Scorch: M/M Gay Shifter Mpreg Romance (Dragon's Destiny: Fated Mates Book 2) Read Free Page B

myself under control. I couldn’t even remember the last time my dragon had tried to assert its will over my human self. My relationship with my otherself was easy. Relaxed. I never felt out of control, and now that I did, I wasn’t at all sure how to go about getting it back… especially when I wasn’t sure I even wanted to. What I wanted to do was the same thing that my otherself did: find my mate and claim him.
    But that was impossible, because Devin was already taken, and the fact was killing me.
    I remembered something Dane had said when he’d found his own mate. “It’s as if, out of all the humans that ever were or will be, Wesley is the other half of my soul. I just hope it never happens to you, my friend, because I’ve barely touched him, and I already don’t know how I’m going to go on without him.”
    At the time, it had sounded a bit overly dramatic, but now I knew exactly what my friend had meant. I hadn’t touched Devin at all—hadn’t even spoken to him—and yet I’d suddenly realized that I’d lived for the last two hundred years incomplete … and I hadn’t even known it until a few minutes ago.
    I only realized that I was shaking when Ty gripped my shoulders. He got right up in my face and forced me to make eye contact.
    “Dude, seriously—chillax. Whatever is going through your head right now, it doesn’t really seem to be working with the ‘calm down’ strategy. What’s going on?”
    I made myself relax, letting out a slow breath and willing my dragon to back down. I gave Ty a short nod once I felt the heat inside me start to dissipate, and he dropped his hands, stepping back a couple of paces to give me some space.
    “My mate,” I told him.
    Ty frowned. He’d obviously heard the tension that was still in my voice. I tried another slow breath. Hopefully this time I could sound less like I was about to implode.
    “The man who just left the party. He was my fated mate,” I said.
    Ty’s eyes widened. “Are you talking about the breathing-fire-into-him shit? The ‘I-woud-die-for-him’ thing? Like my brother has?”
    I nodded. Ty was one of the few humans who knew what it meant, but he still didn’t understand, and the excitement in his voice stung like salt in a wound.
    “Fuck, that’s awesome!” Ty went on, grinning. “What are you still doing here, then? Go get ‘im, tiger. I remember when my brother met Dane, they were practically shoving me out the door so they could rip each other’s clothes off.” Ty reddened, pausing. “Uh, actually that’s not a visual I needed to throw out there… ” He cleared his throat, then his irrepressible smile overrode his embarrassment. “But seriously, no wonder you’re steaming.”
    “He’s married, Ty.”
    Ty blinked. “What?”
    I had to make him understand, even though I wanted to choke on the words. “My mate, he’s married . His wife is in there, with their child. And she’s pregnant. He’s… not available.”
    Ty cocked his head to the side, his brow furrowing. “That can’t be right, Maks. Shouldn’t he be gay? He can’t have a pregnant wife. I can’t fucking believe I’m saying this, but isn’t he the one who’s supposed to get magically dragon-impregnated or some shit? I mean, not ‘magically,’ I’m sure you guys actually fuck— nope.” Ty paused, holding his hands up to stop himself. “I take that back. I’m not going there. But, seriously, isn’t it, like, fated? ”
    My dragon agreed, but Ty didn’t seem to notice the little puff of steam. He was still talking.
    “Dude, you can’t fuck with fate. There must be some mistake. Stop looking like your hamster just died. Go after him.”
    There was no room for doubt in his voice, and his words eased some of the tension inside me. Ty was right. Again. I didn’t know how it could possibly work out, but I couldn’t just let my mate walk away. But…
    “I don’t know where he went.”
    “So go find out. The fated mate thing? What my brother