Dragon's Claim

Chapter 3-2

THE LEADER OF THE AMERICAN dragons held Layla’s hand in the face of the sea of bodies. It was the first time she’d ever seen him lose his cool. So, she let him hold her hand. It was a small thing to give, one that wouldn’t hinder her if she needed to move.

The city didn’t bother her as much as other places did. She didn’t scour the city’s streets when the men went in search of warm beds once a month, but she had, a few times, snuck out to see what the world had to offer. Never had she known a life when her people weren’t contained to the Territory. Never had she known freedom of the world.

Soon, she would not have freedom, but she would have more of the world. She wondered how much of the States Drake would allow her to see. She would, effectively, be her own person while in the States. She would be an ambassador, still part of her family. But, he was the American leader, the figure head of the largest group of dragons in the whole of the U.S.

If anyone had anything to say about what she did while she was stuck there, it was this man. Part of her truly thought he would show her the country rock by rock if she asked. Was it some sort of kinship he found in her, the thing she’d come to recognize when he sat by her side on the nights she couldn’t sleep, or was it a wish to be away from his leadership duties?

While Drake held her hand, she cast a sidelong glance at the white dragon standing at the other end of their procession. He’d attacked them with the hopes of having his own life ended. So that he wouldn’t have to live without a family or a home. Had it been a moment of weakness that caused her to spare him? Or, was the hope her family clung to infectious?

She could have easily sank her claws into his exposed neck and given him what he wanted. Even a dragon can bleed out. Instead, he’d been brought into the fold. The head of white blonde hair stood back, a part of the group, but not really. His eyes moved sideways, meeting Layla’s. He was attractive, she thought. His waist and shoulders were neat and lean. His jaw was strong, but not Neanderthal strong.

Both Layla and her monster knew that it’d be safer to lay with the white dragon than the American leader. He wouldn’t try to claim her, keep her. The white dragon would be too afraid of Layla to ask her to stay.

It aroused the monster inside her.

Beside her, Drake’s hand tightened on her own. It pulled Layla’s attention back to him, the monster’s gaze rolling away from the white dragon. Drake watched her with guarded eyes. What was behind that hard wall he threw up? Was there a green flash of jealousy? She shouldn’t have been surprised. She shouldn’t have felt the sharp zing of attraction that hit her.

Tomorrow, she would board the plane to the States with Drake and his three, troublesome dragons. The prank they’d pulled on her yesterday hadn’t enraged her. Instead, it had been kind of endearing, a feeling she wasn’t ready for. They made her feel like one of them when she wasn’t one of them.

Layla was a red dragon. Always would be.

No one could take that away from her.

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