Page 37 of Surge of Storms

“Assume we don’t know anything,” Aydan says.

He nods before continuing. “Most male dragons are not terrible. If they find a lone female, they will do anything in their power to win her over. In desperation, their natural instincts to destroy her wings may take over. But most dragons are seeking a female who chooses them, and many of the dragons have mates from past lifetimes that they want to get back, when the females awaken. We don’t have to fear all male dragons, but we should always treat Samantha as something that has to be protected at all costs.”

“Is there a way to tell the good dragons from the bad?” I ask.

Zane gives me a funny look. “I know all of them. There are many good ones and some bad ones. But even the good ones may steal a piece of gold if it’s left in front of them.”

The gold meaning me. So he trusts most of the dragons, just not enough to risk my life.

Granger leans back in his chair. “It seems that the best thing we can do from this point forward is go to the other dragons and offer support. Both face-to-face and by other means. Dr. Duncan said that we can use jets to track them down and communicate with them.”

“And we should try communicating with them using your technology on land too,” Zane says, “because many of the dragons are likely walking amongst the humans, feeling lost.”

“But we should try to keep Sam away from them,” Aydan says, his eyes flickering to me.

Zane shakes his head. “These betas have scented Sam already, but have stayed away. They know that she is an alpha female who is with alpha males, and they have no desire to die fighting against a strong harem. Sam will be safe around them, as long as we are not stupid.”

“You’re sure?” Aydan asks.

“With the storm dragon with us?” Zane asks with a smirk. “Yes, they will rightfully fear us. Even the temptation of Sam will not be enough.”

Granger nods. “Okay then, we need to offer them support. We need to guide them and help them, so that they learn to interact peacefully with mankind, and we don’t give the governments more cause to see us as enemies.”

Evander leans back in his chair. “We should invite them to the base. We can keep them in one of the other buildings, and keep them away from Sam, but we can get them clothes, food, money, homes, possibly even prepare them for jobs. We need to make them our friends, so they don’t become our enemies.”

“That will also help with the females,” Zane says. “If we have the base setup as a safe zone, we can encourage the females to come to us, to find safety with us. We can keep the males away from the females until the females find their harems in this lifetime.”

“Another female?” I say, feeling a strange tinge of unease.

Zane smiles at me. “You are an alpha female. You will not feel threatened by beta females, nor would two female alphas preside over the same space. You are too possessive for that. That’s not to say you do notbefriendfemale alphas, but you prefer them to stick to their own territory. We are the same way with alpha males outside of our harem.”

The idea still bothers me a bit, but I realize it’s logical. “So, we’ll make Specter Inc. a safe place for all the dragons? That seems like a good idea.”

“And if any of them so much as look at Sam wrong, they’re gone,” Aydan says.

“Agreed,” the others say with ease.

Evander picks up his beer. “Zane, since the dragons know you, we should use you to get a message out to the other dragons.”

Zane smiles. “Good idea.”

I hope this new plan works.

THIRTEEN

Evander

Eight days have passedsince we made the decision to welcome the dragons to Specter Inc. The other buildings have been set up to house both the males and females, separately, and security has been put into place to keep everyone safe, especially Sam. As much as we trust Zane to know whether these dragons are safe or not, Sam is too important to risk in any way.

My recording featuring Zane is playing all over the world, telling all the new dragons where to go, and that they’ll be welcome. So far, we’re mainly concentrating on Awakened Dragons, since there haven’t been any reports of humans turning into dragons since Malikay. Jets have been making contact with dragons, leading the ones who are willing home, and we are out rounding up as many dragons as we can safely round up, under Zane’s guidance.

As we fly, I’m constantly aware of where Sam is in relation to the three male beta dragons we tracked down, and will be leading back to base once we collect the last dragon on our route. So far, they appear to be more afraid of us than they are a threat. They also seem really grateful to be getting some help in this new world.

Is it much further?Pegid, a violet dragon, asks.

We have one more dragon to collect,I tell him, hoping as I say it that this goes as smoothly as with the other dragons.

Zane said this group would be easy. I hope he’s right.

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