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He cleared his throat. "Can I chat with you both for a second?"
Rhydian's brows shot up at that. "You better start talking."
Maelon told them the main points about meeting the human at a party, sleeping with her, and just now finding out she was pregnant. At the end of it, Delaney asked, "She isn't your true mate, then?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Between the alcohol dulling my senses and no kissing on the mouth, I couldn't tell."
Rhydian stared at him. Hard. "And this is why dragon-shifters shouldn't drink, aye? Now she's pregnant, and you won't be able to tell unless you kiss her because your dragon will be drawn to the child over any true mate pull. But putting that aside for a moment, what does she want to do?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask her."
Delaney narrowed her eyes. "You didn't ask her? Are you serious?"
His dragon sat, smugly, but didn't say anything. His posture alone said, "I told you so."
Ignoring his beast, he replied, "My first concern was for her health. Besides, I didn't know what to say or do. She should probably live with Snowridge until the baby is born, at least, so I can give her my dragon's blood. But is the clan safe for her?"
Even though Delaney was human and lived on Snowridge, she was a former professional boxer who could take care of herself. The human female—Kaylee, he reminded himself—was far more delicate. She was kind, funny, and full of life. That was what had drawn him in the first place.
However, she was also young, probably naïve, and wouldn't be able to knock out someone who tried to hurt her, like Delaney could do. And even if he didn't know Kaylee, he wouldn't risk her life unnecessarily.
Rhydian crossed his arms over his chest. "It should be by now. The rogue Protectors were handed over to the Department of Dragon Affairs, and I've slowly 'retired' the most vocal of the older clan members to the outlying homes, bordering the farms."
Unlike most clans, Snowridge was situated mostly inside a set of mountains. They had a series of outlying farms to help feed the clan, though. And Rhydian had built small cottages in the most unproductive areas to give those who mistrusted humans a place to live without being banished—it was easier to monitor them that way.
Maelon nodded. "Then she should move to Snowridge until the child is born. I'll make sure she survives it."
Delaney asked drolly, "Have you considered the fact she might not want to move to Snowridge and be away from her family? She's only on Lochguard because of her sister, that much I do know. Which probably means she's close to her."
Maelon shrugged. "It's not forever. And I would think she would want her best chance at survival."
Delaney rolled her eyes. "You're brilliant when it comes to medicine, but sometimes you're a bloody eejit, Maelon." She glanced at her mate. "You can deal with him. I'm going to talk to this Kaylee and see what she wants to do."
Maelon was about to protest, but Rhydian said, "Let her go, Maelon. You and I need to talk to Finn. Even if she doesn't want to move to Snowridge, he needs to know about this. Especially if the human does want to stay with us for a bit."
He knew better than to argue with his clan leader, and so they headed toward the cottage where Finn and his mate were staying.
Then he remembered Finn's mate was close to birthing their fourth child. Bloody fantastic. That meant Finn would be less congenial than normal, no doubt.
His dragon spoke up.Maybe try to be nice and follow social niceties for once.
Maelon merely grunted in reply.
Rhydian knocked, and Finn opened it shortly thereafter. As the Scottish clan leader glanced between him and Rhydian, he asked, "What's happened?"
Gesturing toward Maelon, Rhydian answered, "He's the father of Kaylee MacDonald's child."
Finn's eyes widened, his pupils flashing rapidly. "What?"
Rhydian frowned. "You didn't know?"
Finn eyed Maelon closely, his tone steely as he asked, "Did you take advantage of her?"
"No," he replied.
Finn looked unconvinced—maybe there was a story there that he didn't know—and stepped back. "You two had better come inside. We'll chat before I send for Kaylee."
Soon, they all sat and discussed the events. Eventually, Kaylee arrived with Delaney. Since her coloring was better, she must've received her first shot of dragon's blood.
