Page 41 of Surge of Storms

“He’ll need a different kind of help,” Granger says. “He won’t need to learn how to be a human. Instead, he’ll need to learn how to be a dragon.”

It takes a few minutes for the guard to bring the man from the gate to our area. But when he does, we see a tall man with flaming red hair, a red beard, and green eyes. There’s something Viking-esque about him.

As he approaches, he begins to sniff harder and harder until his gaze lands on me. When the guard stops in front of us, the man makes a beeline for me, which is instantly met with a fist to his face from Zane. They hadn’t even given me a second to process it before I was gaping at the man on the ground.

Zane squats over him and says, “Are you alright?”

The man doesn’t seem concerned. His gaze is on me. “Why does she smell so damn good?”

“It is because she’s a female dragon. Female dragons smell amazing to male dragons. But the thing is, she isourfemale dragon.” He points to the four men. “If you should try to go near her, you will be torn to shreds. Not only are we four alpha dragons, but he is a storm dragon.” He points at Granger, who looks like he's trying really hard to look mean and scary. “He is the mightiest of the mighty. The most powerful of the alphas. He will gobble you up and leave nothing, not even your bones. Do you understand?”

The man on the ground nods rapidly, and Zane helps him up, then looks to us.

I take a step forward. “The three of us, like you, thought we were ordinary humans just a short time ago. Since then, there’s been a major learning curve, but we’re happy to help you figure out the things that took us a longer time to figure out.”

He leans forward, sniffing.

Aydan steps up beside me. “Seriously, man, you’re going to get yourself killed.”

He visibly swallows and nods again.

“Everyone else here so far is an Awakened Dragon, so they were dragons that were sleeping underneath the earth, waiting to awaken again. They’re focused on learning to be human, to be a part of this new world without causing problems. With you, we’re going to teach you how to be a dragon.”

This time, he won’t look directly at me. “Okay. Yeah, that would be good, especially how to control it.”

“How did you turn into a dragon?” I ask gently.

He hesitates, then begins. “I was driving my car pretty fast on the freeway. I saw that the cars up ahead had stopped, but when I pushed on my brake, it didn’t work. I had this moment where I knew I was going to die, where everything slowed down, and I felt hot, and like my skin was too tight. By the time I’d hit the car in front of me, I’d exploded out of my car as a dragon.”

My heart goes out to him as he wraps his arms around himself. “I flew around for days, terrified, unsure of how to get back to my human body. I ended up collapsing on this hill, just wishing to turn back… and then I did. I went home to my wife and stepdaughter, but I just kept thinking about what would happen if I shifted again, and then I heard your message on the radio. My wife agreed this is what I needed to do, so I went.”

Note to self: check out the wife, since dragons tend to find each other.

“Well, you made the right choice,” I reassure him.

Suddenly, my phone rings. I excuse myself and answer Dahlia’s call, hoping she’s staying safe out in the field. “Hello.”

“Guess what?” She sounds excited.

“What?”

“I found a freaking dragon!”

I blink slowly. “What do you mean?”

“A dragon!”

“I got that part, but, like, in the sky or…?”

She laughs. “No, the Dragon Finder, that’s what I’m calling it, by the way, went crazy on this one guy. We think he’s a dragon who hasn’t shifted yet. We’re going to send him to base, and see if you guys can force a shift.”

“Whoa, that’s amazing!”

“That’s right! It’s working! We’ve found a way to figure out Sleeping Dragons before they shift. This is going to change everything.”

It will. It’s an amazing breakthrough.

A thought comes to me as I think about our new Sleeping Dragon. “Oh, and we have a woman for you to check out. The wife of a Sleeping Dragon. When we get all her information, I’ll send it out to you.”

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