The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate novel Chapter 274

Chapter 274: You Absolute Scoundrels

It was at this precise moment that Maelor realized both mages behind him had turned around.

He spun, furious. Hyran was watching the wall with academic detachment. Aeron had his journal open and was sketching with an enthusiasm that bordered on feral.

"You absolute scoundrels," Maelor snapped.

Neither of them looked at him.

Maelor smoothed his robes with the furious precision of a man assembling a list of people who would be hearing about this later.

Then he saw the rest of the group and every grievance evaporated, replaced by something closer to bewilderment. Gold eyes on Dexmon. Gold eyes on Fin. Silver on Hale. Silver on Elara. Pink on Serena. Every wolf in the corridor blazing with light that had no business existing outside of pre-Accord scripture.

"All the wolves," Maelor said slowly, turning a full circle to take it in. His gaze landed on Gavriel, and his expression shifted to something that looked suspiciously like sympathy. "Except for one."

Gav stared at him. "I’m going to need you to redirect that pity immediately."

Maelor opened his mouth to respond, but the egg cracked at that moment.

A single fissure split the shell from crown to base. Then another. Then a web of fractures raced across the surface, light spilling through each one, blue and silver bleeding into the air.

A baby dragon poked its head out of the shell. Its eyes opened for the first time, finding Hale’s face with the unerring precision of a creature that already knew exactly who it was looking for.

It blinked once. Twice. Then it chirped, roughly translated to: "there you are."

"Avalon." The name left Hale’s mouth before thought could claim credit. It came from the same place the silver in his eyes came from, a place older than memory, deeper than instinct.

Then it cautiously crawled out onto Hale’s arm, revealing light blue scales and a silver pattern. Its wings were folded tight against its body.

Avalon chirped once, high and bright, then wrapped its tail around Hale’s torso the same way Onyx wrapped around Fin, pressing close, anchoring itself. Avalon was smaller, still damp from the egg, maybe thirty-five pounds of desperate, trembling need curled against the chest of the man it had been waiting for.

Maelor’s hand drifted to his chest. He caught himself and dropped it, but the damage was done. Aeron saw it. Aeron would remember.

Fin spoke in Draken-Vorah. "Three lives, and you still fight like you forgot the shovel. Three lives, and I would still follow you into every one of them."

Dex gripped Fin’s forearm. He answered in the same tongue. "If you make me cry in front of our cousin, I will end you in every life after this one."

Fin’s mouth twitched. He gripped Dexmon’s forearm harder, matching him. "Wouldn’t dream of it, brother."

The gold in both their eyes flared one final time. For three full seconds, neither moved. Then the gold faded.

They blinked. Looked down. Their hands were locked in a warrior’s grip, forearms clasped tight, and neither of them had any memory of reaching for the other.

Dex let go first. Then Fin. Both shook their heads at the same time, the synchronized disorientation of two men resurfacing from a trance they didn’t remember entering.

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