Dragon Royalty (Dragon Shifter Academy Book 1) Read online

Damon says I should just go with the flow. He says that he doesn’t mind if I date Ty and Kade too. Well, he says he doesn’t mind ‘sharing.’ I still worry how long that will last. It’s not like I can end up with all three of them. I’ll eventually have to choose one. I just worry that I’ll have to decide soon, and I have no idea who I would choose right now. My feelings for all three are equal.

  I haven’t gotten to spend as much time with Kade. I mean, I went on a date with Ty and I live with Damon. I suppose I need to spend time with Kade to even see if what I feel is just because I’m attracted to him or if it’s because there is something more.

  I don’t even understand my feelings. They’re so strong and certain—almost like I have no control over it at all.

  At lunch, I sit with Gemma, Courtney, and Piper again. Partly because I want to talk to them; I know they’ll be dying to hear about my date with Ty. The other reason I want to sit with them is that sometimes it’s a little too intense to sit with all three of the guys.

  Intense.

  Yeah… that’s my life right now. A lot intense.

  “How was it?” Gemma asks the second I sit down.

  I smile, trying to think of how to answer.

  “Look at that smile.” Piper sighs dreamily. “That says it all. When is the second date?”

  “The date was good. We just went to get food and to the concert, but I think my favorite parts were when we were riding around in his car. He’s so easy to talk to.”

  “I think you guys did a lot more than talk.” Courtney raises her brows suggestively. “You don’t smile like that because you just talked.”

  “He might’ve kissed me,” I hedged.

  Gemma and Piper both squeal.

  “It was just a kiss.” Heat rises on my cheeks, and I stare down at my food.

  “Your first kiss is never just a kiss,” Gemma says.

  “Damon kissed me too,” I admit, biting my lip.

  “Okay, we need details.” Piper drops her fork and gives me all of her attention.

  “There aren’t details.” I sigh. “Ty kissed me at the end of our date. It was a good kiss. And then the next day… yesterday… Damon kissed me while we were in the pool together. It was… a really intense kiss.”

  “Intense how?” Courtney asks.

  “I don’t know… just… hot,” I say.

  “That’s awesome.” Gemma grins.

  I shrug. “Yeah, but now I don’t know what to do. I have feelings for three different guys, and I don’t even know how I’m supposed to choose which one to date.”

  “Hold up,” Piper says, raising a hand up. “You said three.”

  I nod, biting my lip.

  “Who else?” Courtney asks.

  “Let me guess,” Gemma speaks up, looking behind me at something. “Is it a certain blond haired, blue eyed boy?”

  I turn around and spot Kade walking over to the table. As much as I want to play it cool, seeing him walking my way has my heart pounding hard in my chest.

  Kade looks good today. He has on a pair of dark jeans and a black fitted tee. He’s gorgeous, especially when he smiles, which is all the time. Kade is the happiest person that I know. As soon as he spots me looking at him, his smile grows bigger and my heart swells.

  I could live a thousand lives and never deserve a guy like him.

  “Hey.” Kade nods his head at me when he gets over to the table. He sits down beside me and nods at the girls too. “Ladies.”

  “Hey, Kade,” they mumble.

  Kade turns his attention back to me. “I was wondering if you were busy tonight.”

  I shake my head.

  “Maybe you can come over to my house, then,” he suggests. “We could hang out and watch a movie or something.”

  “What about Ty?” I ask. What I don’t ask is what about Damon too.

  “Ty doesn’t care,” he says. “Ty and Damon both know that I was coming to ask you to hang out and both of them are fine with it.”

  How does he do that? How does he know that it’s not just Ty I’m worried about, but Damon too?

  “Okay.” I huff out a breath. “I would like that.”

  “Great.” He grins again. “Do you want to just ride with me after school? I’ll take you home after.”

  “Okay. I rode with Damon anyway. I just need to tell him I’m going with you.”

  “I’ll tell him,” Kade offers, then stands up. “I’ll see you after while.”

  “Later.”

  I watch him walk back to the table with the guys. When he sits down, he winks at me and I turn back around to the girls. They’re all staring at me.

  “Oh, honey,” Gemma drawls. “You have it bad.”

  I groan.

  She’s right.

  I do have it bad.

  I put my head in my hands and grumble, “How am I supposed to choose?”

  “Who says you have to?” Courtney asks.

  “What do you mean?”

  “My mom has five mates,” Piper explains. “They’re all my dads. I mean, biologically just one of them is, but I’m not sure which one. I don’t care either.”

  I raise my head from my hands and stare at Piper.

  “Your mom has five husbands?” I ask, my mouth hanging open.

  “My mom has two,” Courtney adds.

  “That’s insane,” I mumble.

  “Not to us,” Gemma’s reply is simple and matter-of-fact.

  “How many does your mom have?” I ask.

  “Only one,” she answers, then giggles. “My mom isn’t like their moms.”

  “Don’t stress too much about choosing.” Piper reaches out and lays a hand on my shoulder. “Fate has a way of working things out. And the way those boys look at you… that’s fate.”

  I turn around and see that Kade, Ty, and Damon are all three looking my way. I smile and wave at them.

  Could I really have them all?

  I feel selfish even having the thought, but it fills me with such hope.

  Why choose if I don’t have to?

  I push those thoughts aside for now. I am just going to go with the flow and see what happens.

  Three dads?

  Damon doesn’t think it’s weird that I’m going to Kade’s house that afternoon. He doesn’t even seem bothered when Kade holds my hand as we walk away from him toward Kade’s car. Even when we walk past Ty, he doesn’t seem to care.

  Are there just a lot of polygamous relationships in Vegas? I mean, of course I’ve heard of polygamy, but it’s usually one man marrying a bunch of women, never the other way around.

  Kade opens the door for me and I smile at him as I get in. He closes the door behind me.

  Why am I even thinking about this? Damon, Kade, and Ty are attractive and young and there is no way they’d want to be in a relationship like that with me. Still, part of me doesn’t want to choose. So, I’ll go with that part of me because not choosing sounds way better.

  I lace my fingers together on my lap.

  “Before we go to my house, there is something I want to tell you,” Kade says, as we drive away from the school.

  “What is it?”

  “You’ve met my mom, Thalia and my dad, Pierce,” he says. “But I have two other dads you haven’t met. They don’t come to brunch because they usually work on Sunday mornings. They have their own business that is really booming in Australia, so Sunday is like their Monday.”

  He has three dads.

  Wow.

  Okay, so maybe it really is normal to them.

  “You have three dads?”

  “Yes,” he answers. “I know it’s probably not normal for you. You weren’t raised here, so you don’t know. But a lot of the kids have multiple dads. Even Ty has four dads.”

  “Wait, so all three of your dads are married to your one mom?” I have to ask to clarify. This is hard to wrap my head around.

  He nods.

  “That’s cool. I mean, it’s different, but still kind of cool.”

 
He shoots a grin my way. “I think so too.”

  “My aunt doesn’t have any more husbands, right?” I ask.

  He laughs. “No. Actually, Damon had more than one dad. Three of his dads and his mom were killed tragically. It was just him and Esteban left when he was just a kid. Victoria married his dad only two years ago.”

  “I didn’t know that.” My voice is quiet, and my chest aches at his words.

  I can’t imagine how hurt Damon would have been to lose his mom and three of his dads. That’s horrible.

  “How did they die?”

  “I’ll let Damon tell you the story,” Kade says. “When he’s ready.”

  I nod.

  I can wait for Damon to come to me.

  I realize then, I don’t know Damon, Ty, and Kade that well. I’ve only been here for one month, but it feels like so much longer. I feel like I’ve known these guys my whole life. It’s so weird to think about all the things we still have to learn about each other.

  I adjust in my seat so I can see him a bit better. “What else should I know about you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I don’t know that much about you.” I hold up my hand and tick off what I do know about him on my fingers. “You have three dads, you are one the most beautiful guys I’ve ever met, and you drive some kind of black SUV thing.”

  He laughs. “It’s a Jaguar.”

  “Whatever.” I wave my hand at him in dismissal. “I’m just saying, I don’t know a lot about what makes you, you.”

  “My favorite color is black.” Kade pauses for a minute, obviously trying to figure out what to tell me. “I like classical music and Indian food. And one time when I was a kid, I accidentally lit the kitchen on fire. Mom was so mad, even though it wasn’t my fault. It was an accident.”

  “How do you accidentally light the kitchen on fire?”

  “That’s a story for another day,” he hedges, pulling into a driveway.

  I sit up straighter.

  I have never been inside Kade’s house before, but I came here for a pool party before school started. It’s the only house between Ty’s house and mine. We drive past it all the time. I love that he lives so close.

  “It's convenient that you live so close to me,” I point out.

  “Everybody lives close to one another,” he says, turning the car off. “Do you want to head inside?”

  I nod.

  I take off my seatbelt and start to get out, but before I open the door, Kade has it opened and is offering me his hand to help me out. I swear these guys have more southern charm than anybody I’ve ever met before… and they're not even southern.

  Together, we head inside.

  “So, you’re an only child, right?” I assume he is considering he is the only one who comes to family brunch, but I also didn’t know about his other dads because they don’t come.

  “I’m an only child,” he confirms. “I think my parents always wanted more, but it’s hard for our kind to have a lot of kids.”

  “Your kind?” I dart a look at him.

  “Nothing,” he says, shaking his head. He opens the door and motions me to walk in first. I want to ask him what he means by what he said, but I’m distracted when we walk inside.

  His house is just as grand as the one I live in, except this one actually looks lived in. It’s clean, but not everything is perfect. There is a book that hasn’t been put back on the shelf lying on a table, and a pair of shoes sits by the door.

  “Should I take my shoes off?” I ask.

  “Nah.”

  He doesn’t take his own shoes off, so I leave mine on.

  “Kade! I’m glad you’re back,” I hear somebody say, as footsteps come closer. “I need you to…” The footsteps stop as a guy that I haven’t met walks into the room. I’m assuming it’s one of his dads. “Is this Reign?”

  “Hi.” I wave my hand. “Yeah, I’m Reign.”

  He steps closer. I expect him to shake my hand, but instead, he pulls me in for a hug, squeezing me tight against him.

  “I’ve heard so much about you,” he says. “It’s so lovely to finally meet my son’s mate.”

  My face grows warm as he steps back.

  “Dad.” I can hear the warning meant for his dad as Kade speaks.

  “I’m Michael Norwood. It’s so nice to meet you.”

  I smile. “Nice to meet you too.”

  “What are you two doing tonight?” Michael asks Kade, then looks at me. “Are you staying for dinner?”

  Am I?

  I look at Kade for the answer.

  “Yes, she’s staying for dinner.” Kade grabs my hand. “We’re just going to watch a movie or something.”

  “After dinner, maybe we can watch a movie in the theater,” Michael suggests.

  “Sounds good.” Kade smiles.

  Theater?

  They have a theater in their house?

  Geez, I’m jealous. Kade gets to live in a home while I live in a museum.

  “We’re just going to hang out in my room until dinner,” Kade says, then looks at his dad. “Did you need help with something?”

  “It’s nothing urgent,” Michael says. “It can wait until you don’t have a guest.”

  “Okay.”

  “Reign, it is so lovely to have you here.” He smiles warmly at me. “Please, make yourself at home.”

  “Thanks.”

  My everything.

  I follow Kade up the stairs to his room.

  I’m in awe of his house. It reminds me so much of my home in St. Louis. Well, not the size. My house wasn’t even a tenth of the size of his. But it just reminds me of ‘home’. Pictures of him and his family line the walls in the hallway. I even stop at a few of Kade as a kid. He was adorable. He seems embarrassed as he pulls me along toward his room.

  “I love your house,” I tell him, as we walk into his bedroom.

  Kade’s bedroom is massive.

  There is a king size bed in the middle of the room with a black comforter on it.

  Of course, it’s black.

  There is also a fuzzy black rug underneath.

  His bed is made, but it’s made very sloppily. I kind of like the idea that Kade doesn’t normally make his bed, but maybe he made it because he knew he wanted to invite me over tonight.

  A couch sits in the corner of the room that is facing a large TV hanging on the wall. A gaming system is hooked up to the TV, so maybe we can play later.

  One thing that catches my eye is the huge painting of a dragon hanging over his dresser. I walk over to it and just stare.

  In the painting, there is a dragon flying over the mesa—there are so many shades of orange and brown. And the sky is incredible. It almost looks like a portrait and not just a painting.

  The dragon is large—it’s all black with stunning blue eyes. Its wings expand across the whole portrait.

  “This is incredible,” I breathe out.

  Kade sits down on his bed. “Are you going to go through all my stuff now?”

  I whirl around to face him. “Why would I do that?”

  He shrugs. “I don’t know. Isn’t that what girls in movies always do when they go to a guy’s house?”

  “Not me.” I shrug, then make my way over and sit beside him on the massive bed. “I’m so jealous of your house.”

  “Why?” he asks. “Your house is bigger.”

  “Is it?” I honestly hadn’t noticed.

  “Your house feels like home,” I say. “Can I move in with you?”

  He grins. “I would love it if you moved in with me. My parents won’t care.”

  My heart melts at how genuine his answer is.

  “We could get our own place,” Kade offers. “You, Damon, Ty, and me.”

  I look at him to see if he’s joking, but he’s completely serious. “Kade, we’re still in high school.”

  “So? What does that matter?”

  “I don’t have money. Or a job,” I point out. “Plus, I’m only seven
teen. I’m pretty sure Victoria wouldn’t even let me move out right now.”

  “When is your birthday?”

  “Next month,” I answer. “September twenty eighth. What about you?”

  “My birthday was last week.”

  “You’re eighteen?”

  He nods.

  “Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?” My stomach is in knots. I hate that I didn’t know it was his birthday—nobody told me. I would’ve baked him a cake or bought him a present—something.

  “It didn’t seem important,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Your birthday is important, Kade,” I say, frowning.

  “I didn’t know.”

  “I’ll make it up to you.” I sit up straighter. “What do you want for your birthday?”

  “I already got my birthday wish.” He gently grabs my hand and pressing it to his cheek. “Meeting you… it’s what I’ve always wanted.”

  I look into his blue eyes and nearly forget what we’re even talking about, but I must stay focused. This is important.

  “Kade,” I say, shaking my head. “Don’t distract me.”

  He grins.

  As if his smile isn’t distracting all on its own.

  “Surely there is something you want that you didn’t get,” I prod.

  Kade doesn’t hesitate even for a moment. “Well, there is one thing I want.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I want a kiss. From you,” he murmurs.

  My mouth falls open. “Kade, that isn’t a present.”

  “I don’t need anything but you.” He reaches up and cups my cheek. “Meeting you has changed my life, Reign. It’s like every day I was living my life in black and white and I didn’t even realize it. Then I met you and now everything is suddenly bursting with color. You are my reason for waking up in the morning—my reason that I exist. A kiss from you is the best present that anybody could ever give me.”

  Time has stopped.

  Completely.

  And utterly.

  Stopped.

  I know that once it starts again, my life will never be the same. How could it be after he said that? With just a few sentences, Kade Norwood has completely changed my life. He’s stolen my heart and I’m okay with it. I want him to have it.

  I don’t know what to say, so I don’t say anything at all. I just lean closer and give him exactly what he wants for his birthday—a kiss.