Becoming the Luna

No one stops Darian this time when he goes after Dale.

"He had that coming." Renee mutters.

It was obvious that although there was a lot of controversy around Dream's pregnancy because, Dale has Dream's mating mark but Dream's neck is painfully bare that they had resolved things now so everyone was willing to sweep things under the carpet until either of them was willing to open up.

But for Darian, it was just a natural response to want to murder the idiot that got his brother pregnant, it didn't matter if they had gotten mated first or hell! Did a whole ass wedding, he would still feel like ripping their necks out, he would just control himself better.

Not in this situation though…

Hayden and Dream make their way back to a scene that was so neutrally chaotic, it was almost hilarious.

While Darian had Dale in a choke hold on the ground, the rest were in a lively conversation, discussing how a risk of this happening again was almost nonexistent, because information got around and no one would want a repeat of what happened at Crescent Pack to happen to theirs.

Dream hung back, still looking pale while Hayden hurried over to Darian.

"As fun as this must be, I need to borrow Dale." He says politely.

"Dream? Baby? Are you okay?" Renee is the first to notice him weaving, hurrying to her feet in worry.

Dream just steps back still looking green.

"Mom, you might want to keep your distance, unless you have mints on you."

"What?" Renee splutters in confusion, freezing up.

DD easily catches on though. " Why would we need mints when we have Dale, Darian, stop hugging your brother's mate and let him go." She immediately takes control of the situation, Darian flinching at her choice of words, seperating from Dale so fast.

Dale just picks himself up from the ground and heads for Dream, picking him up again.

"If you'll excuse us." He says magnanimously, sweeping out.

"Yeah, I'm gonna kill him." Darian mutters in a dark voice.

"No, there'll be none of that." Dia scolds lightly, "At least he's falling in love, when you bring someone home then you'd get that privilege."

"Mom, don't bait him." DD mutters.

"I'll take anything I can get at this point." Dia whispers under her breath.

"Oh?" Renee makes a U-turn, beelining to Darian, unfazed by his threatening aura as she reaches up on her tiptoes to pinch his cheeks. "Did I hear that you need a matchmaker?"

Everyone holds back their laughter at how uncomfortable Darian looks with Renee pestering him, literally hanging off him as she tries to find out who his type is so that she could set up a date for him.

Hayden is curled up on his mate's legs, his head resting on Virgil's bare torso. He's already dozing off when his tummy rumbles, making his cheeks flush, they hadn't eaten a lot at breakfast so it's a little expected.

Virgil glances down at this. "Hungry huh? I could go…"

"No, it's fine." Hayden is quick to wave away, knowing that the chances of there being strawberries on the jet would be next to nonexistent and that was pretty much what he wanted just then.

Jaxon's eyes go wide in realization, his signature wild-haired look and eyebags in place, knitted sweater on. "Renee? Please tell me you got around to ordering the strawberries."

"What?" Renee turned around, she was seated on the ground beside Darian who she had forced to do the same, the big Warrior backed up against the wall, clutching himself and trying to look small while Renee chatted his ears off, braiding his hair - technically tangling it.

"Strawberries? For Hay?" Jaxon repeats.

"Oh, yes, of course." Renee beams up at him, giving Darian her full attention once again.

Comfortable silence fell on them, after all of the anxiety and worry bled away, they were all just exhausted, easily dozing on the couches in ridiculous positions as the jet cut through the sky.

*~*

Dream was in a similar state, he was exhausted and not just from the crazy adventure they just had, he was tired of holding up all of the responsibility, of keeping everything away from the people he loved, of bottling up his feelings… why did he ever think that all that was a good idea?

He lets his eyes slip shut, listening to the calming thudding of Dale's heartbeat even as he strode down a hallway.

Dream had no idea where they were going but that didn't even bother him, Dale was with him, wasn't he? That was enough…

Or maybe it's because he's pregnant and in a dress that's why he's feeling so soft and emotional.

Dale's scent is endlessly better than mints and he just stays there, in a cloud of it, slowly falling asleep.

He's jolted awake when Dale's movement changes and they have stopped moving, opening his eyes to a state of the art master bedroom.

"How do you feel?" Dale asks softly, pushing Dream's hair out of his face to get a better look.

Dream's response is a muffled mumble, remaining in Dale's arms although they're on a bed now. "Better."

Dale leans forward to place a kiss on his forehead, scenting him just because.

"Why did you run away?" He finally asks the question that has been burning at the tip of his tongue for almost a full week. He has a vague idea of the answer but it wouldn't hurt to hear it.

Dream hides his face deeper. "You didn't mate me… I-I thought…"

"Oh, honey, of course I wouldn't, I needed to ask you first." Dale is quick to say, cupping Dream's face tenderly in both of his hands to lead him to sit upright, facing him. "I'm a wreck of a romantic but I wanted to make it special…" He punctuates it with a kiss on Dream's nose, the sleepy Omega batting him away, "But then there's you dashing away in the morning like Cinderella."

"First of all, never compare me to a disney princess…"

Dale just stares at him with stars in his dark green eyes. "Even though you're wearing a dress…"

Dream's glare cut him off. "You know what will make it special, cook me brunch when we get home and I might even tell you I love you." He says, bright eyes dropping to the proud jasmine flower sitting over Dale's heart.

Dale's heart swells to bursting, his hands dropping from Dream's face to encircle his waist, burying his face in Dream's neck. "Sure, when we get home…"