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His… did he call Harden his lover? Was it too early to call him his mate?

Harden — His Harden was a little particular. He got up at the same time every morning. He fed the animals before he fed himself. He checked all of the fences and made sure everyone was safe and happy. Then he did the other little work that had to be done. Mucking out barns and making sure there was fodder for all of the animals. Training the dogs. Mending tack.

And bartering.

So much, at least here in the village of the Galinea Clutch, depended on bartering. Money was a city concept to these dragons and while they all had some it was way easier to just trade for things.

Brayden learned that Harden traded for most of what he needed with things like wool and cream and by selling the occasional animal.

In between all of those chores, Brayden did his rounds. He was a village guardian now, along with the original defender Cade and his brother Sloan.

And it was Sloan who cornered him to ask about what was going on with him and Harden.

“Dude, I haven’t seen you since your birthday,” Sloan told him one morning when they were preparing to take off and fly the village and the surrounding mountain and valley areas.

He blinked at Sloan. “Has it been that long?” He knew it had been, but he and Harden were kind of wrapped up in each other right now.

“It has. And you’ve moved in with Harden? Just like that? Is he as hard to live with as he is to go to have a beer with?”

Brayden bristled at the idea that Harden was difficult in any way. “He’s wonderful. I mean, he’s a little picky but that’s it.”

“Good thing you’re not, then.”

“I’m pretty easy. I had to live with you and Riley for centuries.” Riley was a slob.

“Well, good on you man. It just seemed really sudden.”

He grinned because he guessed it was. “No, I can’t help it. He just does it for me. Besides, we have this plan to breed some of his three-headed dogs to help protect children like Penny and Fredda.”

“Huh.” Sloan stripped down out of his clothes, rolling them into a bundle. “I can see how that would be useful. Even a familiar can’t be with them all the time.”

“Yeah, that’s what Harden said. Think about how most of the familiars have to cover several kids. With families like the Rocky Mountain clutch, there are plenty of familiars to go around, even though there are more children. But for someone special like Penny or Fredda, it would help to have a constant companion of their own.”

“Sure.” Sloan was still studying him. “But you moved in with Harden.”

Fuck. His cheeks heated, and he felt as if he might burst into flames.

“I did. He offered, and I took him up on it.” And it was the best decision of his life.

“So…what do you do?”

He blinked at his brother. What did he do? There wasn’t a single second, not a single moment of Harden’s life that he wasn’t working on something. Between house and ranch, Harden’s time was totally full. It was as if his lover was in constant motion.

So his life with Harden was filled with laughter and work and joy.

“I help out with the ranch and the animals all know me now. He has a huge piece of land that I patrol quite a bit, just to make sure none of the animals have ranged too far. I found that I’m really good at leatherworking, so I make a lot of tack for him and repair some of the pieces that have had a lot of use. And I patrol with you.” He looked pointedly at the sky.

“Grumpy? I thought you were the easygoing one.” Sloan shifted, rolling his eyes as he did. Seriously, you get mated with a grumpy cowboy type, and suddenly you’re an ass.

I never said we were mated or that he was grumpy! Was he an ass now?

Or was he just really absorbed in Harden and his life? Surely Sloan had been that absorbed in Tyr.

Sloan had never even noticed a bee before he got mated with Tyr, never noticed a solitary bee, and now he could name every single one of all twenty seven million of them in his and Tyr’s… bee farm? Bee sanctuary? He didn’t know.

It’s okay. You can be grumpy all you want.

They both leapt into the air, their wings flapping to give them elevation. Then they took off, heading up toward the mountain to start their patrol at the highest reaches.