My skin tingled with the incoming shift. My inner dragon wanted to rear his head, but I couldn’t do a full shift. Not here. The nurse’s office wasn’t big enough; I’d break through the ceiling, crushing Rorik and Poppy beneath the rubble. It had to be a partial shift.
But as Rorik’s distant, suspicious expression popped into my mind, I hesitated. He’d seen a small partial shift from me before, and it had pushed him away. The sight of my talons alone put a chasm between us. For some reason, he was afraid of me. Of dragons.
Why?
But I couldn’t worry about that now. There was no time.
Kaskian charged, his thick fangs exposed in a roar. Spittle flew from his lips. If I didn’t do something, he’d sink those fangs into Rorik.
Hot, protective rage burned in my veins. No fucking way would I let that happen.
The partial shift was faster than a bolt of lightning. My nails erupted into knife-like talons; my blunt human teeth sharpened into fangs. Insurmountable power pulsed under my skin, yearning to burst free.
Kicking off with coiled power, I lunged at the bear. He was seven hundred pounds of muscle and fat.
Still not as big as Rorik,I thought smugly.
The partial shift gave me a huge advantage. While my human body was lithe and agile, a dragon’s true power lurked beneath the surface.
I ducked beneath Kaskian. My arm shot up, grabbing the grizzly by the throat. His dense fur was no protection against my talons. His roar cut off abruptly, reduced to a pathetic mewl. He obviously didn’t expect me to intervene in a bear fight.
Poor guy. He had no clue he was dealing with the most dangerous creature of all: an alpha dragon with a major crush.
Seizing my chance, I flipped Kaskian onto his back. He seemed to fall in slow motion. His heavy body landed with a booming thud that shook the floor. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt—Jade would’ve killed me if I genuinely harmed a contestant—but hopefully I’d knocked some sense into him.
The stupefied grizzly bear resembled a turtle stuck on his back. He blinked, stunned. He clearly didn’t expect the fight to go in this direction.
“Phew,” I said, dusting off my hands. “Hope I didn’t put a dent in the floor.”
Kaskian came to his senses. He glared at me as he shifted and got to his feet. “What was that for?”
This dude seriously didn’t get it, did he? I almost felt bad for him.
“Uh, you were about to attack Rorik,” I said, crossing my arms. “Did you think I’d sit back and let that happen?”
Kaskian curled his lip, revealing far-less intimidating human teeth. “Why do you care about that stupid oaf? Can’t you see there’s better omegas right in front of you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Like you? The only omega worth my time in this room is Rorik. Oh, and Poppy, in a platonic way.”
As the words left my mouth, I realized the implications.
Shit. Did I just accidentally reveal how I feel about Rorik?
Kaskian scowled. “You’re fucking crazy, Saffron.”
A low growl came from behind me.
“Watch yourself, grizzly,” Rorik said in a serious voice.
My heart skipped a beat. Rorik’s threat sounded like a chorus of angels.
He just stood up for me. But why? Didn’t he hate me? Or was that all in my head?
Ugh, what is even happening right now? Did all my brothers have this much trouble on the Games?
Kaskian scoffed loudly, turning to leave. “Screw this. If you’re already smitten with that fatass, then I’m going home.”
I reacted faster to that ugly word than I could think. My talons hovered in front of Kaskian.
