A young human man.
Sunlight-colored hair fell across his forehead. A matching yellow earring dangled from his ear. His body was lithe, fit, as sleek as an otter.
He was… not a towering, catastrophic reptile. He was small. Breakable. A single swipe of my paw would obliterate him. I could crush him into paste. I could kill him just bysittingon him.
Suddenly, a sweet, spicy scent tickled my nose. It was different than perfume or syrupy cocktails. It was thick and natural; bodily. It made the fur lift on the back of my neck.
As I stared at the golden-haired man, I felt breathless.
It was the heat. It had to be the heat.
“Talk about an entrance,” the blond man said, breaking into a grin. “Hey. I’m Saffron.”
My heart stopped for a beat.
That scrawny, insubstantial waif was thedragonI had to kill?
4
Saffron
If you’ve never been chargedby a polar bear, it sure is one hell of an experience. If I couldn’t shift into my dragon form at the first sign of danger, I absolutely would’ve pissed myself.
The bear was silent as he stared. Two small black eyes were focused on me, standing out like an adorable pair of buttons on a huge patch of white.
He was really,reallycute.
And also terrifying. As I looked him over, I nearly choked at the sight of his claws. Four inches of curved black knives, solid and unyielding. A single claw spanned the length of my human hand—and he had five of them on each precious paw.
But it was odd to see a contestant in animal form. Usually they shifted to human as soon as they arrived on the island—to beat the heat, if nothing else. But it was even stranger that he’d missed an important social cue. Normally when shifters took a certain form, everyone surrounding them followed. It was considered rude to remain in animal form while the majority were not.
The other contestants side-eyed the bear irritably. Either for his social ignorance, or because he’d haphazardly knocked people aside with his massive bulk upon arrival. In any case, this bear wasn’t winning any congeniality awards.
But he might win something better,I thought with a twinge of excitement.
Before his arrival, the meet and greet had been a frenzy. Having my attention pulled in a million directions was chaotic. Fun, but chaotic. All the contestants wanted me to notice them—especially that one pushy guy, Kaskian. I suddenly had a new appreciation for the indescribable fatigue my brothers faced after this event—hell, I was a pure extrovert, and evenIwas getting tired.
But after the polar bear slid into the picture, all the friendly chatter stopped. Everyone simmered in silence as they glared at the bumbling interloper. Although the bear didn’t seem to notice their judgmental stares, I felt the need to stand up for him.
“Don’t be shy,” I said, flashing him a smile. “Come join the party.”
The polar bear didn’t reply. He still hadn’t spoken at all, not even to return my greeting. I wasn’t an expert on bear body language, but his brow was scrunched up in an almost human fashion, as if baffled.
“What’s your name, buddy?” I asked.
The bear swallowed dryly. “Rorik.”
He sounded parched. No doubt the heat was killing him.
I thought I heard a soft gasp from the back of the crowd, but it might’ve been a taunting yawn. It didn’t matter, anyway. My focus was purely on Rorik. I sensed he needed my help. Even though he was huge and physically powerful, he was an omega, so I felt the basic alpha urge to tend to his needs.
As our eyes met, my heart skipped a beat.
Could this protective urge be deeper than a regular alpha instinct?
Then my doubts flooded in:Don’t be overwhelming. Don’t jump for the first guy who catches your attention. Don’t let someone take advantage of you.
Ugh. Anxiety was so fucking annoying.
