Page 1 of Stripped to the Scales

Chapter One

Castor

Everything was purple and it wasn’t just the hue from the alien sun either. I’d left the meeting with Hush Starscale an hour ago. He hadn’t seemed very interested in our report about how little ground we covered in connecting his flight with the rest of the known universe via the Other World Gateway system. Back home on Earthside, Clarence and Medwin Moonscale, the leaders of my birth flight, the Moonscales, would’ve been nose deep in our asses demanding more progress. Hush and the leaders of the other two Starscales worlds didn’t seem concerned about being connected. They were fine if it happened and fine if it didn’t. They didn’t care who helped us as long as those who helped weren’t coerced. The same dragons who organized food without a price tag attached to it for three planets seemed to have little planning skills in most of the other areas. At least as far as magical research went and I had to admit it probably would be magic, not science, that connected this lost flight back to the rest of existence.

The rest of the crew of the Medwin 2 were back at the ship. While Fred, Elio, and Marsin called it the estate, I preferred to still think of my ship as what it was – a space worthy vessel,tried and true. It was also home to me and my cousin, Casimir, for the moment. We’d only been on Starscale 1 for a few months, but like most worlds it was too big to see all of in such a short amount of time. We only discovered our primary mission after landing our ship on the first of three alien planets. Only, the Starscales weren’t really aliens. They were Other Worlders and Earthsiders just as the Moonscales are. They just migrated out into space and built up three planets one-by-one as the need arose. The only problems they seemed to have were that far-voyaging space travel had dwindled in their flight and they weren’t connected to the Other World gateway system. So they couldn’t reach the space in between worlds or travel through it to Earthside or anywhere else their true-mates might be. If they weren’t born alongside their mate on one of the three planets they were SOL.

Elio and his brother, Marisan, used an ancient, stolen elf spell to cast scrolls through nearly every Other World gateway on Earthside to get Fred Moonscale’s attention. Fred was one of Elio’s true-mates and that meant poly mates were becoming more common. It also gave me the chance to test out the ship I built, the Medwin 2. The ship was my real first love: Sleek, shiny, my home that could blast off and fly me away from the shittiest situations.

I scratched at the mostly new black star-shaped scale on my chest. The Starscales would’ve been an anthropologist’s dream, if we had brought one along. I thought about the story as Elio told it to us as I strolled along the purple district of Starscale 1. Two men tongue fucked each other against the corner of a lilac building. They weren’t the only ones having fun. I wondered if their stars glowed for each other. It didn’t matter in this district. Only consent mattered in this adult oriented district of the biggest city on Starscale 1.

If the lore of the Starscale Dragon Flight was to be believed their ancestors crafted the spell and the star-shaped scales on the chests of every member of the flight before they ever left the Other World. The spell continued to create these scales for newly born souls and those who came into Starscale Territory and had a true-mate within it. All of the crew had these stars now, including me. Somewhere in this territory my true-mate lived. I hadn’t given much thought to the alpha I shared a future true-mate bond with. While other omegas I knew dreamed of beefy men sweeping them off their feet, I dreamt of the Medwin 2 – and all the ships that might come after. I took my flight into the furthest reaches of space anyone besides the Starscales had ever came. I gave them the blueprint for freedom in the skies beyond what our wings would ever provide. I gave them ---

Well, I didn’t give them as much as the guy with the purple pants around his ankles gave to the lady leaning her hands against the wall calling out “SYFE!” over and over, but it was damn close to it. My dragon chuckled inside his inner sanctum. I had a feeling both of our fearless flight leaders wouldn’t approve of the purple district. Fred would’ve loved it back in the day before he met either of his true-mates. I’d forbidden the crew from coming here. As the captain of the Medwin 2 in this strangely familiar place, I was the closest thing anyone who came on that ship had to a flight leader. The last thing I needed was one of them egging an omega Starscale dragon unknowingly. Still, I couldn’t stay away from the district Elio warned me about. I avoided it for months, but after my meeting with Hush Starscale ran short I decided I could use a drink.

I’d spent most of the last few months rejuvenating the Medwin 2 after her flight here. She was as good as new and would lift off without a problem if we needed to make a quick escape. That hadn’t left a lot of time for me to explore the city.So, the only place I knew for sure I’d find a drink was the purple district. Sex and liquor went together like ham and cheese.

Music pounded from most of the buildings I passed. My drink was nearly forgotten about as my eyes skimmed over their colorful, shiny signs and the paved purple roads, not to mention the couples and groups all half naked and enjoying the fresh air on their asses while they brought each other trembling, growling, and shouting over the edge of bliss and oblivion.

The whole damn place smelled like sex, sweat, and cigarettes. The Starscales had their own form of Earthside’s tobacco plants. The stuff grew up from the ground bright teal and when made into cigarettes the cherries burnt that same teal color. The Starscales were so much like my own flight, but different too.

“Whatcha lookin’ for?” A tall lady with breasts pushed up high and tight in a black leather corset asked me. “You’re one of the Moony guys right?”

“I’m the ship’s captain, ma’am,” I nodded, looking at her eyes on purpose. I was never interested in women, but breasts offered up like they were in the purple district made me nervous.

“Whatcha lookin’ for, Captain?” she asked, leaning closer.

“A drink,” I said.

She laughed and leaned back against the purple brick wall. She was beautiful and her laugh sang of dragons long ago. Like most dragon shifters, the brunette in the leather corset in front of me was timeless. She could’ve been old enough to be my great grandma or young enough to have been my daughter in a different life.

“A drink? That’s it? All the time on the ship and you Moonys haven’t even came to play. Everyone wants to meet you. They’re all ready for you Moonys to meet your true-mates or at least take up with some playmates.”

I sighed and fought off the urge to rub the bridge of my nose. Everything she said was true. Even Hush Starscale encouraged me to send my dragons to play here in the raunchiest district he had to offer in hopes they’d meet their true-mates. Apparently, it wasn’t uncommon for that to happen in here.

“You’re beautiful, ma’am, but I---”

“Oh, honey, I know that. You had your eyes glued to Syfe’s dick for almost a minute. Fortunately for you he likes to show it off. Unfortunately for you, he’s straight.”

“Good for him and er… her too,” I laughed, trying to appear more relaxed than I was.

“I’m Melon,” she said, offering her hand.

I shook it and she laughed again before lifting my hand to her lips. She was an alpha. I wasn’t sure if she was security or just hanging out waiting for someone to play with.

“Castor. Some of my friends call me Cas,” I introduced myself, hoping to get that drink recommendation soon.

“Well, Cas,” she slid her hand through my arm. “I’ll walk you to the end of the block. That’s where you’ll find Sprinkles. That’s the best place for a drink or a fuck. The strippers are hot and clean. The drinks aren’t watered down.”

“Tell me they don’t drop sprinkles from the ceiling,” I sighed, remembering Fred’s club, Glitter Bomb.

“They better not. She’d fuck them up!” Melon laughed, tossing her head back.

We passed a man getting his dick sucked by someone with long crimson hair flowing around their face. The suckee looked in our direction and Melon waved. She whispered their names in my ear, but I wouldn’t remember them later. With each step, my face flushed hotter. It wasn’t a professional look for a captain, but then again, coming here wasn’t professional at all.

At the end of the street sat the tallest of the purple buildings of the district. A huge sign read “SPRINKLES” in big shiny redletters. Cartoon breasts sat atop the letters and the head of a cartoon penis poked out of the loop of the R. At least the sign left no doubt that onlookers were about to walk into a strip club.

“Tits and cocks,”my dragon said, imitating a parrot my uncle had when I was a hatchling.“Tits and cocks!”

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