Page 40 of Surge of Storms

The ice dragon’s eyes twinkle with happiness. “The tricks were the easiest part, because she gets rewarded with treats. The rest has taken longer. She has begun snuggling with me in the morning. If I don’t move, or breathe too much, she’ll stay curled up with me.”

“Ouch!” a dragon male says nearby.

We turn to the area where they are putting trackers in the dragons. It’s a quick pinch to the back of their hands, but I don’t think the dragon expected the pain. He glares and thumps his chest.

Granger springs into action as the staff member cowers back. “Don’t! It’s supposed to hurt a little!”

To my surprise, the anger melts from the dragon’s face, and he bows low as he cowers back. Many of the dragons in the nearby area are bowing to Granger and avoiding him. It’s like he’s their king, but he doesn’t even know it, which is kind of funny.

“It’s fine,” Granger says, awkwardly. “Just remember that humans are more fragile than we are. One wrong blow, and you could kill one.”

“Yes, storm dragon,” he says, then doesn’t move until Granger is back beside us.

“Weird, right?” Granger asks.

“Definitely weird,” Aydan agrees. “I mean, they’re on guard around me, but with you? It’s like they’re terrified of you.”

“He’s the storm dragon,” Zane says, as if that answers everything. “The only one still alive. The most powerful of the alphas. King of the dragons.”

“I guess that makes me the queen,” I tease.

Zane looks sincere. “You are the queen of the dragons. It just means different things than it does with the humans.”

I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I’ve learned to roll with the things Zane says. Usually, they come back up at a later point and make more sense with context. Given that I doubt I’m any kind of a queen, I figure that this will be one of those conversations.

Even though I wouldn’t mind a crown. Maybe I need to talk to Evander…

“Dragons!” a staff member shouts in a warning tone.

Our sensors are on high alert, looking for dragons, but the weapons have been deactivated unless needed. Sure enough, two small beta dragons in varying shades of green land near the cliff. Both are sleek, obviously water dragons, and Zane rushes out to meet them, practically skipping.

We follow more slowly behind. Zane strides up to them without the slightest bit of fear and spreads his arms wide. “Welcome, Cavar and Nalbe, I have been waiting eagerly for your arrival.”

After a moment, both dragons shift into naked young men. One has long blond hair and the other has dark brown hair. They seem tense and wary as they regard us over Zane’s shoulders.

“We were given word to come here,” the blond says. “Are we safe amongst your alphas?”

His words are so similar to the other dragons that it makes me wonder just how things work amongst the dragons. Should my men and I be angry and territorial with the other betas around? In the past, did we give these betas a reason to fear us?

“You are safe amongst my alphas. We sent the invitation out, and we will be helping all of the dragons adjust to this new world. Are you hungry?” Zane asks.

Both men stand up taller, and the blond answers again, “Should a dragon ever say no to such a question, let his wings be broken, and his eyes blinded.”

Zane laughs. “Then let me show you to the food. Things to remember: do not harm the humans, and do not approach my female, or you will be torn to pieces.”

Both men nod, like they expected Zane to say as much, which makes me grin. Zane leads the men off, telling them about being tagged, and about the requirement of silly garments to restrict their cocks. We follow them, feeling a need to keep an eye on everything, but not quite being sure what our place is here.

A security officer hurries up to us and says, “Sir, we have a man at the gate. He says that he turned into a dragon this morning and is looking for help.”

This is Aydan and Evander’s time to shine. Finally. Zane was put in charge of the Awakened Dragons, which has kept him very busy, and Aydan and Evander the sleeping ones, although no Sleeping Dragons had come to the base yet. Until now.

“Send him right to me,” Evander tells him.

“Yes, sir.” The man hurries away, and we wait.

“A Sleeping Dragon,” I say.

“Our first,” Aydan adds.

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