Page 42 of Purple Protector

“Do you want me to hurt you?” the dragon asked.

Aaron raised his chin. “Not if I hurt you first.” It was the stupidest thing Aaron had ever said, but he didn’t care. He didn’t have time to because the dragon was already reaching for him.

Aaron had read somewhere that the best defense was offense, so he screamed and threw himself at the dragon. He startled them, but unfortunately for him, it only gave him the time to punch the dragon once. He aimed for the face, but the dragon moved, and Aaron clocked their jaw instead.

He screamed again, in pain this time. He shook out his hand, but he didn’t have time to complain that he was in pain. The dragon reached for him.

Aaron kicked them.

The dragon slammed Aaron against the wall. Aaron thought he was about to die when the dragon wrapped a hand around his throat and pinned him there, but he wouldn’t go down easily. He scratched along the dragon’s arms, tried to kick them again, and made a pest of himself.

He grinned when his foot collided with something, and the dragon’s eyes widened. If the dragon had been a human male, they’d probably be folded in half and on the floor right now. Aaron had aimed between their legs, and he’d nailed it.

The dragon stepped back, and Aaron swung at them again. The dragon pulled Aaron away from the wall and tossed him on the floor. Aaron expected to be stomped on, but instead, the dragon threw themselves at him, almost as if they’d forgotten how much bigger and stronger they were. They just wanted to hit Aaron.

The dragon punched Aaron in the face. Pain exploded in Aaron’s cheek, and he whimpered, but he wasn’t done yet. He grabbed the dragon’s hair and pulled it, grinning when the dragon yelped.

The dragon was suddenly pulled away from him. Aaron scrambled to his feet, wanting to take advantage of whatever was happening, but someone grabbed his arms and pulled him back.

“What’s going on here?” the guard who was holding the orange dragon back asked.

Aaron licked his lips and tasted blood. “They attacked me,” he said.

“You punched me,” the orange dragon said.

“After you threatened to kill me if I didn’t leave the clan.”

“Enough!” the guard snapped. Their tone was an odd contrast with their soft pastel green color. “I don’t care who threatened what. You’re not allowed to fight, especially not in the hallways. Understood?”

Aaron nodded. He was still breathing hard, and he was anxious to see what kind of damage the dragon had done to his face. He’d never been in a brawl before, and he wasn’t planning on being in one ever again. It hurt, dammit.

“You’re not going to do anything stupid if we let you go, are you?” the guard holding the orange dragon asked.

“I already reached my stupid quota for the day,” Aaron grumbled.

The pastel green guard didn’t look impressed, but he nodded. The guard holding Aaron let him go. Aaron’s attacker was free, too, and Aaron glared at them.

“You can’t let the human go,” a voice Aaron recognized said.

He swore under his breath when he turned and saw that Pearl, Killian’s half-sister, was coming toward them. She was trying to look worried, but Aaron didn’t miss the triumph in her eyes. She was happy.

Had she been the person to organize this? Aaron wouldn’t be surprised. She wanted him out of the clan and Killian off the throne, and it was clear that she was willing to do whatever was in her power to make that happen.

The guards both inclined their heads at her. “Nothing happened,” the pastel green guard said. “They were fighting, but we stopped them.”

Pearl pointed her finger at Aaron. “He attacked one of your own. Who knows what kind of damage he could have done.”

Aaron snorted loudly. He realized too late that he shouldn’t have, but it was ridiculous. “Damage? Have you seen me? Your dragon could have snapped me in half, and they probably would have if no one had stepped in to stop them.”

“See the way he talks to me? He has no respect. There’s no way for us to know that he won’t attack me or any other dragon the way he attacked this one. We need to take him to my brother. Killian has to know what’s going on so he can give the human the punishment he deserves.”

So that was her goal. She was going to have Aaron taken to Killian, and Killian would have to choose. Either he could kick Aaron out of the clan and hurt Birch in the process, or he could allow Aaron to stay even though he was dangerous. Most rational people would know that Aaron couldn’t have hurt this dragon or any other dragon even if he tried, but the people who were using Aaron, like Pearl, would go along with it. They’d probably demand that Killian step down from the throne because he cared more about humans than his own clan members or something stupid like that. Hell, Pearl could say that Killian was putting the clan in danger by allowing Aaron to stay.

Shit. Both Aaron and Killian were in trouble, weren’t they?

“YOU COULD HAVE TAKEN a few more days off,” Killian said.

Birch pointedly looked down at his stomach. The dark line was gone, a sure sign that he wasn’t fertile anymore. “I didn’t need to take more days off.”

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