Page 2 of The Dragon's Flamebound Mate

“Zayne, how are you?” He stood up and shook my hand. He’d been on a trip for the past few weeks. Like me, Emmon lived at the school full-time, but during the break, he liked to travel.

“Good.” I sat down.

“I trust you know why we’re having this discussion.” Nothing in his tone was harsh, but it still stung.

I grimaced but nodded. “Yes, sir. I assume it’s time for a change.”

“It is indeed. But judging by your face, I think you might have started thinking this is going to be a more drastic change than I’m looking for.”

“I trust your judgment on this,” I said. “I’m sure that you are getting pressure from parents, other teachers, the students themselves. Heck, I’m sure even Lord Malric has weighed in.” Lord Malric was the Emberstone clan leader. Having our clan do well in the dragon flight games at any level was good for his reputation—ours really, but he took it personally. The Emberstone clan had four dragon flight schools, and we competed in several leagues at various levels. Mine was the elite division. Or it was. I supposed I was going to find out which soon enough.

“Yes, there are always complaints from all sides, whether we win or lose. I’m more concerned about you as a person, though, Zayne. Are you all right? Is there anything that we can help you with?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to say yes. Of course, I was fine. I had to be fine. Instead, I just shook my head.

“I don’t know. I took the summer break as a time to really think about things. I just… I don’t know. Is that pathetic? Four hundred years old, and I just don’t even know why I’m in a funk.”

“Not at all. Living a long life doesn’t mean we have all the things figured out.”

“If you need to let me go, I understand,” I said. “Please don’t keep me on out of pity.” That would be so much worse.

“Absolutely not, Zayne. Two things—it’s not out of pity that we’ll continue to keep you on as Flight Leader. We won’t fire you for a bad season, or even ten bad seasons in a row. That’s not how we operate, nor should it be how any of the clans operate. We’re going to pull in some new people, though. New ideas. A lot’s changed in the flight world in recent years. The strategies that won us competitions twenty years ago aren’t the same as the ones that will win them now.”

Great. I really needed to be reminded just how outdated I was.

“Have you heard of Ash Halloway?”

The name sort of rang a bell, but I couldn’t say that I could picture him. I shook my head.

“He’s a golden eagle shifter. He’s been doing stats and commentary for the Dragon Flight games at the regional level for years. I hired him as your second-in-command.”

I still wasn’t sure who he was talking about, but hearing he was an eagle and going to be my second were two things I hadn’t even considered on my journey down “what-if” lane on my way over here.

“As a trainer?” I wasn’t saying I didn’t want that, more I was trying to figure out exactly what was happening.

“More than that. A co-leader.”

Co-leader. It was worse than being fired. This was the equivalent of a babysitter.

“Commander—”

“This isn’t up for debate, Zayne. The decision’s made.”

I groaned. Why did this seem so much worse than being fired? I didn’t have a choice.

“All right.” It wasn’t as if there was any point in arguing.

“If it doesn’t work out this season, with the two of you leading together, we’ll come up with a different plan.”

I had a feeling that different plan would be me not being Flight Leader. “All right.”

“I trust that you will accept an outsider?” He guised it as a question, but it was a command.

“Of course,” I said. “The fact that he’s not a dragon means nothing to me. It’s just… co-leaders? Not many teams do that.” I wasn’t sure if any did, now that I thought about it.

“No, no, they don’t. Maybe it’s the edge we need.”

I clenched my jaw. Perhaps it was. It wasn’t as if things could get worse than last year’s performance.

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