Page 5

Chapter 5

Zayne

T he first day of class was always annoying. At least to me. We needed to go over all the rules, introduce ourselves to the new students, remind the returning students that they didn’t know everything, and establish the tone for the coming season. And while doing all of this, we had to deal with the chaos of lost students, late students, students who sat in the wrong class for ten minutes before realizing it, and on and on.

It was always a tiresome day.

It didn’t help that I had spent the better part of the evening going over my conversation with Ash in my head dozens of times. No matter how many ways I looked it, it was never good. The conversation had been a train wreck from the very start, and it only got worse.

Kellan, Hayden, and I positioned ourselves at the front of the small auditorium-style room, looking much more ready than we were. There were five rows of seats, allowing the room to hold up to twenty students. Twenty was too many, in my opinion, but some years they were full for many classes. They wouldn’t be full for this class, only those on the team would be here.

The teaching area had a large projector screen and an open floor in case a small or medium dragon needed to shift for whatever teaching was happening that day. Larger dragons had to stay in human form or we needed to switch locations. On those occasions, and when the lessons required multiple shifters in their dragon form, we went outside.

All five of the students in our flight were in attendance. We had four primaries and one alternate who was there in case we needed a sub due to injury or illness. I tended to rotate them in during the season, even if we didn’t strictly need them. It was important for them to be at the ready, and you couldn’t do that never having real flight time.

We had three males and two females on the team and the perfect blend of old and new. Even ten years ago, I’d have been sure we were heading to victory, but this year my confidence was shot. Being surrounded by a solid group of coworkers helped, but not enough to alleviate my worries. It didn’t help that I was still flustered by my last interaction with Ash.

The moment we’d met, he’d gotten so deeply under my skin that we ended up arguing like the students often did. In hindsight, we fought over nothing. But I couldn’t let it go, to the point I swore I saw him circling my house in his eagle form.

I’d like to say I learned from that and figured out how to work with him better, but so far, that hadn’t been the case.

Every student showed up early and ready to go. They were excited for the new year, and so far, I hadn’t sensed any dread after our poor results last season. By all accounts, we should be able to start class. There was only one problem, my Co-Leader still hadn’t arrived.

I let out a long sigh that did nothing to hide my frustration. Punctuality was important to me, which I had thought I made clear in our discussion the other day. But also—why was he late? Was he hurt? Did he oversleep? Was he stuck at the office with intake paperwork? It shouldn’t matter. Late was late. But with Ash, nothing was as simple as it should’ve been. At least, not for me.

In the days since Ash arrived, we’d had countless meetings between me, him, and our Flight Trainers. My attraction to him had not waned; if anything it grew, and my attitude hadn’t changed either. The latter of which I was not proud of.

It wasn’t Ash’s fault I was well on my way to being a washed-up has-been. If I had any self-preservation instincts at all, I would step aside and let Ash take over my team for the whole year. If I kept up my behavior, then we were in for a rough one. And I had no one to blame but myself. Only at this moment, I couldn’t seem to stop myself. It was as if I was watching myself self-destruct in slow motion.

At five minutes after the hour, I stood up from where I was leaning against the desk. “Welcome, everyone, please take your seats.” We were going to start with or without him.

The students spaced themselves out so that there were a few desks between each of them. Scott and Christa were seated at the center front. They had been a part of my team for three years now and were captains of the team. Behind them were Isaac, Jay, and Susan. Jay and Susan were new to the team. Though I had taught Susan’s parents long ago, Jay was new to the clan as a whole. His family had moved over from the Ebonshire clan when they migrated to America.

Silence came upon the room when I spoke. Hopefully, that level of influence would remain for the length of the season. The more seriously we all took this, the better the odds were that we would come out the other side on top.

“Let’s start with introductions. You all know me, or at least you should. Even if we hadn’t met in person, once I was assigned as your Flight Leader, I’d expect that you all did some cursory research to know what you are getting into.” I’d also reached out to each of them individually, but this wasn’t really about what they should or shouldn’t have done in the past. It was to give them a not-so-subtle hint that we weren’t going to handfeed them information all season.

“In your research, you probably came across my Flight Trainers—Kellan and Hayden.” I was dragging this out far longer than I needed to. When I wasn’t actively teaching, I kept my explanations short, but I needed Ash to show up. I didn’t wish to explain his absence with excuses, I’d rather he have to do it himself. It was far from a good way to start the semester. That was for sure.

Hayden cleared his throat and flicked a glance toward the door.

“We heard that was an additional Flight Trainer this year. Is that not the case?” Christa broached the subject that weighed on everyone. Great. So the rumors of my demise had reached the kids. Of course it did.

So much for not having to explain Ash’s tardiness away

I nodded. “We do in fact have an additional Flight Leader.” I emphasized the title. It was important that the students understand what the hierarchy was. They needed to respect all of their leaders, while also recognizing that Ash’s decisions were at the same level as my own. If they didn’t, this was never going to work.

I had my own hangups about him being here, but the kids didn’t need to know that. As far as they were concerned, the coaching staff was a cohesive unit that got along.

The door opened and Ash bustled inside. His usually carefully styled hair was a mess on top of his head. His button-down shirt was untucked, and one sleeve was folded up.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said. He grinned and waved to the students as he caught his breath. “I’m Ash.”

“Get lost on your way to class?” I asked with a raised brow.

Ash’s teeth clenched, his smile stretching. “Yes. Something like that.”

The tension that filled the room was palpable. The students’ stares landed on my shoulders like a lead weight.

“No worries,” I forced myself to say, pasting the fakest of smiles on my face. “Class is just getting started. We’re just about to do introductions. Why don’t you go first?” I crossed my arms and leaned back against the desk.

“Great.” Ash stepped further into the room and the scent of his pine and fresh rain hit me, but with it came a hint of smoke that was out of place with his usual aroma. “I’m Ash. I’m sure you can all tell, I’m not a dragon. I do fly, though. I am an eagle shifter.”

“Like a bald eagle?” Scott asked.

“Um, no. Not like a bald eagle. Specifically, I am a golden eagle.”

“Wait, so we’re not going to be taught dragon flight skills by an actual dragon? What do you know about dragons?” Jay sat up straight, shouting out his words.

That would not do.

I stood straight then, dropping my relaxed demeanor. “Whoa. I realize it is the first day of class and we have yet to go over the rules and expectations, but I can assure you—shouting at your instructors is never allowed. You show them respect at all times or there will be consequences.” I put on my best glare, and though I’d never taught Jay, he seemed to get the message. If this was the sense of entitlement he came with, we needed to squash that, right quick.

“Apologizes, Flight Leader Ash. I was just surprised.”

“Understandable.” Ash already gave him more grace than he deserved. “Believe it or not, I do know a bit about dragons. My alpha father is a dragon, so while my shifted form is not a dragon, I am half dragon.”

My brow furrowed. I hadn’t known that detail. How had I missed that?

“I was raised at a school, not unlike this one, and I have been a part of the flight teams in an unofficial capacity for some time.”

That part I had known.

We spent the next bit of time going over the rest of introductions. Despite the awkwardness at the beginning, things were going smoothly.

I kept a close eye on how Ash commanded the room. The students paid close attention to him while he spoke. After his initial entrance, their gazes followed him when he paced the front of the room. His enthusiasm and obvious passion and expertise in the subject came out the more that he talked. I had seen it throughout the past few days and now the students were.

Kellen and Hayden handed out the supplies the students would need for the season—our playbook, their practice colors, and a few other things. Later, once competitions began, they’d get their official colors.

When it came time for the students to talk about themselves, they each opened up to Ash as if he had been a part of the team forever. He engaged with them like their words were golden and ideas fascinating. I was seeing him in a whole new light.

Was I too jaded to be doing this anymore? I listened to my students, I knew that I did. But did I give them that level of attention anymore? Was it the same for my Flight Trainers?

Looking at my teaching strategies through the lens of how Ash tackled the first day of class—minus the tardiness—perhaps I was losing my edge. The thought left me unsettled, though not surprised.

When it came time for the session to end, the students stood, shook all of our hands. Many of them lingered with Ash, expressing their sincere welcome.

I clenched my jaw. Even in my earliest years, students didn’t flock to me the way they were with Ash right now. There was something about him that put them at ease and had them opening up in a way they didn’t with me.

Once it was just the leaders in the room, Ash turned to us. “I am so sorry for being late—”

I held up a hand. “Save it. We made it through our first class without issue. Mostly. I want to keep an eye on Jay and why he felt the need to express his thoughts on you not being a dragon.” I wouldn’t tolerate prejudice among my team.

My own hangups where Ash was concerned was an issue, one I was going to push through, but none of them had to do with Ash being an eagle. If anything, all of them had to do with my own shortcomings. Fuck.

What a time to have a revelation.

“Right. Well, that was fun. I’m going to get my paperwork done for my next class. I’ll see you all at the outdoor session tomorrow.” I walked out the door, not looking back.

I needed some air and some space between Ash and me. This was going to be a long-ass season.