Chapter 16

Eli

Aldryn was spoiling me, that much was for sure. I couldn't help but fall even more in love with him. I knew that eventually, we would have to talk about the future, about where we would live, what we would do for jobs. But for right now, I wanted to pretend that this was our home, our real one, and that we were staying here. The place was just perfect. The pack was friendly, the neighborhood was gorgeous, and even this little house seemed to fit us perfectly.

We had been there for five days—five glorious days of waking up next to my mate, eating dinners together, and preparing food together. Well, mostly Aldryn preparing food for me, which was what he was doing at that moment.

He seemed to prefer to feed me cut-up fruits and cheeses and feed them to me by hand. This way he ensured that I was eating.

Eventually, we needed to resume our search for his brothers and figure out what our next steps were. I had a feeling that he was feeling the same contentedness that I was.

I pulled out my laptop and fired it up. I wanted to get more information about the area that we were in. I had put it off for too long. If Aldryn suspected that his brothers were close by, or something about his past was close by, we needed to figure out what that something was. I checked my email first. Of course, I had an email from the pack where I had applied for a teaching position. I opened the email.

"Dear Eli, we regret to inform you that..."

Dammit. Not that I had wanted that job. I mean, I did, but so much had changed since I had applied for it. The job would have taken me away from Aldryn, and I couldn't make decisions about my future without considering him now. We were mates.

Mates. I could hardly believe it.

My dream had come true.

At the bottom of my rejection email was a note from the individual I had interviewed with.

"If you are still looking for a teaching position, while this one has been filled, I do know that my brother-in-law's pack is searching for a teacher." He included a link to the information. I recognized the name immediately. It was the pack Alpha we had already met, the very pack that we were staying with.

It was an omen. It had to be.

"Everything all right?" Aldryn asked, setting a plate of cut-up fruit down next to my laptop. He was constantly feeding me little snacks like this. I grabbed the papaya and popped it in my mouth.

"I told you about how I applied for a teaching position, right?"

"Yeah. Did you hear back?" He pushed a full glass of ice water toward me. Keeping me hydrated was another thing he was obsessed with. I wasn't sure if it was a dragon thing or a mated-alpha thing.

I nodded. "They found someone else, but they did give me a lead for a different job."

"Where's that at?"

"Here," I said. "In the pack territory we're currently residing in."

Aldrin bit his lip. "I know we haven't really talked about it, but you should apply. I like it here, don't you?"

"I love it. But that's a big decision."

"You know we're not going back to our home pack, Eli. Not after knowing how your aunt treated you. I'm not taking you back there. Their fucked-up class system is atrocious, and that's not how I want to raise our children."

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of children. I would have to circle back to that. "What about your mom? We can't leave her."

"Maybe she would want to move wherever we are."

That would make sense. Besides his mom, there was nothing else tying us to that pack. Aldryn gripped my hand. "I can sense that you want to do this. You love teaching, Eli, and you're good at it. Put in your application. Hell, you could call him right now, do an interview in person." He pulled out his phone like he was going to actually call the alpha.

I placed my hand over his. "I don't think it'll go that quickly."

"It could. I have his number."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, dragon. I'll put in an application."

"What are the odds that our landlord would sell us this house?"

"You can't be serious." We had already asked Toby if we could stay longer, and he had been more than happy to allow it. Buying the place would be an entirely different story.

"I'm totally serious. I like the house. It feels like home to me. Don't you think so?"

"Well, yeah, but Aldryn…we haven't talked about this and maybe we should have."

"I know. I definitely should have been more clear about my intentions. You're my mate. I love you. I want to be with you. And if our future is here, that's great."

"I feel the same way. I like this area. They would have to know that you're a dragon." Bringing up that subject was another thing we hadn't discussed. As far as I could tell, no one suspected Aldryn was anything but a regular shifter, even if they couldn't quite place his animal.

"That's true. We would have to come clean about that. I don't think it'll be a problem." Aldryn leaned back on the couch and pulled me to him. The research I planned to do on my laptop was long forgotten. I settled into his embrace.

"I know it would be a problem at home. You're sure about this?" I tipped my head up to look at him.

He kissed me on my nose. "More sure about this than most things."

I grinned. "All right," I said. "I'll apply."

Reluctantly, I left his embrace to grab my laptop again. I quickly opened my resume and cover letter, changing them slightly to match the new job, and hit send.

"We're doing this," I said.

"We are," Aldryn said. "I love you so much. Now, since we're probably going to stay here, I suppose I should get on with that search for my brothers. Are you up for a hike through the forest? I really think I'm going to find answers there. I don't know what answers, but I think that's where I'll find information."

I squeezed his hand. "Whatever you need, mate. I'm here for you." I kissed him.

He pulled me closer, his hand snaking under my shirt. His fingertips teased against my skin. "Then again, we can always go tomorrow."

I laughed, and I playfully slapped his chest. "No, we need to go. We should have gone yesterday."

"All right, you're right," he said.

"I love you too, Aldryn. I don't think I've said that enough. Not to you. Goddess knows I practiced saying it to you. I have loved you for a very long time."

"I'm sorry that I didn't see it."

"I think we needed your dragon to awaken."

"Indeed we did."