~~~
Melanie paced the length of her living room, down the hall to the door, and back again. Where was Tristan?
Without him by her side to calm her or keep her grounded, a million thoughts raced through her head.
Maybe everyone who bought her book would simply return it. Or, if they kept the book, then maybe a plane would appear out of nowhere to drop bombs on Stonefire, killing everyone she held dear.
Tristan would say she was crazy, but an exposé of the dragon-shifters had never been released before; there was no way to judge how the public would respond.
Not even holding one of her babies would help calm her mind. She needed the solid strength and bluntness of her mate.
Once she reached the living area again, Arabella looked up from her laptop. “Your pacing is distracting. Can’t you go clean the kitchen or something so I can finish my work?”
She stopped in front of her sister-in-law and glared. “You came here of your own desire. I didn’t ask you to come, let alone bring one of your laptops here to work on. You can leave if it’s that much of a bother.”
Evie, who was sitting on the floor and building a tower of blocks with little Murray, frowned and chimed in, “You don’t need to bite her head off, Melanie. We’re here for support, especially since Bram needed to talk with Tristan.”
Melanie paced around the living area. “I don’t understand why Bram couldn’t come here, or do a teleconference.”
Evie scrutinized her. “You’re definitely not yourself today. The Melanie Hall-MacLeod I know goes out of her way to make things easy for everyone but herself. You’re stressed, love. Either share your thoughts or I’ll force some chamomile tea down your throat since Bram would frown upon me using a sedative.”
Mel blinked. “You want to drug me?”
Arabella chuckled, which only made Mel blink again. Ara closed her laptop and crossed her arms over her chest. “Even I’m tempted to give you a sleep aid of some sort. You’re driving everyone crazy, Melanie, especially since there’s nothing to do but wait and see how things go.”
Mel sighed. “I know that, but it doesn’t make it any easier. Especially since I couldn’t find a publisher who would publish my book so I had to do it myself.”
Ara shook her head. “You had twenty thousand pre-orders for the ebook version alone. I’d say you did well enough by publishing it yourself and it won’t be long before every book shop in the country wants to stock Revealing the Dragons: the Day-to-Day Lives of a British Dragon-Shifter Clan.”
Evie squeaked a toy dragon at Murray before scrunching her nose. “I still say you should’ve picked a shorter, snazzier title. It almost sounds…academic, which usually means boring.”
Mel huffed. “It’s supposed to sound academic. I wasn’t about to write a tabloid tell-all.” Evie smiled and Mel understood. “You were trying to rile me up, weren’t you?”
Evie shrugged. “It’s better than you pacing until you wear a hole in the carpet.”
After living so long with Tristan, it took everything Mel had not to growl. “Yes, but get me too riled up and I’ll wake the twins. You’ll find out soon enough what it’s like to have two young children to care for and how precious it is when they take a nap.”
Evie’s eyes turned wistful. “I can’t wait.” Then her friend’s gaze turned devious. “Beside
s, Bram can take care of Murray during the day, for the most part, if I need him to.”
Mel sighed. “You understand he’s the clan leader, right, Evie? And he may, I don’t know, have things to do?” Ara snickered and Mel turned her gaze on her sister-in-law. “Are we entertaining you, sister?”
Arabella nodded. “You two are better than most human TV shows I watch. By all means, keep going.”
Melanie was about to switch the focus of her extra energy on Arabella when the front door opened and Tristan’s voice sounded down the hallway. “Melanie?”
“Tristan.” She rushed down the hallway and engulfed her mate in her arms. “Please tell me Bram didn’t have bad news.”
As her mate’s hand rubbed her back, she melted against him. His voice rumbled under her ear. “No, not bad news. It was just Bram being Bram.”
She pulled back and looked up at her mate. “That isn’t very helpful.”
Evie’s voice came from behind her. “He means Bram has a back-up plan, in case things go wrong.”
She swung her head at her friend, who was no doubt holding Murray as a form of protection to keep her from scolding too harshly. Mel’s brows came together. “You knew and didn’t tell me?”
Evie shrugged. “Bram is clan leader, which nearly makes me one as well since I’m his other half. I can’t share his secrets without his permission.”