He put one hand behind her knees and the other at her back, and lifted. "As soon as people get to know you better, there's no way they'll think those are possible. To be honest, they'll blame it on me being super protective because of your pregnancy."
As he walked, she smiled up at him. "Then maybe I should use that excuse for other things, too."
"Use it for whatever you want, love."
Her brows drew together. "I prefer when you argue a little about it, though. Otherwise, it's no fun."
He snorted. "Sometimes, I don't completely understand you."
She grinned up at him. "That just makes life more interesting."
With the late afternoon sun shining down, highlighting the reddish streaks in her dark hair, he chuckled. "If I could love you more, I would in this minute."
She leaned against him and laid her head on his chest, saying nothing.
He hated not being able to see her face or read the emotions in her eyes.
But somehow, he knew she needed to hear something. "No matter what happens or what decision Wes makes, I'll find a way for us to stay together, I promise."
"I hope it doesn't come to you needing to think about that." She looked up again. "If we have to leave to stay together, not only will you miss your family, I will, too. Not just for myself, but for our child, too."
He kissed her nose. "Have faith in Wes. He'll make it work."
Thankfully, she nodded and leaned against him again.
Jose only hoped that his words ended up being true. There was a small chance ADDA would take Victoria away until the child was born, give him their son or daughter, and then relocate her to some other part of the US.
And neither man or dragon would accept that fucking option.
Chapter Thirteen
Victoria sat next to Jose at a table in a mostly bare conference room that had light gray walls and no windows. As they waited inside the Protectors' main building for Wes to arrive, she couldn't help but tap her feet.
What was taking so long? It'd been nearly twenty minutes since they'd arrived. And while she was all for wrapping things up and making sure problems were solved, she was anxious to know her future.
The optimist in her said everything would be fine.
And yet, she was learning more and more that dragon-shifters, at least in the US, had to rely a lot on decisions made by the American Department of Dragon Affairs.
The door finally opened, and a frowning Wes entered the room. After one of the Protector guards at the door shut it behind the clan leader, Wes slid into a chair across from them and said without preamble, "Sorry for the wait, but I wanted a confession before meeting with you."
"Did you get it?" Jose asked.
Wes nodded. "The culprits were pretty stupid in the end, and obviously didn't think it through."
Victoria leaned forward. "Please, just tell us who it is and what's going to happen."
Jose wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she relaxed back into her chair again.
Wes's pupils flashed a few times before he replied, "It was the Randall brothers who did it."
"Who?" she asked, looking between Jose and Wes. There were over a thousand people living inside of Clan PineRock, and she'd barely met any of them.
Wes answered, "The Randall family relocated here a few years ago after a wildfire destroyed their clan in California. They've always kept to themselves, but never caused trouble before."
"But you didn't have a human living here before," she murmured.
"Exactly."