Protector Dragon

by Liv Rider

  “Can I get you anything?” Joel asked.

  To anyone else, his casual tone would’ve been convincing, but Thomas and his dragon’s enhanced senses could hear the tremble.

  Joel was getting nervous again.

  “I would like to apologize about Saturday afternoon.” Unsure what to do with his hands, he clasped them together in front of him. He hoped it didn’t look as awkward as he felt.

  We did nothing wrong. His dragon was feeling irritated. We were right to ask.

  Thomas agreed, but felt they had asked too soon. They had to gain Joel’s trust first.

  “You do?” Joel’s eyes were wide with surprise. “Really? Why?”

  “For what I said.” He purposefully kept it vague. While Nancy had moved further away, turning her back to them to fiddle with one of the machines, he knew she could hear every word they said. “What I asked. It was too soon and none of my business, I guess.”

  Joel was staring at him like he’d grown a second head. He did remember Thomas asking him about wolves and freaking out, right? Joel glanced over at Nancy and licked his lips, then looked at Thomas again. “You don’t think it’s any of your business?” His voice was still uncertain, but not as nervous as before.

  Anything that upsets our mate is our business! His dragon was roaring at the memory of how scared Joel had been. Thomas was desperate to find out where that fear came from, but he had to wait for Joel to tell him. “I don’t. I would, however, like another chance to talk with you. About other things. Anything else. You decide.” He was rambling now and closed his mouth firmly. He pretended to be interested in the Danishes in the display below them to avoid looking at Joel.

  “You mean it?” Joel asked. Thomas hated how surprised and uncertain he still sounded. “Anything but, uh, the thing that’s none of your business?”

  Thomas looked at him and nodded. “Of course. I promise. You have my word.” It wasn’t something he said lightly as a dragon shifter and Keeper of the Peace. He didn’t break promises, not ever. His dragon hissed, not liking that it was now completely up to Joel to explain what his connection to wolf shifters was and why he was so scared. Thomas reminded himself that this was meant to put Joel at ease. Hopefully, Joel would open up about it eventually, and if not, well, there were plenty of other things to talk about.

  “Your word?” Somehow, Joel managed to look even more surprised than before.

  Thomas nodded. “Would you like to? Talk, I mean.”

  “Sure.” A slight smile appeared on Joel’s face.

  Thomas managed not to pump his fists in the air triumphantly and settled for a grin instead. “Great! When can we talk?”

  “I have to work until three.”

  He hated waiting that long now that he was talking to Joel without Joel running away, but reminded himself of Mitchell’s advice to take it slow. “If you’d like to, I can come back at around a quarter past three and we can talk then.” He couldn’t just assume Joel would want to meet that afternoon immediately. Maybe he already had plans.

  “That sounds good.” Joel sounded a lot calmer than he had when Thomas had come in. “I’ll see you then. Was that all you came for, or…”

  Ah right, he might as well order something while he was here. As tempting as it was to wait around here, he knew that Joel would think it was weird that he was staying. Besides, it would do him good to get a clear head beforehand. Joel agreeing to talk to him in an hour was already better than he had expected. “I’ll have a black coffee and a raspberry muffin, please. To go.”

  5

  Joel

  He still couldn’t believe it. Thomas had come in here and apologized.

  A Keeper of the Peace, a dragon shifter, had apologized to him.

  Joel wasn’t sure what there was to apologize about or why Thomas had said it wasn’t any of his business. Dragon shifters had a stronger protective instinct than other shifters when it came to their territory, and it was a Keeper’s business to know about shifter-related issues in their district and take action where necessary. Did he really think Joel running away wasn’t his business?

  For all their flaws, dragon shifters were honest, so Joel had to take him at his word.

  His word.

  Thomas had given him his word he wouldn’t bring it up and Joel could talk about anything he wanted.

  Joel wasn’t sure which part was more unbelievable. A shifter apologizing to him, a Keeper of the Peace saying Joel wasn’t any of his business, or a dragon giving him his word. Why had Thomas done all three?

  “Looking forward to your date?” Nancy smiled at him. She’d been teasing him about it all afternoon.

  Joel felt himself go red. Of course she thought it was a date. He hadn’t been able to convince her otherwise, mostly because he couldn’t think of any other reason why Thomas wanted to talk to him either. If it wasn’t about him having run away from Barnhill, what was his interest in Joel?

  “Hey, don’t be nervous. You’ll be fine. I don’t think he’ll care that you smell like coffee beans.”

  Oh good, he hadn’t even considered that. A shifter’s nose was much more sensitive than a human’s. He didn’t even want to think about how he smelled to Thomas. “Then I guess I’ll have to take him to the park or something,” he said, smiling at Nancy. “Somewhere with plenty of fresh air.”

  “You do that,” she said kindly. “Have a good time, Joel.”

  His stomach was fluttering when Thomas returned, as promised, at a quarter past three. It wasn’t the same nervous feeling he’d had on Saturday, when it had been as if a fist was squeezing his stomach. These were full-on first date flutters, no matter how many times Joel reminded himself that Thomas couldn’t be interested in him like that.

  “This way?” Joel gestured to his right as soon as Thomas closed the door behind him. Steven had just started his afternoon and evening shift, after spending five minutes complaining about the essay he’d handed in before noon. He didn’t want Steven joining Nancy in teasing and asking him about Thomas. Not before Joel had talked to Thomas.

  Thomas briefly nodded at Steven and Nancy, who were behind the counter, then turned to Joel. “Of course. Lead the way.” He gestured at the door, stepping back to let Joel go first.

  This wasn’t what he was used to from shifters at all.

  “Where would you like to go?” Thomas asked, as they walked down the street together.

  “I was thinking we could go to the park to talk.” He glanced at Thomas to see his reaction.

  Thomas smiled at him. “Sounds good.”

  They walked in silence for a while, Joel wondering what he should say that wasn’t about shifters, because they were out in public. Anyone could overhear them. At least in the park they’d be able to find a quieter spot.

  “How was work?”

  He was surprised by Thomas’ question. “Uh, it was fine, same as usual, really.”

  “And what is the usual?” Thomas sounded genuinely interested.

  “Oh, well, there’s the morning rush, of course, people coming in before they get to work to get coffee and something to eat. And people coming in from a night shift to get coffee and something to eat. Then it’s quieter until lunch, and then people come in and get coffee and, well…”

  “Something to eat,” Thomas finished for him, and he laughed. “You must get a lot of repeat customers.”

  “Yeah, definitely.” He didn’t know all their names, but he knew their faces. “Some of them always order the same thing and are surprised when after a month I ask them if they want the same again.”

  “You often work mornings and afternoons, then?”

  “I pretty much work all shifts, but yeah, more mornings and afternoons than evenings. It’s mostly the college students who do the afternoon shifts or mornings before they have class, but that always depends on their schedule.” He was gesturing with his hands as they walked. “And their schedule isn’t always clear when Charlie makes his schedule, and then you get the last-minute chang
es and swapping around because I don’t know, someone’s got a test or a dentist’s appointment or whatever.” He looked over at Thomas, who still looked like he was listening and actually interested. “Plus, then there’s stuff like your event. That was also a last-minute thing for us.” He wondered how Thomas would react to the light accusation in his tone.

  Thomas ducked his head, then smiled at him. “Trust me, it was last-minute for me too! It was the first time we had something like that, and you wouldn’t believe the discussions we had over every single little detail.”

  While Joel had been avoiding shifters ever since he’d gotten here, the comment sparked an interest. “Like what?”

  “Well, the catering, obviously. Not everyone was happy with my decision to go with Hampton’s.”

  Joel stopped walking. “Wait, your decision?” Why had they chosen Hampton’s Café? The cynical, suspicious side of him perked up, wondering if this connected to him him running away from Barnhill after all.

  Thomas paused a few feet away from him. “Yeah.” He pointed across the street, where the park entrance was. “Do you want to go in there?”

  Joel nodded. He was getting nervous again now that they were so close to the park and talking about the event. Soon, he’d have his answer as to why Thomas was going through all this trouble for him. They walked past a playground where parents were watching their children run around. The two of them got to a quieter part of the park and sat down on a bench next to a pond. Joel could still hear the noise of screaming and laughing children drifting over.

  “This is nice, isn’t it?” Thomas looked around with a smile. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in the park and actually sat down.”

  “Yeah, me too. I always tell myself I’ll start running again, but then I never do.”

  “Oh, you used to run?”

  “On and off. More off on than on, to be honest. I was never really good at sports in school.” He always got picked last in gym class and in individual sports he was bottom of the class too, of course he was, as the only human in a class full of shifters. Everyone else was faster and stronger. No matter how many times he’d told himself that he shouldn’t compare himself to the shifters, it had still been incredibly demotivating to do his best and end up coming last or losing. “I don’t think sports are my thing.”

  Thomas let out a laugh. “You’re not into sports at all?”

  Joel wondered why Thomas reacted like that. “No, not really.” Why had he even brought up running at all? This was ridiculous. He had to get back to the event. “But you said you decided to hire us last Saturday.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I did.” Thomas looked taken aback by the change of subject, shifting slightly on the bench. There were a few inches between them. Thomas’ arm brushed against Joel’s, making the fabric of their coats rustle. “I asked a friend for advice. He recommended Hampton’s, actually.”

  A shifter friend? “Really? Is he a regular? What did he say?” Was it anyone whose face and order Joel would recognize? Had they been the one to recognize him?

  “I don’t think he’s a regular anywhere. He likes checking out different places too much. But he was very complimentary about your raspberry muffins.”

  “So that’s why you ordered one earlier.”

  “Yes, and it really was delicious.”

  Joel wished they could just continue this easy conversation, but he also knew he’d never feel comfortable around Thomas until they had talked about Saturday afternoon. “I’m glad you hired us.” He noticed Thomas raising his eyebrows slightly. “I am, despite, uh, what happened.”

  “You don’t have to talk about that.”

  “I know, but I think we should.”

  “Okay.” Thomas looked at him, waiting for Joel to continue.

  Where was he supposed to start? Where did he want to start? He considered his options, the silence stretching between them, until it was making him more and more nervous. “I know about shifters,” he blurted out in the end.

  “All right.” Thomas didn’t sound entirely surprised. “What do you know?”

  He grimaced, swallowing the impulse to say ‘that you don’t care about humans.’ “I know it wasn’t really a charity event. It was a cover to hide that everyone there was shifters. I know that—that it’s weird for you to hire humans rather than shifters.” He trailed off, hoping Thomas would pick up the hint.

  “I did that on purpose. You know that there are different kinds of shifters? Different animals?” When Joel nodded, Thomas continued. “Then you probably know there can be… rivalries, I guess. Competitiveness. If I hired humans, there wouldn’t be any of that. No one would think I was picking sides.”

  “Huh.” Thomas had a point. He did remember that his parents had complained about favoritism whenever the council in Barnhill did anything, so he could see why a Keeper would want to prevent that. “Did it work?”

  Thomas laughed. “Well, everyone agreed it was a terrible idea, which was something. But I had zero complaints about the food, don’t worry. Just… a lot of mixed reactions to inviting you and your boss.”

  “I can imagine. But that’s why you invited us? You wanted humans and your friend recommended us?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  So, he hadn’t already known Joel was working there. “Just wondering.”

  “Anything else you’re wondering about?”

  If he wanted to move on to a different subject, this was his chance, but he gathered his courage. If Thomas knew about him having run away from Barnhill, they couldn’t ignore it forever. If Thomas knew, some other shifter would realize it soon enough. Maybe some other shifter at the event already had.

  “I also know what you wanted to talk about. On Saturday, I mean.” He looked down at his hands, which he’d clasped together in his lap. He dug his nails into the palm of his hand, fighting against his nerves. “When you asked about wolves.”

  Thomas had opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, looking surprised. “If you’re sure. You don’t look very happy to talk about it.”

  “It’s not—I don’t talk about it very often.” Ever. He hadn’t ever talked about it. “I should’ve known it would happen sooner or later. That’s why I avoided shifters as much as possible. But Charlie needed me there and I thought, well, it’s been four years, what are the odds someone’s going to recognize me?” He took a deep breath, steeling himself. “I’m not going back.” No matter what Thomas or the council here or the council in Barnhill or even his parents wanted, he would never return. Lewiston was his home.

  “Go back?”

  “Isn’t that what my parents want?” Wait, did they want him punished in some other way? “I assumed that was why they were looking for me in the first place, to drag me back.” He snorted derisively. “I guess they’d rather pretend I don’t exist to my face.”

  “Wait.” Thomas reached out to put his hand on Joel’s arm. His touch was gentle and warm against Joel’s skin. “I think I’m missing a couple of steps here. Your parents?”

  Now it was Joel’s turn to be confused. “Yeah? From Barnhill?”

  “Barnhill…” Thomas repeated the name to himself a few times. “Isn’t that a town?”

  “You don’t know?” Joel didn’t know how to feel. Relief warred with embarrassment and confusion. Part of him wanted to get up and leave, and part of him wanted to stay here to enjoy Thomas’ company.

  “What is it I don’t know, Joel?” There was a fire in his eyes at odds with the gentle tone of his voice.

  He remained quiet, looking away from Thomas’ face and down at his hands. His eyes lingered on Thomas’ hand resting on his arm. Thomas didn’t know. He didn’t have to know. There was no reason for him to explain everything to someone he’d only just met. But Joel wanted to tell him. It made no sense. Somewhere deep inside of him was a voice telling him he could trust Thomas. “Barnhill is a shifter-only town and I’m not a shifter.”

  “But you lived there.” Thomas moved a few inches
closer, and his arm pressed against Joel’s.

  He nodded, still staring at his lap. He thought he would freak out at having a shifter press against him, but instead it was a comforting warmth. “My mom is a wolf shifter. My biological dad left when I was young, and he’s human. She re-married a few years later.”

  “To a shifter.”

  “Yeah. It was fine until I got old enough and it was clear I couldn’t shift.”

  “Ah.” Thomas’ voice was quiet, but he squeezed Joel’s arm reassuringly for a moment.

  Joel unclasped his hands and watched as Thomas’ hand moved across his arm to twine their fingers together. His heart was racing in his chest and his body flushed with heat as he tried to make sense of what Thomas was doing. He hadn’t known about Barnhill, but he’d been interested in talking to Joel. He didn’t dare get his hopes up that Thomas was interested in him, because that wasn’t what shifters did. Besides, Thomas was incredibly attractive, and even if he were human, Joel would’ve figured the other man was out of his league.

  Those thoughts did nothing to slow his rapid heartbeat.

  “And your parents were… disappointed.”

  He let out a wry laugh, still staring at their twined fingers. “Yeah, you could say that.” His mom hadn’t actually said it, but it was obvious. “I think Mom pitied me more than anything.” He hadn’t understood the pity. To him, shifting was like being really great at football or painting. It was something he couldn’t do, but he didn’t feel like he was missing out on anything either. “My dad, my brothers… they mostly just ignored me. Like I wasn’t worth talking to anymore.”

  Thomas remained quiet, so Joel decided to continue. It was surprisingly easy to open up to him. “The news spread across town that I couldn’t shift, and just like that, things changed. People started avoiding me or pitying me. Kids I thought were my friends started making fun of me.” His eyes started to prickle as he remembered the mocking and bullying he’d had to endure at school. The fact those same kids had been his friends had hurt the most. He hadn’t done anything. He hadn’t changed, but suddenly they wouldn’t speak to him and whenever he sat next to them, they’d move seats. “Like it was contagious or something.” Being a teenager was difficult enough even with family to support and love you, or friends to hang out with, but Joel had been alone every step of the way.