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 barwasa 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 inmyschool, 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 awingspan.”
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 ofserpent,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?”
