Page 3

Chapter 3

Zayne

S o, I wasn’t fired. That was a good sign. Not that things were sunshine and roses, but I knew that walking in. Worst-case scenario I had a shitty year, and during that time, I could figure out a next step. Best-case scenario, this was the kick in the ass I needed to get back on the top of my game and it would help launch my Co-Leader into a similar position… somewhere else. One thing was for sure, I needed to not mess this opportunity up.

Unfortunately, I had mere hours to prepare for meeting a new member of my team—and even less time to gather and prepare the curriculum for my new team. They didn’t need to come in here to find a disorganized mess and that’s what it currently was. Why? Because I’d half believed that I was two steps out the door already and acted accordingly. I needed to dragon up and get my act in gear if this was going to work.

Having a new person on board, a new Co-Leader, meant that a lot of things would have to change. They would have their own ideas on what to do, and given that they were Co-Leader, they had every right to demand changes. We also needed to figure out who would be responsible for what tasks. It was a whole lot to take in and process.

I sat in my office, my feet propped on the desk. My notes were open in front of me. I had the profiles of the five students who would be on my team this year. Three were returning from last year, two were brand-new. It was a nice mix in that way. Some leaders preferred to keep the same teams for a minimum of two years at a time. They believed it would strengthen their ability to work together, and there was some truth in that. But also, when people got too comfortable together, they tended to get lazy. Not all of them, but enough. This was an ideal blend.

“Have you met the eagle that will be working with us?” Hayden startled me. I hadn’t realized he’d even walked back in with his tea. He was a dragon who was born into the Emberstone clan. Larger and older than me, but his strengths lay in his ability to calculate stats. He was an invaluable member of my team, that was for sure.

I shot him a glare. Referring to a person as their species instead of their name didn’t sit well with me. It was dehumanizing, which even though we were not technically humans, was eww. “His name is Ash.”

“Of course. I didn’t mean anything by that. I just—” And maybe he didn’t mean anything by it, but that didn’t make it any better.

“I know. It’s just… I’m sure he has an uphill battle as an eagle amongst dragons. We need to be as respectful and helpful as we can. If the students pick up even a hint of speciesist behavior, they’ll run with it.” The last thing this team needed was to be labeled speciesist. As hard as this was going to be for me, it had to be exponentially worse for Ash. He was not only new to the school, he wasn’t a dragon at a dragon academy.

“Of course, yeah. Being an omega doesn’t help either.”

I was just about to ask what he meant by that. I had no idea this Ash was an omega. Not that it mattered—omegas were perfectly capable—but this was an all-alpha team. Not on purpose, that was just how it had worked out. He was going to stand out in so many ways. I vowed right then and there to make sure he felt welcome and not like an outsider.

The door to our area opened, breaking off our conversation.

“And this is the locker room. Y’all will be spending a lot of time here,” the commander said. “This is where your office will be. We’re not really set up for two Co-Leaders, but I’m sure we can figure something out.” Ideally, he would have his own space, but that wasn’t going to happen, not unless his desk was on the other side of campus, and that would exclude, not include him. “Share an office, have a small office, flip-flop—whatever works for you.”

Share an office. It wasn’t ideal, but out of the options, it was the best of them, for sure.

I looked around the tiny space that I had. It had enough room for my desk and two extra chairs for my trainers, plus a filing cabinet. One wall had a whole whiteboard we used to brainstorm, but the area was not what I would call spacious. I didn’t like the idea of sharing, but I liked the idea of sending him far away to work even less. Maybe we could get one of those two-person desks. I’d seen them in catalogs over the year but had never looked closely enough to know if they would fit.

Calm yourself, Zayne. I was getting too worked up, trying to problem solve for someone I hadn’t even met yet. This wasn’t like me.

I looked up and took in my new Co-Leader for the first time. He was both everything I’d expected and nothing like it all wrapped into one. I tried not to stare, but it was nearly impossible.

Ash was tall and lean. He wore a pair of jeans and a light blue polo. Nothing about his outfit was outwardly alluring, yet I was drawn to him. His scent hit me first—pine and something else, like how the forest smelled after an early-morning rain—it was fresh and clean. Then it was his eyes—almost golden, like pools of honey. Then his smile—so bright, shining like a beacon of positivity and optimism. So very different from my usual scowl.

It stirred something inside of me. I didn’t like it. He was supposed to be a business colleague, nothing more, and yet, when I looked at him, all I wanted to do was make sure he never lost that smile. This wasn’t good.

“Zayne, this is Ash. He’s going to be your Co-Leader. Isn’t that exciting?” Exciting wasn’t the term I’d be using, that was for sure.

The Commander’s gaze bore into me, as if willing me to do something besides sit there with what had to be quite the scowl on my face. The muscles in my face were drawn tight. I wasn’t even upset, just in complete inner turmoil, and I could neither figure out the complete why nor could I snap myself out of it.

No one had told me he was an omega. And that shouldn’t matter at all. I was a professional, and yet, it sort of did. No one had told me he was gorgeous. Another thing that really shouldn’t matter at all and yet sort of did. Ugh.

I hadn’t been prepared for just how much I would enjoy the look of him, how his scent would knock me off my feet. I didn’t know how to react to it, and when that happened, I kept quiet. It was better than acting on impulse and getting my ass in trouble. One thing about being as old as I was, you’d already made mistakes like that and learned from them.

But did I really learn the right lesson?

Instead of giving a boisterous welcome, as I should’ve been doing, I simply nodded. Hayden, who had been with me a long time and understood my moods, swept in to recover.

“Welcome, Ash. We’ll get the office situation figured out soon. For today, we thought it might be best to get to know one another and go over the profiles for the kids,” Hayden said. At least his brain was working and not hyper focused on the omega in front of me.

No. Not an omega. My Co-Leader. What was wrong with me?

“That sounds great to me.” Ash looked to me, as did everyone else, as if expecting me to say something. Do something.

“Let’s go to a conference room,” I said, my voice gruffer than I meant it to be. We really needed to get out of this small space so I could get some air that wasn’t filled with his delicious scent and get my head back in the game. “We can take notes all together, discuss what we’re working with. Hayden, call Kellen and tell him to meet us there.”

I grabbed my laptop, stood up, and walked out the door. I was being a rude jerk, I knew this, but for some reason I was in survival mode. I’d make it up to my new coworker later. Unless I already scared him away.

As I passed Ash, our shoulders brushed—and my dragon roared to the surface.

For what, I did not know. The creature had been quiet for so long. Seemed odd for him to start bellowing now. But then again, everything about this situation was odd and unsettling.

I just assumed that my team would follow me. And they did.

Our Commander must’ve decided it would be best to leave us alone, because it was just me, Ash, and the two trainers in the room when we got to work.

“I’m Kellen. My expertise is in combat aerial maneuvers, so a lot of my role is in that area. Hayden manages the strength and endurance training, as well as stats.”

Ash was already taking notes as he walked. He sat down at the edge of the table I was at. Did he know what his scent was doing to me? No, of course he didn’t. But still… how could he be so oblivious to how alluring he was?

“What about the students? Are they—” he asked.

“We’ll go over them right now.” I was glad for the distraction from his smile—his eyes. Talking about my team was something I could do on autopilot, at least the three returning from last year.

“Great. I—” His voice was calming. Intoxicating like the rest of him. I needed to not be distracted by him.

“We have five students on the team. Four primary flyers and one sub. Scott and Christa are our captains. Those two and Isaac are our returning team members. They’ve been with us for three years now. Jay and Susan are new.” I didn’t interrupt my trainers. That wasn’t my style. Yet I didn’t give Ash a chance to speak. I needed to maintain my focus.

I flipped on my laptop and plugged it into the projector so we could bring up the students’ information for of us to see.

Then I sat back and let Kellan take over. One by one we went through the slides, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each of the students we knew well and sharing the information we had on the new ones. He took notes, asking relevant clarifying questions as needed, and didn’t once try to take over the conversation.

Ash was going to fit in with my trainers perfectly. That was for sure. The only problem in this situation was me. I was the one thinking of my Co-Leader as an omega, loving the way he looked, and being completely distracted by his scent. I was the unprofessional one, and that needed to end. Now.

It would be so much easier if my dragon hadn’t picked now to start pushing at me. I still didn’t know what he wanted, but did it really matter? He had no say, especially not after being silent for so very long.

“I think we can all agree that Christa is the strongest leader out of our captains. I think we should make a conscientious decision to foster that while building up Scott’s skills.” Kellen cleared his throat and didn’t begin speaking again until he met my eyes.

Great. He noticed I was off my game, which meant the others probably did too.