Free A Dragon Revealed by Dahlia Rose Page A

back to Florida?” Ginna looked lovely wearing a soft blue dress. Ginna had just had the baby ten days before, and she already looked healthy and glowing.
    Michelle sat on a bench across from them. “Kind of yes, my people are there and I can’t leave them defenseless for too long. They’re the only family I’ve had before I knew of Paladin. I can’t forget about them and just stay here.”
    “And well you shouldn’t,” Valencia said firmly. “I’m so glad to hear that regular people like us are manning a fight against those serpents. When I met Orin I was being chased by those things. God knows what would’ve have happened to me if he didn’t intervene. People need to fight back and give them hell.”
    “They do that and more,” Michelle replied and cleared her throat. “Valencia, I was hoping you could give me some help. I need to use one of your healers.”
    “Are you ill?” Valencia asked worriedly.
    “I’m suffering from the effects of my heat,” Michelle took a deep breath and fanned her warm face. “It’s like human ovulation and menopause rolled into one, except way worse and the symptoms are too much to deal with. I think when I came to Paladin, being around males really made it kick in.”
    “What’s it like?” Ginna asked curiously.
    “Like being turned on and drinking Red Bull with bouts of period cramps and spontaneous orgasms,” Michelle said bluntly.
    Ginna’s eyes widened. “Oh my.”
    “Exactly,” Michelle sighed. “I can’t go around feeling like this, and I don’t have a mate to help relieve the…um, ache, so I need to deal with it another way.”
    “Bior has been very vocal about his interest, or so I’ve heard,” Ginna said.
    Valencia shook her head. “No, she’s to be the mate of Mursi, remember Larissa came to them and said there was a higher destiny for them?”
    “Oh yeah.” Ginna smiled. “You are between a rock and a hard place.”
    “And in the middle of a dragon soap opera. Does anyone not know what’s going on?” Michelle asked in despair.
    Ginna smiled when her son burped. “They are like brothers, including the squabbles and the likes that goes with it, so technically we know everything. Luckily you’re talking to us instead of Raven. She’d want to write it all down for her archive. I’ve already been interviewed about Finn’s birth and our feelings.”
    “Raven is Raul’s wife?” Michelle asked.
    “Yes,” Valencia answered. “I’ll get our healer summoned to help with your problem before you go.”
    ‘Thank you so much,” Michelle said gratefully.
    “No thanks necessary, Michelle. You are my sister-in law, we’re family,” Valencia replied.
    That touched her more than she even thought possible. Orin could have been a dick about her being born, there could have been so much drama and trouble with finding out about her existence and how her mother fled to Earth. Instead she was welcomed with open arms and given a new home. Learning she wasn’t alone in the universe was one thing, gaining a family was another. She was both humbled and thrilled and took her mother’s words to heart. Wherever she went she would always return to Paladin and home.
    * * * *
    It was sunny when she and Bior got into Florida and made their way back to the Florida everglades where her houseboat was moored.
    “If you want to stay here you’ll have to sleep on the sofa, your feet will hang off,” Michelle said apologetically.
    Bior laughed. “Um no, we will not be doing that. We have a house in the Keys that is perfectly acceptable and has more room.”
    Michelle put her hand on her hip. “Why do I feel like you’re thumbing your nose at my house?”
    “It’s not your house per se. I’m just accustomed to more room,” he answered.
    “You’re a snob,” she teased.
    “Call it what you will.” Bior inclined his head. “Where do we go from here?”
    “I have a car that we can take to the safe house where my people are staying,” Michelle said.