Chapter 7
Sai
“This is fucked up, Marco,” I hissed as I paced back and forth in the bastard’s office. He worked from home most days and today was no exception. It was also due to the work being done in our seventh bedroom because everyone agreed Maya should have her own space.
That trailer thing wasn’t going to last.
Dragons were protective and possessive by nature, so her situation was like chewing nails for us. I swallowed as he looked over her lack of history and the situation at hand.
“She has four days,” Marco grunted. “We can’t take her away before that.”
“Her back was flogged!” I yelled as Atlas winced.
Marco’s eyes flashed darkly as his dragon forced out a snarl at my outburst. I felt mine give a huff at his dominance before I threw myself down into a chair. This was fucking stupid.
“We just need to keep her here as much as possible,” Marco murmured after a deep breath, “I don’t want her to live there either, but until she is eighteen, we can’t do anything. I don’t think her mom would push anything legally but I would rather not risk it.”
“How do we even know that is her birthday?” I growled.
Atlas sighed, “we don’t. When she turns eighteen she will realize who her mates are, which is convenient for the group of us, but will probably really freak her out. I don’t even want to think about what the hell we are going to do about the mating heat…”
Marco put his head down, “I didn’t even think about that. We need to figure out what she is. Do either of you have any leads?”
Of course, we fucking didn’t.
My entire body stilled as the door downstairs closed and voice rose up. Without a second thought, I was moving down the stairs to see Maya. It was difficult to control myself around her and it didn’t help when she flashed me a brilliant smile.
“How was your day?” I asked her before grasping her jaw gently.
“Good,” she chirped while leaning into me, “very good. Oh! My friend Jordan mentioned something though and the twins refuse to explain. Henry went all quiet and so I’ve been throwing out theories the entire drive from school.”
Henry shook his head and threw himself down on the couch as the twins went towards the kitchen. Marco was next to me and pressing a kiss to the top of her head before offering me a look at what clearly was curiosity and amusement. What was she asking that made them so damn uncomfortable?
“What was the question?” Marco asked lightly.
Before either of us could respond, Atlas made his way downstairs and Maya offered a massive smile, slipping between us. Now, it goes without saying that Atlas is scary. Legitimately terrifying, so when Maya all but threw herself in his arms, it had both Marco and me pausing.
He picked her up so she was sitting right on his crossed forearms before tossing us a wink.Bastard.I followed after as Marco stole her away and we sat down on the couch, Maya’s slight form tucked against him. My hands twitched to hold her, but there was no getting her away from Marco right now.
“Maya was told by Jordan McFury about shifters in passing, she would like to know more,” Henry drawled looking amused and stressed. My lip twitched because I could tell this entire situation, the chaos of it, bothered him. I liked messing with Henry a bit, I couldn’t lie.
Marco made a low sound and twisted Maya so she was facing everyone, leaning against the sofa’s armrest. My eyes flickered down to her long lean legs. Don’t get me wrong, I knew in the human world 18 was an important age, but I can tell you as a 19-year-old dragon, I didn’t give a fuck. So I didn’t feel bad about appreciating how fucking gorgeous the woman was. Plus, if we wanted to go by legal standards, Washington’s age of consent was 16.
I did scowl at Ledger’s hoodie she was wearing, I have better sweaters than that.
“What do you want to know about shifters?” Marco asked looking genuinely confused about where to start.
She frowned and then grinned, “well what type of shifters are you? Better yet, what’s a shifter? Why did Jordan say she was a wolf? I mean, do you just pick which animal you like and pretend to be it? If so I’m totally gunning for a house cat. I looked up the phrase and everything, it meansI’m aiming for it or trying to get it.”
Anani burst out laughing and Henry threw himself back, muttering a curse.
“Gunning?” Atlas asked amused.
“Jordan said Becky Ash was gunning for you all,” she chirped. “I mean, I don’t want to be mean but she seemed very rude. I’m not a fan.”
I shook my head as Marco seemed to rationalize what she was saying. Fucking Becky Ash.
“Henry?” Marco rose a brow.