A Dragonling's Magical Christmas

Chapter 1-3

Vox glared at Ha’ven, who shrugged his shoulders and stepped a touch further away from him. Why did everyone always think it was his fault when something went wrong? Just because he was the one holding the wires when the electrical panel caught on fire didn’t mean he was the one who had shorted it out.

“Don’t blame me,” Vox retorted, jerking his head toward Ha’ven. “Mr. I-can-give-it-a-boost here is the one to blame. I want a new partner! He almost blew me up.”

“Vox, is that you I’m smelling?” Riley called down. “I have to tell you, sweetheart, burnt cat hair stinks!”

“I know, Riley! It isn’t like it is the first time I’ve almost been blown up, woman,” Vox growled up at her. “Ha’ven almost roasted my balls.”

“TMI, as Ariel would say, Vox,” Mandra chuckled. “Roasted cat nuts isn’t the visual picture I want stuck in my head for the rest of the night.”

“Toasted kitty nuggets,” Creon laughed.

“Baked cat balls,” Zoran chuckled, glancing up at Vox’s hair with a raised eyebrow. “Is that smoke coming from your hair?”

“It does look like his hair might still be smoldering,” Kelan teased.

Kelan released a curse when a flash of white fur suddenly landed next to him. Glancing upward to the second story balcony, he stared into Trisha’s worried eyes. His eyes softened before he followed her gaze to where Riley now stood on the soft grass, staring anxiously at Vox.

Vox turned just as Riley leapt over the small flowerbed lining the walkway. His arms rose as the beautiful white tiger shifted and fell into his arms. A low purr escaped him when her hands frantically touched his slightly singed hair.

“Riley, I’m okay,” Vox promised, lifting his hands to grab hers. “It was just a small fire.”

“You big lummox,” Riley retorted in a husky voice. “What about your…?”

The sounds of husky male laughter echoed as Vox silenced her other concern. It was several long minutes before Vox released Riley’s lips. When he did, it was to scowl down at her in disapproval.

“Wait a minute. Did you just jump from the second story balcony?” he demanded.

“They said you were on fire,” Riley snapped back. “You smell like you’ve been lit with a torch? What the hell were you doing?”

"It wasn’t me,” Vox retorted, turning to briefly glare at Ha’ven again. “It was Ha’ven. I just held the wires, he was the one doing the glowing thing to them.”

Riley turned to look at Ha’ven in surprise. He gave her a lopsided grin. She guessed that the proverbial cat was out of the bag for Ha’ven now and everyone knew that he could do weird stuff.

“No one’s allowed to blow Vox, but me,” she growled before blushing. “I mean, blow up. No one’s allowed to blow up Vox… Oh hell, you know what I mean.” Her voice faded when all the men snickered at her gaffe. Turning, she looked up at Vox with a raised eyebrow. “I think you’ve done enough damage for the night. It’s past Roam’s bedtime and you know he won’t settle down unless you’re there to tuck him in.”

Vox glared at the other men when they snickered again. It was hard to stay mad at any of them when he knew they felt the same way about their mates as he did about his. Wrapping his arm around Riley’s waist, he pulled her close and brushed a kiss across her temple. In the past year, his life had changed dramatically, and for all the playful ribbing the others loved to give him, it had all been for the better.

“Let’s go put Roam to bed, then you can show me just how much you love to blow me,” he whispered in her ear.

A low grunt escaped him when Riley elbowed him in the stomach and pulled away. In a flash, she had shifted again and released a low, menacing snarl at the other men who chuckled. Obviously, he hadn’t been as quiet as he thought.

His eyes turned to watch as Riley, in the shape of her white tiger, moved gracefully down the walkway flicking her tail as she pranced. A soft rumble of approval escaped his cat before he could contain it, drawing even more snickering comments from his friends. Right now, he couldn’t care less. He’d get even with them tomorrow. Tonight, he had more important things to do, like tucking his son into bed so he could take his beautiful mate up on her unwitting offer.

“Oh my goodness! Trelon! The girls found your duplicator again,” Cara called down in a harried voice. “I think they tried to use it on Symba. There’s a bunch of freaky little gold things running all over the room.”

“Freaky little gold things?” Zoran repeated, looking at Trelon with a sympathetic expression. “Good luck, Trelon. It sounds like you are going to need it.”

“Just… don’t touch anything until I can check out the panels again. I’ll switch to emergency power,” Trelon muttered, turning quickly and stepping over the plants so he could shift. “At least that will get us through the night.”

“Dragon’s Balls,” Mandra groaned. “I thought for sure we would be done by tonight. We’ve only got a week to get things together if we want to be done in time for the day the women want to celebrate.”

Zoran chuckled and slapped Mandra on the shoulder. “Come on, Mandra. You and Trelon can tackle your section again tomorrow. He has enough to worry about tonight.”

Creon watched with a grin as Trelon took off for the second story balcony while Zoran and Mandra chatted as they walked away. Turning back to Kelan and Ha’ven, he gave his brother and best friend a crooked grin.

“It seems only fitting that the night the women want to celebrate their ‘Christmas’ is the same night that the Great War officially ended,” Creon added in a quiet voice. “It is a time that should be celebrated as peace settled over our worlds and we gained new friends.”

“That is true,” Ha’ven agreed, thinking of the day long ago when he, Creon, and Vox sealed their alliance and pledged to bring down those that would try to rule through deceit. “Too many lives were lost because of a few who wanted power. It is a time of celebration, for great friends and for our new families.”