“As you all know, this is Eric, a 12 or 13-year-old male, found by Ishir and Zephyr in the laboratory where the hybrids escaped. He was the only survivor still in the laboratory. Zephyr found him having already shifted and we quickly identified that he had been injected with polar bear and kamado dragon DNA. The kamado dragon DNA is the biggest problem, being that his human and polar bear DNA are both warm blooded animals. I added Kaylani’s DNA, and it has bonded to his human DNA, allowing him to shift back. The polar bear DNA also bonded to Kaylani’s DNA, but the kamado dragon DNA is still a problem. Until I can figure out how to bond that DNA to the others, I’m keeping him sedated.”
“What about elf DNA?” Fenian asks. “From everything I’ve learned so far, it seems that elf DNA is the best bonding agent of DNA.”
“In general, you’re correct, Fenian. But we already have one hybrid that can shift into two different animals, not including her human form. I’m concerned about giving Eric too many strands of DNA. First, we have no idea what could happen to him, but second, he could possibly shift into more than two types of shifters.”
“But if you leave him like this, then if or when he shifts again, he will become the deformed creature he was before?” Yhendorn asks.
“Yes,” I say, watching as four sets of eyes look at me.
“So, what other choice do you have, doc?” Ishir asks me.
I sigh, looking at Eric. I was thrilled when his body had shifted back to his human form. Like Tesha, he’ll be scarred forever, but he’s alive. However, when I tested his DNA, the kamado dragon is still unattached, which will cause him to have another horrible shift if I don’t find a way to fix it.
“I don’t want to play god with these kids. I don’t know what it might do and what if it doesn’t work? Then what? We just keep adding DNA until it does?” I ask, getting aggravated. It’s not like I haven’t thought of all the different ways I could try to fix this kid.
“What about a controlled experiment?” Fenian asks.
“What do you mean?” Yhendorn asks.
Fenian looks at me. “I read ahead in our medical books. There are controlled experiments, right, where you can control what is added and not added, test it against other experiments where you add something else, something different. You’ve divided out his DNA elements. What if we test the kamado dragon against elf, to see if it attaches. We could also have a trial where we combine all of the DNA strands that he has and add elf DNA to see if it attaches to all of them. Then from there, we can decide how to move forward.”
Four sets of eyes look at me as I assess Fenian’s idea. It’s a good idea.
“Are you going to help me?” I ask him.
He stands straighter. “Yes sir.”
“Good,” I say, shrugging. “Let’s try it.”
“Okay, we’ll leave you to it. I want to give Yhendorn and Kenna an update on where we are with the missing hybrids,” Ishir says.
“Pull Kaylani in, please. I know there are issues and that at least one of the groups is becoming bolder and more aggressive. She may have some insights having been in the laboratory with me for so long.”
“She has class this morning, Dr. Everett,” Fenian says.
I frown. “What day is it?”
“Wednesday.”
“Elemental manipulation. You’re right.”
“We can wait until after she’s done with class,” Yhendorn says. “We wanted to get Kenna on the waitlist for the school anyway.”
Kenna looks unhappy, and I’m surprised when she doesn’t growl. She’s usually more emotive when she doesn’t like something.
“Zephyr can help you with that,” Ishir says. “I’ll take you to our house, you can see the kids and she can get Kenna, and you as well Yhendorn, on the waitlist,” Ishir tells him.
Kenna snorts, smirking at her mate, but he takes it in stride, as he does with everything his mate does, growling softly at her. I can see that it’s a sound that she likes, and she makes sure to be close to him as they walk out the door.
It’s so much like Kaylani, wanting to be close to me that I periodically break, unable to keep up the wall I’ve tried to erect between us. Everytime I give in to my desire to be near her, touch her, she gives herself wholeheartedly to me, just like this morning. I wrapped my arms around her and she melted into me. It’s always so much harder to resurrect the wall after it crumbles to the ground. But, I only have so much willpower with the woman that I love more than anything in the world and I know she loves touching me as much as I love touching her.
“Dr. Everett?” Fenian says, drawing my attention back to him and Eric.
I shake my head, focusing on what we need to do today. Then I look up at Fenian.
“That is the type of leadership I was talking about earlier, Fenian. I see it in you, your brilliance, your ability to be one hell of a leader. But when you become a bully, you make all of that worthless. If you’re going to become the incredible elf that I see in you, you’re going to have to find a way to be confident with who you are, with your abilities, and with your intelligence. Making others feel like they are less than you, doesn’t make you more than they are. In my opinion, for what it’s worth to you, it makes you less than anyone else in this school.”
I walk over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. “Do you understand what I’m saying, Fenian?”
“Yes sir,” he says humbly.
“Maybe one day, you’ll tell me why you feel the need to act the way you do and we can try to find a way for you to feel confident in yourself.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Okay, let’s get started.”
We spend the rest of the day tediously pulling strands of DNA and carefully putting them together to see how they react. It will take a few days to see if they meld together, but Fenian works hard, at my side, all day.
At some point, there is food on the desk behind us. I know Kaylani put it there, watching out for me as she always does. We stop and eat quickly before getting back to it.
It’s late in the evening before we’re finally done.
“Did you miss classes today?” I ask Fenian.
He has the sense to look guilty. “Yeah, I missed Zephyr’s class on air manipulation.”
I know he doesn’t need it, but I can’t set a bad precedent. “No more missing class to help me. I expect you to check in with Zephyr tomorrow and find out what you missed and make it up.”
“Yes sir,” he says, dragging his feet as he leaves.
“What?” I ask.
“Can I come back in a couple of days to see if it worked?”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t,” I tell him, making him smile before he rushes out of the room.
“I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” I call after him.
“I’ll be there,” he yells back as he leaves.
I make sure everything is put away and cleaned up before getting ready to check on Eric again.
When I turn, Kaylani is standing in the doorway watching me.
“You had a long day,” she says.
“Fenian had a good idea to help Eric. We spent the day splicing DNA and trying to put it together again to see how it combines.”
She looks at me, her eyes narrowing. “Haven’t you already done that?”
I shrug. “He had a different spin on it, so we’re trying it his way to see if it works. How was your day?”
“Good. I got the update on the hybrids.”
“And?” I ask.
“And I was hoping to talk about it over dinner.”
I look at her more closely, seeing the dark circles under her eyes.
“You aren’t sleeping.”
She shrugs.
“Let me check on Eric and then I’ll join you for dinner.”
Her eyes brighten instantly, and I once again feel my walls crumbling in the face of this incredible woman.
“I’ll have something set up in the staff break room,” she says.
I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t, but I know it will make her happy and I also know that she needs to sleep.
“Why don’t you set it up in my room? Then we can talk privately.”
Her sapphire eyes glimmer like gems in the sunlight.
“I’d love that.”
“See you in a few minutes.”
She leaves and I sigh. I have no idea how I’m going to recover from this, how I will rebuild my walls, but I know that my mate needs me, and I can’t ignore that. She needs rest and I know she gets her best sleep when she sleeps in my arms.
I work with Naida until I have to shift and get ready for class. I’m an animal, I’m used to being naked. The elves, however, are not as used to nudity and I find them staring, not just at me, but at all of the shifters when they shift. Being the mother of a teenage daughter, I find it uncomfortable that teenage elvish boys are staring at my naked daughter when she shifts. I need to talk to Yhendorn about that while he’s here.I wait for Naida to shift and watch as Aithlin openly stares. I growl at him, just as Tesha smacks him in his chest.“Get lost, perv. Naida doesn't want you gawking at her naked body.”Naida turns to look at Aithlin who has turned an uncomplimentary shade of red. He drops his gaze and races off. I hand her my clothes to put on since hers shredded when her dragon answered Ancalagon’s call.As we walk inside, I send Naida to her room and I head to mine, quickly getting dressed before heading out to my classroom. Because today's class is Elemental Manipulation and t
After Kaylani leaves, I check on Eric again, just to make sure that he’s settled for the night. Usually, I sleep in here with him. It’s easier to sleep on a cot in a medical room than it is to sleep in my own bed without Kaylani. Nothing feels more empty or alone than my bed when I sleep without her. Not that I let myself sleep with her often. I have no willpower when I do, so I try, so hard, so stay away. But I know it’s hard for her too and that’s what ultimately breaks down my walls. A beautiful dragon shouldn’t look tired or sad.I set up the alarms, in case something should happen overnight, but he’s been in this coma for so long that I feel confident that I can leave him for one night. Then, I head to my room.I can smell the food before I get there. Kaylani has brought up what used to be my favorite dish, chicken parmesan. However, now, because I know how much she loves nearly raw meat, I enjoy eating steak with her. That’s my new favorite, because I get to watch her enjoy her
I wake up, having slept better than I have since, well, since the last time I slept with Everett. I reach out and feel that the bed is warm but empty, just before the sounds of the shower reach my ears.I know that as soon as we walk out of this room, all of Everett’s walls will go back up. I know that he will push me away and try to keep his distance. But I also know that every time he breaks and spends the night with me, there is less time before the next time.The first time we were together, I thought he had finally given in, finally agreed to be my mate. I was so hurt when he went back to acting normal the next day. I know he loves me, he’s told me, but only when he thought I was dead, when I was paralyzed during an attack on the scientist’s lab. He has never said the words to me in the throes of passion or just because he wants me to know how he feels.After the second time we were together, I realized that he can’t resist me. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t push me away f
As soon as Amne shifts, I scoop her off the ground.“I’ve got you, Amne. It’s me, Doc Everett. I’m going to take care of you,” I tell her, not sure if she can hear me or not.Her body seems to have lost all muscle control and she’s flopping around in my arms until I get her settled so her head is against my chest, and I have her securely in my arms.One thing I realized very quickly is that dragons may look like humans, but their bones continue to be very dense, even in their human form. So they weigh nearly double what you’d expect them to weigh just by looking at them. Amne, like the other dragon females, is tall and lean, looking modelesque in her stature but weighing somewhere around 250 pounds.A year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to lift Amne and hold her like I am, but when you spend lots of time with shifters, it makes you stronger, faster. They don’t realize how fast they are, how strong they are, or how you, as a human, aren’t as capable of carrying heavy objects. So, while
I watch amazed, as I always am when there’s a crisis and my mate takes charge, facing off against Ancalagon or anyone who gets in the way of him helping those who are injured, directing others to get him the information he needs, and continuing to look after his patient while keeping up with everything that’s going on around him. As usual, I’m utterly in awe of this man.To watch him, to listen to him, you’d never know that he was worried sick about losing his patient. But then, he’ll reach out to me, need to touch me to help keep him grounded. I know that’s the reason because I need it to. He may not recognize the mate bond the way I do, but he definitely feels the impact of our mate bond.“How long before we know for sure if Amne is going to be okay?” I ask him.“I need to run more tests and I’ll need to stay with her today to make sure she stays stable,” he says.I look at the clock. “You have class today, Everett. I’ll stay with her. Take her blood and get the tests started. If an
I love teaching. It’s the best thing that I do next to helping these hybrids and dragons. If you had asked me a few years ago what my life was going to be like in the next five years, I never would have imagined that it would be this. I’ve always been enamored with dragons and to find out that they are real and that I could become a permanent part of their life, was incredible. Getting to know them, work with them, save them, and now teach them, has been a dream that I never thought would become a reality, but here I am.That doesn’t mean there aren’t pitfalls. I’m in love with a dragon, the most beautiful dragon of all of them if you ask me, but I wasn’t born to claim a dragon. Every time I take Cedric’s sword-wielding class, I’m reminded of how utterly weak I am compared to these shifters. I walk out of that class, my entire body feeling like I’ve been beaten up. And while the others may walk out that way too, by dinner they are all healed, while I am still sore at the next class.M
We’re not supposed to leave the school grounds, but sometimes, I just need to get away. In a school of freaks, I’m the freakiest. I’m the only one who can shift into two different types of shifters, which might be really cool if they were normal, but they’re not. My DNA got so screwed up by the scientists that no matter what form I take, I’m a freak of nature, a scaly Lycan or a furry dragon.That may change if Eric ever wakes up. I may not be the only one that can shift into two animals. I heard that Doc Everett had to give him a fourth DNA, elf DNA, to try to get the others to merge. We’re still waiting to see if Eric wakes up. He has Komodo dragon, polar bear, water dragon and now elf. If he’s like me, he’ll shift into something like a furry lizard or a scaly elf. Neither of those options is positive. Sometimes, I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better if they had left me to die.As I walk through the woods surrounding the school, I catch a strange scent, a scent I’ve caught severa
I was on my way to check on Everett, Amne, and Eric, when Ancalagon bugled that intruders had crossed the borders of the school.I race outside leaping into the air.“Where, Ancalagon?”“Near Zephyr and Ishir’s place.”“Stay here, guard the school,” I say, hovering as the other dragons head my way.“All of you, guard the school,” I say.“Do as she says,” Ancalagon orders them as I fly toward where I’ve caught the scent of strange hybrids. Strange but familiar, one with fire dragon and Lycan DNA, and the other has Lycan and earth dragon DNA.A moment later, Zephyr bugles that it’s okay, we’re not under attack, but I continue making my way toward where I also now smell Tesha’s familiar mixture of Lycan, polar bear, and fire dragon.I fly in, lifting up so my back feet are closer to the ground and I begin to shift as I land, tucking my wings into my back as my feet touch the ground.“Whoa,” one of the boys says, staring at me. “How did you do that?” he asks, staring at my naked body.Ish