“OK, fine. I will hear you out.”
“Thank you.” Alistair took a deep breath, looked her in the eyes and said it. “The reason I collect dragons and love dragons is because I’m what is called a dragon shifter.”
Sarai blinked at him as if she hadn’t heard what he had said. “I’m a dragon shifter,” he said again. “I can turn into a dragon. It’s like a werewolf, only I turn big and green, and I can control it, for the most part. Rage brings it out without control, but for the most part, I can control it. Come to the gym with me, I’ll show it to you. Then we can discuss the baby, if you’re not too terrified by the way I look. I don’t know if the baby will be a dragon shifter. We won’t know till he or she is older, but if they are a dragon shifter, then I will help them cope with it. Not like it’s a disease or illness or anything, it’s a condition. I think that is the best way to put it. They can learn to control it. I will not force the traditions and the way of life on them. They will not be tested, and when they come of age, they can choose their own mates. They can choose to follow the traditions and customs, but they will not be forced to. Am I making any sense to you? Have I lost you?”
“Say it again.” Sarai shook her head. “You’re a what now?”
“A dragon shifter.”
Chapter 17
Sarai
“Excuse me, what?” She and Mickey exchanged looks and then burst into laughter. “Oh, you’re funny, you’re so funny. I forgot how funny you are.” Sarai laughed.
“Uh Sarai, I don’t think he’s joking.” Mickey sobered up first.
“Of course, he’s joking. That was a joke. Tell her that was a joke,” Sarai demanded
Alistair shook his head.
“Prove it.”
“I told you, I'll show you my dragon when we get to the gym.”
“I’m not going to the gym with you, you have to prove it right now,” she demanded.
“Here?”
“Yes. Right here, right now,” she demanded.
He looked around them. “Fine, I’ll show you a part of it.” He shook and his head began to change. His teeth began to elongate. They looked more like a serpent’s teeth. His eyes changed to a bright golden hue and glowed. The pupils shrank into slits.
“Holy shit!” Mickey backed against the wall of the elevator and sank to the ground and curled up in a ball. “Your boyfriend is a freaking dragon!”
Alistair shook off the transformation before he ripped his favorite shirt. Sarai sank to the floor stunned.
“Will the baby be able to do that?” she asked after a moment of silence.
“I don’t know. Some can, some can’t. We won’t know till he or she is older. There are two different kinds of dragon shifters. I’m the human to dragon variety. There is also the dragon to human variety. They are rarer. Of the human to dragon variety, I am from the dragon nobility. Generations of my bloodline and shifting abilities have been passed down. A lot of the rich elite around here are dragon shifters. They try to keep the bloodlines pure. It’s harder to control the lesser dragon shifters, they mate with humans and there’s only a 50/50 chance that the baby will even become a dragon shifter- which the elites believe will slowly kill them off. So, the traditions and customs are all about preservation. I don’t care about those things. I didn’t before I met you, and I certainly don’t now, because those things present a problem for us. I don’t want anything else to be a problem for us. Do you?”
Sarai sat on the floor and stared at him. “I’m sorry, you’re a dragon! You’re a freaking dragon!”
“Dragon shifter,” he corrected.
“Right.”
“Sarai, do you trust me?”
“I don’t know,” Sarai said. “So, the engagement.”
“It’s over. That was why she came to the gym, to tell me she couldn’t take it anymore. She was in love with someone else.” He laughed, “She’s actually in love with a wolf.”
“A wolf?”
“A wolf shifter. There are many kinds of shifters.”
“Alistair, this is a lot to handle.”
