Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 123

Rain

“Are you guys seriously not freaking out about this?” I demand, pacing the length of the room. “We have to go to the dragon stronghold. Under the ground. Somewhere no one even knows the location of! How is that not terrifying?”

Colby leans back against the wall, arms crossed, looking way too relaxed for the situation. “It’s a challenge. We’ve faced worse.

I stare at him. “Faced worse? Colby, these are dragons. Not some rogue pack looking for a fight. Not some pissed-off witches. Dragons!” I throw my hands up, barely resisting the urge to shake him. “They breathe fire. They eat people. And we have to go into their territory, underground, where they have every advantage.”

“Sounds like an adventure,” Colby says with a smirk. I groan. “Of course, you’d say that.”

Matt, sitting on the couch, rubs a hand down his face. “I’m not saying I’m thrilled about it either, Rain. But what choice do we have? If this is the only way to put them back to sleep, we have to try.”

“Try? TRY?” My voice goes a little higher-pitched than I’d like, but come on. “Do you hear yourself? You sound like you’re suggesting we try a new restaurant, not risk our lives sneaking into an underground death trap!”

Jesse, leaning in the corner, arms crossed, looks at me with a bored expression. “Then don’t go.” I blink. “Excuse me?”

“Stay behind,” he says with a shrug. “No one’s forcing you.”

I sputter. “Oh, right. So I just sit here while the rest of you go get eaten by dragons?” “Thought you were convinced we’d all die anyway,” Jesse deadpans.

I glare at him. “That is not the point. The point is that this plan is insane. We don’t even know where we’re going. What if we get lost down there? What if it’s a trap? What if-“

“Rain,” Colby interrupts, grinning, “breathe.”

“I am breathing. And I’m also the only sane person in this room!”

Matt sighs. “Look, I get it, but what other option do we have? The dragons don’t exactly do negotiations.” “Right! Exactly! So why are we even trying this? We’re just a bunch of wolves, not dragon slayers!”

Colby chuckles. “That’s the fun part. We get to figure it out as we go.” I point at him. “You need therapy.”

Jesse shifts, exhaling heavily. “If we’re doing this, I’d rather just get it over with. Sitting here debating doesn’t change the fact that it has to be done.”

I throw my hands up. “So that’s it? Are we all just accepting our impending doom? No plans? No ideas? Just, ‘Oh hey, let’s walk into the most dangerous place imaginable and hope for the best’?”

Matt shrugs. “Pretty much.”

Jesse raises an eyebrow. “Unless you’ve got a better idea?” I open my mouth. Close it. Open it again. “I hate all of you.”

“Duly noted,” Matt mutters.

Colby claps a hand on my shoulder. “But you’re still coming.” I groan even louder. “Unfortunately.”

Rain flops onto the couch, burying his face in his hands. “This is the worst decision we’ve ever made.” Colby smirks. “Nah. I think the worst decision was that time you tried to distract a rogue by talking to it.” “I thought he might be reasonable!” I exclaim.

Jesse scoffs. “It had blood dripping from its mouth, Rain.” I wave a hand. “That could’ve been an accident!”

Matt shakes his head. “You are hopeless.”

I peek through my fingers. “And yet, here I am, about to follow you all into dragon-infested tunnels.” Colby grins. “That’s the spirit.”

I know I was sitting there pouting, but could you blame me? We were talking about finding the entrance to the dragon hideaway (which the coven gave us) and then bursting in there.

How were we supposed to fight fire-breathing dragon shifters that could fly? I couldn’t fly! Or breathe fire! Whimpering, I buried my face in my hands.

Tomorrow we were going to have to face certain doom, and these idiots were acting like it was a fun road trip. “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me,” I mumbled into my palms.

Matt snorted. “Oh? Worse than that time you got stuck in a tree running from that raccoon?” I peeked at him through my fingers. “That raccoon was demonic.”

Matt leaned back, clearly enjoying himself. “You’d be one of those tiny, sad, half-melted marshmallows that gets stuck at the bottom of the hot cocoa.”

Jesse nodded. “Or the one that falls into the fire and burns up instantly.” I groaned. “Oh my god, stop comparing me to tragic marshmallows!”

Lia bit her lip like she was this close to laughing. “I mean… you are kind of fragile.” I gasped, pressing a hand over my heart. “I am a delicate flower!”

Jesse snorted. “Yeah. A delicate, panicking, overdramatic flower.”

Colby grinned, slapping my back. “Don’t worry, buddy. We’ll protect your soft, marshmallow self.” I buried my face in my hands again. “I am so doomed.”

Lia finally lost the battle and let out a snicker. “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure to carry you to safety if things get too intense. Maybe even wrap you in a blanket first.”

I groaned. “Oh great, now I’m a burrito and a marshmallow? This is getting out of hand.”

Jesse smirked. “Honestly, the way you stress out, you’d probably taste like burnt marshmallow.” Colby snapped his fingers. “That’s it! We need a new nickname. Toasty.”

I glared at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, I absolutely would,” he shot back, eyes twinkling with mischief.

Lia hummed thoughtfully, like she was genuinely considering it. “Toasty does have a nice ring to it.”

I groaned. “I hate all of you.”