“No secrets. Or if I have, they are all but forgotten.” He slid inside the truck and pulled on his seatbelt, clicking it closed. Even a dragon shifter was capable of being killed in a car crash. He shuddered, give him a horse and cart, and a slower pace of life any day.
“So why?” Martha asked.
“Because I’m not the easiest person to live with.” He shrugged and leaned back in his seat as he sifted through his thoughts. It was true he was set in his ways and didn’t always mix well with others. Perhaps because he’d had to hide his true self from so many people. “I’m used to my own company and I don’t tolerate others easily.”
“Well, when you meet your mate, you can get to know each other slowly. Then work your way up to having children.” Martha caressed her baby bump. “I think you’d make a great father, Kelos. And maybe having a child in your life will teach you a little about having fun.”
“I know how to have fun,” he protested.
“So, go have some.” The smile returned to her face. “The Bachelor Three.”
“You gave us a name?” he asked in horror.
“Not me,” Martha said innocently.
“Then who?” Kelos asked hotly.
“I don’t remember when I heard it first.” She tapped her chin and looked upward. “Nope, can’t recall.”
“So, we’re the talk of the town?” he asked as he inserted the key in the ignition and turned the engine over.
“Not exactly the town.” She backed away as he put the truck in drive. “Just the sawmill.”
“That’s not so bad,” he conceded.
“And maybe The Happy Bear Club.” She chuckled as she waved at him and then turned around and walked away. Or waddled away. The child she carried would be born soon and secretly, Kelos could not wait to meet the little one and be part of its life.
You are like a broody hen, his dragon told him. His mood seemed to have lightened with talk of fun and babies.
And you are not? Kelos asked.
It would be good to have a child of our own. I long to pass on all the knowledge we have gleaned over our many long years. His dragon huffed and blew smoke from his nostrils. But our secrets should stay hidden.
Kelos was not going to argue that fact. There were facets of their past that they would never share with anyone. Even their mate whom they would trust above all else.
Kelos rolled down the window and leaned on his elbow as he drove away from the sawmill heading for Cougar Ridge. It was out of his way, but he’d arranged to give Shawn a ride to The Happy Bear Club where they were meeting Joey for a drink.
“The Bachelors Three,” Kelos muttered to himself.
His dragon chuckled. I can guarantee that no one would be brave enough to call me that. Not to my face.
Kelos huffed. I must be losing my touch. Years ago, no one would have dared say that to my face either.
Ah, the days when the land was lawless, and we roamed the land and the skies with no rules to follow. We were young and free.
Now, we’re middle-aged and working in a sawmill. He could, of course, spend his dragon hoard and live a good life without ever having to think about work. But he hated the thought of parting with any of his treasure. Instead, he’d chosen to work for Mac Winter at the sawmill and lived a simple life full of simple pleasures.
Even the house he’d bought was a fixer-upper that was cheap enough for him to buy without dipping too much into the gold he’d stashed away over the years.
That would all change if we found a mate, his dragon warned him.
I’d part with it all for the chance to spend the rest of our lives with our mate. Kelos sighed with longing as he turned his focus to the road ahead. Cougar Ridge was reached via a steep road that curved back on itself. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but his driving was a little rusty and he didn’t want to drive off the side of the road and bend the truck around the tall trees that grew down in the valley below the town.
How things had changed since he’d first taken this route to Cougar Ridge. The road had been nothing but a dirt track that became impassable in the long mountain winters. It was during those times when the inhabitants of the town had grown used to not hiding their animal sides away. A tradition that continued today.
We can’t live in the past, his dragon reminded him.
I would like the present and the future a whole lot more if we had a mate to share it with, Kelos told his dragon as he navigated the sharp turning and put his foot on the gas as the truck climbed the last section of road into Cougar Ridge.
Driving along the quiet roads through town, he narrowly avoided a couple of cougars as they raced each other toward the trail that led into the mountains. Maybe his driving wasn’t so rusty after all.
He reached Shawn’s house and parked the truck on the road outside. Smoothing down his shoulder-length hair, he yanked open the truck door and got out. His booted feet landed on the asphalt and he inhaled the clear mountain air as he slammed the door shut.
The air sure did smell sweeter up here, especially when the scent of sun-warmed pine drifted down on the breeze. Kelos sighed. On days like this, he would say he was halfway to content. But until he found his mate, he would never be fully happy. His glass would always be half empty.
Turning away from the truck, Kelos headed along the driveway where the doctor’s car was parked.
