Page 20 of Burned

“Extremely. We live together, work together, do everything together.”

“Sounds like a wolf pack.”

I glance at him, wondering what his motive is behind that comment. Is he trying to get me to admit what I am? Though I’m positive he knows.

“We’re not at all like a wolf pack. Wolf packs don’t typically share familial bonds since they have a tendency towards pack orgies during the full moon.”

“Orgies?” Alrick gulps.

I chuckle. “You have brothers. Aren’t you close to them?”

Alrick blows out a breath, dragging a hand down his long beard. Gods, how I would love to do that. He shifts his gaze to me suddenly, no doubt aware of the uptick in my arousal, but he doesn’t address it.

“Not equally,” he answers, referring to the question about his brothers. “I only have two. They’re both older. My dad and oldest brother are…” He pauses, the silence a beat longer than it should be. “They’re difficult. Guarded, I guess. Don’t get me wrong, I love them both, I just have a harder time finding a connection. They’re both focused on the family mission.”

“Killing dragons,” I say, even as my chest tightens and my dragon thrashes.

“Yeah. It’s all I’ve ever known. As far back as I can remember, it’s been beaten into my head that this is how I’ll spend my life. Literally,” he grumbles the last word under his breath.

“How do you earn a living?”

He scrunches his face up as he wipes a hand across his forehead. I have a feeling I’m not going to like the answer.

“I won’t judge you,” I offer to ease his discomfort. Little does he know I couldn’t hate him if I tried to at the moment.

“We sell the artifacts we find from dragon hoards.”

My heart seizes, my dragon pushing against my human skin to the point where I have to take several deep breaths to keep him contained. The desecration of raiding a dragon’s hoard leaves me almost breathless and choking back smoke.

“Sorry,” Alrick mumbles. “I know it’s shitty. I’ve always felt like an asshole about it, if that’s even kind of redeeming.”

“Have you—” My voice cracks, revealing the emotion I’m desperately trying to keep under wraps. “Seen a hoard?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “I haven’t earned it yet. I’ve seen some pieces when my family brought them back, but without a kill under my belt, I’m left out of the spoils.”

His answer soothes both me and my dragon. I think it’s time to discontinue this conversation for now as we exit the woods and step into a small village.

“There’s a tavern at the end of the street with great fish and chips.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alrick says. “I’m so hungry I could eat a drag?—”

He coughs to cover up his slip, but it didn’t get by me. Alrick offers a faint smile that I return.

“Food will be good for us both. We have a long journey ahead of us.”

We finish the walk to the tavern and slip inside. It’s filled with locals enjoying a meal and the company of others, the scent of old wood and spilled beer oddly familiar to me. A few men glance up from their meals, checking us out and discerning whether we’ll cause trouble or not, but they seem placated well enough.

“Sit anywhere,” a young woman with long blonde braids yells from the bar as she lifts a tray filled with beer mugs.

Alrick points to a table situated against a wall but with a clear view of the door. It must be his upbringing that makes him so cautious and aware of his surroundings. I’ve never much cared given my ability to shift and eliminate any possible threat within minutes.

Ironic that I’m sitting next to a man whose entire life purpose is eradicating my kind. Without a weapon, he’s incapable of harming me, and even with a weapon, he’d be at a disadvantage. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t known of his family’s existence until now.

We look over the menus. “We have to go up to the bar to order.”

Alrick nods. “Okay.”

We get up a minute later and head to the bar, where the woman who greeted us says, “What’s it to be?” Her thick Scottish accent makes me smile.

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