Page 6

Chapter 6

Ash

W ell, that went well. At least better than I thought it would after getting the glare from Zayne when I walked inside.

Zayne’s chilly attitude toward me hadn’t thawed in the days we had been working together. I thought arriving to class early would earn me some extra points. I was even going to surprise the leadership with homemade muffins. Instead, I’d nearly burned down my cabin when the hand-mixer had short-circuited the outlet, causing sparks to fly and a towel to catch fire.

The whole place would have gone up if I hadn’t found the fire extinguisher under the sink. Thank goodness I figured out how to use it in time. The place stank of smoke, and I had a feeling it was going to be constant reminder of how horribly everything went for quite some time. Smoke had a way of seeping into everything and holding on tight.

It was not my strongest start to a day.

Once the fire was put out, I’d been unable to get the electricity back on. I would need to contact the groundskeeper or someone about the cabin. I couldn’t live there without electricity. At least not for long. I wasn’t high-maintenance by any means, but my milk staying cold, my lights turning on, and my shower not being ice-cold were pretty much nonnegotiable for me.

Sooner or later, I needed to speak with Zayne about his attitude. This team wasn’t going to make it very far if he didn’t pull his head out of his ass. He wasn’t outright rude to me, but he wasn’t welcoming either. And the students would pick up on it quicker than anyone else. They were smart like that.

And then there was Jay. He responded quickly to being called out on his speciesist bullshit, but there were a couple of times I caught him looking at me as if I were less-than, and that wasn’t going to fly. Hopefully, he was acting out of embarrassment and not actual disdain for non-dragon shifters. Only time would tell.

Once he left the room, I faced Hayden and Kellen. They both gave me encouraging smiles.

“Any advice?” I asked.

Kellan grimaced. “Zayne’s a stickler for punctuality.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I gathered that.” He hadn’t even given me a chance to explain.

“You did great with the kids, though. They listened and they’re excited to work with you. Just as we are. Zayne will come around. He doesn’t have a choice.” Kellan didn’t seem to notice anything with Jay. Please let that mean it was all in my head and he was done with the not-being-a-dragon thing.

I nodded but kept quiet. Yeah, he didn’t have a choice, and we could coach the team without being best friends, but something inside me wanted more from Zayne than just acceptance. I wanted him to see me as an equal, as part of the team. As something more.

Something that included touching.

I shook that thought out of my head. Zayne hardly looked at me as a person, let alone as something more than that. To him, I was a reminder of his past failings, even if they were truly his. And I wasn’t so sure they were.

One thing was for sure, the attraction I felt was one-sided and needed to stay under wraps. The quickest way for me to lose this job would be to start showing inappropriate feelings toward my boss. Even if we were Co-Leaders, Zayne still outranked me based on his tenure.

Since I was new, I didn’t have other courses assigned to me yet. Instead, I was set to simply fill in where needed and perhaps shadow a few of the other classes eventually. I wasn’t sure if this was protocol or what the rationale was, but either which way, it meant the rest of my day was free.

Lucky for me, I had a mess to deal with at my cabin. It would keep me busy and distract me from the situation I managed to get myself into.

I hustled across campus, speed walking through the halls of the west building named Taldrek Hall, after one of the first Flight Commanders at the school. The students affectionally called it Talls, since it was a tall building and saying Taldrek Hall was too much of a mouthful.

The courtyard between Talls and the lake was filled with students, some in individual study groups, some as whole classes enjoying their lessons outside, and a few sneaking a kiss.

I could shift and fly across the lake to my cabin, but I opted to walk. I needed the time to clear my head, but that wasn’t the only reason why. If I was ever going to fit in here, people were going to need to see me as part of the school. Hiding behind my wings wasn’t the way to foster that.

The groundskeeper, Bryn, was just walking out of my cabin as I arrived. Perfect timing.

“What’s the damage?” I crossed my fingers all it needed was a new wire or two and some paint. Immediately, his posture changed, and I knew that was not the case.

He shook his head. I grimaced. This wasn’t going to be good.

“The power surge from the outlet short circuiting fried the panel, so we need to replace that, along with the outlet and the wires in the wall that burned, and that’s only part of it.”

“Well, shit. I assume that’s not a quick fix?”

Bryn shook his head. “’Fraid not. I’ll have to get a real electrician out here. No electricity in the house until the work is done. You’ll have to talk to the Commander about getting a room in one of the staff dorms.”

Great. Just great. Nothing sounded good about being in a dorm as the only eagle on the grounds.

“Thanks, Bryn. I appreciate you taking a look.” It wasn’t his fault, and objectively, it could’ve been so much worse. At least I wasn’t hurt and got it out quickly. Burning down a cabin on my first day would not win me any points.

He told me he’d be in touch and got on his way. I wasn’t ready to deal with it yet, and I sat on the front steps with my head in my hands. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it was an inconvenience I didn’t wish to deal with. I really wanted to start this job on the right foot and so far, luck was not on my side.

“Something wrong?” Zayne’s voice started me, and I jerked upright until I was standing.

Of course, he was here to see me looking dejected and helpless.

“Only everything.” I hated that I let that slip.

I wasn’t one to feel sorry for myself. I told myself when I took this job that I was going to take the punches in stride, because I knew there were going to be rough patches. An omega eagle shifter leading a dragon flight team was unheard of, but I was going to do it and do it well.

“Something wrong with the cabin? I smell smoke. I smelled it on you this morning when you arrived to class.”

He noticed that? I sometimes forgot how much better their sense of smell was to mine.

I waved my hand toward the front door. “Minor mishap with a hand-mixer and a poorly wired outlet. Unfortunately, the panel is fried, and I won’t get power back until it’s repaired. I need to head up to Winghaven Hall to talk with the Commander about temporary housing.” My stomach rumbled embarrassingly loudly. “And I need to eat.”

He didn’t speak for a few seconds, his eyes on the cabin.

I don’t know what I expected out of Zayne at that moment, but having him suddenly reach a hand out and tug me toward the woods wasn’t it. I slipped my hand in his without thinking, and he didn’t let me go. His hand was warm, rough like maybe he had a hobby that caused callouses. His grip was strong, and even though he wasn’t that much bigger than me, his hand felt twice the size of my own. After about twenty yards, my brain came back online.

“Um, where are we going?” It didn’t matter. I was going to go with him no matter where it was if it meant he kept holding onto me.

“My house.” That was unexpected.

My legs stretched to keep up with his longer strides. “Your house? Why?”

“I have food and an extra room. You can stay with me.”

I had to be dreaming. There was no way the man who had been nothing but angry with me was suddenly taking care of me like I was precious. None.

“Wait, what? You can’t stand me!”

The path we were on wound between the thick mass of trees that separated Zayne’s cabin from the rest of campus. It was well placed, the trees making it feel a lot farther away than it actually was.

Zayne stopped when we reached the steps that led up to his house. “I’ve been less than welcoming, I will admit that. I have... somethings to work through regarding my job, your position, this season... so many other things. But I have nothing against you personally, Ash.” The sincerity in his eyes made my stomach feel like I was dropping altitude rapidly.

Zayne kept hold of my hand and led me up the stairs and inside the house. It was warm, cozy, and much larger than my cabin. The interior was illuminated by soft sunlight that filtered in through the large bay window on the opposite side of the house. The upstairs had an open area with a railing that looked over the living room. It was like something you might see on one of those home-buying shows.

“This is... gorgeous.”

“Thanks. There are two spare rooms, plus an office, so plenty of space for the two of us.”

Us. Why did I like the sound of that? It didn’t mean anything, not really, and yet I still held onto the two-letter world.

I followed him into the largest kitchen I’d ever seen inside a house. He could easily prepare a meal for the entire staff in here. That was if he cooked. I knew so little about him.

There were two ovens and a massive island with a marble countertop, and once again, it reminded me of those house shows.

“Oh wow. I doubt this place would start on fire if I tried to make muffins.” I probably should’ve left off the last bit, but my guard was down, this side of Zayne one I rather liked.

He leaned against the counter and looked at me. I shuffled my feet, not meeting his eyes. What was there to say?

“Yeah, you’ll be fine if you decide to bake again.” He chuckled and then got suddenly serious. “Listen, I’m sorry that I’ve been so standoffish, Ash. I’m sorry that your first few days were not welcoming. I’m sorry I was a dick. I have a whole lotta sorry in me. I never wanted to make this job difficult for you.”

Holy Feathers. Those were not the words I was expecting to hear.

“But you don’t want me here.” That was fact. Or at least I thought it was.

“On the contrary. I do want you here. I hate that I need help with leading the team. I hate that I seem to have lost my ability to do my job effectively, to be a good leader. I hate that I wasn’t who they needed me to be.” He sucked in a long breath. “I think you’ll do well for the team.”

“Then why the cold shoulder?” Zayne was nothing if not confusing.

He stepped closer to me, until the heat of him brushed over my skin. His touch was intoxicating, and I wanted to lean into it. Being this close to him meant that his scent, which reminded me of flying low over calm waters, hit me full force.

“Can’t you feel it, Ash? Can’t you sense what our beasts are telling us?”

“Yes,” I whispered. I thought it was only me and refused to listen to my eagle, but now that he said the words out loud, I was ready to accept them, to embrace them.

“I can, too. And it terrifies me.” His gaze roved down my face, lingering on my lips. I licked them, and Zayne groaned. He reached out and cupped my cheek. “I’m terrified of what this means.”

“I thought this was just attraction at first. I never thought that… I thought I just—”

“I knew. I knew it when you walked into my office. I knew it when I saw you this morning at class. You’re my mate, Ash.”

“Yes,” I breathed. Then his lips crashed down on mine.

Zayne was my mate.