The pilot gave Elouan a once-over, raising one eyebrow. “If you're sure, then.”
Elouan exited the helicopter and trudged toward the trees, boots crunching through crusts of snow. He turned, watching the pilot take to the skies, and breathed in a lungful of clean air. No car exhaust, no restaurants. Just the crisp, clean scent of snow, trees, and solitude.
Traces of a nearby rabbit teased his nose. Elouan nearly drooled. While a lone rabbit wouldn’t make a filling meal for his dragon, his inner beast wanted to hunt.
Soon,Elouan promised.Soon.
He followed the directions Leon gave, the tall pines blocking his view of the mountains. The well-worn trail contained a few switchbacks, gradually climbing to a higher elevation. Elouan’s breath steamed in the air, making his throat constrict in an involuntary gesture used to spout flame. Again,soon.
Ice rimmed the edges of a small pond around the halfway point. Soon it would likely freeze over. Maybe a few sluggish fish would help calm his belly once he settled into his temporary home.
The forest opened onto a small clearing an hour later. A cabin sat in the middle of three outbuildings, with an overlook nearby—likely the focal point of many photographs. Elouan grinned. Perfect. He unlocked his home for the next few days with Leon’s key.
The cabin was relatively primitive for a human dwelling, consisting of a single great room and a small bathroom. A double bed sat in one corner, draped in furs. Actual furs! He hadn’t slept on furs since leaving home. The couch appeared to be of the fold-out variety, strewn with pillows and crocheted blankets. Although a shed out back housed a gas generator, Elouan planned to heat water on the woodstove for washing, use the stove for what little cooking he’d planned, and didn’t need electric lights after sunset. The kerosene lanterns he found in strategic locations would serve nicely.
Even the hardiest of dragons might take pause in the bitter cold of winter. Right now, though? In fall?
Perfect. A few stubborn leaves of gold, red, and orange clung to the tree branches outside the window; most had already fallen. The scent of dragons lingered in the cabin, likely from Leon’s visit. Faint, but still there.
The world was quieter here, too, with nothing but birdsong and the rustling of some creature in the brush. White-cappedmountains peeked through the trees. Downhill, a stream flowed, full of trout to tempt a dragon’s belly. Or so Leon said. As a smaller omega, Leon could fit in places Elouan’s larger alpha body couldn’t go.
What would city-bred Jules think of this place? He would love the lake and spoke of wanting to live in a remote location. Would he be comfortable away from modern conveniences?
Elouan pictured himself spooned against Jules in the furs, enjoying each other’s warmth, and more. They’d spend most of the day in bed, sipping coffee and making love.
A screeching cry split the quiet. Another dragon?
Maybe. There were reasons dragons came to this isolated place, after all. If they didn’t get in his way, Elouan wouldn’t get in theirs, but he planned to wait until dark to shift.
He made himself at home, familiarizing himself with the cabin, and ate a handful of trail mix. His dragon blood sang loudly in his veins as night approached and wouldn’t be appeased by nuts and dried berries.
Pinpricks of light carpeted the sky when Elouan stepped out into the night. He hadn’t seen so many beautiful stars since the night he’d left the dragon world. The constellations were different here from the patterns he’d learned in his youth to help with navigation. A tiny sliver of the moon shone above the treetops. What a perfect night to spread his wings.
Once more, he heard the piercing cry, turning his attention toward the sound.
Elouan stared in stunned silence at a small dragon, pale against a dark sky. The dragon appeared young, though it didn’tgo through the aerial acrobatics of most dragons testing their wings. It folded its wings, plunging into freefall, only to spread them again, catching an updraft. Elouan could almost hear exhilarated dragon laughter.
Hard to tell from this distance, but Elouan guessed the nearly white dragon to be an omega and not a strong flyer. Hadn’t his parents taught him to fly? Had he fallen out of practice in the human world, with few good places to stretch his wings?
How Elouan dearly missed Anrai in these moments.
He could’ve stayed for hours, watching the young one, but his own wings needed stretching. Elouan shucked off his clothes on the cabin’s front porch, then took a running leap down the path and off the cliff. He plunged straight down until doing a midair shift, a move he’d terrified his mother with too many times.
Turning toward the north, he sought the pale dragon, bugling to avoid scaring the omega, announcing his presence because his dark, mottled body wasn’t easily visible in the semi-darkness, even to dragon eyes.
The young one answered with an excited chirp, swerving to meet Elouan’s path.
What a beautiful creature, long and lithe. He wasn’t of the High Reaches court, not with such a trim, angular body, probably from around the coast. If he wasn’t hatched and raised in Terra. Could eggs survive the rift between realms?
Rather than shy away like some omegas might from a strange alpha, the little one drew closer, hovering in the air nearby. Curious? The moon illuminated the dragon’s body, making his golden scales appear to glow.
Alpha instincts took over. Elouan dove, spinning in the air, then pulling up moments before hitting the ground.Showing off? Really?he chastised his dragon. His dragon had more of a say in this form, though Elouan’s human mind still maintained control.
Mostly.
The little one chirped again, the dragon equivalent of cheering. Elouan dove again, this time with the pale dragon trailing him. Elouan slowed his descent and pulled up before the ground. Though the young dragon might feel sassy, he still didn’t seem very sturdy on his wings.
Elouan launched toward the sky, a safer move. The other dragon shot past him. The omega was definitely male and glittery in the moonlight. Beautiful. He must be unmated, for no self-respecting alpha would let him fly alone.
