Alpha Dragon_Bronaz Read online

  Table of Contents

  Epilogue

  Welcome to Stell!

  Kuras

  Bronaz

  About the Author

  Alpha Dragon: Bronaz

  M/M Mpreg Romance

  Kaz Crowley

  Kellan Larkin

  Copyright © 2018 by Kaz Crowley.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Did you pirate this book?

  Piracy, sadly, hurts indie authors. But I know people pirate my books because they actually want to read them. If you can’t afford my books, I’d rather you pirate them than not read them at all.

  But if you can afford to buy them, your support would mean a lot to me. I do everything myself—the writing, the covers, the editing, the marketing—and work hard to produce these books. I make 70% of a sale on Amazon, so if you buy a copy, I get about $2.00. That means I need to sell at least a thousand copies every month to pay my bills.

  Every single sale goes directly towards helping me make a living doing this. I LOVE writing these books and sharing my imagination with readers. This job is a dream come true for me and it means so much that people enjoy my work. But I can only keep doing it if it helps put food on my table.

  I’m not going to tell you to stop pirating. But I am going to suggest that you sign up for my newsletter—that way you’ll be the first to know about sales or giveaways, new releases, and exclusive content just for subscribers. The best part is, it’s free! ;)

  If you’re interested, you can sign up here.

  Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this book!

  — Kaz Crowley

  Contents

  Welcome to Stell!

  1. Kuras

  2. Bronaz

  3. Kuras

  4. Bronaz

  5. Kuras

  6. Bronaz

  7. Kuras

  8. Bronaz

  9. Kuras

  10. Bronaz

  11. Kuras

  12. Bronaz

  13. Kuras

  14. Bronaz

  15. Kuras

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Welcome to Stell!

  Welcome to Stelline City, jewel of the territory and home to the biggest shifter community on the west coast! Whether you’re a fox, an eagle, or even a unicorn, you’re welcome in our city.

  Check out our fine dining—seared steaks by dragon chefs are a delicacy here—and our nightlife and recreation. There are plenty of parks where you can enjoy your animal form away from the prying eyes of humans, and hip spots where maybe you’ll run into your fated mate.

  If you’d like to learn more about Stelline City and the shifters who live here, we recommend you join author Kaz Crowley’s newsletter. You’ll be the first to know about new books, sales, and other fun stuff.

  Sign up today!

  And of course, enjoy your stay in our beautiful city!

  — the Stelline Territory Tourism Board

  1

  Kuras

  I never would have thought in a million years I would be standing outside a tattoo shop.

  In fact, this is the last place I expected to be.

  It’s not that I live a sheltered life. It’s just not the kind of circle I travel in.

  Most of my clients are pregnant human women and shifter omegas. As a doula, I help those who are having a child transition through the process with love and security that sometimes isn’t afforded young pregnant parents. Because the medical profession can be so cool and detached, it’s overwhelming to many. Due to the impersonal nature, many parents, sometimes first timers, find the process more than they can bear.

  Which is where I come in.

  I help facilitate the process, ease them through. Sit with them and be a part of their lives as they try to put it back together after the months they spent carrying the baby that is now a separate entity from them.

  In fact, I’m not sure I’d even go into the tattoo shop with the loud music and the rough looking characters milling around inside if it weren’t for the fact that I know the owners, Nosko and his husband Taran, personally.

  After all, I did assist Nosko during the birth of Charity. We still talk from time to time so it was with great eagerness I agreed to help a friend of his.

  I suppose all the tattoos that lined Taran’s arms should have given away what I was getting into.

  I can’t back out now. My new client, Austin Kells-Sanguine, is waiting for me.

  With a deep breath, I bolster my spirit and push in the door.

  The music is louder than I anticipated, even though I could hear it clearly on the sidewalk outside. I paste on a grin and step up to the counter. A huge man is standing behind the counter, tapping on a calculator and making marks in a book. Like Taran, he’s covered in tattoos but his easy smile when he looks up to see me manages to put me right at ease.

  “Hey, welcome to Treasured Ink. Looking to get a tattoo or just shopping around?”

  “Neither,” I say, feeling a little more relaxed. The guy is so big and intimidating but his easy manner in just pushing everything on the counter aside to focus on me speaks volumes. “I’m actually here to see Austin. Nosko said I’d find him here.”

  Understanding dawned on the man’s face. “Are you Kuras?”

  “I am.” I present my card to him, which he takes.

  “I’m Nyve.” He circles around the counter and motions for me to follow him back. “Austin’s mate. We’ve been expecting you. Did you find us okay?”

  “I did. Nosko gives excellent instructions.”

  There are five chairs, three of which are empty. I spot Taran working on a lady’s back. He looks up and gestures in greeting. “Kuras, glad you made it.”

  “Is Austin still in the office?” Nyve asks.

  “Yeah. Said he wanted to get off his feet.” Taran makes a motion in the direction of what I assume is his office. “Kuras, want me to give Nosko a call?”

  I hitch my bag up on my shoulder. “Only if it will make Austin more comfortable to have someone who knows me close.”

  “Let me know.”

  I nod and continue to follow Nyve back. Once we step behind the STAFF ONLY door, the music is muted again and that’s a blessing for my head.

  Nyve taps on a door and peeks in. “Austin? The doula Nosko recommended is here.”

  The door swings open and Austin is struggling to get his feet off the desk. He tosses a data pad off to the side and slowly stands. His hand goes to his back and he winces. “Kuras, thanks for coming to me. Public transit is hard on me these days.”

  Due to his size, I estimate he’s about four months along. “Is it okay to talk in here?”

  “Gods, yes, please.” Looking around me Austin raises his eyebrow. “We got this, Nyve.”

  Nyve hesitates by the door before he gives Austin a nod and closes the door behind him.

  “Protective alphas,” Austin says with an eye roll.

  “It’s understandable,” I reassure him.

  Clearing off a chair, I lower my bag to the floor and sit next to him. “So how are you feeling?”

  Austin smiles in exhaustion. “Part of me is thrilled to be having a baby. Part of me wants it out now, ‘kaythanksbye.”

  “That happens a lot. Fortunately, shifter gestation periods are considerably shorter than a human’s.” I dig around in my bag to look for some information that Austin can read.

  “Oh gods,” he moans, a hand to his forehead. “I couldn’t
imagine going through nine months of this. Human women must be made of steel.”

  I chuckle. “You can’t convince me otherwise.”

  After gathering my reading material, I spread it on the desk in front of him. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but first let’s go over the basics and why I’m here.”

  We talk for the better part of an hour. Austin had plenty of questions and, of course, that is why I was there. To help him through this pregnancy, answer any concerns he has, and to be there.

  I explained to him the services I offer to pregnant parents, human and shifter alike.

  “So will you be available a lot?” Austin teases at the tail of his shirt. “I really have no idea what I’m doing and Nyve, I mean…I love him, you know? A lot. But he’s becoming a bit of an overbearing jerk about it all.”

  “Just a nervous father, like you are. And he feels helpless because you’re the one who’s doing all the hard work.” I pat Austin reassuringly on the arm. “What we need to do is make sure you’re feeling confident to help him shoulder the load of what he can do to support you. I can coach you through that, too.”

  Austin lets out a shaky sigh and he smiles at me. “You can’t know how grateful I am that you came. I need to remember to send Nosko a gift basket for passing your name along. He says he couldn’t have gotten through his pregnancy with Charity without your help. So I’m hoping you can do the same for me.”

  “That’s why I’m here.”

  We hammer out the final details and I make sure he has my phone number.

  Austin struggles to his feet and we have our first lesson on how to get from sitting to standing without straining or pulling anything. He smiles brightly when he figures out how to shift his weight and push up. “That is so much easier.”

  “I know.”

  I shoulder my bag and walk behind him as he waddles out into the main of the shop. Austin walks up behind Nyve, who is standing behind another one of the tattooists, and wraps his arms around his mate’s waist. “You need to pay the man. And give him extra,” Austin says with a kiss to Nyve’s bicep. “He’s going to be around a lot while we work on my breathing for when I deliver.”

  Nyve pulls his wallet but I hold up my hand. “I’ll bill you, Nyve. It makes bookkeeping easier and keeps the stress off Austin in making sure everything’s square.”

  Nyve nods in understanding and puts his wallet back in his pocket. Austin lifts his arm and ducks under to lean into Nyve’s side. “And everything will stay square. I swear, just the short time we talked has paid for itself a dozen times over.”

  “Well,” I say, feeling a blush start to spread up my neck. “I’m not that good.”

  “I call bullshit on that,” Taran says from his station. “Nosko swears that he wouldn’t have gotten through delivering Charity if it hadn’t been for you. If this guy bilks you, let me know. I’ll make sure you get paid.”

  It’s a bit weird and awkward. Most mates of the pregnant parent don’t take an active interest in their partner’s pregnancy health, but here were two alpha males who were very invested.

  On one hand, that’s really great. It helps with the health of the baby to have both parents invested in the birthing parents’ health. On the other?

  On the other, it kind of sucks to be reminded of all these shifters who have found their mates. I’m positive that all these dragons must have someone they care so much for and here I am, still without a mate.

  I care for all kinds of parents to help them through having a baby and yet there’s no one in my life to give me the family I want so much.

  It’s all so unfair, but I have to cling to the fact that there is a fated mate out there for me, someone who will care for me like Nyve and Taran care for their partners while they have children.

  That one day, I’ll have a family to call my own instead of hovering on the periphery of everyone else’s.

  “I’m sure that won’t be necessary, Taran,” I say with a reassuring smile at Austin and Nyve. “I feel confident I’ll be paid on time. So, Austin,” I turn to face him. “Make sure to call me to set up a time to meet next week and we’ll go over the schedule and plan for this last term before delivery.”

  “I promise. Thank you for coming out. I thought about trying to get to you but sitting on a bus made me tired just thinking about it.”

  “No problem. I can come to you. In fact, it’s preferable if it will keep you comfortable.”

  The front door buzzer rings and I’m surprised I can actually hear it over the music.

  “You’re probably busy so I’ll show myself out. Taran, it was good to see you again. Nyve, nice to meet you-”

  “Hold up,” Taran says, rising to his feet. He waves the person who just came in over. “I haven’t introduced you to the rest of the shop. That’s Varos over there with the phone attached to his nose.”

  Varos holds up a middle finger and then looks up to lift a chin in my direction.

  “And that’s Sako, the anal-retentive.”

  “With a hyphen,” Sako says with a laugh. “Nice to finally meet you. Taran and Nosko sang your praises but we were sure you were a figment of their imagination.”

  I nod at them both.

  “And this is Bronaz.” Taran slings an arm around the large man’s shoulders. He’s definitely an alpha, just like all the other artists are. I feel a little intimidated, not by their alphaness, but by their sheer size.

  Apparently their parents didn’t breed any small dragonskind.

  “Bronaz, this is Kuras, the doula that Nosko recommended for Austin.”

  Bronaz is a big guy, not quite as big as Nyve but certainly rivaling Taran in size. His hair is dark with deep red highlights and his eyes are a warm brown. He is certainly an attractive man.

  I hold my hand out. “Nice to meet you, Bronaz.”

  “Same here.” He takes my hand and I swear that if I weren’t still standing on my own two feet, I would have believed the earth fell out from under me. I sway where I stand as we stay there, hands held in a handshake clasp. It’s like I can’t breathe. Or focus. Everything in the shop falls away, leaving me standing there like an idiot with this large man’s hand in mine and my inner dragon screaming loudly in my heat.

  Fated mate.

  That can’t be. Stuff like this didn’t happen to people like me. My dragon has to be wrong but it’s like he’s flipping circles of joy in my gut. The connection between us sparks like fireworks. It’s like his soul has reached deep inside of my body and curled up in safety and security.

  I swallow thickly and nod at something someone says.

  Finally, the moment breaks and Bronaz releases my hand. He appears to sway a little as well, blinking hard before fixing me with a searching look.

  Oh gods, did he feel it too? What happened wasn’t just my imagination?

  Bronaz presses his fingers to his eyes and Taran looks in concern at the both of us. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, just…yeah.” Bronaz shakes his head and looks at me again.

  Once more the connection between us reaches through my eyes and clenches in my gut.

  “Maybe you need to sit down.” Austin stands just off my shoulder. He guides me to a stool and encourages me to sit.

  “So I wasn’t the only one who noticed that?” Varos says from behind me.

  “Shut up,” Taran snaps.

  Distantly, my phone chimes with a notification. Half paying attention, I dig it out to make sure it’s not an emergency.

  To my dismay, surprise and elation, it’s the dating app I installed. I swipe left and put it away.

  Dare I hope that I won’t need it any longer?

  2

  Bronaz

  The last thing I expected coming back from lunch with my sister was to be standing face to face with my fated mate.

  Even in the few moments of our hands being joined, there is absolutely no mistaking it. This little omega is fated to be mine.

  I’ve had partners in my time. Not o
nce did any of them rock me to my core with a touch like this Kuras does.

  And we just met.

  Part of me is elated. A legacy of my kind is come to full life, right in front of me. My dragon soars in delight that I am now joining the lucky ones.

  In my younger days, I only half-believed the stories. It took two of my business partners meeting theirs to realize that I might have a chance on finding mine.

  Still. I certainly didn’t think it would happen to me.

  Especially so soon, and with everything going on in my life right now.

  The timing isn’t the best—a good friend’s sister is missing. And Nyve’s father-in-law is suspected of being heavily involved in the larger picture of the shit going on in the shifter community.

  Is now the time to find love?

  All of that stress sort of drifts to the background when I look into Kuras’ eyes and see his dragon staring back at me. When I feel where our souls fit together like a puzzle.

  Kuras’ human form is quite the eyeful as well. Not only is our connection screwing with my head, but seeing how hot he is on top of it is making all my wiring spark in full force.

  When I finally have the presence of mind to let him go, the physical blow of losing the connection hits me like a blow to the chest. It affects him, too, as he staggers back and is eased to sit on my stool.

  Thankfully, Taran shuts Varos up before he gets all wound up to give me a hard time.

  I feel like I should say something. Words are the last thing on my mind. My dragon is turning circles in my head and its excited rumbling makes it hard to think.