The Dragon’s E-Mail Order Menage

The noose around his neck, that’s what his parents were making themselves into. They had him by the balls and all three of them knew it, but even his parents were smart enough to know to keep quiet until he got a hold of himself. They had seen what his tantrums could amount to and they were in no way prepared to make a scene of epic proportion here in a restaurant they hadn’t wanted to come to in the first place.

Finally, when Levi was calm enough for the world around him to appear solid again and to know with some reasonable certainty that he wasn’t going to lose control, shift, and light his favorite hole in the wall Mexican restaurant on fire, he looked back at his parents, cleared his throat, and spoke.

“So let me get the details of the thing straight, just so we’re sure we’re all on the same page. I get that you expect me to have a kid. That part you’ve made very clear. Now, are you going to dictate how that happens as well?”

“How so?”

“I know what the traditions are. I’ve heard the stories. About how things were done in the old days. Arranged marriages. That’s what I’m talking about. Are you going to find some chick and tell me I have to be with her, tell me it’s that or kiss all of the rest of it goodbye?”

“Son, we’re really hoping it doesn’t come to that. We’re hoping you can take care of that part by yourself but if you can’t, it’s something we’re prepared for. We’re the kind of people who like to be prepared.”

“Prepared?”

“There’s a service we’ve made contact with. They specialize in arranged marriages. There are all kinds of networks out there for the unique circumstances shifters find themselves in.”

Levi could feel his dragon stirring inside of him and knew a shift was right below the surface. The dragon wasn’t just stirring, it was growling, chomping at the bit to be let out. His dragon didn’t care for being ordered around and neither did he. Alphas were funny that way. He could control it, control the shift, but for a moment it was so hard it didn’t seem worth it.

 It was only the humor he found in the situation that helped him out of his anger. Because there was humor in what his father had said, especially given the little adventure he and Hudson had just taken on; an adventure that came in the form of a pretty little thing called Maggie. He didn’t need his parents telling him about the networks that were out there for shifters. He had already taken advantage of one of them.

“What if I told you I already have a woman in my life?”

“Please, Levi,” his mother said with that look of distaste back on her face. “Are we really going to resort to making up women now? I’m sure you’ve had your share, but we aren’t just talking about a one-night stand. We’re talking about a woman who is fit to be the mother of your child.”

“I understand that. That’s what I’m talking about, too.”

“Well, then I would say that we would very much like to meet her.”

Levi rolled his eyes and took a sip of the margarita the server had delivered to him. His mother looked like she was ready to be up and just about anywhere else, but his father held a steady gaze, looking into his son’s face without flinching at all.

“I’m not joking. We would like to meet her. We would like to meet her soon, say a month from now perhaps?”

“Sure. Fine. I’ll talk to her, work it out. Anything else?”

“No, I think that’s about all.”

“Excellent. Then I’d say it’s about time I get going. I’ve got some things I need to attend to.”

“But we haven’t even ordered yet. And what about your drink?”

Levi smiled and nodded at his mom, picked up the jumbo margarita and sucked the whole thing down in one big sip. His mother made a disgusted look and an accompanying sound and his father rolled his eyes in a very similar motion to the one his son had just made. They didn’t approve of that kind of behavior, but they weren’t the ones who got to decide everything he did. At least not the way he chose to drink his drink. Nope. Fu*k that.

“There, drink’s done. I’ll see you guys soon, okay? I’ll give you a call.”

He put on his sunglasses, walked to the server and handed him a hundred dollar bill for his troubles, and headed for the door. Every step closer felt like a step towards his freedom and he sighed, grateful for the feeling of the weight being lifted off his chest. His dragon made a kind of a purring noise and settled back down, content to be in a little bit of peace and quiet. That feeling of agitation that had been crawling just beneath the surface of his skin was gone and even the air smelled sweeter to him. He was ready to be home, that was for sure. Definitely ready for that.

“Hey! You’ve been gone a while. Everything go okay?”

“Whew! Just, parents, you know? Being around those can be a bi*ch.”

Levi slipped over the arm of the nearest couch, kicked his boots off, and sank down into the plush cushions. He shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. His house smelled different now that Maggie was living there. Not that he and Hudson had been total slobs or anything like that. He had been to friends’ places, other bachelors like themselves, whose whole apartments smelled like dank sweat and old takeout containers. Those were the kinds of places that really made a person understand what it meant when people talked about places needing a woman’s touch.

Levi’s home had never been downright dirty and it had been well decorated (thanks to the best decorator in Santa Fe, who also happened to be a wolf shifter and a good friend of his), but it hadn’t been what it was once Maggie came to stay. The place smelled different, a sweet, spicy scent that got stuck inside of his nostrils and made him think about her even when he didn’t realize that was what he was doing.