The Dragon's Charge (Tahoe Dragon Mates 4)

Information is powerful, and it may be enough to sway her. So yes, I can wait a few hours to talk more with her, especially considering how you’ve avoided her as much as possible for months.

Damn dragon giving him whiplash with his moods.

With a grunt, Brad gestured toward the right. “This way. I’m sure David called Megan, so she should be awake and ready for us.”

And far quicker than he liked, Brad handed over Tasha’s care to his sister and headed toward his own house. It was going to be a long fucking night, that was for sure. Especially since he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to do with Tasha just yet.

His beast whispered, Oh, you know. But I’ll give you the night to realize it yourself.

With that, his dragon curled up inside his mind and went to sleep. And Brad spent the next few hours imagining life with or without Tasha, trying to figure it all out.

Chapter Three

The next morning, as Tasha sat across from the pale, blue-eyed form of Megan Lee, she sipped her coffee and noted the activity in the kitchen.

Megan’s mate, Justin Lee, was helping to feed their youngest child. While the man seemed nice enough, it hadn’t taken Tasha long to learn he was David Lee’s cousin. So her staying with Megan wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. No, not only was she staying with Brad’s sister, but another person closely tied to the clan’s security, too.

Not that she had gotten any sort of weird vibes from either of them. Justin was firm with the children when needed, but clearly doted on them as he helped serve up breakfast.

Megan was both friendly and chatty, but Tasha suspected the woman didn’t miss a thing that happened in her house.

After all, Tasha was just as perceptive, and it often took a perceptive person to recognize another one.

As Tasha sipped her coffee, Megan said, “I’ve been beating around the bush all morning. So tell me—what are you going to do?”

Justin shook his head. “Can’t she eat in peace?”

Megan tsked. “It’s not an unreasonable question for me to ask. Better she figures out the answer now than when she talks with David, right?”

Tasha cleared her throat and all eyes—including those of the three children aged five and under—moved to her. Tasha placed her mug down and asked, “Is this how it works on dragon clans, then? Everyone keeps deciding or trying to convince someone of what’s best for everyone else without asking them?”

Justin grinned. “Well, I can’t speak for all clans, but it works that way here.”

Great. So everyone would always be in her business.

Maybe if she knew them better, she wouldn’t mind. But she’d had to be super careful about sharing any sort of personal information whenever working at the bar. After all, she didn’t want a drunk person showing up at her place and serenading her window. Or worse, someone trying to break into her house and do who knows what.

Megan spoke before Tasha could. “But it’s not all bad here. Some people do manage to keep to themselves. After all, my brother is an extremely private person for StoneRiver. But even if he doesn’t talk about it, I can tell he’s still brooding about that female that left him.”

“Megan,” Justin said slowly as a warning. The pair shared some sort of nonverbal conversation, which was only interrupted by the five-year-old, who slipped out of his chair and ran over to Tasha. He poked her arm and smiled. “You’re pretty. Be my mate?”

At the little boy’s sweet brown eyes and shy smile, Tasha forgot about meddling dragon-shifters and turned toward Andrew. “I think I’m too old for you, Andy. But someday you’ll find your own mate.”

Andrew sighed and hung his head. “Okay.”

The complete dejection from the little boy did something to Tasha’s heart. She touched his shoulder and he looked up at her again. “We can be friends, though. Is that okay?”

And just like that, his eyes lit up. “My first human friend.”

His words reminded Tasha of something she wanted to ask Megan. However, she first ruffled the boy’s brown hair and replied, “That’s right. I’ll gladly be your first human friend. Now, why don’t you finish your breakfast? I need to talk with your mom.”

Megan said softly yet sternly, “She’s right, Andy. Finish your fruit, like you promised you would. And no hiding it under the table like yesterday.”

“Okay, Mom,” Andrew said dramatically and trudged to the other side of the table, taking absolutely as long as possible to get there.

It took everything she had not to laugh at the theatrics.

She hadn’t spent much time around children for years, but Megan and Justin’s kids seemed like a good group to get reacquainted with them again.