No problem, Castor. I'd rather fly out here for a false alarm than have something happen to you. You have your phone in case something happens with the link, right?" Teddy asked, forever, the mother hen of the group.

"I do."

"Do I need to send Izora with anything for you?"

"Why would I need---" I stopped midsentence realizing he was attempting to politely ask me if I needed or wanted Izora to tend to my birth control needs.

"Thanks, but I'm fine. If something comes up, I'll let you all know. I hate to put it on you, but don't let him fall, slip, and land with someone on his dick on the way home. Not here. If he wants to date, he can use an app or something."

"How long are you gonna play daddy?" Sunny asked.

"Long enough to keep you from repopulating the world with tiny baby Clarence Moonscales," I said and clapped Sunny on the shoulder. "Remember what I said. You can date. Just not in this district. We don't know enough."

"Hey," Teddy said as Sunny turned to leave.

"Yeah, Teddy?" I asked, trying not to sound as if impatience thrummed in my veins.

"How'd your meeting with Hush go?" Teddy asked.

"He's neutral, I think," I shrugged. "He says if someone wants to help with the Other World gateway mission they could. He didn't put limits on who we might ask as Clarance would've. He just doesn't want to have anything to do with it apparently."

"Since Elio got us here maybe he doesn't want to take the spotlight away from his nephew."

"I hope that's what it is. An indifferent leader can't be easy to live under," I sighed. "You guys get home before dark."

"Do I tell Casimir he's nice? You know he's going to ask."

"Tell Casimir the truth. Only Casimir and only Teddy," I said as Sunny looked back over his shoulder at me. "I don't need him having one of his days."

"You got it," Teddy grinned at me and looped his arm through Sunny's to tug him away.