A dragon shifter novel Chapter 45

Beaten By a–Girl

Allison

Evander Drayke is in the girls‘ changeroom. If it were anyone else, I would scream bloody murder. But him? The way his cheeks burn red, the way his golden

eyes dart anywhere but at me, it’s… almost cute. I smirk despite myself as he spins so fast you’d think I set him on fire. His broad back fills my vision, taut

muscle beneath bronzed skin, shifting with the tension in his shoulders. He strips his own shirt off in one sharp move, facing the wall like I’m the danger

here, and holds the fabric back toward me. “I just wanted to leave you a shirt…” His voice is low, apologetic and thick with something that makes my blood

hum in answer. I should grab it, throw it on, and tell him to get the hell out. That would be the smart move… The safe move. Instead, my feet carry me

closer, the cool tile beneath me muffling the sound. My gaze wanders greedily, tracing the lines of his spine, the slope of his shoulders, the clean, unblemished expanse of his skin. Something in me wants to mar it. Claim it. Keep it. Before I even think better of it, my hand lifts and my fingers brush his spine in a featherlight touch, sliding down slowly, testing the reality of his perfection. His skin is hot, really hot, and the shiver that ripples through him nearly undoes me. “Ally…” My name breaks from his throat, strained, almost pained. I hum in response, thoughtful, noncommittal, even as my pulse roars. He turns just enough that his face angles back toward me, golden eyes catching mine before they flicker down to tay breasts. The pure hunger there isn’t

subtle. It isn’t polite. It’s raw and consuming, like fire catching dry grass and damn me, but the eat that shoots through me makes my knees weak.

Evander has been kind to me. Not just in the heroic, dragon–shifter way, pulling me out of the woods and shielding me from monsters, but in the quiet moments too. He’s kind, whereas everyone else wants to tear me apart. Steady enough to make me wonder, for half a heartbeat, if maybe he likes me. If perhaps someone could. I want something… For me. Not because I’ve earned it or I’ve fought for it out of survival. I want it simply because I want it. I step around him before I can think better of it. My palm flattens against the hard plane of his bare chest, heat rolling off him like a furnace. His breath catches sharply, and 1 close the distance, pressing my cool skin to his hot, toned stomach. His muscles flex under me, and for a dizzy second, his body melts into

mine, his hands finding the bare skin at my waist. He leans down, so close I can smell the smoke clinging to his breath, the faint metallic tang of magic. His

scent floods my senses, heavy and consuming. I close my eyes, wanting this, needing this, just this one thing for me.

But it never comes. The heat shifts, and his hands tremble, then leave my waist. I open my eyes in time to see him pulling back, his golden gaze full of something complicated and all of it cutting right into my stupid heart. The rejection hits like a physical blow. I feel it crawl up my throat before I can stop it. I yank back, quick and hard, reaching for my own shirt, and pull it over my head with shaking fingers. “Ally…” he tries, voice hoarse.

“Don’t,” I cut in, sharp and small all at once. I don’t need to hear what he has to say. I storm past him before he can see whatever cracks across my face. I’m not worthy. The words echo with every step, no matter how hard I try to smother them.

Evander

“Fuck.” The word tears out of me as I bolt after her. I didn’t want to pull away. Gods, every shred of me, human and dragon, wants the opposite. My beast

roars to kiss her, to claim her, to mate her right there on the tile floor. But I need to tell her the truth first. She deserves that. I can’t get the words out fast enough before she storms past me, fire blazing in her eyes. “Ally, wait!” I call, catching up ust as she hits the sparring field, every line of her body is set to stone. Her face is pure fury, but I see the hurt beneath it, and it fucking guts me. The coach’s whistle cuts through the air. “Save the drama for later. Pair up!” Kael, the bastard, smirks like he’s just been handed a gift. He turns toward Allison, ready to claim her as his partner. I don’t think. I shove him out of the way, hard enough to make him stumble. “Hey! What the fuck, man?” Kael snaps, glaring. I ignore him. My focus is already locked on her. “Come on.” I catch her hand, firm but not unkind, and tug her toward the far edge of the field. She resists every step, glaring holes into my side. The coach barks for us to start. I don’t want to spar. I want to talk, to explain, but there’s a flash in her eyes, a dangerous, electric glint. The next second, my jaw explodes with pain as her fist cracks across it. I stagger back a step, shocked at the sheer force behind it. “Ally-” I start, clutching my face. “Can we talk, please?” Her only answer is a sharp, deadly, “No.” Then her foot slams into my ribs, sending me crashing onto my ass. The air leaves me in a grunt, half pain, half disbelief.

Where in the hell is she pulling this strength from? Every strike is fast and brutal, almost inhuman. My dragon snarls in my chest, half–proud, half–furious at being on the receiving end. She comes at me again, fists flying. I block one, dodge another, but she’s relentless. She delivers blow after blow, and I find myself actually working to keep up with her. “Ally, stop!” I bark, ducking a swing that would’ve blackened my eye. But she doesn’t. Her rage is wildfire, consuming everything in its path, and I’m the fool standing in the middle of it. I lunge forward, scooping her up mid–swing. She shrieks, thrashing, and I bring her down, not hard but firm, onto the grass. My weight pins her, one hand catching both wrists above her head, the other braced against her stomach

to hold her still. She bucks and kicks beneath me, her body a coil of pure anger. It takes everything in me not to lose focus. Not to give in to the wild heat

coursing through my veins at the feel of her pinned beneath me. “Enough!” I growl, my voice raw with desperation. “I’m not fighting you. I want to talk.”

Her chest heaves against my palm, her eyes blazing up at me like she wants me dead, and gods help me, I’ve never wanted her more.