Page 18 of The Dragon's Flamebound Mate
I crossed my arms over my chest and fixed my gaze on the young dragon. He seemed to shrink as I stared at him. Good.
“That will be a decision that Flight Leader Zayne and I discuss together,” Ash replied. “We will make the best choice for our family at such time that it’s needed, and quite frankly, the decision doesn’t need your input.”
My mate wasn’t one to let others tell him what to do. I loved it.
“Exactly,” I added.
I already knew that Ash would continue to work as long as he was able and it was safe for the eggs. Most omegas worked while they were carrying unless there were complications or they decided to be stay-at-home omegas. Ash wanted to work, and I didn’t blame him. He worked so hard to be here. Giving it up because he found me and was carrying our young wasn’t fair to him.
“For now, things are going to proceed just like they would if we weren’t mated.” Only with less arguing than earlier.
Jay folded his arms over his chest and scowled. I would definitely have to look into what his deal was. And to think I’d let his previous comment slide, making excuses for him.
“So, on our first day of outdoor exercises, we usually like to do something a little fun. When we were in the classroom the other day, we got to know each other in our human forms. Now, it’s time to get to know each other in our dragon forms.”
“Except the eagle,” Jay said.
I shot him a glare, and the smug attitude on his face washed away. “Yes,exceptthe eagle, who will likely be flying circles around all of you.”
One thing Ash and I hadn’t done yet was fly together, and I was really looking forward to it. Ideally, we’d have done it in private, the two of our beasts getting to know each other, but the timing didn’t work out, and here we were. We planned to head out and spend a day, just the two of us, enjoying the nature around us and taking to the air soon. It was going to be fantastic.
The four of us got ready to take our beasts, the team acting as the spectators. We’d shown them parts of the routine and described how we would accomplish them, but they were going to be pretty in the dark when it came to what our presentation was going to represent. It had been an idea sparked by my mate, and it was going to floor them.
Starting first with the trainers, then with my mate, and finally me, we got into position. We stood in formation ready to take to the air. We’d planned this in very intricate detail, wanting to show our team what they could do. It was a dance in the sky. And that wasn’t what it was officially called, but that was how Ash described it when he came up with the idea, and he was right.
Ash began our performance, flapping his wings as he stood on the ground, giving us the tempo. His wingspan was mammoth compared to the size of his body. His feathers caught the light just perfectly, and you could see the subtle movements in them as they moved so gracefully.
I counted in my head, “1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4-, 3-2-3-4-, 4-2-3-4,” and then up Hayden and Kellen went, making a big circle around the field. One, then two, then three of them. And that was when it was my turn to go up. I took to the air and went through their circle, over and around them, making a flower, petal by petal in the air.
Once I was completely around their circle, that was when my mate joined us. He came through as their circle got smaller and smaller and “plucked” the petals from the flower one at a time, following them down to the ground.
Of course, there were no actual petals, but the imagery was going to be there, at least. I hoped it was. We’d find out when we checked the cameras after the routine was over.
One by one, we landed, with my mate perching on my head. That had not been in the plan, but it thrilled me to no end. He was my mate and having him this close to me had my dragon wishing he could purr, but it was more than that. It showed the team that he wasn’t less-than, something that might visually be perceived if he was standing on the ground with my beast towering over him.
The team stood up, and their jaws dropped. Christa began to clap first, followed by the others. Even Jay joined in. We shifted back into our skin, grabbed our robes, and went over to them.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Christa began.
Her co-captain nodded along and added, “That was like when I was little, and I picked daisies with my mom and my grandma, and one by one, we plucked the petals watched them flow to the ground as we made our wishes.”
They got it.
They saw it for what it was.
Ash’s plan worked.
I grabbed my mate’s hand, not caring that we were at work, and gave it a squeeze. This season we were going to do it, we were going to nail it. We had this.
For the first time since last year’s horrible finish, I truly believed that we could do this. Ash had not only brought skill and amazing technical abilities with him, but he’d also brought creativity we’d been lacking. No, not we—me. I’d been lacking, and my trainers went along with it. No more. Now that we had Ash, the four of us were going to work together to highlight the best we each had to offer. We were going to give our students everything they needed to thrive.
This season was going to be epic.
Chapter 10
Ash
Istoodunderthewarm spray, letting the water cascade down my shoulders and loosen the muscles there that ached. The day couldn’t have gone better if it had been orchestrated by the dragon gods themselves. When Hayden recognized what my vision had been, it was all I could do to blink back the tears. My routine had been a big risk, and it paid off. They were all on board—even Jay. At least, I thought Jay was. He tended to go back and forth. I chalked it up to youth.
