A dragon shifter novel Chapter 67

Character Development.

Allison

65

By the time lunch rolls around, I’ve read those damned tea leaves at least a hundred times in my head. Protectors, plural. It loops through

my thoughts like a stuck charm, refusing to quiet. Maybe Moran was just being her usual brand of cryptic, but part of me can’t shake it,

the way her voice seemed to echo when she said it. The way it felt like the room itself had gone still, like even the air knew she was right.

“Hey,” Tessa nudges me with her elbow as we file out of Divination. “You’re doing that stare–into-the–void thing again. You okay?”

I blink, forcing a smile. “Yeah. Just thinking about… tea.”

She snorts. “Tea? Sure. You mean the prophecy that practically screamed you’re about to have your own personal apocalypse?”

“Something like that,” I murmur.

We walk in silence for a moment before she asks, “You want to eat in your room again?”

Normally, that would’ve been an easy yes. The attic is safe. Quiet. Controlled. But today, something feels different…restless.

“Actually,” I say, surprising myself as much as her, “I think I want to eat in the food hall.”

Tessa stops mid-step, eyes wide. “Wait, you want to eat in the hall? With people? Voluntarily?”

I roll my eyes. “Don’t make it sound like a miracle.”

She grins, looping her arm through mine again. “No promises. What’s the occasion?”

I don’t answer right away. The truth, that I’m hoping to see Kael, feels too raw, too revealing, especially when I’m not even sure what I

want from him. To talk? To yell? To understand why he’s suddenly treating me like I’m something dangerous instead of whatever we

were before.

1 settle on a shrug. “just a change of scenery”

Right, she teases

“Tessa’

“Finw. fine” she says laughing

We’ls halfway down the copider when Brander rounds the tweet watting by tw Hanoull like the Root vapesting

against the well, they of us planned easily in a hand guide was abroad fixed in tha

16:17 Fri, Jul 17

Character Development.

“Hey,” he says, that familiar warmth sliding into his voice. “You two heading up?”

“Actually,” I tell him, “we’re eating in the hall today.”

One of his eyebrows quirks upward, amusement and suspicion warring in his expression. “Oh? What’s brought that on?”

Tessa grins. “Character development.”

Evander’s mouth twitches into a smirk. “I’ll believe it when I see it. Lead the way, pet.”

I swear, the way he says pet still makes something flutter in my chest and apparently, Tessa catches it because she bumps my shoulder,

grinning like an idiot.

65

“Come on then, future tea-leaf warrior,” she whispers. “Let’s go find your protectors.”

As we step into the main hall, the low hum of chatter and clatter of cutlery fills the air. It’s crowded, warm, alive, and for the first time in

a long time, I don’t feel like running from it. Still, as my eyes scan the room, landing on the familiar head of dark, unruly hair and that

stupidly cocky grin sitting a few tables over, my pulse quickens. Kael Pierce. He looks up like he feels me staring, his expression darkening

for a split second before softening just enough to confuse the hell out of me. I don’t wait for anyone to ask where we were sitting. Don’t

wait for Evander’s warning glance or Tessa’s subtle are you sure tug on my sleeve. My feet are already moving, carrying me straight

through the crowded tables until I reach the one spot that makes the most sense, and absolutely none. He looked up mid-bite, those

sharp hazel eyes flashing from confusion to surprise. His jaw tightens, and the surrounding chatter dims in my head. I sit down. Just like

that. Like I belong here. Evander and Tessa follow, of course, Evander, because there is no universe where he’d let me sit at a table with

Kael unsupervised, and Tessa, because she is clearly living for the drama. The tension hits the table like static. Evander sits on my right,

Kael on my left, both radiating heat and unspoken hostility. Their dragon and hound instincts must be wrestling beneath the surface,

because I can feel it, the push, the pull, the unsteady current of power and possessiveness that makes my skin hum. They nod at each

other, curt and tight-lipped, a silent truce that fools no one. Tessa presses her lips together hard. If she didn’t, she’d burst out laughing.

“Wow,” she mutters under her breath, “the testosterone at this table could be bottled and sold as a weapon.”

skims the rim twice, and food shimmers into existence, a perfect roasted sandwich and a heap of golden fries. Typical Tessa. I turn back to

Karl, who is still watching me like I am some sort of puzzle he hasn’t decided whether to solve or burn.

His brows lift slightly, surprise flickering across his features For a long, heavy moment, he doesn’t say anything just stares, searching +

The silence between the thres of us is unwaralde a like sitting betwese two Karl keeps picking at his food of taking a pipes of taved as if i had pisually web, while baster pist sits there all voted

16:17 Fri, Jul 17

muscle and simmering restraint.

I sigh loudly enough that both of them look at me.

“Okay,” I say, dropping my fork onto my plate with a clatter. “I don’t know what the hell is going on with the two of you, but the shit

stops now.”

Kael’s head snaps up, eyes narrowing. “What-”

65

“No,” I cut him off, glaring between them. “You’re friends. Best friends, from what I’ve been told. You’ve known each other your entire lives, and now what? You can’t even sit at the same table without looking like you want to rip each other’s throats out?”

Evander’s jaw flexes, but he doesn’t speak.

Kael leans back in his chair, arms crossing over his chest, that familiar smirk ghosting across his lips. “You think it’s that simple, Rivers?” he asked, voice rough with something darker. “You think we’re just having some schoolyard spat?”

“I think,” I say sharply, “you’re acting like idiots.”

Tessa chokes on her drink beside me, eyes flicking back and forth like she is watching a live match.

Kael’s smirk falters for just a second before he looks away, running a hand through his hair. “You don’t get it,” he mutters.

“Then explain it to me,” I snap. “Because all I see are two guys who used to be brothers acting like strangers. Whatever this is between

you, it’s exhausting.”

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