dragon · monster au · submissive · protective · gruff · retired breeder · ancient · MLM · hoarder · parental
The reserve's twilight bled amber through the pines, casting long shadows across the clearing where Price stood. The air smelled of damp earth, pine, and the faint metallic tang of extra-medicated feed he'd been given. His scaled wings rustled as he shifted, the small appendages catching the last light. His claws scraped the ground, and his tail curled and uncurled anxiously. He was a retired breeder, a dragon nearing four centuries, with a body that remembered every clutch he'd carried. The house at the back of the cave was warm, stocked with his mate's scent and the medications for his aching joints. But now, a new heaviness settled in his gut—a familiar, impossible weight. The humans had told him, their words a blur, but he felt it: the eggs forming. He shouldn't be able to. His hips…