Page 10 of The Dragon's Flamebound Mate
I stood straight then, dropping my relaxed demeanor. “Whoa. I realize it is the first day of class and we have yet to go over the rules and expectations, but I can assure you—shouting at your instructors is never allowed. You show them respect at all times or there will be consequences.” I put on my best glare, and though I’d never taught Jay, he seemed to get the message. If this was the sense of entitlement he came with, we needed to squash that, right quick.
“Apologizes, Flight Leader Ash. I was just surprised.”
“Understandable.” Ash already gave him more grace than he deserved. “Believe it or not, I do know a bit about dragons. My alpha father is a dragon, so while my shifted form is not a dragon, Iamhalf dragon.”
My brow furrowed. I hadn’t known that detail. How had I missed that?
“I was raised at a school, not unlike this one, and I have been a part of the flight teams in an unofficial capacity for some time.”
That part I had known.
We spent the next bit of time going over the rest of introductions. Despite the awkwardness at the beginning, things were going smoothly.
I kept a close eye on how Ash commanded the room. The students paid close attention to him while he spoke. After his initial entrance, their gazes followed him when he paced the front of the room. His enthusiasm and obvious passion and expertise in the subject came out the more that he talked. I had seen it throughout the past few days and now the students were.
Kellen and Hayden handed out the supplies the students would need for the season—our playbook, their practice colors, and a few other things. Later, once competitions began, they’d get their official colors.
When it came time for the students to talk about themselves, they each opened up to Ash as if he had been a part of the team forever. He engaged with them like their words were golden and ideas fascinating. I was seeing him in a whole new light.
Was I too jaded to be doing this anymore? I listened to my students, I knew that I did. But did I give them that level of attention anymore? Was it the same for my Flight Trainers?
Looking at my teaching strategies through the lens of how Ash tackled the first day of class—minus the tardiness—perhaps I was losing my edge. The thought left me unsettled, though not surprised.
When it came time for the session to end, the students stood, shook all of our hands. Many of them lingered with Ash, expressing their sincere welcome.
I clenched my jaw. Even in my earliest years, students didn’t flock to me the way they were with Ash right now. There was something about him that put them at ease and had them opening up in a way they didn’t with me.
Once it was just the leaders in the room, Ash turned to us. “I am so sorry for being late—”
I held up a hand. “Save it. We made it through our first class without issue. Mostly. I want to keep an eye on Jay and why he felt the need to express his thoughts on you not being a dragon.” I wouldn’t tolerate prejudice among my team.
My own hangups where Ash was concerned was an issue, one I was going to push through, but none of them had to do with Ash being an eagle. If anything, all of them had to do with my own shortcomings. Fuck.
What a time to have a revelation.
“Right. Well, that was fun. I’m going to get my paperwork done for my next class. I’ll see you all at the outdoor session tomorrow.” I walked out the door, not looking back.
I needed some air and some space between Ash and me. This was going to be a long-ass season.
Chapter 6
Ash
Well,thatwentwell.At least better than I thought it would after getting the glare from Zayne when I walked inside.
Zayne’s chilly attitude toward me hadn’t thawed in the days we had been working together. I thought arriving to class early would earn me some extra points. I was even going to surprise the leadership with homemade muffins. Instead, I’d nearly burned down my cabin when the hand-mixer had short-circuited the outlet, causing sparks to fly and a towel to catch fire.
The whole place would have gone up if I hadn’t found the fire extinguisher under the sink. Thank goodness I figured out how to use it in time. The place stank of smoke, and I had a feeling it was going to be constant reminder of how horribly everything went for quite some time. Smoke had a way of seeping into everything and holding on tight.
It was not my strongest start to a day.
Once the fire was put out, I’d been unable to get the electricity back on. I would need to contact the groundskeeper or someone about the cabin. I couldn’t live there without electricity. At least not for long. I wasn’t high-maintenance by any means, but my milk staying cold, my lights turning on, and my shower not being ice-cold were pretty much nonnegotiable for me.
Sooner or later, I needed to speak with Zayne about his attitude. This team wasn’t going to make it very far if he didn’t pull his head out of his ass. He wasn’t outright rude to me, but he wasn’t welcoming either. And the students would pick up on it quicker than anyone else. They were smart like that.
And then there was Jay. He responded quickly to being called out on his speciesist bullshit, but there were a couple of times I caught him looking at me as if I were less-than, and that wasn’t going to fly. Hopefully, he was acting out of embarrassment and not actual disdain for non-dragon shifters. Only time would tell.
Once he left the room, I faced Hayden and Kellen. They both gave me encouraging smiles.
