Page 39 of Chasing Dawn

Franklin pressed his forehead against hers. “That’s what she said,” he murmured reverently. I slapped him on the back of the head out of habit, even though I was glad he made our girl laugh.

“Idiot,” Talbot said fondly, and then he shifted into his bear form. I shifted next, and the appreciation in her gaze made my bear ruffle his fur proudly.

She turned into the most beautiful little white wolf and let out a yip, racing into the woods. As we lumbered after her, I knew I’d chase her anywhere. My Dawn.

CHAPTER 25

FRANKLIN

Isat back as Shirley Sue expertly tended to the tomato plants in front of her. They seemed to be bigger than the others and more laden with fruit. She looked at Ellison and his ragged little plant, and while she didn’t gloat, she definitely gave him a smug expression.

Ellison was young, but he was a serious kid. He’d be the next Alpha, if that was what he wanted, but he had years left without that kind of pressure. Vance would never force any of them into it. Hell, even Shirley Sue would make a great leader, and we’d had matriarch Alphas before.

There were options, and it didn’t matter to me, Vance, or anyone else that they weren’t directly related to the current Alpha. As if to prove my point, Shirley Sue gestured to some of the branches. “You have to snip some of these shoots so the plant can concentrate on growing fruit. You want to keep every little branch, but sometimes, you have to snip the bad ones so the plant can help the good ones become strong.”

Yeah, maybe Shirley Sue wouldn’t be a bad Alpha at all.

I looked over at Dawn, and she was smiling happily. We’d started with an afternoon gardening club soon after we’d gotten back from her former pack land, and she enjoyed it. The kids enjoyed it too, though Ellison was glaring a little more than necessary at his plant.

I enjoyed watching her with the cubs. She was so sweet and soft. She taught, gently corrected, and was just genuinely happy being surrounded by these tiny furballs of terror.

It had started with five cubs, but now there were almost fifteen. Some were here for extra outdoor time, others were just enamored by my Omega, and some were here for the snacks, but they all learned something.

“Okay, guys! Time’s up.” There were a few groans around the room. “Next week we’re going to start germinating some seedlings for the farm. Whoever gets the most seedlings to sprout gets a full honey cake to themselves.”

There were whoops of joy because we were nothing if not cliché, and bears loved honey cakes.

They bustled out, and I watched them head toward the mouth of the den. Although guard duty wasn’t really necessary, I liked to sit out here with Dawn and the cubs, just in case. When the last ones were back in the den, I walked over to the love of my life.

I lifted her up and put her on the potting bench. “I think I have a teacher fantasy now, sunrise. I need you to tell me that I’m the cleverest boy you’ve ever seen.”

Her eyes flashed with heat, and she grinned. “Don’t be weird,” she chided, kissing me softly. “But you are a good boy.”

Fuck. New kink unlocked.

The radio on my hip buzzed. “Hey, Franklin, are you still with Dawn?” Talbot’s voice was crackly and made him sound like Darth Vader.

Sighing, I kissed her softly as I pulled my radio from my belt. “Yeah. We just wrapped up dirt school.”

She slapped my chest, but I grinned at her.

“Can you both come to Vance’s office? Alexander’s here.”

My eyes went wide, and Dawn’s mouth slid open. “Alexander Alexander? The convocation member is here? In the den?” she hissed, and I shrugged.

I cleared my throat, because now Talbot’s odd tone made sense. “We’ll be right there.”

Fuck.

I lifted Dawn down from the bench, and she dusted the soil from her pants. She wore an apron, but she had been playing in the dirt with a bunch of kids for the last forty-five minutes. She was so far from clean, it was adorable.

“Do I have time to wash up?” she asked softly as we locked the greenhouse, just so none of the kids got the bright idea to come in and play with shit themselves.

I wanted to tell her yes, but Alexander was a dragon, and a powerful one at that, and he wasn’t the kind of being you kept waiting.

She took my hesitation as a no. Sighing, she rubbed her face with her sleeve, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her she made the dirt smears worse. I leaned down and kissed her, stroking some of it off her cheek. “You look beautiful. Like a goddess.”

Rolling her eyes at me, she continued to scrub at her cheeks. “I’m a mess, but that’s okay. Not like the convocation member didn’t already know that.”