Page 7

7

Lyric

D eep inside me, Lyrican heard the sound of the dragon before I did.

Back away. Shift now!

The little omega’s eyes grew big as if he’d heard Lyrican’s commands. He moved under the shelter on his hands and feet, the blanket falling away.

I caught my breath. Even with danger above, I couldn’t help but notice how lovely he was. Did he know he was such a beauty?

Protect. Now!

I had no choice but to run to the other end of the nest where Lyrican would have room to shift.

We stood looking off into the trees, our wings unfurling. Behind us, I heard a gasp.

Our head swiveled about to see the omega holding the blanket up to his chin, staring at us.

Must protect omega. Ours. Mine.

The beast ruled now. He could see nothing but the omega he’d brought to his nest. He’d give his life to protect him without thought, without judgment.

The flap of wings shivered the tree leaves. It was time to fight.

Lyrican took off, flying low over a clearing before gaining height above the forest canopy.

Blue sky surrounded us. The sun was low in the sky, gold and pink light framing a few thin clouds on the horizon.

The dragon interloper didn’t see us at first. Lyrican was good at quiet flying and hovering. But it didn’t take long. The big dragon turned our way and let out a steady stream of fire followed by a bellow. He headed directly for us, zooming in a predictable straight line.

We dodged his attack easily and flew around to face off again.

I thought of Jinn sitting alone in our roost now. He would not be able to see what was happening. If Lyrican became injured, Jinn would be on his own. If the omega could stay hidden until Coltan went away, he might be able to fly home once he was feeling better.

I will never allow this omega to be harmed.

Lyrican never surprised me with his speed and agility. That had developed early in our lives. I knew he was special. Now he showed me even more of the strength he possessed as he teased and dodged and summoned the big dragon further away from our roost. Away from any possibility of him catching Jinn’s scent on the air.

Through aching muscles and sore joints, Lyrican out-maneuvered the other without resorting to fire and roar tactics.

Coltan learned quickly that he needed contact to fight us on his level, otherwise we could easily wear him out. He attacked over and over, fangs dripping, snapping.

Lyrican was ready. His claws were out and he always aimed for the underbelly.

Coltan got in a few minor cuts of his own. I felt the sting. But Lyrican ignored such flimsy irritants and kept fighting. He was fighting for this omega even though he truly wasn’t ours. Lyrican wanted him anyway, but first he had to save him.

I couldn’t decide if Coltan was just an asshole or if he’d gone feral. He didn’t smell like he was in a rut. But a rutting alpha dragon who believed he had claimed an omega could be dangerous. Especially in the wild.

Jinn said he’d met Colt at a bar. That meant Colt wasn’t an untamed beast. At least, on the surface.

Lyrican had left me and my thoughts far behind. Everything was a blur as he fought. There were a few freefall moments as we all fell. Coltan got his wings tangled in the trees for a few seconds, tearing the leather edge on the left. Unlucky for us, he could still fly.

The two dragons tore at each other over and over until Coltan was showing obvious fatigue. With a strange, angry holler, he finally flew off, disappearing on the horizon.

Lyrican was careful. He flew in circles for a while, waiting to see if he’d return. When he was good and sure Coltan was gone, he flew back to the roost, landing gracefully, immediately sniffing for Jinn.

Jinn jumped up on one foot, blanket falling away, and cried out. “You’re hurt!”

Lyrican shook his head, then sniffed at the nape of Jinn’s neck with a loud, rude puff.

Jinn jumped forward with a little shriek. “Yes, thank you, Lyrican. But I’m sorry you had to do that. You’re bleeding.”

Lyrican turned his head and bent his long neck to sniff at the minor cuts under his arms where the armor gave way. His forked tongue came out and licked the areas.

Jinn, instead of backing away, approached Lyrican and put his hand on the armored scales of his chest. “You saved my life, Lyrican. I can never repay you.”

Lyrican let out his strange purring sound and rubbed the side of his snout against Jinn’s neck.

Jinn said, “Yes, I will be your friend. For life.”

More purrs.

I wanted to shift but I also didn’t want to interrupt Lyrican’s moment. He had never shown true caring for anyone, not the boyfriends of my youth nor other racing dragons.

This was special for him. I had no right to interfere. Nor did I want to. The feelings running through my body were pleasurable. We had pleasure through racing, but this was something else, a different sort of delight we had not known we’d been missing until it was here.

Lyrican lowered himself all the way until his belly touched the soft moss of the nest. He nuzzled at Jinn, who looked almost dazed as he leaned against him, his hand rising to pet Lyrican’s snout.

“You’re so beautiful,” Jinn whispered.

I wondered what he thought of me in my human form and almost became jealous until I realized the compliment was for me. Lyrican and I were the same. One couldn’t really be separated from the other. We were two minds in one body whether beast or human.

I lay back and let the pleasure centers of my mind fill up. Don’t question, I told myself. Let nature be.

Did I dare hope Jinn might feel the same?

It was far too early. And Jinn was still healing. Still in shock. And probably starving by now.

I need to feed him.

Only I, in human form, could cook for another human. Some soup. Some crackers. It would help.

He can shift. I will fish and feed him directly from my own mouth, came the reply.

I didn’t doubt for one minute that Lyrican would do exactly that. But Jinn was fragile. And while our roost was big for two humans, it was less so for two dragons.

Jinnan is small , came the response to my thoughts.

I had to realize Lyrican wanted to care for the omega as much as I did.

Yes, he is. And you can care for him, too. But I think warm soup will be faster and strengthen him for the moment. Fish can come later.

Silence.

Okay?

Lyrican let out a strange growl mixed in with the purr and suddenly I was sitting with my knees bent and Jinn leaning against me, his arms around my neck.

He was warm and smelled of cinnamon toast.

“Oh, um, oops!” Jinn jumped a little and backed up a step.

“Hey, it’s all right. I just told Lyrican I need to feed you. He wants you to be well so we can take you home and make sure you’re safe.”

Jinn knelt before me, rubbing at his forehead. “I’ve been too scared to think about eating. But I only had an orange for breakfast. Soup sounds amazing.”

“I’ve got cans stored.”

“You and your dragon sure like to camp a lot.”

“That’s true.” I smiled at him, got up and made my way to the bins.

I had plenty of stored blankets, food and water. But I’d never stored clothes. I hadn’t needed them way out here. Good thing he didn’t seem deterred by nudity.

I had a small, wood chip burning stove surrounded by fire retardant moss. I lit it quickly and put two cans of soup on to boil. I was hungry myself. I kept the water pot on the stove, too, for more coffee.

In the meantime, I handed Jinn a bottle of water and got one for myself. I helped prop him against the wall of the shelter and rolled a blanket to put under his bad ankle. He had been holding it up awkwardly. Now he could relax more.

“You’re bleeding, too.” He pointed toward my upper arm.

I looked down, lifting it, and saw the superficial cut. “It doesn’t hurt.” I got out the bag and quickly bandaged it.

“Lyrican was bleeding, too.”

“He’s fine.” But just in case, I checked in with him.

Shallow scrapes. Coltan is not as fast as I am.

When the soup bubbled, I handed the can wrapped in a towel to Jinn along with a spoon. He sipped slowly, shutting his eyes. “This is perfect. I already feel better.”

We ate in silence. I gave him quick glances, still assessing. And admiring. His hair was tangled with crushed pieces of leaves. Yet it shone in the dimming light, lush and thick. His body was small, but that was normal for an omega. He looked to be in his twenties. If he hadn’t been snatched up yet by an alpha—a non-feral alpha—maybe that meant he wasn’t interested in mating and settling down. Some omegas were like that.

Everyone thought omegas should automatically want to be married and have families. But why should they? What if he had career dreams? What if he didn’t want an alpha in his life? Or babies? No one expected that from me. The people surrounding me wanted me to race more all the time. They made money off me. They expected my career to be everything I might ever need.

That had been true in my twenties. But as the years passed, Lyrican grew more introverted. I knew he wanted more.

We’d shared one rut where I refused to let him shift out and spent the time alone at the house having all my meals delivered. Doctor Tsu had given me suppressants to make the time go easier.

I knew even back then that wasn’t right. It wasn’t what my dragon needed. I thought about mates and mating, of having something more than the few short relationships I’d had, all with other alphas.

While alpha-alpha couples were accepted in dragon culture due to the low omega population, the dynamics were often difficult to navigate. Alpha nature was to dominate. That didn’t mean alphas couldn’t submit. I’d had fun with that myself, but submission wasn’t the nature for a majority of us. To bond in that manner with another had to meet deeper requirements. True love, trust and compatibility. Those things happened naturally to some, but not to others. Plus, we could not conceive. That meant birth rates went down. We had to import omegas from other cultures for surrogacy and, in extreme cases, forced marriage. Plus, there were many flights who still stuck to older, conservative beliefs who found inter-breeding unacceptable.

I looked at Jinn and couldn’t help but wonder what his opinions were on these subjects. What were his hopes and goals? Did he feel he owed dragon culture to be a breeder?

I tipped my can of soup up and gulped the last contents from the bottom.

I glanced again at Jinn. He was finished. He held his can up, squinting inside to make sure he had every bite.

“Don’t throw it over the edge,” I said.

“I wasn’t going to.”

“We keep a clean space and carry out our trash after every trip.” I realized it might sound like I was giving orders. I softened my voice. “This place is so beautiful there are times I feel I don’t belong here even though it’s part of our world.”

“I didn’t get a chance yet to admire the beauty,” he whispered.

He had been running into his grave. How could he see it as anything but a trap?

The sun was setting fast. Vast shadows darkened the space.

I cleaned up, got out a small lantern to set between us, and brought him more coffee.

“I’m so grateful to you,” he said.

I brushed him off.

“Do you think Coltan will see our light?” he touched the plastic lantern.

“It’s more difficult to navigate in the dark. He’s probably off somewhere licking his wounds and getting rest.”

In an ominous tone, Jinn said, “He won’t give up.”