Chapter 2: Everett

I’m furious that this child threatened Kaylani. I may not feel worthy of her, but I feel an extreme amount of protectiveness for the beautiful dragon. My mate.

In the privacy of my own mind, I can call her that. I can’t say it out loud, can’t let her have hope that we’ll ever be together. I have no idea why she was mated to someone like me, but I do know that she deserves a strong, powerful protector for a mate, not some weak human that can’t even claim her properly.

“Fenian, is it true that you threatened Kaylani?” I ask him as we walk back inside.

“I wasn’t going to hurt her,” he grumbles.

“You, an elven teenager, threatened a full-grown dragon? Do you think that was wise?”

He shakes his head, no. “I was angry. I didn’t mean it.”

I stop and turn to him. “And yet, you continue to pick fights with the others, call them names, demean them. Do you know, in my experience, it’s the bullies that have no self-esteem. They have to make other people feel bad so that they can feel better about themselves. What kind of a person treats others like that? Not someone who is confident. Definitely not a leader. If you want to become what you think you are, if you want to become a true leader, you need to seriously reconsider your actions. And for the record, if you ever threaten Kaylani again, King Yhendorn and Queen Kenna won’t be your worst nightmare. I’m a doctor and I know all sorts of things that can make your life miserable. I may only be a human, but I can kill any one of you with a simple injection. Do not underestimate me and do not EVER threaten Kaylani again. Am I clear?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. I hope that you will become the leader that I see in you some day, but in the meantime, I had students in here who get sick when they see blood. There’s a bucket and cleaning solution over there. Vomit is in rooms two and three,” I say, walking away as Fenian begins to gag.

I head to the room with my longest-term patient when Yhendorn and Kenna come walking up.

“You’re threatening a member of my elven troupe, Everett?” Yhendorn asks.

“He’s my student King Yhendorn. If you don’t like my approach, you are welcome to pull him from the school. I believe there is a growing list of students on the waitlist.” I say, unperturbed. The school was started by me and Kaylani. It’s ours and no one is going to try to pressure me or intimidate me into taking or keeping a student who isn't willing to be here.

Yhendorn watches me closely before nodding. “I can see why you’re mated to a dragon. It’s interesting to me that you seem to be the only one unable to see that.”

If I was one of the many shifters that I’m surrounded by, I’d growl at that statement.

“I’m a human, Yhendorn. I can’t move the earth, the air, create fire or water.”

“But you can save lives, can’t you doctor?” Kenna asks kindly. “You can do what none of the rest of us can do. You can save these hybrids whose bodies have been horribly manipulated and are rejecting everything that was done to them. You can give them life again. How does my small ability to create a flame compare to that?” she asks, pulling a flame into her palm.

Kenna is a hybrid, the child of Tana, the fire dragon and Cedric, the Lycan King. She got the dragon gene, but she has a lot of Alpha in her personality. She was born a human, so unlike the others who were born as dragons, she is still in a pre-teen body, even though she’s a full-grown dragon. It’s a difficulty that the other children of the dragons will face as they get older, becoming adult dragons but remaining a child in their human bodies for many more years. So, while she and Yhendorn are mates, they will not be able to complete their mate bond for several more years, when Kenna becomes an adult in her human form.

“You can do more than put fire into your palm, Kenna,” I say.

“My mate is right. I’m a King, and I can’t save lives the way you can. I may be able to breathe life back into some creatures, but not the way you do, Everett. You should give yourself more credit.”

I smile. They aren’t the first pair that has told me that I should just accept Kaylani as my mate. It makes me wonder if anyone really sees her the way I do. Can no one else see that she’s so far out of my league that it’s like we’re on different planets?

“What brings you both here today?” I ask, changing the subject.

“We wanted to check in on our troupe, but we also wanted to hear about your patient as well as any attacks or sightings from the other hybrids lately,” Yhendorn says.

“Yhendorn, I heard you were here,” Ishir says, walking up. Ishir is a tiger shifter and Zephyr’s mate. They built a house on the property and now Zephyr is one of our teachers. Ishir is an excellent tracker and has been hunting the missing hybrids.

“Ishir, it’s good to see you. How are your children?” he asks.

“Young. I told Zephyr that we need to let these two get older so we can get some sleep before we have another one.”

“How’s that working out for you?” Kenna asks, snickering.

“You’re a dragon with a mate, you tell me,” Ishir says to her, making her growl. As with all dragons, Kenna may love her mate, may want him desperately, but no dragon wants to be claimed, at least not until after they’ve been claimed. Then, the love they show their mates is unlike anything I’ve ever seen or experienced in my life.

Unlike shifters who are basically humans with an animal spirit that gives them enhanced senses and strength, the dragons are always dragons. They evolved over time to shift into a human body so they could hide among the humans who hunted them nearly to extinction. A dragon feels and senses things much more strongly than others, so when they love, their love is force, unable to be resisted.

When a dragon is claimed by their mate, it’s a positive relationship. But you don’t have to be mated to a dragon to claim one. In the past, humans and shifters alike have claimed dragons to increase their own power, using the dragon's strength to overtake kingdoms or try to rule the world. That was the intent of the Chief and his son, Oliver. But both of them are dead. All that is left now is the hybrids that we haven’t been able to find or save.

However, you have to claim a dragon first and that is no easy feat. Not just anyone can claim a dragon. You must be strong, intelligent, and able to survive their battle against you. Cedric was thrown off of Tana, and  burned by her fire, before he was able to get her to submit to him. Avani was basically buried in hardened lava by Merethyl before he submitted and Ishir not only had to battle a nearly wild Zephyr, he also had to battle her mind after Oliver broke her spirit.

I’m an excellent swimmer, I love the water, always have, but there is no way I could survive a battle against Kaylani and I would never, ever make her live knowing she killed her mate. Of all the elemental dragons, Kaylani is the sweetest, most gentle of the four. It would break her to kill me, but it is the way of the dragon to fight their claim, so I will never put her in a position where she will have to live with that. And this is why I insist that she needs someone worthy of her to claim her.

“I’m just about to check on my patient. If you’d like to join me, you’re welcome to,” I say, moving to the door where my patient has been in a medically induced coma for months while I try to make sure that his DNA is properly blended with a DNA that will allow him to shift and survive.

We enter the room and I’m about to close the door when Fenian steps up to the door.

“Can I join you?” he asks. He’s the best student in my medical class, incredible really. Of all my students this year, he’s the one I’m most impressed with and the most disappointed in. It’s why I am and will continue to be hard on him when he acts like a complete asshole.

“Rooms two and three?” I ask.

“Clean.”

I look at him a moment, but I know that he’ll understand everything I’m saying, more than the others in the room.

“Don’t make me regret it,” I tell him, opening the door and letting him slip in.