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Arden gazed at his mother and nodded. Whatever she had up her sleeve, he hoped it was the solution that they needed. He was already missing the chaotic team of misfits that were waiting for him in their rooms.
When did he get this attached?
* * *
“I’mglad we could all come to an agreement,” his mother said as she stopped outside of a room. “This is best for everyone.”
Arden nodded. “I think so too. We all get what we want.”
She smiled. “Of course. See? I always tell you that compromise is the way to go.” She sighed softly. “It’s been a long day. Why don’t you talk to your mates, get something to eat, and relax? We’re all going to want to celebrate with you.”
The urge to groan was strong, but Arden resisted. There was no way out of it. After being gone for all those long years, the kingdom would insist on celebrating. And by celebrating, Arden knew they’d all have hangovers that not even dragons could handle the day after. If there was one thing dragons loved to do, it was party and drink on any happy occasion that they could find.
“Alright,” Arden said, nodding at his mother. “I should go and talk to the rest of those troublemakers first,” he said as he thought out loud. They were going to want answers. “We’ll gather in the old study down-”
She waved a hand and grabbed the knob of the door on her right. “No need.” She pushed it open and grinned at him. “I had everyone moved to one room.”
Arden’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
He stared into the room. There was a giant bed and all of his hosts and guards were strewn out over it like a bunch of chatty teenagers at a sleepover. He glared at his mother.
“Where did the bed come from?”
“I had some of the employees push two of the huge ones together and reinforce it. Figured you would need a lot of space,” she said with a wink. “Welcome home, Ardoneous.”
“Mother.”
Her laughter echoed through the halls as she glided away, looking ethereal and not like the insane agent of chaos that she was. Arden pinched the bridge of his nose and turned back toward the room. Every last one of them was now sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at him.
“What is going on?” Spooky asked.
“Yeah, I’m starting to get suspicious,” Eldon chimed in, arms folded over his chest. “Between your brother, all the secrets, and this place.” He waved a hand around. “Feels like something’s up.”
“And what was that mates shit?” Bash growled.
“I want to know about that too.” Gamble swaggered over and raised a brow at Arden. “What are you hiding?”
Micha fiddled with his fingers, his big eyes turned up at Arden expectantly.
As he looked at each of them Arden felt his chest tighten.They were all worried about him.He could see it on their faces even when they tried to hide it. Arden thought about how many times he’d secretly longed to be cared about the way that they cared about him. Each time he struck the thought down before it could fully form.
But there they were, peering at him. Waiting for answers. The men that he didn’t want to be away from ever again. The goddamn demons that had made their way into his heart when he didn’t even realize it. He hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself before, but now that he’d straightened things out with his kingdom…they were the next pressing matter.
“Calm down,” Arden said as he grabbed Gamble’s arm and redirected him to the bed. “Sit.” Once the witch reluctantly sat down he stepped back and looked at all of them. “Sorry,” Arden ground out. “Things have been all over the place, but I know you guys want answers.” Arden walked over to the vanity table and dragged a heavy wooden chair over to the bed. He sat down and gazed at each of their expectant faces.
“I’m getting married.”
“What!” Spooky jumped up, his face going red. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You’re fucking shitting me,” Gamble snapped. “Where the hell did this come from? Married, seriously?”
Eldon’s lips tipped downward. “To…who?”
“That’s your question?” Bash growled. “To who? Who cares to who? Unless we’re ripping them apart.”
“Enough!” Arden barked. “Sit down or I’ll stop talking. Now!”
Spooky dropped to the floor immediately and Gamble plopped onto the bed. Sighing, Arden pushed his fingers through his salt and pepper hair and blew out a breath.
