It had been a match day in gym, so Aiden was still calming down as he and Dylan walked to lunch. It was getting better. Aiden could watch some of the matches all the way through as long as it wasn’t Dylan or the fox sisters.
They were almost at the lunchroom when he noticed the odd look on Dylan’s face. It wasn’t quite a smirk, but… almost. “Was your match good today?”
“Huh? Oh, pretty good. Why?” Dylan said.
Aiden shrugged. “You look like you’re happy about something.”
Now that was definitely a smirk. “Do I?” His tone was so full of fake innocence it made Aiden nervous.
“Is something going on?”
“Hurry up, I’m starving.” Dylan ducked into the lunchroom.
Aiden watched him closely as they got their food, so it took him a moment to notice the extra person at their table. “Hanna?”
“Hi,” she said with a shy smile.
A swirl of emotions tightened his stomach, and he wasn’t sure how he felt. Did this mean she wanted to date him again? But what about her parents? And what about Tiago? No, that was just a stupid crush on a guy who was probably straight anyway.
“So that’s your ex-girlfriend, huh?” Tiago said.
Instead of taking his usual spot, Dylan took the chair next to Tiago. “I asked her to sit with us. Got tired of all the moping and longing gazes.”
Now he knew how he felt: embarrassed. Aiden didn’t want to sit next to Hanna because it would be awkward, but it would be even worse if he didn’t. His tray shook a little as he set it down and slid into the chair next to Hanna. “Did you… change your mind, then?” He thought about their date, about how they hadn’t even gotten to kiss. About how much he’d missed her… until Tiago showed up.
Dylan and Tiago were already eating, watching them. Dylan still had that pleased look on his face while Tiago looked curious, eyes flicking between Aiden and Hanna.
“Not yet.” Hanna looked at her plate, casting a quick glance his way. “But I know I want us to be friends at least. My parents never said I could only be friends with werewolves.” Her gaze flicked across the table to Dylan.
What the heck was Dylan doing, trying to play matchmaker? Aiden didn’t know if he wanted to strangle him or thank him.
“Friends,” Aiden said. “That’s good enough for now. I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” She turned to him with a shy smile.
He knew that look so well. Had it really been less than two months ago that they’d broken up? It seemed much longer than that. The air suddenly got tense and werewolf magic brushed over him.
“What did I tell you?” Conner growled.
Aiden was facing away from him. Having Conner at his back made the fear that much worse. Almost simultaneously, Dylan and Tiago got to their feet. No, no, please. Worrying about Dylan starting a fight was bad enough, but now he had to worry about Tiago too. The werejaguar’s glare was just as fierce as Dylan’s.
“Don’t,” Aiden whispered, throat tightening as hot panic filled him.
Hanna took his hand and squeezed it. She looked scared, but her lips were pressed together in determination. Without looking up at Conner, she said, “You can tattle on me if you want. My parents forbid me from dating outside my species, but they didn’t forbid me from being friends with other kinds.” Her voice shook a little.
Aiden held her hand tight, trying to focus. Breathe, just breathe. He’ll go away.
“So now you’re gonna lie to them, slut?”
“Leave her alone,” Dylan said. A faint touch of warm scales as the dragonkin’s power leaked out.
Aiden hunched in on himself, trapped between them and praying they wouldn’t start fighting.
Conner snorted. “Your fairy boyfriend looks like he’s going to piss his pants.”
“Mr. Mays, is there a problem here?”
Oh, thank God. An adult.
“No.”
“Then maybe you should get back to your friends,” the hall monitor said.
The energy surrounding them eased as Conner turned away. “I’m calling your parents tonight. Have fun being punished,” he shot over his shoulder.
“Did he hurt you?” the hall monitor asked.
It took Aiden a moment to realize she was asking him. “No,” he managed.
“Okay. I’ll make sure he doesn’t come over here again. Get back to your lunch.” She left as the other kids in the lunchroom started talking again.
It was practically familiar, Conner coming over to cause trouble and the room falling silent. Aiden felt like laughing and crying at the same time. Hanna coming back into his life meant Conner coming back too.
A tiny little part of him wanted to ask her to leave.
Dylan and Tiago sat down, chairs scraping lightly on the floor.
“I’d love to tear him a new one,” Tiago said.
“Me first,” Dylan said.
It might be funny if Aiden weren’t trying so hard to get his breathing back to normal.
“Are you okay?” Hanna squeezed his hand again.
“I’ll be fine in a minute.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put you in this situation again. Maybe I should go.”
Yes. “No. We can’t let fear control our lives.” He said it more for himself than anything.
“If he touches either of you, I’m calling him out.” Dylan went back to eating his pizza like nothing was wrong.
“You could challenge him to a duel, like way back in the day,” Tiago said. “I can be your second.”
Aiden looked at his plate, wondering if he could get his appetite back before lunch was over.
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea. I could slap him with a glove and tell him I demand satisfaction.”
Tiago laughed.
“I think Conner is all talk.” Hanna still hadn’t let go of his hand. “If he gets in another fight, it’s a two-week suspension at least, and his parents are already mad at him. He’s stupid, but he’s not that stupid.”
Aiden could only hope she was right.
* * *
The scent of green things and dirt filled the snow-covered gravel pit. Dylan took another breath. Even after a full day, Aiden’s magic lingered. The smell of jungle cat was there too, but fainter. Did Tiago shift when they were out here, or was he drawing on his magic to dodge whatever Aiden was throwing at him?
Jealousy bubbled in Dylan’s stomach. Aiden still wouldn’t practice with him, not even when he promised to only do small spells, or just block without using any other magic. Tiago had taken his place. Aiden was tutoring the werejaguar too, using up time that Aiden could have been coming over to Dylan’s house to play games or watch movies.
Dylan walked around the pit, finding the spot where they’d trained yesterday, the snow disturbed with footprints and other marks. Not much snow remained, melting during the warm days. The official start of spring had been weeks ago, but winter lingered, especially in the woods around his house. The pit would be free of snow in a few more days, but it might be another month before it was gone from the shady parts of the forest.
The footprints had doubled in size due to the melting, making it look like giants had fought here. Aiden had chosen the far ends of the pit rather than the center where Dylan did most of his venting. Probably trying to be as far away from where Dylan used magic as possible.
With a growl, Dylan let out a stream of fire. He couldn’t be mad at Aiden, and he shouldn’t be jealous of Tiago. This was all his fault. Aiden kept saying he forgave him, that they were still friends, but Aiden was still slipping away.
Tiago was an all right guy, maybe even a friend. And Hanna, he supposed she could be a friend too. The four of them ate lunch together every day now, more people than he’d spent time with since his earliest days of school. One best friend and two sort-of friends, and yet there were times Dylan felt more alone than ever.
Would things get better? Would Aiden stop being so afraid of magic and go back to training with him? Could they have matches in gym again? When they talked about it, Aiden said he was getting better, but that day Hanna joined them again and Conner had come over, Aiden had gone so pale Dylan had thought he might faint.
Ugh, he wished Aiden would just get over it. Wished Aiden would punch Conner in his smug asshole face. Then Dylan would finish the job and the werewolf would cringe and whine every time they passed in the hallway. No more of this posturing and threatening. Dylan didn’t even need his magic to kick Conner’s ass. He just needed to get him somewhere that adults wouldn’t break them up before they really got started.
Somewhere poor Aiden wouldn’t see them so he wouldn’t freak out.
Dylan stared down at the footprints for another moment before heading for the middle of the pit where he still had a bunch of scraps from his dad’s workshop piled up. With a flick of his hand, he set it on fire and made the flames dance. It helped a little, but fire wasn’t enough these days.
He thought of the dreams where he burned down a city. Guilt curled around him. Those were the dreams, the desires that had given Morgan a foothold. The dark fae had lured him with his heart’s desire, and as wrong as he knew it was, Dylan still wanted that.
The darkness in him, the dragon in him, wanted that epic destruction. Dylan looked down at his hands. There was another thing in those dreams. He’d been in dragon form, something he’d never been able to do for real. He’d tried it before but had given up in frustration.
Why not try again? He’d gotten more powerful over the past several months. It was something he was too embarrassed to try in front of Aiden, so why not look on the bright side? Since Aiden wasn’t here, this was the perfect time to try out shape-shifting.
I’ll probably fail. Dylan shook his head and told that voice to shut up. If he could do this, it would be amazing. Being able to fly would be awesome. Sure, he had to stay in Shadow Valley, but no one could stop him from flying inside the borders.
Dylan looked up at the clear night sky, a little smile tugging at his lips. He had to try. It might take a while, but eventually he’d get it.
“So,” he muttered to himself, looking back down at his hands. “Let’s start out with claws, and we can work our way up to wings.”