Fancy Rained Like Grace; Chapter One
Title: Fancy Rained Like Grace; Chapter One
Pairings: Jensen/Jared, Drew Nelson/Sandy McCoy, Misha Collins/Rachel Miner
Word Count: 3466
Rating: PG-13 this part, eventual NC-17
Warnings: implied mpreg/fempreg; see masterpost for overall list
Author’s Note: This is entirely lexicale and insertcode11’s fault. Blame them for everything. A fill for this prompt on spn_hardcore.
Summary: Orphaned as a child and heatless, therefore mateless, at twenty-seven, Jared has spent most of his life feeling unloved and unwanted. Jensen is the Dominus of the Ramiel Flight, strong, courageous and everything anyone could want in a mate, everything that Jared was sure he’d never have or deserve. Jensen is hell-bent on proving him wrong. But nothing is ever easy when love is involved.
Masterpost
Though late spring blanketed the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, nighttime still brought with it the cruel, sharp chill of winter. Five large, brilliant bonfires dotted the mountain’s peaks, their flames licking so high into the night sky that it nearly appeared to be day again. They cast a warm glow over the Ramiel Flight, throwing their shadows into long, unrecognizable bodies that eventually blended with the surrounding night.
Excitement laced the air just as well as the cold did, running rampant through the Ramiel Flight as they celebrated Bel’s promise of new beginnings, of new life. Jared could feel the excitement dancing on his skin as easily as he could feel the heat from the flames, though he didn’t share in it. After all, these fires were not for him.
The dragons gathered around the fires, forming tight groups of companionship that moved fluidly amongst each other, no one willing to stay in one group too long while there was laughter and new gossip to be found elsewhere.
Those groups weren’t for Jared any more than the fires were. Instead, he occupied himself with the holy terrors that were the future of the flight, the younger juveniles who, at the moment, had committed themselves to biting and clawing at his paws. It was mostly the calves’ doing, but even the little fawns had begun taking tentative nips at him before scurrying off.
Jared playfully swiped them away, and the calves hissed menacingly, like they actually had a chance of standing against an adult Jared’s size, even as a doe.One of the braver fawns came up to him and took one more nip at his paw before running to hide back behind the calves.
The fawn’s mother laughed blithely from her spot in a nearby group, and one of the drakes grinned. “That’s quite the little fawn you have there, Emma. All the drakes are going to be in a tussy for him come his Beltane.”
His mother hummed her agreement. “He’s a feisty one all right. Look at those little teeth!”
The drake nodded. “Too bad he’s just a little too young for tomorrow’s fires.”
“Oh?” The doe leaned toward the drake, her eyes alight with curiosity. “And why is that?”
The drake leaned in toward her as well, his smile turning conspiratorial. “Well, I’ve heard--and this is from a very reliable source, mind you, one of the wing--that our very own Dominus will be flying for someone tomorrow.”
Jared rolled his eyes. The Dominus hadn’t flown for anyone in the fifteen seasons since his seventeenth year. Rumor had it that the Dominus was too concerned with rising in rank, first within the wing, then above it when the Elders appointed him their leader to concern himself with Beltane. But Jensen had been Dominus for several years already, more than long enough to settle into his role, and that hadn’t seemed to entice him into settling down either.
Still, nearly every year, the young, available does giggled and swooned to each other over the prospect of having Jensen as their drake. Eventually, of course, even the most stubborn and lovelorn of them would settle for lesser mates. Some of them might pair off with the soldiers in the wing that Jensen presided over if they were lucky, but that would be as close as any of them would ever come.
That was the first time Jared had actually heard a drake take part in that particular bit of gossip, though. Usually, the drakes were far too busy flirting and making themselves look like the biggest, best drake in the flight to be concerned with anyone else’s mating status, even the Dominus’s.
One of the younger, teething calves suddenly jumped up, trying to snag Jared’s ear between his new, needle-like teeth. Jared batted a paw at him in reprimand. “Ryan, stop doing that.”
Ryan whined pitifully, and his mother briefly looked up at them from his place at the fire, making sure that his calf was still safe and sound in Jared’s care before returning to the gossip. Ryan gnawed at Jared’s paw, curling his body around it while his tail wrapped itself around Jared’s foreleg.
Jared winced as the little dragon’s teeth just barely pricked into his skin. He was lucky he’d shifted into his thick, leathery scales rather than in the soft, mammalian skin of the alternative, or those fangs would have wreaked all kinds of havoc. He used his other paw to pry the young calf off of him, holding him down with his face turned toward the side. “Ryan, I’m going to send you back to your mother if you don’t behave.”
Ryan sniffed like he actually understood Jared--though there was no way he could at only eighteen months--and just didn’t believe he would follow through. And Jared probably wouldn’t. He had been a pushover for the juveniles since before he stopped being one himself.
He finally released the calf, and Ryan immediately scrambled up before turning back to Jared, flexing his small, useless wings proudly and hissing.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure all the little fawns are swooning,” Jared said, smiling as he gently nudged the juvenile, causing him to lose his balance and fall gracelessly to the side. Jared huffed a laugh and shook his head.
“Tell us!” A small group of does began to hover around the drake. “If you really know, tell us who the lucky doe is!”
The drake held up his hands defensively and shrugged, smirking. “But then it’ll spoil the surprise. I’m sorry, darlings.” He threw his arms around two crest-fallen, pouting does. “I’m forbidden to tell, bound by the drakes’ code of honor.”
“Ugh,” another drake snorted, shuffling her wings indignantly. “You’ve never done anything honorable in your life, Richard.”
Richard laughed. “You’re just jealous that you don’t know who it is.”
“Richard, all the drakes know who it is. So you’d better keep your paws to yourself tomorrow.”
“Ah, Rekha, you spoil all of my fun.”
Jared’s attention was suddenly caught by the sight of a very young fawn toddling too close to the edge of the cliff, and he got up, shaking off the calves still intent on proving themselves to their peers, even at such a young age. He snatched up the young doe by the scruff of her neck, and she whined at having her fun interrupted. Jared ignored her and plodded back to his and the juveniles’ spot by the fire, settling himself back down and embracing her between his front paws, nuzzling affectionately at her neck.
The fawn purred at the attention, apparently having forgotten her ruined game.
Juveniles were so much easier to deal with than adults. Even the ones that tried to gnaw his paws off.
*
The first golden edges of the morning sun crested over the horizon, slowly driving away the sharp chill of the last vestiges of spring’s precipitation that draped itself over the land’s great rocks and canyons.
A certain restlessness descended upon the dragons during the cool hours of the early morning. It settled over their sleeping forms, tight and tangible, slowly driving each of them out of their dreams. Even the hatchlings sensed it, though they didn’t understand its meaning. They woke their mothers with high, pitiful cries to be comforted in their confusion, and their mothers crooned at them to soothe their worries.
Most of the flight chose to sleep outside the night before, surrounded by the warmth of the fires and each other’s body heat. Many had been too excited to sleep more than an hour or two, but they’d eventually all dropped off.
But now that the heat kindled within the does, they began to stir, their eyes opening slowly, heavy with exhaustion and the first wisps of need playing beneath their skins.
Jared was affected by the heat the same way he always had been. It was an incessant prodding in his chest, urging him to get up and watch as the other does and drakes began to wake up and prepared to go to the breeding grounds. He sensed the tension that the fire doused over the flight, but he didn’t feel it himself, much the same way the juveniles and hatchlings sensed it but did not experience it.
One of the juveniles, who had previously been sleeping against Jared’s belly, butted his head against Jared, mewling in confusion. Jared blindly reached out and pulled the juvenile back to him, unwilling to wake up when the sun had barely even peaked over the horizon. Most days, he met the mornings easily enough, but today--today, Jared didn’t want want to wake up at all.
The little dragon squirmed against him, crying out in frustration. A pang sliced through Jared’s head at the sharp noise, and he winced at the headache behind his eyes that was quickly making itself known. He groaned, barely opening his eyes before snapping them closed again, shuttering out the too bright morning light.
Other little bodies squirmed against Jared, and he gingerly peers down at them. “It’s just Beltane, little ones. You’re all right.”
A chilled wind passed over them. Jared curled around the juveniles automatically, shielding from the cold, and he shivered, suddenly very aware of the thin sheen of sweat layered over his skin.
If he had been like the other does, he would probably have wanted to find a river as soon as possible, wash off the sweat to keep his own pheromones as pure and strong so he could attract the a good mate.
At the thought of mate, he shivered again, a fresh wave of discomfort washing over him. The juveniles that had managed to stay asleep through the pheromones began to stir then, groaning at the disturbance. “I know,” he shushed them, nudging each of them with his nose. “I know, but it’s time to get up.”
The other does around them were becoming more restless by the minute, pawing at their faces and the ground in turns as the heat began to grow from discomfort to a slow, rolling boil in their bellies.
Jared looked away from them, unable to watch without a dark jealousy blossoming in his chest. He knew he shouldn’t have been so upset by his lack of heat. The older dragons that had raised him used to tell him that he was simply meant to be that way, that it was the will of the gods. “They know you, Jared. They know your heart. They know what you need. Cheer up, and let them guide you down the path they’ve laid for you.”
He had loved his caretakers at the main house, and he was supposed to respect the wishes of the gods, but there was a tightness in his chest, a heaviness in his shoulders that grew with each lonely passing season.
Mate, his body whispered again, and he gritted his teeth. He should have been used to the phantom calls; they happened nearly every year, a simple byproduct of wishful thinking, but every single time he went through it, he couldn’t help but feel like crying.
Jared’s head began to pulse harder with every inch the sun rose in the sky. He squinted against its rays and stretched out his wings, letting a drift of wind catch in their delicate webbing.
“Jared!”
Jared angled his head toward the voice, forcing himself to smile at Sandy as she approached. “Hey.”
She brushed her fingers against his wing in greeting. “How was my little clutch for you last night, sweetheart?”
Jared shrugged. “Yours are always pretty good. Ryan here,” he lifted a back paw, shaking it gently to dislodge the little calf from where he was biting into his scales, “Ryan is another story. He’s teething.”
“Come here, you little brat,” Sandy said, plucking Ryan up and away from Jared’s foot. “I’m going to tell your mother on you.” She tickled the calf’s underbelly, making him wiggle and squirm to get away before letting him back down to scurry off to play with the other juveniles. “They’re such little monsters at this age. Where are Charlie and the boys?”
Jared looked around, skimming over the young dragons as they tumbled together on the ground, playing for a few more moments before their mothers began to round them up. Soon, they would either be left with their fathers while their mother retreated to the main house for the remainder of their heat or they’d be deposited in the main house to be watched over while their parents went to the breeding grounds.
He quickly spotted Sandy’s clutch playing a few yards off; Charlie was wrestling with one of her brothers.
Charlene was secretly Jared’s favorite of Sandy’s three juveniles. The spines trailing down her neck and back were already hardening to stony points, while other calves in her age group, even her own siblings, still had softer, more flexible spines, like cartilage. The fawns in her group were too young to be very impressed by Charlie yet, but Jared was sure she’d have does absolutely swooning for her attention when she came of age.
At six years old, Charlie’s dominance showed in her ability to always have her nose where it didn’t belong and dragging her brothers right along with her. She was a ball of mischief, and Jared couldn’t help but love her for it.
He gestured toward the calves. “You should probably head over there pretty soon. I bet Charlie is about to come out of her skin with all these pheromones floating around, and it looks like she’s using her brothers as an outlet.” Sandy shook her head and sighed heavily. Jared grinned. “Drew is going to have a fit without you around for an entire week if they’re already going to start acting up.”
Sandy looked away from Jared then, smiling feebly as she gazed out at her brood. “I--actually, I wanted to ask you a favor.”
Jared’s brow furrowed, a vague feeling of dread inexplicably forming in his chest. “Sure, Sandy. Whatever you need.”
“Drew and I were thinking about going out to the grounds again,” she said in a rush, then tentatively looked up at him. “I was--Well, we were hoping that you’d watch the calves. I know the other does in the main house would if we decided to leave them there, but they just like you so much, and we don’t know how long we’ll be, so...”
A sharp pain jabbed at Jared’s heart, but he offered her a strained smile. “Yeah, Sandy. Of course I will.He was used to watching other does’ clutches while they were away, and during Beltane, he usually helped out at the main house. Being busy usually kept him from having to think too much about anything. And he did love her juveniles, after all, so there was not point in telling her no just because his feelings were hurt.
Sandy studied his face for a moment, then looked down, her dark hair shielding her eyes. “Drew told me to ask a few weeks ago to give you some time to think about it, but I couldn’t bring myself to. And now--I shouldn’t have asked. I’ll leave them in the main house with everyone else.”
“No, it’s okay.” Jared knocked their shoulders together amicably. “I promise. I just have a headache, and then I was a little blindsided, you know? But I’m fine. I love the calves. It’ll be fun.”
Sandy raised her head a little, but Jared had to look away when she tried for eye contact. “Oh, Jared...”
Jared sighed. “Don’t, Sandy. Please.” He could deal with watching the calves while Drew and Sandy go off to the breeding grounds, but he couldn’t handle Sandy feeling bad for him, not when he already felt bad for getting upset in the first place.
He glanced at her, and her eyes were too bright.
“I know, I know. I just--” She stopped abruptly then, her body stilling as a gust of wind kicked up around them. She took a long, deep breath, then tucked her face against his neck, nuzzling right beneath his chin and breathing in again before jerking away. “Jared..?”
Jared shifted uncomfortably, a little embarrassed. “Yeah, I know. I probably smell. I woke up sweaty this morning. I’ll clean up before heading to your nest.”
“Sweaty?” Sandy asked, voice soft and confused. Then, a grin spread across her face, and she crowded in closer to him. “Jared, it’s your heat!”
Jared’s heart skipped at the suggestion, but he quickly shoved the excitement down, and he frowned, gently pushing Sandy away. “It’s just sweat. I’m not in heat, Sandy.”
“You are! Jared, you absolutely reek with the pheromones!” She laughed, bright and loud as she threw her arms around his neck. “This is it!”
“Sandy, stop it.” He shook his head. “I don’t feel it.”
“Yes, you do. You have to be feeling different,” Sandy insisted. “You have a headache, right? I bet the sun seems too bright. I can feel you shivering a little,” she pressed a hand to his face, running her fingers over his cheek, “you’re burning up, Jay. And, like I said, you reek. You--”
“Sandy, stop it,” he bit out, cutting her short.
Sandy’s mouth snapped shut, and she drew back, a little shocked. Jared couldn’t really blame her. He had always been the agreeable one, never raising his voice or protesting something. It was why the hatchlings and the juveniles liked him so much. He was just a big pushover.
He sighed, lowering his head apologetically. “Just. Stop, okay? Please. It’s not my heat. It’s never going to be my heat.”
Sandy’s face softened, and she only hesitated for a brief moment before taking his face in her hands and rubbing her cheek affectionately against his. “Jared, sweetheart, I know this has been a tough road for you, how upset you get every year. But I would never have said anything if I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. I know how important this is to you. This is it, Jared. This is your time. It’s finally your turn.”
Jared really didn’t feel different. Maybe a little sore, a little more depressed than usual. His head hurt, and his stomach was twisting itself in knots, hot and uncomfortable, but.
He looked up at Sandy, nerves balling themselves into a tight knot in the back of his throat. “I’m in heat?” The idea of it, of actually being in heat, felt so foreign, something that happened to other, lucky does and never to him.
Sandy smiled softly. “Yes, Jay. You’re going to have a mate and hatchlings and--gods, you’ll probably have a couple dozen of them, won’t you? At least twenty little dragons to drive you insane and make sure you never sleep again. Oh, Jared, I’m so happy for you!” She paused then, smile faltering as she studies his face. “You are happy, aren’t you?”
“I...” Jared swallowed. His stomach twisted and his heart pulled and he thought, Mate, and.
The corners of Jared’s mouth twitched up, and then he was smiling so hard it hurt. “I’m in heat.”
Sandy’s smile returned full force, and she nuzzled his cheek again. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” he said, a little breathless. A sense of urgency flooded his mind, but he forced himself to pause, lowering his head to hers. “What about you and Drew?”
“There’s always next season. Drew will understand.” At Jared’s reluctant look, she rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think you’ve been waiting long enough yet, you ridiculous thing? Go. What are you waiting for?”
“I’m nervous,” he admitted.
She pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Don’t be. You’re going to make some drake very lucky. Go, Jared. You’ll want to get an early start on building your nest, before the others get their grubby little paws on the best supplies.”
The restlessness building in Jared’s body pushed him to do as she said, to follow the lead of the pull in the center of his chest. A slow grin spread over his face, and he nodded, stretching out his wings. Their thin membranes caught a gust of wind, and he felt it pull at him, attempting to lift him into the sky. “Wish me luck, Sandy.”
“You won’t need it,” she called back, waving as he took to the air in one strong downstroke.
Chapter Two
Pairings: Jensen/Jared, Drew Nelson/Sandy McCoy, Misha Collins/Rachel Miner
Word Count: 3466
Rating: PG-13 this part, eventual NC-17
Warnings: implied mpreg/fempreg; see masterpost for overall list
Author’s Note: This is entirely lexicale and insertcode11’s fault. Blame them for everything. A fill for this prompt on spn_hardcore.
Summary: Orphaned as a child and heatless, therefore mateless, at twenty-seven, Jared has spent most of his life feeling unloved and unwanted. Jensen is the Dominus of the Ramiel Flight, strong, courageous and everything anyone could want in a mate, everything that Jared was sure he’d never have or deserve. Jensen is hell-bent on proving him wrong. But nothing is ever easy when love is involved.
Masterpost
Though late spring blanketed the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, nighttime still brought with it the cruel, sharp chill of winter. Five large, brilliant bonfires dotted the mountain’s peaks, their flames licking so high into the night sky that it nearly appeared to be day again. They cast a warm glow over the Ramiel Flight, throwing their shadows into long, unrecognizable bodies that eventually blended with the surrounding night.
Excitement laced the air just as well as the cold did, running rampant through the Ramiel Flight as they celebrated Bel’s promise of new beginnings, of new life. Jared could feel the excitement dancing on his skin as easily as he could feel the heat from the flames, though he didn’t share in it. After all, these fires were not for him.
The dragons gathered around the fires, forming tight groups of companionship that moved fluidly amongst each other, no one willing to stay in one group too long while there was laughter and new gossip to be found elsewhere.
Those groups weren’t for Jared any more than the fires were. Instead, he occupied himself with the holy terrors that were the future of the flight, the younger juveniles who, at the moment, had committed themselves to biting and clawing at his paws. It was mostly the calves’ doing, but even the little fawns had begun taking tentative nips at him before scurrying off.
Jared playfully swiped them away, and the calves hissed menacingly, like they actually had a chance of standing against an adult Jared’s size, even as a doe.One of the braver fawns came up to him and took one more nip at his paw before running to hide back behind the calves.
The fawn’s mother laughed blithely from her spot in a nearby group, and one of the drakes grinned. “That’s quite the little fawn you have there, Emma. All the drakes are going to be in a tussy for him come his Beltane.”
His mother hummed her agreement. “He’s a feisty one all right. Look at those little teeth!”
The drake nodded. “Too bad he’s just a little too young for tomorrow’s fires.”
“Oh?” The doe leaned toward the drake, her eyes alight with curiosity. “And why is that?”
The drake leaned in toward her as well, his smile turning conspiratorial. “Well, I’ve heard--and this is from a very reliable source, mind you, one of the wing--that our very own Dominus will be flying for someone tomorrow.”
Jared rolled his eyes. The Dominus hadn’t flown for anyone in the fifteen seasons since his seventeenth year. Rumor had it that the Dominus was too concerned with rising in rank, first within the wing, then above it when the Elders appointed him their leader to concern himself with Beltane. But Jensen had been Dominus for several years already, more than long enough to settle into his role, and that hadn’t seemed to entice him into settling down either.
Still, nearly every year, the young, available does giggled and swooned to each other over the prospect of having Jensen as their drake. Eventually, of course, even the most stubborn and lovelorn of them would settle for lesser mates. Some of them might pair off with the soldiers in the wing that Jensen presided over if they were lucky, but that would be as close as any of them would ever come.
That was the first time Jared had actually heard a drake take part in that particular bit of gossip, though. Usually, the drakes were far too busy flirting and making themselves look like the biggest, best drake in the flight to be concerned with anyone else’s mating status, even the Dominus’s.
One of the younger, teething calves suddenly jumped up, trying to snag Jared’s ear between his new, needle-like teeth. Jared batted a paw at him in reprimand. “Ryan, stop doing that.”
Ryan whined pitifully, and his mother briefly looked up at them from his place at the fire, making sure that his calf was still safe and sound in Jared’s care before returning to the gossip. Ryan gnawed at Jared’s paw, curling his body around it while his tail wrapped itself around Jared’s foreleg.
Jared winced as the little dragon’s teeth just barely pricked into his skin. He was lucky he’d shifted into his thick, leathery scales rather than in the soft, mammalian skin of the alternative, or those fangs would have wreaked all kinds of havoc. He used his other paw to pry the young calf off of him, holding him down with his face turned toward the side. “Ryan, I’m going to send you back to your mother if you don’t behave.”
Ryan sniffed like he actually understood Jared--though there was no way he could at only eighteen months--and just didn’t believe he would follow through. And Jared probably wouldn’t. He had been a pushover for the juveniles since before he stopped being one himself.
He finally released the calf, and Ryan immediately scrambled up before turning back to Jared, flexing his small, useless wings proudly and hissing.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure all the little fawns are swooning,” Jared said, smiling as he gently nudged the juvenile, causing him to lose his balance and fall gracelessly to the side. Jared huffed a laugh and shook his head.
“Tell us!” A small group of does began to hover around the drake. “If you really know, tell us who the lucky doe is!”
The drake held up his hands defensively and shrugged, smirking. “But then it’ll spoil the surprise. I’m sorry, darlings.” He threw his arms around two crest-fallen, pouting does. “I’m forbidden to tell, bound by the drakes’ code of honor.”
“Ugh,” another drake snorted, shuffling her wings indignantly. “You’ve never done anything honorable in your life, Richard.”
Richard laughed. “You’re just jealous that you don’t know who it is.”
“Richard, all the drakes know who it is. So you’d better keep your paws to yourself tomorrow.”
“Ah, Rekha, you spoil all of my fun.”
Jared’s attention was suddenly caught by the sight of a very young fawn toddling too close to the edge of the cliff, and he got up, shaking off the calves still intent on proving themselves to their peers, even at such a young age. He snatched up the young doe by the scruff of her neck, and she whined at having her fun interrupted. Jared ignored her and plodded back to his and the juveniles’ spot by the fire, settling himself back down and embracing her between his front paws, nuzzling affectionately at her neck.
The fawn purred at the attention, apparently having forgotten her ruined game.
Juveniles were so much easier to deal with than adults. Even the ones that tried to gnaw his paws off.
*
The first golden edges of the morning sun crested over the horizon, slowly driving away the sharp chill of the last vestiges of spring’s precipitation that draped itself over the land’s great rocks and canyons.
A certain restlessness descended upon the dragons during the cool hours of the early morning. It settled over their sleeping forms, tight and tangible, slowly driving each of them out of their dreams. Even the hatchlings sensed it, though they didn’t understand its meaning. They woke their mothers with high, pitiful cries to be comforted in their confusion, and their mothers crooned at them to soothe their worries.
Most of the flight chose to sleep outside the night before, surrounded by the warmth of the fires and each other’s body heat. Many had been too excited to sleep more than an hour or two, but they’d eventually all dropped off.
But now that the heat kindled within the does, they began to stir, their eyes opening slowly, heavy with exhaustion and the first wisps of need playing beneath their skins.
Jared was affected by the heat the same way he always had been. It was an incessant prodding in his chest, urging him to get up and watch as the other does and drakes began to wake up and prepared to go to the breeding grounds. He sensed the tension that the fire doused over the flight, but he didn’t feel it himself, much the same way the juveniles and hatchlings sensed it but did not experience it.
One of the juveniles, who had previously been sleeping against Jared’s belly, butted his head against Jared, mewling in confusion. Jared blindly reached out and pulled the juvenile back to him, unwilling to wake up when the sun had barely even peaked over the horizon. Most days, he met the mornings easily enough, but today--today, Jared didn’t want want to wake up at all.
The little dragon squirmed against him, crying out in frustration. A pang sliced through Jared’s head at the sharp noise, and he winced at the headache behind his eyes that was quickly making itself known. He groaned, barely opening his eyes before snapping them closed again, shuttering out the too bright morning light.
Other little bodies squirmed against Jared, and he gingerly peers down at them. “It’s just Beltane, little ones. You’re all right.”
A chilled wind passed over them. Jared curled around the juveniles automatically, shielding from the cold, and he shivered, suddenly very aware of the thin sheen of sweat layered over his skin.
If he had been like the other does, he would probably have wanted to find a river as soon as possible, wash off the sweat to keep his own pheromones as pure and strong so he could attract the a good mate.
At the thought of mate, he shivered again, a fresh wave of discomfort washing over him. The juveniles that had managed to stay asleep through the pheromones began to stir then, groaning at the disturbance. “I know,” he shushed them, nudging each of them with his nose. “I know, but it’s time to get up.”
The other does around them were becoming more restless by the minute, pawing at their faces and the ground in turns as the heat began to grow from discomfort to a slow, rolling boil in their bellies.
Jared looked away from them, unable to watch without a dark jealousy blossoming in his chest. He knew he shouldn’t have been so upset by his lack of heat. The older dragons that had raised him used to tell him that he was simply meant to be that way, that it was the will of the gods. “They know you, Jared. They know your heart. They know what you need. Cheer up, and let them guide you down the path they’ve laid for you.”
He had loved his caretakers at the main house, and he was supposed to respect the wishes of the gods, but there was a tightness in his chest, a heaviness in his shoulders that grew with each lonely passing season.
Mate, his body whispered again, and he gritted his teeth. He should have been used to the phantom calls; they happened nearly every year, a simple byproduct of wishful thinking, but every single time he went through it, he couldn’t help but feel like crying.
Jared’s head began to pulse harder with every inch the sun rose in the sky. He squinted against its rays and stretched out his wings, letting a drift of wind catch in their delicate webbing.
“Jared!”
Jared angled his head toward the voice, forcing himself to smile at Sandy as she approached. “Hey.”
She brushed her fingers against his wing in greeting. “How was my little clutch for you last night, sweetheart?”
Jared shrugged. “Yours are always pretty good. Ryan here,” he lifted a back paw, shaking it gently to dislodge the little calf from where he was biting into his scales, “Ryan is another story. He’s teething.”
“Come here, you little brat,” Sandy said, plucking Ryan up and away from Jared’s foot. “I’m going to tell your mother on you.” She tickled the calf’s underbelly, making him wiggle and squirm to get away before letting him back down to scurry off to play with the other juveniles. “They’re such little monsters at this age. Where are Charlie and the boys?”
Jared looked around, skimming over the young dragons as they tumbled together on the ground, playing for a few more moments before their mothers began to round them up. Soon, they would either be left with their fathers while their mother retreated to the main house for the remainder of their heat or they’d be deposited in the main house to be watched over while their parents went to the breeding grounds.
He quickly spotted Sandy’s clutch playing a few yards off; Charlie was wrestling with one of her brothers.
Charlene was secretly Jared’s favorite of Sandy’s three juveniles. The spines trailing down her neck and back were already hardening to stony points, while other calves in her age group, even her own siblings, still had softer, more flexible spines, like cartilage. The fawns in her group were too young to be very impressed by Charlie yet, but Jared was sure she’d have does absolutely swooning for her attention when she came of age.
At six years old, Charlie’s dominance showed in her ability to always have her nose where it didn’t belong and dragging her brothers right along with her. She was a ball of mischief, and Jared couldn’t help but love her for it.
He gestured toward the calves. “You should probably head over there pretty soon. I bet Charlie is about to come out of her skin with all these pheromones floating around, and it looks like she’s using her brothers as an outlet.” Sandy shook her head and sighed heavily. Jared grinned. “Drew is going to have a fit without you around for an entire week if they’re already going to start acting up.”
Sandy looked away from Jared then, smiling feebly as she gazed out at her brood. “I--actually, I wanted to ask you a favor.”
Jared’s brow furrowed, a vague feeling of dread inexplicably forming in his chest. “Sure, Sandy. Whatever you need.”
“Drew and I were thinking about going out to the grounds again,” she said in a rush, then tentatively looked up at him. “I was--Well, we were hoping that you’d watch the calves. I know the other does in the main house would if we decided to leave them there, but they just like you so much, and we don’t know how long we’ll be, so...”
A sharp pain jabbed at Jared’s heart, but he offered her a strained smile. “Yeah, Sandy. Of course I will.He was used to watching other does’ clutches while they were away, and during Beltane, he usually helped out at the main house. Being busy usually kept him from having to think too much about anything. And he did love her juveniles, after all, so there was not point in telling her no just because his feelings were hurt.
Sandy studied his face for a moment, then looked down, her dark hair shielding her eyes. “Drew told me to ask a few weeks ago to give you some time to think about it, but I couldn’t bring myself to. And now--I shouldn’t have asked. I’ll leave them in the main house with everyone else.”
“No, it’s okay.” Jared knocked their shoulders together amicably. “I promise. I just have a headache, and then I was a little blindsided, you know? But I’m fine. I love the calves. It’ll be fun.”
Sandy raised her head a little, but Jared had to look away when she tried for eye contact. “Oh, Jared...”
Jared sighed. “Don’t, Sandy. Please.” He could deal with watching the calves while Drew and Sandy go off to the breeding grounds, but he couldn’t handle Sandy feeling bad for him, not when he already felt bad for getting upset in the first place.
He glanced at her, and her eyes were too bright.
“I know, I know. I just--” She stopped abruptly then, her body stilling as a gust of wind kicked up around them. She took a long, deep breath, then tucked her face against his neck, nuzzling right beneath his chin and breathing in again before jerking away. “Jared..?”
Jared shifted uncomfortably, a little embarrassed. “Yeah, I know. I probably smell. I woke up sweaty this morning. I’ll clean up before heading to your nest.”
“Sweaty?” Sandy asked, voice soft and confused. Then, a grin spread across her face, and she crowded in closer to him. “Jared, it’s your heat!”
Jared’s heart skipped at the suggestion, but he quickly shoved the excitement down, and he frowned, gently pushing Sandy away. “It’s just sweat. I’m not in heat, Sandy.”
“You are! Jared, you absolutely reek with the pheromones!” She laughed, bright and loud as she threw her arms around his neck. “This is it!”
“Sandy, stop it.” He shook his head. “I don’t feel it.”
“Yes, you do. You have to be feeling different,” Sandy insisted. “You have a headache, right? I bet the sun seems too bright. I can feel you shivering a little,” she pressed a hand to his face, running her fingers over his cheek, “you’re burning up, Jay. And, like I said, you reek. You--”
“Sandy, stop it,” he bit out, cutting her short.
Sandy’s mouth snapped shut, and she drew back, a little shocked. Jared couldn’t really blame her. He had always been the agreeable one, never raising his voice or protesting something. It was why the hatchlings and the juveniles liked him so much. He was just a big pushover.
He sighed, lowering his head apologetically. “Just. Stop, okay? Please. It’s not my heat. It’s never going to be my heat.”
Sandy’s face softened, and she only hesitated for a brief moment before taking his face in her hands and rubbing her cheek affectionately against his. “Jared, sweetheart, I know this has been a tough road for you, how upset you get every year. But I would never have said anything if I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. I know how important this is to you. This is it, Jared. This is your time. It’s finally your turn.”
Jared really didn’t feel different. Maybe a little sore, a little more depressed than usual. His head hurt, and his stomach was twisting itself in knots, hot and uncomfortable, but.
He looked up at Sandy, nerves balling themselves into a tight knot in the back of his throat. “I’m in heat?” The idea of it, of actually being in heat, felt so foreign, something that happened to other, lucky does and never to him.
Sandy smiled softly. “Yes, Jay. You’re going to have a mate and hatchlings and--gods, you’ll probably have a couple dozen of them, won’t you? At least twenty little dragons to drive you insane and make sure you never sleep again. Oh, Jared, I’m so happy for you!” She paused then, smile faltering as she studies his face. “You are happy, aren’t you?”
“I...” Jared swallowed. His stomach twisted and his heart pulled and he thought, Mate, and.
The corners of Jared’s mouth twitched up, and then he was smiling so hard it hurt. “I’m in heat.”
Sandy’s smile returned full force, and she nuzzled his cheek again. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” he said, a little breathless. A sense of urgency flooded his mind, but he forced himself to pause, lowering his head to hers. “What about you and Drew?”
“There’s always next season. Drew will understand.” At Jared’s reluctant look, she rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think you’ve been waiting long enough yet, you ridiculous thing? Go. What are you waiting for?”
“I’m nervous,” he admitted.
She pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Don’t be. You’re going to make some drake very lucky. Go, Jared. You’ll want to get an early start on building your nest, before the others get their grubby little paws on the best supplies.”
The restlessness building in Jared’s body pushed him to do as she said, to follow the lead of the pull in the center of his chest. A slow grin spread over his face, and he nodded, stretching out his wings. Their thin membranes caught a gust of wind, and he felt it pull at him, attempting to lift him into the sky. “Wish me luck, Sandy.”
“You won’t need it,” she called back, waving as he took to the air in one strong downstroke.
Chapter Two