Last Immortal Dragon (Gray Back Bears #6)(26)

“It’s the game Uncy Denison is always making the boys play when anyone uses the word ‘pivot.’”

“Oh, when they drink out of the bottom?”

“Yeeep,” Diem drawled. She turned to Clara with a wink and murmured, “We’re raising her up real classy.”

“I can see that, and I approve.” Clara studied Harper for a moment, then let her curiosity get the best of her. “Damon told me you’re a hybrid dragon. But he said dragon females…you know…”

“Don’t survive childbirth? We don’t. It’s not like with the bears who stop Changing into their animals during pregnancy. We have to force ourselves not to shift and grow weaker and weaker. I wouldn’t survive carrying a baby to term.”

“I grew in Riley’s tummy,” Harper said matter-of-factly. “I use ta be this big.” She squished her finger and thumb together.

“Oh. Maybe I should ask you about all of this some other time, in private.”

“No, don’t worry about it. We’re very open with Harper. Riley was our surrogate. She is human and had Harper without any problems, and through all of that, she became my best friend and Drew’s mate. She kind of just came in and fit right in with the rest of the Ashe Crew, and now life is unimaginable without her.”

“I get to spend the night with Riley and Drew and their new baby on Friday nights so daddy can take mommy to the movies. I give baby Bethany bottles and help Riley change her diapers.” The mayonnaise she was squirting on top of her towering sandwich made a farting sound. “She has big, smeary poops sometimes.”

“Nice,” Clara said.

“So, I was kind of nervous about meeting you, and now I super like you,” Diem admitted. She pulled a cell phone from her back pocket. “What’s your number? The crews hang out, sometimes for barbecues, sometimes down at Sammy’s Bar in Saratoga. We celebrate birthdays and holidays and all that. Usually, Father declines invitations, but I have a feeling you’ll be shaking things up around here. I’m going to call you with the invites from here on out if that’s okay.”

“Uuum, I would love that. Please do. I had so much fun meeting the Gray Backs the other night.”

“Oh, God, I don’t doubt it. Willa’s a hoot.”

Clara recited her number for Diem and helped Harper hold her sandwich steady as the little girl balanced the plate and strode unsteadily toward a round dining table off the kitchen.

When the little girl was settled, Clara finished arranging the tray of lunch for her and Damon and said her goodbyes to Diem and Harper. But just as she was about to leave the kitchen, Diem said, “Clara?”

“Hmm?” she asked, turning with the tray balanced in her hands.

“Whatever you’re doing with my father?” Diem smiled emotionally. “Keep it up. I haven’t ever seen him this happy.”

Clara’s throat clogged with emotion, and her eyes prickled and blurred. “I will. He makes me happy, too.”

She had to gather her wits and settle her emotions as she walked down the halls toward Damon’s office. If she was being honest, she’d been nervous about meeting Damon’s family, too, but that had gone better than she could’ve imagined. Diem was easy to talk to and already felt like a friend. And little Harper was sharp as a tack. No doubt in her mind, she would grow up to be a strong dragon female like her mother and definitely not mousey like Feyadine had been.

In a daze, she meandered in through the office door and nearly melted under Damon’s greeting smile. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal his muscular, sexy, burn-scarred forearms, and his top button was undone at his throat. And there were those dimples she adored.

“There she is,” he rumbled as he set his pen down and leaned back in his leather office chair, hands linked behind his head.

“I brought you lunch,” she said unnecessarily, as if he couldn’t see the sandwiches stacked to her chin.

“Good, I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving.”

“I have a big machine to feed.”

“Yeah, about that. I heard from the Gray Backs you’ve eaten their enemies.”

Damon’s smile lingered as he shrugged unapologetically. “No one messes with my mountains.”

“And the crews are a part of these mountains now, aren’t they?”

The smile dipped from his lips. “They feel like a part of me.”

“Cold dragon,” she murmured, lifting her chin high. “Warmed to the core by a bunch of rowdy lumberjack werebears. Out of curiosity,” she asked, setting one of the giant sandwiches onto the space he was clearing on his desk. “Does it bother you that Rowan and Harper are being raised in trailer parks?”

“Not at all. Their lives are richer for their living situations. They have crews that have linked up like bonded families. They live at the center of the most lethal predator shifters in the world, who would die protecting them, and they are being raised by crews who love them unconditionally. I’m proud of Diem and of Creed for building a life like that for their children. I’d rather them live in the Asheland Mobile Park and the Grayland Mobile Park than here. I raised Diem here, and her life lacked…warmth. It’s something I regret.”

Pride filled her that Damon wasn’t just some rich billionaire dragon pulling the strings of his family like they were his puppets. This man wanted full lives for the people he loved. She respected him more for his answer.