“She’s a sweetheart. And their daughters are Bear shifters, but they can manipulate flames as well.”
“Kind of like my buddy back home. His mother is an Ice Dragon and his father is a Grizzly Bear. He is a Bear shifter, but can breathe fire at your ass if pushed far enough.”
“I’m guessing he’s Ms. Delilah’s son,” Richie asked.
“Yes! And Kaid’s,” Remi said.
“We met her and let me tell you, we think the world of her.”
“As do we,” Remi said. “Aunt Delilah is a creature unto herself.”
“That’s how we feel about Anahla, but she’s the calmest, gentlest soul you’d ever meet, unless you threaten her or hers.”
“I can’t say the same about Delilah, but we do love her dearly.”
Richie laughed as he thought of those he hadn’t mentioned yet. “Roman is a Silverback Gorilla shifter, and his mate, Talie, is human.”
Remi shook his head in awe. “That’s just so freaking cool. I met him briefly at my cousin, Havoc’s, wedding. I really liked him. Got a good feeling from him. He’s got a son, right?”
“Yeah, and he’s a Silverback shifter, too. His name is Cruz and he is freaky smart. He’s in college and taking the basics, but loading up on all the criminal justice and law classes he can get into being he’s only a freshman. He’s looking at shifting into Pre Law as soon as the basics are out of the way.”
“A lawyer in the family! They must be really proud,” Remi said.
“Oh, yeah. We all are. But he’s thinking a judge. Law degree is needed for that.”
“Impressive.”
“He is an impressive young man. And they have a daughter, too, who is human. She’s a social worker and I think I mentioned it before, she only lives here part time.”
“Yeah, I think you did.”
“You know Riley and Maia, obviously, because they’re part of your family from back home. Sebastian as you know is a Wolf shifter, and Cristie, but I don’t need to go there, you know her much better than we do.”
Remi smiled.
“I think I’ve filled you in on everybody. We were all given the heads up that you were coming, so they’re expecting you.They all know you’re a fire Dragon. Only advice I’ll even attempt to give you is to step softly where Cristie is concerned. We all raised her and feel like she’s ours, too.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m here to prove myself and hopefully show her that our bond can be saved. Not to force her to accept me.”
“I know. I’ve figured that out, and I’ll be sure to let the others know that, too. I’m going to get out of your hair and let you get the rest of your things in here. You should have anything you need in here, except dairy, but I have plenty of extra at my house. I’ll bring a few things over for you since you didn’t get get a chance to get to the store today.”
“You don’t have to do that. I can get whatever I need tomorrow sometime,” Remi answered.
“Naw, just give me a minute. I’ll be right back.” Richie went out the back door and set out toward his house.
Remi picked up his bag and his box and walked into the living room, turning on his lights and looking around. The house had vinyl plank flooring that gave the appearance and texture of hard wood without the problems of having to maintain hard wood. The walls were a soft neutral color that wasn’t really white, but wasn’t really beige either. The furniture was a combination dark brown wood with cream colored textures accented with green throw pillows, dark shelving, and golden accents here and there in knickknacks and picture frames. “Nice,” Remi said to himself as he set the box down on the dark brown coffee table and took the framed family picture out of the top of the box before walking over and putting it on one of the shelves of the entertainment center to the right of the large television that took center stage in the middle of the unit.
The purr of a high-performance engine caught his attention outside, so he walked over to the window to look out. There was a bright red Ferrari Portofino sitting inside Riley’s fenced inproperty, waiting for the gate to open. Once it opened, the sports car pulled forward, but came to a stop — presumably to make sure the gate closed behind it — before pulling out onto the road and driving away.
Remi’s Dragon surged forward, his orange eyes easily seeing through the heavily tinted windows to see Cristie sitting in the passenger side. She was laughing as a dog leaned forward between the seats and licked her face. The driver stared into the rear view, watching the gate, but was scratching the dog’s head and smiled as he glanced at Cristie, then into the rear view again.
Ours,his Dragon hissed in his mind.
Remi did his best to control the creature who wanted to snatch her out of the car and set it afire along with the male driving.
Save dog,the Dragon said condescendingly.
Remi smiled coldly.Yes, we’ll save the dog.
