Dragons of Cinderhollow Bundle

by Hawke Oakley

  A thirty-five year old omega would have found his fated mate by now… right? I wondered if some alphas and omegas just didn’t get a fated mate. Sure, I knew of couples who never experienced that initial intense pull. There were even beta couples in Cinderhollow who didn’t consider themselves fated mates, but loved each other all the same.

  But as an alpha, I craved finding my fated mate. Who didn’t? Especially since two of my closest friends, Dante and Lorenzo, found their fated omegas recently, I was admittedly feeling more hopeless than usual.

  I sighed and glanced at my reflection in the computer monitor. Was it because of how I looked? Sure, I wasn’t as tall and muscular as Dante, or ruggedly handsome as Lorenzo, but I was pretty attractive in my own right. My smooth black hair, dark eyes and toned muscles weren’t ugly by any means. If I was an omega, I’d date myself for sure.

  I wondered if it was my dragon, instead. Unlike Dante and Lorenzo, whose dragon forms took the shape of fire-breathing winged dragons standing on two legs, mine was entirely different. My dragon was an Eastern dragon; a winding, serpentine creature with long whiskers and a mane. Instead of flying with wings, my kind used air magic to manipulate the air currents surrounding us. Much easier than flapping wings all the time!

  My burst of self-confidence fizzled out like a popped balloon and I laid my head down on the counter again with a sigh. Maybe I needed to do some kind of promotional event to attract more students…

  The bell rang again. Probably another random person asking for directions.

  But then familiar voices filled the room.

  “Ryu? You there?” Dante called.

  I shot up. “Dante!”

  And not just him — his brother and my friend Lorenzo stood beside him. They were alone, a rare sight to see since their children were born.

  “You guys!” I cried. “What are you doing here? Where’s the family?”

  “The omegas are looking after them tonight,” Dante said with a grin.

  “Yes, Raja and Gabriel decided to pool the kids together for one big play-date,” Lorenzo explained. “I think they’re having a Rob the Builder marathon.”

  “So, we decided to have an Alpha’s Night Out. We’re gonna get drinks, stuff our faces, throw darts… Typical alpha stuff, right?” Dante said. He threw his arm around my shoulder and we wrestled a bit. Lorenzo, who was calmer and more dignified than both of us, just watched with an amused smile.

  “That’s great!” I said before suddenly remembering a problem. “Oh, but… The school doesn’t officially close until 7pm.”

  Dante glanced around. A slight wince crossed his face. “Um, no offense, man, but there isn’t anyone here.”

  My shoulders sagged. “I know. No one’s been in all day. Or the day before…”

  Dante and Lorenzo exchanged sympathetic glances.

  “Come on, I’m sure no one will miss you for one night,” Dante reassured me. “And besides, you need a break once in a while. It’s no good to just focus on work all the time.”

  “Indeed,” Lorenzo added. “If I’ve learned anything since the birth of our daughter, it’s that you absolutely need some time for yourself once in a while.”

  Dante shot his brother a knowing grin. “Charlotte start getting into trouble already, huh?”

  With a sigh, Lorenzo said, “Just like her omega-father Raja, she’s been getting into trouble since she was born.”

  “Don’t I know it!” Dante cried. “Noah and Noelle are like a couple of demons now that they’re both old enough to shift and walk.” He laughed. “It’s like a new game of What Did My Child Stick Up Their Nose This Time? every waking moment!”

  Even though they were complaining about their kids, I was endeared rather than repelled. I wanted a child who got into trouble, too. But that wasn’t going to happen without a mate, and I obviously didn’t have one of those, so I was stuck with living vicariously through my friends’ stories. All I could do was hope that maybe one day I would have my own stories to tell.

  Lorenzo and Dante noticed my sudden quietness and stopped.

  “Sorry,” Lorenzo said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “We’re supposed to be making you feel better, not worse.”

  “Nah, I don’t feel bad,” I told him. “It’s not that I don’t enjoy your stories. It’s the opposite—they make me wish I had my own to share.”

  “Alright, enough of this,” Dante declared. “Let’s go have our Alpha’s Night Out, just the three of us. No omegas, no babies - just us! And no thinking about anything depressing or I’ll set your hair on fire. What do you say, Ryu?”

  Dante’s enthusiasm and Lorenzo’s calming aura were contagious. I couldn’t say no to either of them. I was tired of sitting around and feeling sorry for myself alone. A night to focus on myself and my friends just having fun was exactly what I needed.

  “Okay,” I finally said. “I’ll go on one condition.”

  Dante leaned in. “What?”

  I grinned at him. “You’re buying drinks.”

  Rolling his eyes, Dante slipped a credit card out of his pocket and twirled it around with a smirk. “Deal.”

  3

  Scar

  “Hey, check this out!”

  “Dude, fuck off! Haha!”

  “Throw it at his head, like this…”

  I scowled at the large, rowdy group of alphas that came in earlier who were currently in the middle of throwing peanut shells at each other like a bunch of cavemen. The pile of shells scattered all over the floor. Just one more chore for me to do at the end of the work day, as if I didn’t have enough shit to put up with.

  Fridays were usually busy, but this was ridiculous. The bar was absolutely packed. More people meant more business, but it also meant more resources gone and more sticky floors to pick up given the inevitable drunken disgustingness.

  Sometimes I wondered why I even ran a damn bar.

  Still, money was money, and no one could argue that I was good at my job, at least.

  “Hey, waiter, can we get som’ more drinks over here?” one of the alphas called as he raised his half-filled beer.

  At first I didn’t realize he was talking to me. Usually nobody made the mistake of calling me a waiter, given that I stood behind the bar and clearly wasn’t hobbling around handing out food. But judging by the couple of empty beers on the table, I gave him the benefit of the intoxicated doubt.

  I got to work pouring a new round of drinks for the alphas at that particular table, the largest one in the center of the lounge. There were at least ten alphas, all friends apparently, and easily the loudest group of people in the entire bar. Although their raucous laughter and over-the-top voices grated fiercely on my ears, I wasn’t about to kick out ten alpha men just for being loud in a bar—especially with the amount of money they were going to spend in total tonight.

  I placed all the drinks on the tray and carefully balanced it between my real arm and prosthetic. Even though I’d gotten used to wearing one, it still was no substitute for my real flesh and blood. I had to move carefully to avoid spilling anything.

  When I approached the table, the alpha who had called for drinks openly stared at me.

  “Hey, wha’s wrong with your arm?” he asked loudly.

  I scowled. One of his less drunk friends elbowed him and said, “Mav, dude, you can’t say stuff like that.”

  “Why not?” He waved his hand. “It’sh not a big deal, Stephen.”

  “We told you before we came here that this guy doesn’t look normal.”

  A ripple of anger and shame surged through me. Leave it to intoxicated people to say what they really think. At least they didn’t beat around the bush. It was true—I didn’t look normal. But to hear it come from one of my customers in my bar, right in front of me—it felt like a physical slap to the face.

  Wishing I was back behind the counter already, I quickly dished out the drinks and began to walk away when the alpha named Mav grabbed me by the prosthetic arm. A horrible itching feeli
ng spread over my skin. Instinctively I snatched myself away from him and snarled, “Let go of me!”

  “Whoa, it’s not real,” Mav said obliviously, ignoring my outburst. “So weird…”

  I half expected the other alphas to tell Mav to fuck off and apologize for grabbing me but they did no such thing - they lost sight of everything else as soon as their next round of drinks arrived. Still seething, I stormed back to my place behind the counter, the only place that afforded me some modicum of privacy and safety.

  Although it wasn’t my own skin, the prosthetic seemed to burn and tingle where Mav had grabbed it. I growled and rubbed my hand over it, trying to relieve the unpleasant sensation, but it didn’t go away. The feeling of having my boundaries ignored and violated lingered. There was nothing to do but wait it out.

  Thankfully, the new round of drinks appeased the rowdy group of alphas for a while, since they were too busy guzzling booze to make a ruckus. But from years of experience at this job, I knew they would reach their limit pretty soon and if they didn’t leave on their own, I’d be forced to kick them out. Which was always fun.

  And by fun, I meant horrible.

  To get my mind off the impending chore, I began to tidy up behind the counter, putting away glasses and cleaning spills. It was doing a good job of distracting me until the shopkeeper bell rang and a new group of alphas walked in. I scowled again.

  Great. As if I didn’t have enough problems to deal with right now…

  But then realization struck me. I recognized the alpha in-between the other two. His name was Ryu.

  And at that moment, Ryu’s eyes caught mine.

  Suddenly feeling awkward, I didn’t know what to do. Maybe I should have waved, or smiled, or performed some kind of act of recognition. Instead I was mostly surprised to see him. He wasn’t exactly a regular, but Ryu did come in from time to time to get a drink. But the last time I saw him was when that kid omega Gabriel saved Stoneheart pack with his magic, and Ryu came by to tell me what happened. I didn’t really care either way, but I had to admit I did appreciate Ryu going out of his way to tell me about it when he didn’t have to.

  Ryu’s attention was quickly changed when the other two alphas with him led him to an empty table. I knew the taller one, Lorenzo — he sometimes guarded Cinderhollow’s barrier, since he was adept at clear magic. The third alpha bore a familiar resemblance to Lorenzo, so I assumed they were related. A younger brother, probably.

  Lorenzo stayed behind at the table while Ryu and the third alpha approached the bar counter.

  “Hey. Welcome,” I said in my typical bartender’s voice.

  “Hey, Scar,” Ryu said with a smile. “My friend Dante wanted to go for an Alpha’s Night Out, so here we are.”

  The other alpha must have been Dante, then. I nodded at him.

  “How’s business tonight?” Ryu asked.

  I shrugged. “Pretty busy. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.”

  “Why would it be a bad thing?” Dante asked. “It’s nice to get that extra coin!”

  I raised a brow at him. “When you’re a single omega dealing with a bunch of loud, obnoxious alphas, maybe then you’ll understand.”

  Dante winced slightly and glanced over his shoulder at the other large group of alphas, who were once again in the middle of a peanut shell throwing contest.

  “Yeah, nevermind, I can see why,” Dante muttered.

  “Other than that, how’ve you been?” Ryu asked me. “I haven’t seen you in a while, man.”

  Yeah, because you stopped showing up at the bar. “Same as usual. Working my ass off and not getting any younger.”

  With a spark of annoyance, I realized I was older than both of the alphas standing in front of me. And with even greater annoyance, I remembered all three of them were dragon shifters, blessed with immortality and powers I would never understand.

  “Meet any nice alphas while you’re working, at least?” Dante asked.

  I met his gaze and bluntly said, “No.”

  “Oh.” He looked sheepish. “Uh, anyway, I’ll get a glass of wine for Lorenzo, and a rum and coke for me. Heavy on the rum. Please.”

  I began mixing his drink as he returned to the table, leaving only Ryu at the counter with me.

  “What about you?” I asked him.

  “Just a malt beer is fine.”

  I reached into the fridge and found my fingers reaching for the brand I knew he preferred. Apparently I remembered even though I hadn’t seen him in so long.

  “What about you?” I asked. “Any lucky omega yet?”

  His eyes widened. Apparently the question surprised him. “Um, no, not yet. Been busy with work and stuff, you know?”

  Strange. I would have thought a handsome young alpha like Ryu would have found an omega by now, but I didn’t voice that out loud.

  “Thanks,” Ryu said, taking the bottle. He grabbed his friends’ drinks as well. “I guess, uh… I should head back to the table.”

  “Guess so.”

  Our eyes lingered for a strange, short moment. Then Ryu smiled and nodded before returning to his friends.

  I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

  As I watched him walk away, annoyance built inside me. Why did I end the conversation so quickly?

  And then I thought: why did I even care? Ryu was just an acquaintance, barely even a friend. Why was I upset that he left to go hang out with his friends, instead of me - a grouchy bartender he barely knew?

  I shoved those thoughts from my mind and focused all my energy into scrubbing the counter until it gleamed.

  The clock ticked away. Only a few more hours until closing. Then, the rowdy alphas and Ryu and everyone else would all go home, and I could pass out in bed and forget about the struggles of the day.

  The shopkeeper’s bell rang again. I braced myself for another group of alphas to babysit, but this time, only a sole omega entered. I watched him curiously as he approached the bar. He was young and attractive, with beautiful blond hair and light eyes—the kind of omega who would have no problem finding a mate, unlike me.

  “Can I get a vodka and orange juice, please?” he asked.

  It was a drink I could mix with my eyes closed. “Right away.”

  He thanked me for his drink, then took up a spot down the bar counter to scroll down his phone and nurse his drink by himself.

  I would have ignored him and went back to minding my own business until I saw Mav, the rowdy alpha who had grabbed me, eyeing the new omega like a piece of meat.

  And when alphas acted disgusting towards omegas in my bar, it became my business.

  I kept an eye on Mav, not wanting to jump to conclusions despite being quite sure of where this situation was heading. Sure enough, he slowly got up out of his chair and sauntered over to where the omega sat.

  “Hey, there,” Mav said, leaning closer to the omega than what was considered appropriate when interacting with a stranger. “I’ve never seen you around before. What’s your name, cutie?”

  I prickled in anticipation, glaring at Mav.

  “That’s probably because I’m new here. And my name is Henry,” the omega replied. He looked clearly uncomfortable with Mav’s intrusion in his personal space.

  I tensed, ready to intervene if necessary.

  “Henry, that’s a nice name,” Mav said, slurring his words and grinning. “Why don’t you come hang out with me ‘n my buds instead of sitting here alone, huh?”

  Henry stiffened. He clutched his phone tighter. “That’s okay. I’m catching up on some reading.”

  Mav frowned. “What? Who comes to a bar to read? And what’re you reading on your phone, anyway?” He leaned in closer. “Are you lyin’ to me?”

  Henry’s eyes widened in fear. “I’m not—”

  The alpha’s hand shot out. He grabbed Henry by the arm and pulled him out of his seat. Henry gasped and dropped his phone.

  The way I leapt over the counter was graceless and clumsy, but I didn’
t care. The only thing on my mind was stopping this disgusting alpha from harassing an innocent omega.

  “Hey!” I snapped.

  At the same time that my hand snatched Mav’s arm to yank it away, someone else appeared to stand in-between Mav and Henry.

  “Leave him alone!” Ryu growled.

  Mav swayed on his feet, intoxicated and confused. When he noticed that I was still holding on to him, he snarled and struggled. “Let go, freak!”

  Infuriated now, I gripped him harder. “Get out of my bar—now!”

  Mav took a swing at me. But he was a fool if he thought I couldn’t see his slow-moving punch coming. I easily ducked it and threw a punch, this time knocking him backwards into Ryu. Ryu took hold of Mav to prevent him from trying anything else.

  “What’s the matter with you?” Ryu asked angrily. “Being drunk isn’t an excuse to behave like this!”

  Mav tried to elbow Ryu in the gut, but Ryu gritted his teeth, bearing it so he wouldn’t let go.

  By now Mav’s group of friends crowded around, clearly embarrassed by their friend. But whether they were ashamed of his horrible actions towards the omega, or just because he caused a scene, I didn’t know.

  “I think it’s best if you take him and leave now,” Ryu said, handing off Mav to Stephen.

  “Right,” Stephen muttered. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Everyone stared as the group of alphas finally departed. They left behind a huge mess at their table, spilled drinks and peanut shells, but the worst of all was the fear they instilled in Henry.

  “You okay?” I asked the omega.

  He nodded, but he was clearly shaken.

  Ryu spoke gently to Henry. “Is there anyone you can call who can take you home? If not, I’d be happy to do it, if you don’t mind an alpha escorting you back.”

  Henry smiled weakly. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m really fine. I’ll finish my drink and head back later.” He shrugged. “It’s not the first time something like this has happened.”