Dragons of Cinderhollow Bundle

by Hawke Oakley

  “That’s terrible,” Ryu said, his brows knitted in genuine sympathy. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Man, fuck those guys!” Dante cried. He and Lorenzo ran up to Ryu. “If my reflexes were faster, I would have kicked that guy’s ass. But man, Scar, that punch you threw… You literally knocked that guy off his feet!”

  “To be fair, he was intoxicated, and probably would have gone down to a gust of wind,” Lorenzo added.

  “Whatever. Scar, that was awesome.”

  It felt strange being praised for physical violence, but I suppose it was for the sake of protecting someone. Not knowing what to say, I just shrugged.

  I glanced at Henry. “Just let me know if you need anything else. I’ll help you out.”

  “Thanks,” Henry said with a shy smile.

  “Alright, show’s over!” I called to all the other rubberneckers watching the situation unfold. They all sheepishly went back to their own business.

  With a deep sigh, I rested by the counter for a while. As if I hadn’t been through enough drama today. Hopefully that was the last of it.

  The rest of the evening passed normally. Close to closing time, most of the bar had emptied out except for Ryu’s group, and Henry.

  The omega approached me and laid a handful of coins on the counter. “Here. Thanks for sticking up for me.”

  I counted the money, then pushed it back towards him with a grunt. “You paid me too much.”

  “It’s a tip,” Henry said.

  I turned my back to him as I continued to wipe a glass clean. “Keep it.”

  Eventually, I heard him collect the coins and leave. I sighed. I knew he would be on my mind for the rest of the night. Maybe I should have insisted someone escort him home. Then again, just because he was an omega didn’t mean he was weak. I probably would have been pissed off if someone tried to escort me home.

  Except no one would ever offer to do that for me; an old, scarred omega.

  Dante and Lorenzo left, telling Ryu they’d be waiting outside for him. They both paid and tipped generously. Now, taking tips from alphas I had no problem with.

  With most of the customers gone, I figured it was time to start cleaning up the mess Mav and his group of cavemen alphas created. As I grabbed the broom and limped over to the peanut shells, Ryu appeared before me with his hand outstretched.

  “Here, let me help with that,” he offered.

  The snappy remark came out before I could stop myself. “I can do it myself, thanks.”

  Ryu didn’t look offended. “It’s late and you probably want to get home. It’ll be easier if there’s two people instead of one.”

  I stared at him for a while, then said, “There’s another broom leaning on the back pantry.”

  Ryu fetched the broom and began helping me sweep up. When the floor was tidy again, I asked him, “Why are you helping me?”

  “Is there a problem with it?”

  I scrutinized his expression, searching for any scrap of sympathy, but found none.

  “If you’re helping me because you feel bad, then don’t,” I growled. “I can do it myself. I always do. I don’t need some alpha’s help.”

  “I’m not doing it because I feel bad,” Ryu said. “I’m doing it because you’re my friend.”

  I paused. Ryu considered me his friend? I thought of him as an acquaintance at best. That’s what I’d been doing for a long time now. It was easier that way—safer. Safer to keep people at an arm’s length, and safer to assume someone didn’t think highly enough of me to want to be my friend.

  Was Ryu lying? But if he was, what did he have to gain from it?

  While I was spaced out in thought, Ryu swept the remaining shells away. “Finished!”

  The floor was clean, and it took less time than I expected because of Ryu’s help. He was handsome, kind and useful. Any omega’s dream.

  Yeah, right. Any omega except me.

  “Um… Thanks,” I said.

  He flashed a smile that made my chest tighten. “No worries.”

  Suddenly feeling strange, I looked away.

  “Well, my friends are still waiting for me outside, so I should probably get going,” he said. “It was great seeing you again.”

  I continued to avoid his gaze. “Yeah, you too.”

  “We should hang out sometime,” he said.

  A shock ran through me. Ryu wanted to spend time with me? He must have been drunker than I thought. Give him eight hours of sleep and some water and he’d come to regret saying that.

  “Yeah, right,” I muttered. When I tried to turn away, Ryu reached out and touched my shoulder. Chills rippled down my skin.

  “Wait, I’m serious!” Ryu said.

  I opened my mouth, ready to shoot him down, but then paused. What did I have to lose by agreeing to his drunken, ridiculous plan? Worst case, he could claim intoxication and take it back. In the best case, maybe he would just forget.

  “Okay,” I said tentatively. “When and where?”

  “How about here, tomorrow night?” he suggested.

  I briefly thought about it. “Sure.”

  Ryu’s face lit up. “Great! I’ll see you then. Good night, Scar!”

  “Night,” I replied awkwardly as Ryu waved and darted out the door. I watched it close slowly until finally it shut, leaving me alone in the middle of the empty bar.

  As I stood there, all I could think was: what the hell just happened?

  4

  Ryu

  The night out with Dante and Lorenzo had cleared my mind of some worries, but I returned home with even more feelings of confusion.

  Watching those drunken alphas make fools of themselves filled me with disdain for my own kind. As alphas, it was our job to protect others with our strength, not hurt them with it. Unfortunately, I knew that not every alpha upheld himself to such a just standard—especially not an intoxicated one. And it only snowballed when multiple alphas acted in a group, which was something that particularly frightened me last night with Henry the omega.

  I thought about him now, and how he was doing. Had he gotten home safely? Had I behaved in the proper way to make him feel comfortable?

  Then I wondered why I was so worried about Henry, someone I barely knew. An idea sparked in my mind. Could it be that Henry was my fated mate? Slow excitement bubbled in my chest.

  I got up and paced as I wondered if I should go out there and find him. I could go find him, and ask how he was doing, and maybe things would evolve from there…

  Could this be how I finally met my fated mate? Saving him from a group of thugs at a bar was a pretty noble backstory. It would be a great tale to tell our children when they were old enough…

  As I was excitedly thinking about future children, the door rang—and who other than Henry himself walked in.

  “Hello?” he said.

  My heart raced. “Hey!”

  Henry’s light green eyes lit up when he saw me. “Oh, it’s you! I finally found you!”

  “Finally?” I asked. “Were you looking for me?”

  “Yes.” He nodded eagerly. “After last night, well… I thought it over and realized I didn’t really thank you properly for helping me out.”

  “Oh, it’s not a problem at all,” I said, feeling my cheeks grow warm from praise.

  “No, it was really nice of you.” Henry smiled. “And, um… Also, I never got to know your name?”

  “It’s Ryu,” I told him. Filled with excitement, I couldn’t help but grin. An omega was in my school, asking for my name! It was the perfect beginning to a love story. I could see it unfolding now in my mind…

  “Ryu,” Henry said, trying out the name on his tongue. “Kind of exotic.”

  He thinks I’m exotic!

  “That’s not all,” I said, encouraged by his interest. “I’m also a dragon shifter.”

  His brows raised and he exclaimed, “Wow! That’s so cool! I’m only a boring fox shifter.”

  “Nothing boring about that,” I reassured him. �
�One of my best friends is a canine shifter and he’s anything but boring.”

  “So, how big’s your wingspan?” Henry asked enthusiastically.

  “Oh.” I paused. “Er, I don’t exactly have a wingspan.”

  Here it comes, I thought. The same reaction everyone else always has...

  Henry tilted his head. “Really? Aren’t you a dragon shifter, though? I’ve never heard of a dragon without wings.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “I’m an Eastern dragon. We look different than Western dragons. More like a serpent than a big, muscular lizard.”

  Henry wrinkled his nose slightly at the mention of serpent, and cold dread pooled in my stomach. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that.

  “Oh… Well, a dragon’s a dragon,” Henry said, attempting a smile. He sidled closer to me. “Anyway, um… I had a question to ask you.”

  I was glad to be rid of the dragon talk. Thankfully, he didn’t seem completely repulsed. “What’s that?”

  “It says this is a magic school outside. Can you really do magic?” Henry asked.

  “Can I do magic? Of course!”

  I concentrated on the small watering can sitting on the counter in between my plants. This type of magic was so simple that I could do it with my eyes closed. With a flick of my wrist, I pulled out a stream of water from the can and twirled it in a circle in front of Henry’s wide eyes. He gasped.

  “That’s amazing!” he cried.

  “If you think that’s amazing, I should show you something more advanced,” I said with a grin.

  Henry nodded. “Show me!”

  “Alright… Check this out.” I focused on the stream of water, willing it to solidify. The water slowed and turned a frosty white as it cooled into ice. I dropped the spell, letting the ring of ice shatter on the floor. As Henry yelped, I picked up the ice shards and turned them back into water before returning them to the watering can.

  “Wow,” Henry breathed. “I mean, I knew dragons could do magic, but to see it right in front of your eyes is really something else.”

  I basked in his praise, feeling pleased. “Water magic is only one thing I can do. I’m pretty skilled in air magic as well, with just a pinch of clear magic.” I paused to see if Henry was keeping up. “Usually, this is where I launch into my spiel about the kinds of magic, if you were actually a student of mine.”

  A sly smile crossed his lips. “Well, who's to say I can’t be?”

  “You’re really interested in learning magic?” I asked, brows raising. I hadn’t had a student since Gabriel, and I was itching to teach someone else.

  Henry shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  “That’s great! It was pretty uncommon for another wolf shifter student I had to be magic aligned, but that means it’s not impossible. I’m sure with a little training you’ll be as great as he is! Let’s start with some basic exercises…”

  I sat Henry down at the low table and placed three objects in front of him, each representing one of the natural elements. There was a candle for fire, a cup of water, and a potted plant for earth and—well, air was air. Clear magic was a whole other beast I didn’t expect to tackle yet, since I wanted to be sure Henry could do elemental magic first.

  “What are these for? Actually, I am kinda thirsty,” Henry said as he picked up the glass of water and brought it to his lips.

  “Er—please don’t drink that,” I said. I put the glass back down. “Each of these items represents an elemental magic. Fire, water, earth. Air is all around us, so we don’t need an item for it.”

  Henry nodded.

  “I want you to try and manipulate the element in each one of these items,” I instructed.

  Henry poked the soil in the plant. “How do I do that?”

  “Try to feel it, with your soul,” I explained. “Concentrate and try to will the element to work with you.”

  “Um… Okay,” Henry said. He closed his eyes and grunted.

  Nothing happened.

  He peeked an eye open. “Did it work?”

  “No, but that’s okay,” I said reassuringly. “You’re just starting out.”

  He seemed disappointed. “Let me try again.”

  I watched Henry shut his eyes again, raise his hands and let out a continuous low hum. His fingers hovered over the glass of water. I watched like a hawk for any sign of movement—from the water, or any of the other items—but once again, nothing occured.

  He sat back with a sigh. “Maybe I just can’t do it.”

  “Don’t give up yet,” I said gently. “It just takes some people longer than others to get the hang of it.”

  A simple test would find out if Henry was even magic-aligned in the first place, but I didn’t want him to leave in case he wasn’t. I knew it was selfish, but Henry was my first student in a long time. Not only that, but as an omega, he was a potential mate. Maybe if we had a break-through together and I could teach him magic, he would be interested in me…

  “I have another idea,” Henry said with a smile that was both shy and mischievous. “Why don’t we do something else?”

  “What’s on your mind?” I said, cautiously optimistic.

  Henry bit his lip, then asked, “Why don’t we go on a date?”

  My heart fluttered. A date! Was I dreaming, or was an omega really asking me to go out with him? The gods must have heard my prayers.

  It was difficult not to sound too excited in my reply. “Sure. Just name a time and place. Whenever and wherever you’d like.”

  His eyes flickered down, then back up to mine. “How about tonight at the pier overlooking Starlit Pond?”

  That’s a pretty romantic location for a first date, I thought excitedly. But my excitement died out quickly when a realization hit me. I’d already made plans for the night with Scar.

  Henry must have noticed my hesitation. “Is there something wrong?”

  “No, I mean—I do already have plans with someone else tonight,” I admitted.

  “Someone else?” Henry echoed. I knew the question on the tip of his tongue: Is it another omega?

  “Yes. I have plans with a friend,” I said, dodging what he really wanted to know. “Can we have our date some other time? Maybe tomorrow night?”

  Henry mulled this over, then nodded. “Sure. Tomorrow night sounds great. Shall I meet you by the pier, then?”

  “Of course.” I smiled at him. “I’m really sorry things didn’t work out tonight. I’ll buy you dinner tomorrow to make up for it.”

  His brow raised playfully. “Oh? We’re going out for dinner too now?”

  I grinned. “Looks like it.”

  “Then I better go out and buy a nice outfit,” he said. “I should get going. I’ll see you soon, Ryu.”

  “Bye, Henry.”

  A swarm of emotions crashed into me as soon as Henry walked out the door. I had a date with an omega! I could have had it tonight instead of tomorrow if it weren't for my plans with Scar, but cancelling on him was out of the question.

  Why? A voice in the back of my head nagged. Why can’t you cancel on Scar? It’s not like you’re that close anyway. Dating always wins out over time with friends.

  I shook my head at the unpleasant thoughts. Just because we weren’t best friends didn’t make it acceptable to ditch him to hang out with a potential mate.

  Besides, I was excited to see Scar again—and not just as a customer this time.

  But what would Henry think if he found out I skipped plans with him to spend time with another omega?

  Did Scar even count as an omega?

  How stupid of me. Of course he did. Just because he was scarred and hurt and older than Henry didn’t change who he was.

  Come to think of it, I realized I didn’t even know if Scar had a mate, or kids. I highly suspected he didn’t. If they did exist, he’d never spoken of them. Then again, as a secretive person who normally kept to himself, he didn't speak much of anything. Maybe that was something we could talk abou
t.

  If there was one thing I knew about Scar, it was that I had a lot to learn about him.

  5

  Scar

  CLOSED TONIGHT — REGULAR BUSINESS TOMORROW.

  I placed the handwritten sign on the Drunken Dragon’s door. Hopefully any potential customers who showed up weren’t already too drunk to read it.

  Leaning on the brick exterior, I stared out into the street. Ryu said he would meet me at the bar tonight, but I didn’t know how much stock to put into that. I figured he was drunk and making stuff up he would either regret or forget later. But on the off-chance he’d been serious, I dressed up in something casual and waited, just in case.

  Still no one. I scowled to myself and tapped my foot. I'd give him twenty more minutes to show up, and if he didn’t, then that asshole cost me a whole night’s worth of business.

  “Scar!”

  Ryu’s voice called through the street. He ran towards me, waving.

  Well, what do you know? I had to give him credit for surprising me.

  “You showed up,” I commented.

  “Of course I did,” he said, panting slightly. “I don’t just make plans and then forget about them.”

  Now that Ryu stood in front of me and the whole concept of hanging out was fully realized, I had another problem—I couldn’t remember the last time I spent time with a friend. What the hell was I supposed to do with Ryu the entire evening?

  Ryu didn’t seem to notice my awkward energy. “Man, I never noticed what a big street this is... Do you think it leads down to Starlit Pond?”

  “Uh, I don’t know,” I said, gesturing down to my prosthetic leg. “In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t do much adventuring.”

  I waited for the flash of sympathy or disgust in Ryu’s face, the same way people usually reacted, but there was none. He just smiled and said, “Why don’t we find out together? We’ll stop if you get tired.”

  So far, none of my attempts to shake him off had worked. I shrugged. “Okay.”