The kids were in the living room building a blanket fort while Ledger supervised from the couch with a mug of tea and his laptop open on a cushion beside him. His advisor had been emailing more frequently, and I'd noticed the guilt on his face when he closed his computer without typing anything. If he was behind with his dissertation, it might’ve been my fault because I’d been distracting him morning, noon, and night.
We shared a glance, and I went into the kitchen to slice fruit. The kids weren’t that fussed about eating it, but since Ledger arrived, he’d been encouraging them to try foods of different colors.
“That's my pillow,” Rory was shouting at someone, and I guessed it was his brother. “Give it back.”
“No.”
Ledger suggested the pair share the pillow, but Rory yelled at Fraser to stop it. There was something in this tone that had me pause, and the knife fell from my hand and clattered into the sink.
I shot into the living room as a blast of heat hit me. There was a crackle and flames, and a corner of the blanket fort was on fire.
Fraser was standing in the middle of it with his hands out, and smoke was curling from his palms. I knew what hadhappened. His bracelet must have come off or he’d removed it. He was upset, and his fire had come out the way it did when he couldn't control his emotions.
The blanket was consumed in flames, and Ledger was already off the couch. He grabbed Skye and pulled her backward and was reaching for Rory, but the fire was spreading across the fabric toward the curtain. Fraser was frozen, too scared to move and too young to pull his fire back.
There was no time to worry about my human mate. I did a partial shift so scales appeared on my chest. I shoved past Ledger and scooped Fraser up with one arm. With my free hand, I grabbed the burning blanket and smothered it against my chest. The scales absorbed the heat because that was what they were designed to do.
The fire died against me, and I stamped out the embers on the carpet. Fraser was sobbing against my chest saying, “I’m sorry,Daddy, I didn't mean to.”
“Shhh. I know. It’s okay.”
A small flame was licking up the edge of the curtain, and I could have grabbed it and smothered that too but it was climbing fast and Rory was too close. I exhaled and the fire in my lungs answered. This wasn’t a full shift, the house was too small, but I let my dragon out enough that my breath came out hot.
I drew the flame from the curtain how I'd taught Rory to call fire back into his chest. The flame peeled away from the fabric and dissolved, and the room was quiet except for Fraser's crying and the hiss of singed carpet.
Hugging my little boy, I told him we’d learn more techniques to control his flames. This was one of the reasons why other shifters feared us or weren’t comfortable around dragon shifters.
Though we didn’t meet our beast until adolescence, we could produce fire, often with disastrous consequences, hence why the kids wore their bracelets which bled off the fire.Ours were madeof leather with a tiny charm attached. Wearing them wasn’t about stifling their desires or abilities, it was to keep them and everyone else safe.
When I finally turned around, Ledger was standing by the couch holding Skye, and Rory was pressed against his side. He'd saved them both, but his pale cheeks and trembling hands suggested he was the one who needed saving.
The room smelled like smoke and burned fabric, and I didn’t have the words to explain to my mate who we were and what he’d witnessed.
“What was that?” Ledger screeched.
My children were watching me, one of whom was cradled in my arms. How I handled this affected them too, not just me and Ledger.
“I can explain.” Oh my gods, that was what every bad guy said after they’d committed a horrific crime on TV.
“You breathed on the fire and it went out.” He wrapped both arms around Skye and rested his chin on her shoulder as if he was anchoring himself to her. “And you got—no, had—no, changed… you developed scales.” His eyes were so wide, as though they were propped open with toothpicks.
“Ledger, please sit.”
What good is that?my dragon scoffed.
“I’m fine standing.”
He wasn’t, because he was swaying and about to topple over.
With no buildup or rehearsed speech, I summarized who we were. “My children and I are dragon shifters. We all have dragons inside us, though my children can’t shift into their dragon form yet. We have fire and claws and wings.”
“That’s why the house is hot, Ledger,” Rory offered.
“Yes, it’s because our internal temperature runs much higher than a human’s.”
“Dragons.” With one arm holding my daughter, Ledger took Rory’s hand and sat on the couch.
Even though he must have been scared, he was still protective and loving toward my children.
