Page 1 of Overbooked at Dragon's Landing

Chapter One

Ralph

Sometimes it’s too hard to be just friends…when my heart and my wolf demand so much more.

Craig and I have been besties since we were young, but sometime in those years, my feelings changed. My friend is not a shifter, not that that matters in the least to me, or to him. But he’s never shown the slightest indication of wanting there to be more to our relationship. But my crush was not his problem.

Watching him now, chatting up the DJ at the club where we’d gone for the evening to dance and have a few drinks, I could see why everyone we met wanted to spend time with him. No matter where we went, people flocked around, enjoying his energy even if they weren’t aware that was what they were drawn to.

What he was doing at the DJ booth became apparent when Craig came skipping back and grabbed my hand. “Come on. Everyone is dancing!” He dragged me out onto the floor, but unfortunately, his invitation had nothing to do with us dancing “together” like a couple. Mostly those out there were just dancing for the fun of it, as we just about always did. A popular club version of a top pop number came on and the mood picked up, the floor getting even fuller.

Craig was fun. I had a better time with him than anyone else in the world, including members of the pack I grew up in. Something my family had a hard time understanding, especially my omega dad who wanted grandchildren. Not something he would be getting from me because I couldn’t just mate someone at random.

Sometimes when we were out for an evening, having a great time with other friends or even just the two of us, I could pretendfor just a moment or two that we were together, moving forward in life together, fated mates… Did humans even have fateds? Or were they off the radar of the goddess, having to find their own partners? And he wasn’t my mate, anyway. I’d know. He was a crush, and that was all.

“Hey!” Craig was leaning in close. “Ralph, do you want to grab a bite after?”

“Sure!” Because I always said yes to anything he wanted to do. Even if it might not be the best move for my mental health and my heart. One day, he would find someone to marry, and then he wouldn’t have a lot of time for me. Which was as it should be. But until then, or at least until my poor heart couldn’t take it, I was going to enjoy his company.

We went to a local stand that made the spiciest chili tamales on the face of the earth. I watched him eat three of them while I had an order of fries and a Coke. I liked spice, but not the kind that blew off the top of my head. Craig had never met a heat level he couldn’t handle.

After I got home, I was scrolling through my phone and spotted a reminder. Craig’s birthday was coming soon, and I always tried to make it special. Usually that meant a party with friends and family either at a restaurant or maybe someone’s home, but this time, I wanted to really mark the occasion.

Who knew when he might meet the person he wanted to marry and then future birthdays would be theirs to plan. This could be the last one I was in charge of. Settling back on the sofa, I brought up the notebook app on my phone and jotted down all his favorite things I could call to mind. He liked spicy food, obviously, but he ate it nearly every day, so it wasn’t special. He liked dancing and music and enjoyed being outdoors in nature.

I did too, and we’d hiked hundreds, maybe thousands of miles together over the years. My wolf loved it since it meant hewould spend at least some of that time in his fur. A camping trip was an option, but since we did that often, it was not out of the ordinary.

His very favorite thing was dragons. He knew most dragon movie dialogue by heart, collected dragon art, and even had a dragon tattoo on his forearm. But without just doing a boring party with a dragon theme, what could I do to incorporate the fiery beasts in his special day?

I surfed the net in search of ideas. There were all sorts of wild and crazy things a person could gift a dragon afficionado. Get your photo taken with a guy in a dragon suit or a dragon sculpture. Or a backdrop with dragons flying all around. There were many things like statuettes and paintings and backpacks and shoes and hoodies…every kind of clothing. They were big in popular culture for sure.

But none of that sent me, none was enough. I’d actually given him a lot of those things over the years for various occasions anyway. He had an entire dresser drawer devoted to dragon T-shirts.

It had to be more, better, exciting.

Something that would make a memory.

I hit a message board made up of fans of the same winged creatures as my bestie. Many of them actually had no idea there were real dragons, referring to them as mythical creatures, but after about twenty minutes of skimming comments, I found what I was looking for.

The Dragon Festival was the best time ever! This town is totally geared toward dragons, every shop and restaurant featuring themed items, performances in the town square, and all sorts of fun experiences.

Yes!

I looked further but didn’t find much else about it. If it was such a great thing, wouldn’t it have advertising? Or maybe I wasjust too tired to think. About to set my phone down, one more thing caught my attention.

Dragon’s Landing B&B. Accommodations located convenient to the festival. I searched it and found images of the rooms and the grounds, even some of the festival itself. All taken by people who’d visited and had glowing reviews of their great time.

What would be more special than a visit to the Dragon Festival and a stay at the Dragon’s Landing B&B. I made a reservation then and there, so excited to be able to give my friend a gift like this. It would be a surprise, but when he found out?

Oh. My. Gods.

Craig would be so thrilled. We could go and do all the dragon things, steep ourselves in it. We might never be more than friends, but I’d be the best friend to him I could possibly be.

Chapter Two

Craig

What a shit day at work.

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