Page 1 of The Nesting Life

Chapter 1

Voron

Hemlock Wolf Pack Territory (Star’s Territory)

Five years ago, when my family moved from Mage Street to my brother’s territory to have more space, I knew it meant I’d see a lot of his family. Which was part of the point. Our other clutch mate, Creg, had already moved here over a decade before that. Our family had its own little neighborhood and it wasn’t uncommon to stumble upon large, outdoor nests. That’s where I was now. Somehow between Simon’s guard duty and my research we ended up without any kids at home. We weren’t as prolific child producers as some of my siblings, but there was almost always a kid in the house. Except for the last few years, that was only true when one of our adult children dropped by or a grandkid came to spend the weekend or a week over their summer holiday. Unless you counted Star and Zeke’s kids. Creg was a lifelong bachelor – so far. I always said so far because I didn’t want to jinx him.

Fate must’ve decided we waited too long between pregnancies because I was sitting on four eggs. We hadn’t had such an occurrence since our first children, Anthony, Ignatio, Mars, and Mercury were born. Our first four were also our most frequent visitors. None of them had met their true-mates or taken chosen mates. Not that I blamed them on the last part. I had waited for Simon for years before he stumbled through the wrong death door, riddled with arrows and dosed with enough Meadow Berry poison to take out a small army.

My dragon and I were pondering what to make for our weekly Friday evening dinner with the quads when I smelled Raziel. He was the son of Star and Zeke. He was one of the quieter kids. Simon always said he wore the expression of a much older dragon and he wasn’t wrong. Raziel always looked like he had something on his mind.

He crept into view, moving slowly, afraid I was asleep. I almost closed my eyes and pretended to slumber but he smelled more worried than usual. So, slipping a long, scale-covered forearm under myself I rotated my eggs and turned my head in his direction.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked over our family link.

Raziel sighed. I wasn’t a cold person, but over the years Simon and I had figured out that he was much better at comforting sighing people. If someone told me what was the matter with them, I could fix it or at least listen until they could deal with the unchangeable, but if someone sighed at me or wanted me to poke it out of them, it grated my scales.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked again, hoping Raziel hadn’t heard me.

“It’s complicated,” he said.

“That’s what the young always say. I might be old but that means I’ve spent more time in complicated situations,” I told him, patting the edge of my nest with my tail to invite him to sit down.

Raziel hopped up on the side and leaned back against me. I was careful not to move and send him toppling into the nest. Though, maybe the drop would give him some time to think about how many minutes he wasted not asking for help.

“He’s young. Give him time to brood. It’s not like we’re going anywhere, anytime soon,” my dragon chimed into my thoughts with a yawn.

“Do you remember Gordon?” he asked me.

I blinked. Yes, I remembered Gordon. He wanted to mate with my carrier, but he wanted nothing to do with him. Then he tried to steal my Simon’s life force to stay alive unnaturally.

“Yes,” was all I said over the family link.

“Would you forgive him if he stood before you?” Raziel asked.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” I asked him.

“Gordon isn’t back, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Raziel sighed. “It’s probably a better comparison to ask if you’d forgive Floria.”

I almost said I wouldn’t forgive her if she was the last person on Earthside but thought better of it. People rarely asked questions like that for the sake of the person mentioned.

“Do you need forgiveness for something, Raziel?”

“Not from you so much. I don’t think anyway.”

“Is this a riddle? Did you land on another car?” I asked.

“I was twelve when that happened!” he laughed aloud. “But no, I didn’t land on another car.”

Neither of us said anything for a long time and I didn’t push the issue. It was well known that Raziel remembered one of his previous lives. None of us knew who he was or what he was going on about most of the time, but we loved him anyway. I imagined my family felt much the same when I talked about what went on in my lab.

Raziel always acted dark and broody about it but I couldn’t imagine the kind young dragon I knew to be any monster comparative to Floria. Gordy-Gordon maybe, but not Floria.

“Do we have healer-patient confidentiality?” he asked.

“Are you hurt?” I asked over the family link, sniffing the air and then shoving my snout into the top of his head for a better sniff.

“Hey!” he said, trying to squirm away, but our size difference was to my advantage. I may have been an omega, but I had centuries on my nephew. Even when we were both in draconic form, my age ensured I was larger. “I’m not hurt! But I’m not talking about it until you give me an answer.”