A dragon shifter novel Chapter 43

Thornhill Academy

A Casual Lunch

Evander

Allison moves around her kitchen like she built it with her own hands, which, for all I know, she did. The smell of bread and something spicy fills the air.

It’s soft and warm and a thousand times better than the food hall. She sets things out with quick, efficient motions, while Tessa hovers nearby, handing her

jars and utensils without a word. They display the kind of teamwork that comes from real friendship. Kael has taken a seat at the edge of the counter, his long legs sprawled out comfortably. I stand where I am for a moment, watching the two girls. The way Allison’s hair falls forward when she leans over the counter. The way she brushes it back without thinking. The dragon in e hums, pleased just to be here, to see her alive and moving. When she starts stacking sandwiches on a plate, I find my voice. “So…” I say, leaning my elbows on the counter. “Scorched is making Cage tutor you?” The noise she makes isn’t a word; it’s more a sound of pure disgust, like she just bit into something rotten. Kael smirks, chin propped on his palm. “Want me to tear his throat out?” he asks, mock–serious, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. Allison barks a laugh before she can stop herself. The sound is quick, bright, and it cuts through the tension like sunlight. It does something to me. Lights up a space in my chest I didn’t realise was dark. “Thanks but no thanks,” she says, still grinning, wiping her hands on a towel. “I can handle him. I just don’t want to.” Kael gives her an exaggerated shrug. “Offers on the table,” he says. I try not to stare too openly as she moves back to the counter. The dragon in me rumbles low, echoing the same quiet thought. Her laugh is addictive.

She gathers the plates in her arms, careful not to drop them, and carries them toward the table that sits in front of the open kitchen. Light pours down from the open sky above in fractured colours across her dark hair, painting her in gold. Without a word, the rest of us follow. Kael trails with that lazy grin, and Tessa bounces along with barely contained energy. I stay close enough to catch a plate if Allison stumbles, but she doesn’t, though. We sit, and Kael sprawls into a chair. Tessa tucks herself beside him. I take the seat at Allison’s side before I even think about it. She sets a plate in front of me, then slides one toward Kael and another toward Tessa. They are simple sandwiches, nothing fancy, but when she hands mine over, her fingers brush mine, and my dragon roars softly inside my chest, smug and possessive. From anyone else, it would be food. From her, it’s something else entirely. I pick it up, grounding myself

in the ordinary motion, and bite back the strange swell of heat that threatens to give me away.

The first few minutes are quiet. The sound of bread tearing. Cups clinking against wood, then Tessa, predictably, fills the silence. “So,” she says brightly,

eyes darting between us all. “The Moonlight Festival is only a few weeks away. Can you believe it?” She presses her hands together like she’s about to pray. “I swear, if I don’t find my mate this year, I’ll just die.” Kael snorts into his food. “Dramatic, rabbit.” Tessa ignores him and leans toward Allison. “I already know what dress I’m getting. Midnight blue, with gold threads through the skirt, like stars.” She sighs dreamily. “What about you, Ally?” Allison stiffens

beside me, the faintest hesitation in her breath. I see it even if Tessa doesn’t. My dragon presses against me, restless, wanting to hear her answer, but she

doesn’t get the chance. Kael leans forward, grinning sharply. “Doesn’t matter what she wears. Whoever she ends up with won’t be able to take their eyes off her.” Tessa squeals and smacks his arm. “Kael!” Allison rolls her eyes, muttering something under her breath, but I can’t stop the flicker of satisfaction that curls low in my chest. I imagine her dressed up when the bond between us is revealed, looking absolutely breathtaking.

Tessa’s words still hang in the air when her wide eyes land on Allison. “Do you think you’ll find yours?” She stiffens beside me, so quick and subtle most would miss it. I don’t. My dragon doesn’t. She forces a laugh, dismissively waving her hand as if brushing cobwebs from the ceiling. “Please. Me? Find a mate? Not a chance. I’ll be the one spiking the punch and hiding under the tables while everyone else swoons.” Tessa squeaks, half–scandalised, hah-

delighted. “Allison Rivers, you would not!” “Oh, I would,” she says, dry as bone, lifting her cup for a slow drink. “The Moonlight Festival sounds like a

headache dressed up in fairy lights.” Kael leans forward with that grin of his, sharp as ever. “You’re just scared someone might actually want you, Rivers.”

She shoots him a glare sharp enough to cut glass. “Or I just don’t believe in fairy tales.” Tessa giggles, and Kael groans theatrically. The table slips back into easy banter, but I can’t laugh. I sit still and silent, watching the defiance in her posture. The way she holds herself like armour. Shoulders squared. Chin tilted. She wants us to believe she doesn’t care. That she doesn’t want, but I hear it in her breath. I see it in the flicker of her eyes. I see the lie. My dragon

rumbles low, deep in my chest, restless. She lies because she is afraid. Maybe. Or maybe she doesn’t know yet. Either way, when she pushes another bite of

food into her mouth like it’s a shield, I want to tear it away and demand the truth. Demand she look me in the eye and admit she feels it too, that same pull

burning holes through me. Instead, I stay quiet, watching her pretend and wanting her all the more for it.