Chapter 15

Aldryn

I felt incredibly and oddly at ease being this far away from home. I missed my mom and my adopted siblings, but they had all moved on. It had been just my mom and me for a while in the house that had been too big for just the two of us. The only thing holding me at the pack had been Eli, and he was with me.

On the third day that we woke up in our little house together, I was hit once again with a feeling of rightness. We had spent the last few days slowly exploring the town, trying out the diner and the general store. We introduced ourselves to the local Alpha. He had been extremely nice and welcoming, giving us an open invitation to stay as long as we needed. At this point, I would be content to stay forever.

Eli opened his eyes and stretched, letting out the soft little moan that he did each morning. The pillow and blankets that surrounded him were pushed off to the side.

"Good morning, dearest," I said.

He chuckled. "Good morning, my dragon. What shall we do today?"

I shrugged. "Whatever you want. I suppose we could get more groceries."

"We are running low on a few things. Orange juice, maybe pomegranate juice… Oh, maybe—Do they make an orange pomegranate juice?" His eyes were wide, and he sat up like a kid ready for Christmas morning.

"What now?"

"That sounds so good. And some toast. Do we have bread?"

I was having trouble following his train of thought. From what I could gather in my early morning grogginess, my mate was hungry. "Yeah, we have some of that homemade bread that Nancy at the diner gave us."

We had been welcomed by so many, even though we were just staying temporarily. It seemed everywhere we went, people introduced themselves to us and gave us little trinkets of appreciation for visiting. Nancy, a waitress and co-owner of the little diner in town showered us with baked goods.

"How about we go to the store and get some of this juice you're looking for and whatever else we need?"

Eli smiled. "That sounds nice."

It was nice not to have to rush out the door to work, though I missed having a job. Eventually, I would have to think of something that would provide income for me and Eli. Perhaps we would talk with the pack Alpha about a teaching position for Eli. I was certain that we would not be returning to our home pack. Each day the possibility of making this place our permanent home sounded more and more appealing.

"Do you want to check out the park that you saw with the hiking trails?" Eli asked.

"Yes," I said. "Maybe this evening. We don't have to go now."

Eli smiled. "I feel as if we have lost sight of how this quest started, Aldryn. You want to find your dragon brothers. If we need to move on from this town to do that, we can. Though we are going to have some trouble fitting all of our new things in the car."

"I do want to find my brothers," I said. "I still feel that they are close, or I'm close to something. I just don't know what. We don't need to leave." Quite the opposite. I was content to stay.

"Well, I will take your lead on that, then. I go where you go."

I kissed him. "Thank you. Wait, why don't you get dressed? I will get some toast going for you, and you can have the last of the orange juice."

"You spoil me."

He had been telling me that a lot lately, but all I was doing was taking care of him the way that I should. I didn't feel as if I was doing anything special. If anything, he was the one who was special and spoiling me. I got to spend every day in his presence, and that was a gift.

After about twenty minutes, he came downstairs, and the two of us enjoyed some of the homemade bread with a cinnamon-butter spread.

"Would you like some toast with your butter?" Eli asked, gesturing to the thick slice of the butter I had placed on my toast.

"This is good stuff," I said.

"I know it is. I can't believe we've gone through as much as we have."

"We'll pick up more at the diner today," I said.

"Whatever you need."

Eli stood and went to take his plate to the sink. He looked down at himself. "All this sitting around, I feel like I'm packing on the pounds," he said, patting his stomach.

I didn't notice anything different about him except for maybe a slight change to his scent. Perhaps, now that I looked closer, his stomach did seem a little bigger, but he was always on the slender side. Probably because his aunt didn't allow him to eat properly. I could throttle the woman for that. I'd never been the violent type, but if I ever saw her again...

"I'm going to change into my other pants that are stretchier. This waistband feels a little tight."

"Whatever you need, mate."

Once we were out the door and confined to the car, I breathed in the scent of my mate.

"Everything all right?" Eli asked.

"Your scent is different—sweeter. I don't know what that means."

He laughed. "I showered. We have new body wash here that I didn't have before. Do I smell like peaches?"

I shook my head. "No, it is a little citrusy."

"Well, you've been feeding me oranges and orange juice and papaya by the pound. Perhaps that is what it is."

I had been feeding him his favorite fruits. And everything else he could ever want. My dragon wanted to make sure my mate wanted for nothing, and I followed that instinct. "Maybe." Something about his scent felt different. I couldn't put my finger on it.

We were once again at the store getting food. Eli seemed to grab some of the most random things, then he put them back. He picked up a gallon-sized jar of pickles, held it for a moment, then placed it back on the shelf. He did the same thing with a box of frozen corn dogs.

"If you want them, get them," I said. Corn dogs sounded terrible to me, but if Eli wanted them, we would get them.

"I'm going overboard. I don't know why. I'm just hungry. Everything sounds good." As if on cue, his stomach rumbled. Loudly.

"Then get everything." I grabbed the package and put it in our cart.

"You spoil me."

"So you tell me." I kissed his cheek. "I love every minute of it."

After our grocery trip, we went to the diner. Nancy smiled when she saw us. "Here for an early lunch?" she said.

"We are. Do you have any more of that meatloaf and some bacon?" Eli asked.

Nancy laughed. "Hungry little omega, are we? Starving? You better feed this one better, Aldryn. I'm beginning to think you're slacking."

I grinned at the good-natured ribbing. "That's why we came here. I knew you'd take care of us."