Page 114 of Alpha Dragon's Mating Contract
Walren squealed. He pushed everything he had into his legs, proudly noting that Zebbie kept up with him.
Instead of pouncing, Raptor flew slowly behind them, before turning sharply and landing in the middle of the grass. He sat and watched keenly as Walren and Zebbie ran laps around his territory, breathing a plume of orange flame every so often.
The flames reminded Walren of Raptor’s secret steel doors. The attached sensor pad was probably unlocked by fire—but how was he going to reproduce flames that hot?
Or was there another way to get into that secret room?
If Raptor had challenged him to find a way in, then that meant it was possible, right?
Raptor breathed a long plume of fire close to the ground. With a soft bleat, Zebbie left Walren’s side, shifting into a little emerald dragon.
Walren slowed to a stop, watching speechlessly as Zebbie flapped his wings and stumbled over to Raptor, puffing tiny clouds of smoke.
“Awww, kiddo!” Raptor lay down on his stomach, bringing his snout close to the ground so he could look at Zebbie.
Zebbie gave a tiny roar. Then he tried to scramble up Raptor’s snout. His wings flapped and smacked Raptor in the eye, but Raptor only laughed and wriggled his limbs, content to let Zebbie treat him as a playground.
“Zebbie,” Walren chided, still in his gazelle shape. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, though. Raptor had such an easy connection with Zebbie; Zebbie didn’t even approach Walren’s friends this readily.
Walren was still envious. But this also made him think... maybe Raptor might be a good alpha dad for Zebbie. Walren couldn’t fill that role in Zebbie’s life.
Go Cart raced toward them. Instead of crashing into Raptor and Zebbie, the cart tried to roll up Raptor’s tail onto his back, as though it was climbing a small hill.
Raptor was probably too steep, though. Go Cart’s wheels spun uselessly, and it squeaked in disappointment.
Sympathizing, Walren shifted back into a human, to help Go Cart clamber onto Raptor’s back.
“Sweetheart?” Raptor asked, glancing over his shoulder.
“I’m not doing anything!” Walren said, only to push the cart onto the highest part of the dragon’s body.
“Awww, Walry!” Raptor cooed.
A phone camera clicked. When Walren looked up, he realized that Hassel had taken a picture of the scene.
Walren squawked. “I’m naked!”
Raptor gasped. “Hass! You’re a hero!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll cover you up with an eggplant sticker,” Hassel said to Walren, already poking at his phone.
“Make it a big eggplant!” Raptor crowed.
“Of course,” Hassel replied. “I’ll even add some nuts on there.”
Walren groaned. He wanted to protest, but hewasto blame for pushing Go Cart onto Raptor.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Walren said to the cart, helping it back onto the ground. “Now you know what it’s like to climb a big dragon like a hill.”
The cart squeaked its wheels and raced off. Raptor and his butler snickered.
Walren shifted back into a gazelle, kicking at the grass with his hooves.
He knew what he wanted to do next. Just that he lacked the courage to do it.
“Walry?” Raptor asked. Then he reached over with his paw and snagged Walren’s foreleg, pulling him closer until he could tuck Walren against his side. Raptor’s warmth soaked through Walren’s fur, his wing curled protectively over Walren’s body.
Walren had not intended to spend long there, but he felt so comfortable that he dozed off.
