Dragon 1 Chapter 2

I walked back into my apartment, still thinking about the prospect of spending more time with Scarlett, but my phone pinged again with a reminder from Frank.

“Yeah, yeah. I won’t bail on you. Not like I have anything better to do tonight.” I muttered to myself as I put the phone down and looked in the fridge. It was pitifully empty, and I was reminded once again that I needed to do groceries.

The apartment was pretty basic, but there was a nice, open area for the two of us. The landlord had furnished it, so it didn’t have much character, but it did the job. Beyond that, we had a shared bathroom and two bedrooms side by side.

My room was my space away from everything. I had my mineral rock collection to one side, built up from a hobby of panning for gold and trying to find and dig up a small vein of metal in the mountains. Somehow I seemed to have a knack for it.

There were two jars with about an inch of gold flakes in them. I wasn’t sure how much it would actually be worth, but they held sentimental value for me.

My adoptive father and I used to go panning. He’d insisted on doing it, and I thought he’d really loved it. It was only later I found out he did it because it got me to open up when they first adopted me. When he passed away a few years ago, I’d found his collection of gold flakes sitting alone on a shelf in his closet. Right there at eye level for him.

It meant so much. I knew it had been the first thing he saw every time he opened that closet.

Moisture welled up in my eyes just thinking about it, and I wiped it away. Dammit.

He and my adoptive mother had lived good long lives. They’d adopted me late into their sixties; they said they’d known it was right when they saw me. I was the missing piece to their puzzle.

Trying not to go too deep down memory lane, I picked my phone back up for a distraction. I checked my emails one by one, letting the feeling of loss sweep by.

When I felt more under control again, I took a deep breath and unpacked my bag. I still had some shit to get done before going out with Frank and Maddie. I wouldn’t be any use after that.

***

“Come on. You aren’t even dressed to go out yet?” Frank lingered in my doorway.

The two of us were about as opposite as you could get. Frank was a marketing major and fully embraced the work hard play hard mentality. He’d party and cram, knuckle down and get his stuff done, only to celebrate with multiple bottles of wine. He seemed to decide that sleep was for the weak, because I had no idea when he actually slept. That party hard phase often included night long bumping of his bed against the wall.

“It’ll be quick.” I got up and grabbed a button-down shirt from my closet. Frank had berated me for days after I wore a t-shirt out to the bars.

“Not-uh. Nope. I thought I told you. No more vertical stripes. You are far too tall and skinny for them.” Frank rolled his eyes and barged into my room, taking it upon himself to rifle through my closet. “Really, I don’t know how you even dress yourself.” He gave an exaggerated sigh.

My roommate and friend. I had at once point mistaken him for gay, but he just cared quite a bit about looks. Personal marketing, as he called it.

But it seemed to work for him. He brought home different girls often enough that I had some trust in his fashion sense.

“Here. Try this one.” He held out a black button down. My shirt dwarfed him. I wasn’t huge by any means, but Frank wasn’t very large. He was maybe five nine and very skinny-fit.

“Isn’t this a bit plain?” I asked, holding the black shirt up against me. 

“Nope, black is in right now. It also is about all you have that is fitted enough not to look like a square block.” He then eyed my jeans skeptically.

“Hey, these were fine last year.” I felt a defensive lilt creep into my voice as I swapped shirts.

Frank rolled his eyes. “That was last year. Get with the program. But they’ll have to do… I’ve seen some of the other options.”

“Better?” I asked as I finished buttoning the shirt and did a little spin for him.

“Roll up the sleeves so you don’t look like a nerd.”

I resisted rolling my eyes as I rolled up the sleeves. “Happy?” As much as I played the part of being disgruntled, Frank’s advice had served me well on more than one occasion.

“You’ll do.” Frank said with a smile. “Come on. Maddie is meeting us there.”

I nodded, pausing to touch on a sensitive subject. “So Frank, once you get Maddie back to your bed, are you done with her?” Frank went through girls faster than he went through condoms, which was often more than one a night if what’d I’d heard slip through the walls was right.

Frank gasped and put a hand to his chest. “You wound me Zach. No, those others were just a distraction. Maddie, I plan to date as a serious girlfriend.”

I gave him a look full of doubt, but put it behind me. What the two of them decided to do was up to them.

“Well, come on. We need to go. The last thing I want to do is start the night off making Maddie wait.” Frank grabbed his house keys from the kitchen table and bounded out of the room, with me right behind.

But a knock on our front door made both of us pause. “You said Maddie was going to meet us there?” I asked.

He just shrugged and swung open the door with a smile. Frank was like that. He dove into every situation head first without a care in the world.

Standing in the hallway to our apartment was a disgruntled-looking campus security man. “You Zach?”

“Nope, that’s the poorly dressed man behind me.” Frank hooked a thumb over his shoulder.

The man shifted his attention to me. “I’m following up on an incident reported earlier today. Someone identified you as having helped an injured girl away from a biking accident.”

It wasn’t exactly a question, but I still answered it. “That would be correct. The girl was a bit banged up, and she asked for some help getting away from the crowd. At the library, she said she could finish the rest of the way home and that was the last I saw of her. She was Kappa Phi Alpha. I’d bet you could find her at the sorority house if you wanted to check on her.”

He pulled out a little leather-bound notebook and pointedly clicked his pen before jotting down the note. “Then I’ll do just that. Especially seeing what company you have.” His eyes slid back to Frank.

“Oh, so you do recognize me.” Frank beamed, but the security guard turned and stormed away. “Rude.”

“Please don’t antagonize them.” The last thing I wanted was more trouble.

Frank shrugged. “He has a cute daughter that goes here.”

My mouth fell slack. “You didn’t?”

He gave a wicked grin. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell. But then again, I’m not a gentleman. Totally banged her in his house and said hello the next morning.”

I slapped my forehead. Of course he did. “Anyone else in school I need to be careful about?”

“Never mind that. Who’s this girl you went all knight and shining armor on? Is she cute?” Frank asked, heading out the door.

“Hands off her.” I nearly growled before reining in the beast and adding in, “I’m calling bro code on this one.”

Frank’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Oh no. Now I need to know everything.”

***

Dance music blasted out of the speakers as a DJ made exaggerated flicks on a soundboard, bouncing to the beat of his own music. He was pretty good, considering he was playing for a crowd of drunken college students.

It was late enough that the floor had dried beer covering the floor, causing my feet to stick slightly as Frank and I danced around together like two goofs.

Maddie was there with us, but she’d gone off to get another drink. She and Frank were starting to hit it off, and I was feeling like a third wheel.

“Is that her?” Frank pointed out the third red head of the night. He’d been doing it ever since I’d told him about Scarlett.

“No. She’s… shorter, and bigger chested.” I answered, feeling a bit like a pig using chest size as a distinguishing quality for women. But I knew Frank’s language well enough to know that was how he saw them.

“Blue shirt big, or…” His eyes wandered. “Wow, white pants. Two o’clock.”

That was when the hottest woman I’d ever seen walk past, we’re talking top tier Hollywood sex appeal. And the beast inside my chest went absolutely nuts. I’m talking crazy, slamming against the cage of my chest, begging for a piece of her. There was a roar in my ears that had nothing to do with the bar.

She had a waterfall of platinum blond hair, a loose silk shirt that bunched precisely at her impressive chest, and she had the gall to wear the tightest pair of white jeans I’d ever seen. I could have sworn they were painted on.

White pants strolled right past us, heading towards the stage. Men all around the bar noticed her and then got out of her way; she had an almost regal bearing.

“What are you doing?” Frank yelled over the music.

I realized I’d taken a step to follow her, which was just stupid. She was so far out of my league; it wasn’t even funny.

But the beast in my chest slammed even harder, rattling in its cage, begging me to chase her down. I wanted to too.

“I’ll catch up with you later Frank.” I said before I even knew what was coming out of my mouth. The beast was insistent, and I didn’t even want to stop it this time. I wasn’t sure if my success with Scarlett had bolstered my confidence or the alcohol, but I kept moving towards the captivating woman.

She eventually found an open place and started twisting and dancing on her own. Just enjoying the music. I looked around, waiting to see if she was with other people. Women like her didn’t usually show up to a bar alone.

But she continued to dance, a slow, sinuous dance that called to me, and my inner beast clawed at me to join. The crowd bumped me forward, and before I could step away, she pressed her rear back into.

She must have felt me nearby, because she shifted back, grinding that ass of her tight white jeans into me and leaning her head back, letting out the most beautiful voice, just a single note that seemed to reverberate through me.

The beast in my chest, for the first time in a long while, was completely still. It almost seemed happy to just relax in that moment, hearing that single note from her throat.

She reached back, turning her head slightly to take me in, but her eyes went wide as she looked up into my face, followed by horror as she looked over my shoulder.

I followed her line of sight.

Behind me was the college’s star quarterback, Chad Brodie, showing off his muscles in the tightest shirt I’d ever seen on a dude. Even Frank refused to wear a shirt that tight, which was saying something. The two plastic drink cups in his hands squished as they formed fists and shot their contents up into his face.

Despite the fact that he’d done that to himself, it seemed to only piss him off more as his eyes dug into me, glowing with anger. It must have been the lights in the bar, but they looked like they actually glowed.

Whoopsie, was this your girl? Fuck, I just dug my own grave.

“Run, I’ll deal with this.” The woman said. Her words took a moment to resonate as I soaked up the tone of her voice. But as she moved away, I processed them.

She turned to Chad this time as another one of those soothing notes came out of her mouth. But as she did it, Chad’s eyes dulled.

I turned and left, don’t pass go, don’t collect two hundred dollars. Just get out.

There was something strange going on, but I was sure I did not want to get in the middle of it. Chad had a record on campus. Rumors floated around him that seemed to get hushed out quickly, supernaturally quick. I wasn’t sure if he had connections or what, but it wasn’t worth finding out.

If the rumors were true, he’d sent more than one guy to the hospital. Some never came back to school. Some might have not even made it back to their families.

He was also an all-star football player that was rumored to leave the school for an early seed spot in the NFL next year. He was crazy good and part of our two year winning streak.

Moving my way through the bar, I focused on the exit. I needed to get the hell out of there. I ended up at a side exit for the bar.

The cool fall air hit me all at once as I stepped out of the sweaty dance floor.

Shit, that had been crazy. I took a deep breath, feeling the stress build and leave.

“Ha.” I barked out a loud laugh, receiving a few odd looks from drunk passerbys in response.

Frank was going to eat up that story tomorrow. It had been completely out of my character to do what I’d just done, but it had felt so damn good.

But as my phone started buzzing, I knew Frank was not about to wait until the morning.

DUUUUUDDE WTF was that.

He’d clearly been watching the whole thing.

Hell if I know, but I think I’m done for the night.

Zack, we can be out in a few minutes.

I rolled my eyes. It would be good for the two of them to be alone for a while. I’d been feeling vibes that Frank might just get what he’d been hunting for that night. I wasn’t going to put a damper on that.

No, you two have fun. Make a move on Maddie. I need to go cool my head, anyway.

The beast inside my chest was furious with me. He wanted to lean into conflict. Luckily, I looked out for my best interest and shoved it down. It was like trying to wrestle a honey badger today. Those beastial instincts of mine wanted to be set loose.

 I took one look down the college bar street, considering if I should head to another bar, but I eventually decided just to make the trek back across campus and give myself some time to think and process.

Classes had started up a few weeks before, and it was a typical fall night on campus. The nights were cool and crisp, making the buzzed walk pleasant among the brightly colored leaves. Another school year, I mused, wondering what it had in store for me.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets before continuing down the bar street and through the large stone arch into campus proper.

Evenings on campus could be a bit creepy; all the class buildings were dark, slumbering giants in the night. The campus was abandoned except for a few others like me that were taking the fastest route across campus to wherever they were going.

I passed by Wellington hall, where I had chemistry earlier, my thoughts turning back to Scarlett as I let my mind wander. Friday was both nerve wracking, yet I hadn’t been looking forward to something so much in a long while.

“Aaah.” A charging yell came from my side, shattering my thoughts into the night. I twisted to face whoever it was, but I hadn’t been prepared. I spun, only giving me a moment to recognize Chad before he tackled me to the ground.

My back stung as a stray twig dug into me. Chad was not exactly a lightweight. But that thought was abandoned as my chest burned and I failed to pull new breath into my lungs. I had other priorities right now.

“Fuck you.” Chad punctuated his displeasure with a punch to the side of my head that made the sky spin and my ears ring.

But in addition to the ringing, I could hear my heartbeat beating powerfully. I knew what a heartbeat should sound like, and there was something off about mine. It was almost changing.

A deep growl built up from the beast. But that was usual. What shocked me was that I could feel something inside of me changing this time. The beast wasn’t just communicating its displeasure; it felt like it was rising from a lifelong slumber. For the first time, it was getting to its feet. It continued, and it took me a moment to realize that I was giving a deep, loud roar straight into Chad’s face.

I tried to think about how much I had to drink, but it was not nearly enough to be yelling in someone’s face. For the first time, the beast was well and truly loose. I rolled back and got my feet under Chad before launching him off me with a kick. Even as I stood, there was a deep rumbling growing in my chest.

Chad looked dumb struck as I stood up and squared off against him. He was still growling, but he looked more cautious. There was a hint of satisfaction in his face that this wasn’t too easy, but all I could think was how stupid he was for trying to take me.

The beast made me a whole new level of cocky.

I barely registered the movement to his side, my focus so heavily zoned in on Chad, until I realized it was the woman from the bar. She stood panting by his side, giving me an apologetic look. “Sorry about this. Chad, heel.” She demanded. Clearly Chad wasn’t quite as alpha as he acted, as if she was going to whip him like that.

“Go, crawl back to your master. Before you get hurt.” My voice was deep and teasing. Part of me winced, knowing it wasn’t smart to egg him on, but the other part was highly satisfied with making my dominance known.

Chad howled and… shifted. I stood there as his spine crackled like someone had just stepped on bubble wrap. I thought he was somehow dying at first until his face started taking on a beastial shape and he sprouted fur over his arms.

If I wasn’t in such a strange head space, I would have been picking up my jaw from the floor. Was Chad a… werewolf?

It was the closest reference I had, even if they weren’t supposed to exist. I’d definitely stepped into something crazy. Either I had been slipped something at the bar, or the world was a lot weirder than I ever gave it credit for.

With no idea what to do against a supernatural beast, I gave in to the beast and let those instincts take over.

“Heel!” the woman demanded, this time punctuating it with a piercing whistle that made me dizzy.

Chad tottered, and I thought it was over for a second, but then he launched himself at me. The smirk on his face transforming into a maw wide with teeth.

Fangs and fur streaked at me. There was a moment where my mind and body were disconnected. My mind screamed to run, and my body roared to fight. I sidestepped in a blink and grabbed one of his out-stretched arms, spinning him in a circle and slamming him down on the concrete hard enough to shatter the sidewalk paver.

I hoped he’d stay down, but the hit only phased him for a moment. He was back on his feet in seconds, a growling mass of fur and fury. He came quickly after that, his hands, now claws, swiping at my head.

Against my better judgement, I grabbed Chad’s arm and stopped him in his tracks, using the other arm to throw a punch that snapped Chad’s head back and sent him stumbling away. Holy crap, I was strong.

He paused to recover, but I pressed forward, snapping two more punches against his face, keeping him staggered before I kneed him in the gut and caused him to buckle over. Anybody else would have been down for the count, but apparently werewolves were more sturdy. 

The beast, not yet satisfied, took his bent head and hit it with the full force of a right hook to the temple.

I could feel a wet crack as I broke my hand, but Chad went down for the count.

Ignoring the pain, I stood over him. “Pathetic pup, you should learn to respect your betters.” The words came out growled. Placing my foot on his chest, I pinned him to the ground, pausing for a moment as I wrangled with what to do. My beast wanted to squash the man, but I’d regained enough control to try to think it through first.

“Please spare him. I am Princess Jadelyn Scalewright and my family would compensate you for the damage done here today.”

Her name sounded important, even if it meant nothing to me. And this time, her voice didn’t seem to calm my beast, who was completely focused on Chad.

“This is retribution. You should both learn your place in the world.” I or he… I wasn’t sure if I was going crazy just yet… pushed my foot down on Chad’s chest. The beast fought for control, ready to finish it completely.

Jadelyn screamed in response, and the air rippled out of her mouth. Her scream became something almost physical as it slammed into my side.

I jumped and rode the wave of sound several yards away from where Chad lay. My ears were ringing, and I felt the warm trickle of blood coming out from one side.

The scream shook me a bit from the primal moment and that loss of control. I knew that scream would have people running from all over to investigate. I did not want to deal with the fallout.

I could feel the beast less than enthused about the idea of leaving, but it didn’t try to stop me.

Had I gone nuts, or had the world? I just fought a freaking werewolf and won.

Either way, I needed to get out of here. Something about me was different, I knew that, but I needed to get away and figure things out.

I turned my back to the pair and started walking away. As I moved, it was almost like something clicked in me, and I felt much more in control of my body. I almost stumbled, but turned it into a glance behind me.

Princess Jadelyn was staring at me in horror. I seemed to have done something completely out of her expectation, which was saying something given she knew a werewolf and seemed to have abilities of her own. Her eyes tracked me as I stared back at her.

A smirk came across my lips. I just couldn’t help it. I felt like a fucking badass.

I almost strutted slightly, which was of course was ruined, when all of a sudden my body was wracked with pain. My head spun and my fist ached. I focused on moving one foot in front of the other and getting out of there. The rest I’d have to figure out later. All I wanted to do was get back home and lock the doors.

The rest of the trip home was blessedly uneventful, but my whole body continued to ache. I couldn’t have told you the color of my own shoes. My mind was so addled by the events that had just transpired.

Apparently, that scream of Jadelyn’s had been a doozy.

I locked the door behind me and checked to make sure Frank wasn’t home before talking to myself.

“Well, that hurt like a bitch.” My stomach responded, gurgut is not from her.

“Then what is it from?”

Me. You need to eat. Your body is going to change rapidly.

Now that the beast said it, I could feel that ache in my chest was coming from my gut. I’d thought it might be from getting throttled, but the more I focused on it, the more I realized it was from my stomach painfully reminding me it was about to start digesting itself.

Opening the fridge, I groaned. There wasn’t much besides Frank’s half a box of pizza from the other night and condiments. No other real food.

“Sorry Frank, but I’m starving.” I pulled out a slice of the greasy cheap pizza, but even cold it tasted better than anything I’d had in a long time.

You’ll need more.

“How much more?”

Several times what you have there.

I wasn’t going to do a grocery run that late at night, so I pulled out my phone and used an app to order three large pizzas.

“What now?”

You eat, and then you sleep. I am tired as well.

I wasn’t sure why, but I got the sense that the beast curled in on itself and settled down after that.

“Did you just go to sleep on me?” I asked the empty apartment. When there was no reply, I felt stupid.

The pizza came, and I shocked myself when I had pounded down all three of them and still felt like I had room for more. Somehow my stomach had become a bottomless pit.

I thought about ordering more, but the ridiculousness of that and the waves of exhaustion washing over me won out. I gave up the thought and headed to bed.

Sleep came as soon as I put my head down. I only woke once during the night, when Frank came home and drunkenly yelled for me. But he must have brought home Maddie, because it wasn’t long before the quiet was broken by a rhythmic pounding beat against his wall.

If you read the WIP for this story a month back this chapter might look a little familiar. However, I decided to reduce the agency of 'the beast' because it made Zach feel a little like a passenger at times when I pushed further into the story. It's a minor change in the grand scheme of the story but one of the sort of things that I have to get into the story a little to realize and why I'm typically writing the first draft ahead of what I post here.

I think it works a little better with the character arc I have for Zach as he transitions to what will become his new normal.