Page 121 of The Pregnant Wolf Omega Next Door

Emre swallowed. The pepper tingled on its way down. Moments later, his stomach grew warmer, and heat pushed back up his throat, emerging as a tiny lick of orange flame.

As soon as it appeared, the fire vanished, leaving nothing but a hint of smoke. Emre’s eyes grew round.

“That’s one of our milder varieties,” Sen said cheerily. “Why don’t you try another?”

The next one was a bright red pepper, thin and long, smooth all around. This one tingled more in Emre’s mouth. If he weren’t pregnant right now, it would’ve burned his tongue off.

He chewed it up and swallowed, expecting the heat that pushed back up.

What he didn’t expect were the fluttering ribbons of flame that exploded out of his mouth.

“Woohoo!” the brothers cheered.

Emre’s heart thumped. But nothing hurt, and soon enough, the flames faded away.

Zenith grinned and squeezed Emre’s waist. “You’re beautiful, sweetheart. How are you feeling?”

“Good,” Emre said.

“Another, another!” the brothers chanted.

Emre picked up the scariest-looking pepper—dark red and wrinkled, almost evil-looking.

“Oooh,” the dragons murmured. And they fell silent.

Emre nibbled the very end of it. When it didn’t send alarm bells ringing through his head, he took a bigger bite, his mouth watering at the tingles bursting across his tongue. He swallowed. The tingles went down his gullet and into his stomach, spreading through his body.

Further south, his pup wriggled in his belly, like it felt the heat from the pepper too.

All at once, the pressure built in his stomach, and it rushed back up. This time, the flames burst out of him in a roar, white-gold with orange at the edges, and it reached the ceiling.

Emre would’ve yelped if the flames had let him breathe for a second.

He stared wide-eyed at the spectacle. The dragons whooped. Abbie squirmed in Zenith’s other arm and tried to reach for the flames.

Emre remembered an old fire from long ago. But he also remembered plenty of other fires he’d seen since, fires that did no harm because Zenith was around to keep him safe.

When the flames died out, Emre leaned into Zenith, who looked so awestruck, Emre wanted to kiss him.

“I think we should do the ceremony now,” Emre said.

“You heard him!” Thiago said, waving everyone along. “To the Circle!”

As one, they all moved. The flight’s Circle was at the very back of the mansion, in a large cavern lit by wall sconces. In the middle of the floor was a set of large concentric circles, their carvedstone edges worn smooth over the centuries. Simple drawings and Roman numerals filled the spaces between each circle; Emre couldn’t take his eyes off them.

“Our ancestors carved the Circle,” Zenith said quietly, setting Emre on his feet. “It has been here for generations.”

Emre could imagine the dragonets playing in this chamber, chasing each other around. He rubbed his swollen belly and hoped their pup stayed put.

“Keep at least one foot on the circle at all times,” Zenith said. “We have to hold hands through all three laps of walking the Circle. After that, the bonding ceremony will be complete.”

“Okay,” Emre said.

“I have a song for you,” Griff announced.

“Oh gods,” Zenith groaned. “Maybe another time—”

He was too late. Griff’s voice rang out through the cavern.