Page 9 of The Dragon's Flamebound Mate

The teaching area had a large projector screen and an open floor in case a small or medium dragon needed to shift for whatever teaching was happening that day. Larger dragons had to stay in human form or we needed to switch locations. On those occasions, and when the lessons required multiple shifters in their dragon form, we went outside.

All five of the students in our flight were in attendance. We had four primaries and one alternate who was there in case we needed a sub due to injury or illness. I tended to rotate them in during the season, even if we didn’t strictly need them. It was important for them to be at the ready, and you couldn’t do that never having real flight time.

We had three males and two females on the team and the perfect blend of old and new. Even ten years ago, I’d have been sure we were heading to victory, but this year my confidence was shot. Being surrounded by a solid group of coworkers helped, but not enough to alleviate my worries. It didn’t help that I was still flustered by my last interaction with Ash.

The moment we’d met, he’d gotten so deeply under my skin that we ended up arguing like the students often did. In hindsight, we fought over nothing. But I couldn’t let it go, to the point I swore I saw him circling my house in his eagle form.

I’d like to say I learned from that and figured out how to work with him better, but so far, that hadn’t been the case.

Every student showed up early and ready to go. They were excited for the new year, and so far, I hadn’t sensed any dread after our poor results last season. By all accounts, we should be able to start class. There was only one problem, my Co-Leader still hadn’t arrived.

I let out a long sigh that did nothing to hide my frustration. Punctuality was important to me, which I had thought I made clear in our discussion the other day. But also—why was he late? Was he hurt? Did he oversleep? Was he stuck at the office with intake paperwork? It shouldn’t matter. Late was late. But with Ash, nothing was as simple as it should’ve been. At least, not for me.

In the days since Ash arrived, we’d had countless meetings between me, him, and our Flight Trainers. My attraction to him had not waned; if anything it grew, and my attitude hadn’t changed either. The latter of which I was not proud of.

It wasn’t Ash’s fault I was well on my way to being a washed-up has-been. If I had any self-preservation instincts at all, I would step aside and let Ash take over my team for the whole year. If I kept up my behavior, then we were in for a rough one. And I had no one to blame but myself. Only at this moment, I couldn’t seem to stop myself. It was as if I was watching myself self-destruct in slow motion.

At five minutes after the hour, I stood up from where I was leaning against the desk. “Welcome, everyone, please take your seats.” We were going to start with or without him.

The students spaced themselves out so that there were a few desks between each of them. Scott and Christa were seated at the center front. They had been a part of my team for three years now and were captains of the team. Behind them were Isaac, Jay, and Susan. Jay and Susan were new to the team. Though I had taught Susan’s parents long ago, Jay was new to the clan as a whole. His family had moved over from the Ebonshire clan when they migrated to America.

Silence came upon the room when I spoke. Hopefully, that level of influence would remain for the length of the season. The more seriously we all took this, the better the odds were that we would come out the other side on top.

“Let’s start with introductions. You all know me, or at least you should. Even if we hadn’t met in person, once I was assigned as your Flight Leader, I’d expect that you all did some cursory research to know what you are getting into.” I’d also reached out to each of them individually, but this wasn’t really about what they should or shouldn’t have done in the past. It was to give them a not-so-subtle hint that we weren’t going to handfeed them information all season.

“In your research, you probably came across my Flight Trainers—Kellan and Hayden.” I was dragging this out far longer than I needed to. When I wasn’t actively teaching, I kept my explanations short, but I needed Ash to show up. I didn’t wish to explain his absence with excuses, I’d rather he have to do it himself. It was far from a good way to start the semester. That was for sure.

Hayden cleared his throat and flicked a glance toward the door.

“We heard that was an additional Flight Trainer this year. Is that not the case?” Christa broached the subject that weighed on everyone. Great. So the rumors of my demise had reached the kids. Of course it did.

So much for not having to explain Ash’s tardiness away

I nodded. “We do in fact have an additional Flight Leader.” I emphasized the title. It was important that the students understand what the hierarchy was. They needed to respect all of their leaders, while also recognizing that Ash’s decisions were at the same level as my own. If they didn’t, this was never going to work.

I had my own hangups about him being here, but the kids didn’t need to know that. As far as they were concerned, the coaching staff was a cohesive unit that got along.

The door opened and Ash bustled inside. His usually carefully styled hair was a mess on top of his head. His button-down shirt was untucked, and one sleeve was folded up.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said. He grinned and waved to the students as he caught his breath. “I’m Ash.”

“Get lost on your way to class?” I asked with a raised brow.

Ash’s teeth clenched, his smile stretching. “Yes. Something like that.”

The tension that filled the room was palpable. The students’ stares landed on my shoulders like a lead weight.

“No worries,” I forced myself to say, pasting the fakest of smiles on my face. “Class is just getting started. We’re just about to do introductions. Why don’t you go first?” I crossed my arms and leaned back against the desk.

“Great.” Ash stepped further into the room and the scent of his pine and fresh rain hit me, but with it came a hint of smoke that was out of place with his usual aroma. “I’m Ash. I’m sure you can all tell, I’m not a dragon. I do fly, though. I am an eagle shifter.”

“Like a bald eagle?” Scott asked.

“Um, no. Not like a bald eagle. Specifically, I am a golden eagle.”

“Wait, so we’re not going to be taught dragon flight skills by an actual dragon? What do you know about dragons?” Jay sat up straight, shouting out his words.

That would not do.

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