“He… he wouldn’t.” Wally’s cheeks heated further. Snapping at Vadim had been a mistake. “Grimbold is kind. At least, he’s kind to me. I know that he wouldn’t call me names, even behind my back.”
Beatrice trotted out of the bed of daffodils and came to stand by Wally’s side. She curled up at his feet and lay down with a decompressing sigh. Inspired by her willingness to relax even around strangers, Wally folded his legs and sat cross-legged on the spot. He set a hand on her side and focused on the way she drew breath.
No one from the Pedigree could convince him that Grimbold would say such things. If anything, they’d made it up because they were jealous Wally had found a kind dragon and they had not. Prickling irritation built. Who were these people to come into his master’s lair and make such gross accusations? Wally had half a mind to ask them to leave.
Ingrid hummed as though she could read his thoughts and found them particularly amusing, but her focus was no longer on him—it was on Dmitry and Nikita. One by one, she smoothed a hand through their hair. “There are all kinds of dragons in the world, you know.” Whether she spoke to herself or to any one of them was a mystery. Wally listened to what she had to say regardless. “Like people, some dragons are good, and some are bad. Some spend their lives committed to bettering society, and some devote their time to keeping it stagnant. Unlike people, some dragons are very old. During the course of such a long lifespan, things… change.”
Wally’s heart tightened. He kept his hand still on Beatrice, feeling her heart thump and her lungs fill and empty. The things Ingrid said were charged with meaning, the intensity of which sank straight to his bones.
“Discoveries are made,” Ingrid continued. “Alliances are forged or broken. New directions and initiatives are taken. Even the oldest, most stubborn dragon can be made to see the error of his ways. Not all hearts can change, but I firmly believe that with enough time, most can be brought around.”
There was something about Ingrid that was both gentle and firm. The polarity of her person enchanted Wally, who met her gaze and found he couldn’t look away.
Ingrid was more than just a beautiful omega—she was wise. The Pedigree weren’t raised to be intelligent or motivational, but she effortlessly embodied the quiet kind of leadership that Wally could never master.
“Give it time, Wally,” Ingrid bade him in her soft, soothing voice. “I know that things are difficult for you right now, but that doesn’t mean that they will always be. I know that you’ve been made to suffer, but I promise that those days are over. Grimbold may be old, and at times he may not know what to do or say, but his heart is kind. I can see goodness in him, just like I can see it in you.”
“You can… you can see goodness in me?” Wally licked his lips and stared at Beatrice’s belly, noticing all the black spots on her skin beneath her white fur. “How?”
“By virtue of my birth.” While Wally didn’t see it, he heard the smile in Ingrid’s voice. “An omega borne to a dragon sire is a dragon, Wally. Some of us have magic, just like some alpha dragons have magic.”
“It’s not true,” Wally murmured. He stroked over the dark spots on Beatrice’s stomach, trying very hard not to look at any of the visitors. If he did, he felt like he might crumble.
Since Ingrid, Vadim, and the children had arrived, he’d felt… different. Bolder. More confident. It was the kind of attitude that might lead him to believe that something so blasphemous was true.
But itcouldn’tbe true.
Wally could believe that Grimbold was a kind dragon, and he could stomach that the Amethyst clan wasn’t as evil as he’d been taught, but to take to heart that all his life, he’d been a dragon? He couldn’t. Disgraces were shameful abominations. From the time of his birth, he’d been a disappointment. It hurt too much to think that all this time, he’d unknowingly been what his father had wanted all along.
All the punishments, the beatings, the things he’d been called, and the humiliations he’d been forced to endure…
If he acknowledged he was a dragon, he would acknowledge his suffering had been for no good reason at all.
“Don’t feel bad,” Nikita said. He scrambled up from Ingrid’s side and came to sit next to Wally. Without asking for permission, he took Wally’s arm and wrapped it around his shoulders like a shawl. “Sometimes we get in trouble for no good reason, too.”
“Oh my god,” Vadim muttered, burying his face in his hand.
“It’s true,” Dmitry confirmed. He settled on Wally’s other side and wiggled his way under Wally’s arm. “But you know what? At the end of the day, it’s okay, because when it’s over, we have friends who help us feel better.”
Giles. Buffy. The Scooby Gang.
Sorrow gripped Wally. His friends weren’t real. Giles would never listen to his struggles, face tight with concern and eyes sharp with worry. He’d never tug Wally into a tight embrace and whisper that everything would be fine. The closest he’d ever come to a friend was Lana, who’d invited him into her room to watch television, even though it was forbidden, but now she was gone, and Wally had no idea where she was.
“That’s not true, by the way,” Dmitry said. “What you’re thinking, I mean. Whatever it is that’s making you feel so sad. I bet it’s cuz you think you have no friends, but that’s not true, cuz you have us, and you have Mr. Drake.”
Grimbold.
Wally’s torn heart shredded. Tears slipped down his cheeks and he unleashed a racking sob that rolled through his ribs and felt too large for his throat. The dinners, custom tailored to his tastes; the éclairs; the media room; the claw… with every small thing Grimbold did to increase his comfort, he proved that he would care for Wally. He proved that he would be there.
“I think I need to go,” Wally said in a small voice, doing his best to overcome the tumultuous emotions threatening to overwhelm him from within.
“It was nice meeting you, Waldo,” Nikita chirped.
“I’m so glad we found you,” Dmitry added. He scrambled out from beneath Wally’s arm and dashed full-speed for Vadim, then scrambled up on the bench and sat by his side. “Bye!”
“Where are your Switches, boys?” Ingrid asked. “Make sure you have them before we leave.”
Nikita parted from Wally’s side and went to where Ingrid was seated. He produced his tablet-device from just out of sight behind the tree. “Got it!”
