Page 21 of Brutal Alpha Dragon

“I’ve watched her, Father. She’s not strong enough to bear dragonspirit offspring. She’s weak.”

Father turns to me and shakes his head. “Yet, she’s the only human female who matched your DNA, Draco. Give it a chance.”

I purse my lips, deliberating my options. Of which I have very little. It’s not like I can refuse my destiny here. After all, I cannot take Skarlett as my mate. She’s… impossible.

As Father rises off the swing, he turns to me to give me one more piece of advice.

“Take my word for it, Draco,” he begins, “You’re paving the way for a new norm amongst our kind. For centuries, we’ve only protected the humans. But with this, they’ll learn to protect themselves. I’ve always imagined a world where we can live harmoniously with their kind.”

Father’s parting advice is what sticks with me long after he’s left the patio. All by myself on the swing, I cross my arms and continue staring at the sky. If my father wants a world where humans and dragons can coexist, we’ll need to prepare.

Dragging myself out of the swing, I head up to the fifteenth floor of the castle. There, I pause outside Lily’s bedroom door but decide against going in.

It’s going to take time for me to adjust to the idea. Father’s great plan. For now, I’ll focus on strengthening my leadership in the clan. Just in case we’re ever met with resistance.

***

“What’s this all about?” Felix asks as he picks up an apple from the basket on the center of the table. He raises his brows speculatively, a loud crunch resounding in the kitchen as he takes a bite.

“Nothing in particular,” I shrug. “It’s been a while since we’ve trained our dragons, that’s all.”

“This is gonna be fun!” Stryker, the youngest of the twins by a few minutes, pitches in as he enters the kitchen. “We haven’t trained in ages!”

“The last time we did, you lost your fire!” Stryder chuckles as he follows his twin. “Remember, Draco?”

I can’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, I do.”

“Hey! You’re supposed to take my side here!” Stryker protests with a pout. He’s clearly still indignant about the last time we’d trained. He’d been in a friendly fight against one of the soldiers when he lost the ability to breathe fire. All he managed was a whiff of smoke, and became the laughingstock of the clan.

Of course, I’d stepped in to put an end to any insults that came his way. It doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to make fun of him.

I am the Alpha, after all.

“Sorry, Styk,” I apologize before turning to Felix. “Please send the word out to the others. We’ll meet before midnight in the meadow.”

Felix nods as he juggles his apple in the air while he leaves the kitchen. I hear the mind link he sends out to the other members of the clan—calling them to the meadow later tonight.

“You’re training the dragons?” Kairo asks cheerfully as she enters the kitchen. She sighs as she places a bunch of gift bags on the counter.

“Yeah,” I nod. “Special occasion?” I ask, peeking at the bags.

Kairo purses her lips in deep deliberation, then finally lifts out a box from one of the bags. She holds out the black velvet box for me to see, lifting the lid. When a diamond-encrusted necklace appears, I grunt.

“I’m not trying to sweep her off her feet, Kai,” I rebuke dismissively, turning away from the piece of jewelry as if it churns my gut.

“Oh, come on, Draco!” she protests with a stomp. “You need to do something to get her on your side. She clearly hates you. And I don’t blame her.”

“Pfft!” I debunk the idea like a disobedient child. “She’ll have no choice but to be on my side. It’s for her own good.”

As I leave the kitchen, I mentally drown out my sister’s protests behind me. I don’t wish to stick around to hear her complaining about how I’ve been handling things with Lily.

It’s my choice, after all, in a situation where I hardly had a choice to make in the first place.

Spending the rest of the night in the study, I add the finishing touches to the new training strategy. It hasn’t changed much since our previous one—there are just a few new in-flight sequences to spice up our existing ones.

When I exit the castle, the dragons of the Aurora clan are gathered in the meadow. Awaiting their Alpha, they bow their heads when I arrive.

“Aurora Dragons,” I address them as I make my way to the center of the circle they’ve formed. I stifle my grunt when I find Skarlett amongst the group.

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