Searching for Thanksgiving (Dragonlings of Valdier)

Chapter 2

2

“ W ar? How the hell did we go from training bras to war?” Zoran demanded.

Vox flashed his teeth, shifted one hand into his leopard’s paw, and dangled the dainty pink bra from his sharp claws like a battle banner. Ha’ven bit back a growl. It took everything in him not to snatch his daughter’s brassiere from the man’s claws.

“I’ll tell you how. I’ve got two daughters. You’ll understand better when Aurora gets older! If you think I’m going to let some horny dragon or lightbulb-glowing Curizan near them, you can think twice! If we are at war, then that will take care of it,” Vox snarled.

The door behind them suddenly opened. Ha’ven muttered a curse, grabbed Alice’s bra, and stuffed it into his pocket. All the men stood. Well, all of them except Trelon who continued to recline as if he didn’t have a care in the world—at least until he noticed that it was his mate standing in the doorway. He straightened with alarm.

“What’s wrong? Have the girls escaped? They haven’t blown anyone up, have they?” Trelon asked.

“Not this time, but I’m afraid James might have. Riley just called to tell me that she heard an explosion and squeals in the garden.” Cara paused and looked around at the men with a suspicious expression. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Ha’ven said with a glare of warning at the other men.

“We aren’t doing anything,” Creon hastily agreed.

“Just going over some new plans,” Mandra added with a grin.

“Ha’ven and Vox are declaring war,” Trelon responded.

“War?” She snorted. “I seriously doubt that Emma and Riley would agree with that.”

“Riley can’t keep me from going to war if I want to go to war,” Vox muttered.

Ha’ven snorted. Vox shot him a heated glare, and Ha’ven looked innocently down at the tips of his boots. He grimaced when Trelon continued.

“It wasn’t the girls. They can’t blame this on us this time. Ha’ven just figured out that Alice is growing up. He found her training bra,” Trelon replied with a grin.

Ha’ven ran his hand down his face when Cara choked out a laugh and looked at him. He could feel his face heating. He was thankful that he had retrieved Alice’s bra; and that, Emma wasn’t here to witness his fatherly meltdown.

Everything will be alright. You can’t keep Alice little forever.

A low groan slipped from him when Emma’s amused voice rang through his mind. He should have known she would immediately connect with him the second she sensed he was losing control.

I can try, he silently responded.

Emma’s soft laughter filtered through his mind. Can you please try without going to war? I really love coming here, and Alice would be heartbroken if she couldn’t see her friends.

I guess, he grudgingly agreed.

Thank you. I love you. So does Alice… just… don’t let her know you have been showing off her new bra. We don’t want her to go to war with you .

Ha’ven grimaced and curled his fingers around the soft fabric in his pocket. The last thing he wanted to deal with was an embarrassed, outraged teenager with phenomenal powers! He sighed and plopped down into his chair with a resigned grunt.

It took a moment for him to realize that everyone in the room had grown silent and was watching him with an expectant expression. He grimaced again and shook his head.

“I guess going to war isn’t a solution,” he grudgingly agreed before he sent another heated glare at Kelan. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be keeping my eye on Alice!”

“Well, now that we’ve settled this growing pain, I believe Dulce and Cara needed some assistance with the new ride they were working on for the fall festival,” Paul said, pushing back against the table and rising.

“Thank you, Paul,” Cara said with a laugh.

Ha’ven leaned back in his chair as the group rose one at a time and shuffled out of the room. He steepled his fingers and moodily stared through the glass partition at the activity on the other side without really seeing it. He relaxed when he felt Emma’s soothing touch again.

Bálint is wonderful, and you think of Kelan as a brother. Can you think of anyone who would be better for Alice?

What if he breaks her heart?

Emma’s sigh washed over him. Why don’t we wait to see what happens? We still have a few years before we need to worry.

A few years!

“Hey, Ha’ven. You wouldn’t be interested in helping Viper and me, would you?” Trelon asked from the doorway.

He turned in his seat and raised an eyebrow. “What do you need?”

Trelon gave him a crooked grin. “How good are you at repairing trees?”