He looked inward, but his dragon remained passive. So, it sensed no harm.
“Okay.” Jules settled his backpack more firmly over one shoulder. “This way.” Instead of continuing down the alley, he backtracked, taking the safer route, unwilling to take chances. The assholes could still be lurking.
He rubbed the pocket on the backpack, ensuring the stone remained. As long as he didn’t wrap his hand around the smooth surface, Radomir shouldn’t come running.
Whoever Elouan was, each step they took together promoted him farther and farther up Jules’s list of people he just might trust. Making his name third on the very short list.
His dragon remained decidedly silent. Well, except for…was that a purr?
Chapter Four
Lying to his guardians wasn’t high on Jules’s list of favorite things in life, especially since they dedicated their lives to his well-being, but Elouan made a good point. At twenty-one, Jules should be free to make his own decisions and live as he chose, instead of devoting his entire existence to some legacy he only knew of through their telling.
What if they were wrong? He avoided others his age not only because of Moira’s insistence but also because Jules simply wasn’t a part of their world. Latest TV shows or movies?We don’t want you too immersed in human culture.
He blushed and all but ran from conversations with classmates involving sex, replaying details in his head later.One day, when you meet your alpha, you’ll imprint on them and have no need for any others.But wouldn’t abstinence make Jules “a loser” who “doesn’t know what to do in bed?”
Moira also never mentioned the gender of this mysterious mate of Jules’s destiny. While he’d never so much as kissedbefore, he'd always imagined a male when he replayed images from the conversations he’d overheard.
A tall male with broad shoulders, dark hair and eyes, and a protective nature.
In short, the man currently matching Jules’s steps on the sidewalk, trying not to be too obvious about slowing his pace to accommodate Jules’s shorter legs—only one capable of becoming a dragon. Wait, that wasn’t Jules’s criteria, but Moira’s, as he’d only met a handful of dragons and zero alphas.
Or so he thought. He discreetly sniffed. No one around, so his attackers must be long gone by now.
“Have you lived here long?” Elouan asked, stopping for a crossing light. With no cars in sight, they still waited until the light turned green. Worked for Jules. The longer the walk took, the more time he’d spend in Elouan’s company.
Don’t tell him where you live! Don’t talk about yourself!A memory of Moira screamed in Jules’s head. If Elouan posed a threat, wouldn’t Jules's dragon intervene? He kept the pebble close at hand, just in case.
“Almost all my life,” Jules found himself saying. “You?”
Elouan paused for a few moments before replying in the low baritone Jules might come to love, “I moved here three years ago.”
Jules couldn’t decipher the subtext, but Elouan’s inflection implied more meaning than the actual words themselves.
“Really? What brought you here?” Jules spent so much time wishing to leave. Why would anyone willingly come to this city?
Elouan rolled one shoulder. “A friend sent me here, and another found me a job. It’s a nice enough place. People are friendly.” A touch of wistfulness edged into his words. “Kinda reminds me of home.”
“What do you do?” A safe enough topic of conversation, right?
“I work construction.”
Images came to mind of the man Jules had seen earlier, walking a steel beam twelve stories above the ground, showing no fear. A man with a long, dark braid. “Are you working on the big high-rise near the college?” One could hope, right?
A dimple formed on one cheek when Elouan smiled. Oh, hell. A dimple. So unfair for such a little thing to make an already hot man even hotter. “Yeah. I’m a welder.”
Maybe Elouan could enlighten Jules about something he’d always imagined. “You work on the girders, right?”
Elouan gave a decisive nod. “Yes. Few guys I’ve met like working so high, but I do.” His face took on a dreamy quality when he talked about his job. “You can see for miles. Everything down below looks so small.” His smile abruptly faded to embarrassment, and he ran a hand under his braid to rub his neck. “Sorry. I’ve been told I’m way too into my job.”
“Actually, your job sounds pretty cool, having the wind in your face, seeing so far. I’ve been to the mountains, but never on a tall building.”Down, boy!Jules gushed about heights like he’d heard others rave about a favorite musician or rockstar.
Elouan’s smile returned. “You’re into adrenaline rushes? My coworkers think I’m crazy, but being so high is like being on top of the world, you know? Like I can spread my wings, go anywhere, be anything.”
Spread my wings?Was he merely using a figure of speech? Jules ventured, “Wouldn’t it be great to fly?” while closely watching Elouan’s face by the illumination of a streetlight. No hardship, watching shadows and light play over prominent cheekbones, a square jawline, and a chin divot barely discernible beneath a healthy growth of five o’clock shadow.
Elouan gave a noncommittal shrug, then returned his attention to the sidewalk. The childish chalk drawing must hold some kind of fascination. A car thumped by them, the loud bass beat making conversation impossible.
