Chapter 7 I’m Going to Fly
I’m Going to Fly
Ansel
It felt domestic to eat breakfast with Pascal.
Yesterday, I’d freaked out when I realized I would have to let him stay overnight.
Not like I’d ever spent the night with a strange alpha in the same room.
But in the end, I didn’t mind. I slept like a log, knowing he was near.
When I woke up because of some dream I couldn’t remember, I glanced at his big body sprawled on the floor and fell asleep again.
Was it foolish of me to feel safe with him? But if he wanted to hurt me, he could have done it already. He seemed like a decent guy. Or a decent dragon.
“Ansel, I’ll see tonight how I’m doing, but I think I could try to leave tomorrow morning.
” He paused, poking around his bowl with his spoon.
His forehead crinkled. “I think you should come with me. We’ll find some cell service, then you need to call for help with your car.
You shouldn’t stay here alone when you don’t know if you can return safely. ”
He was right. I just didn’t want to go back yet and face the music. My parents must have figured out already that I wasn’t at the hotel. My phone would explode with messages and missed calls. When I thought of it, my stomach ached.
Pascal leaned forward, studying me with unnerving focus.
“Ansel?”
“Yes?”
“How old are you, really?”
I fidgeted, picking at a side pocket on my hiking pants. It bothered me that I’d lied to him, but he didn’t need to know, did he? “Why are you so concerned about my age? I’m an adult.”
We sat on the bed, each with a bowl of cereal.
He was close enough for me to feel the warmth coming off his huge body.
With only the towel over his hips, all the naked skin on display, he seemed to take over the entire cabin.
He smelled nice, like the forest, without any of the typical sweaty alpha stink. He just gazed at me kindly and waited.
I slumped, my defiance evaporating. “I’m nineteen. Do you want to see my ID?”
“I’m good, but thanks for telling me.” He still looked worried. “Why are you hiding out here?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I’m wondering if I can help you in any way. I owe you a lot. But even if I didn’t, you seem like a good person. I would hate for you to be in any kind of danger.”
He meant well, I knew.
“I’m not in any danger. Not like that.” I leaned back against the folded sleeping bag, and my head hit the wall with a thump.
If I could just bang the courage I needed into my skull, that would be awesome.
“My parents thought I was going to a resort my father had booked. By the time they must have found out I wasn’t there, they should have received an email from me that might have stopped them from calling the police, but I have no signal, so I don’t know. ”
“What happened?”
“There’s this guy.”
With my eyes on the ceiling, I didn’t see Pascal’s reaction, but I heard how he sucked in a breath. I hurried to explain before he jumped to conclusions.
“His name is Valentin. My parents think he’s, like, my ideal man.
He’s been around for years, an acquaintance of the family, but lately he’s been…
expressing an interest.” I sighed. There was no way to be honest and not admit to my stupidity.
“Thing is, I probably encouraged him. I didn’t know what I wanted and let it go too far.
Then my parents were hosting this party last Friday.
He got me alone, kissed me, and wanted to get engaged.
So I told him I needed time to think about it, which of course pissed him off because he thought we were a done deal.
Then my parents got pissed because they thought the same.
My papa took my phone and wrote this absurd message to Valentin that made it look like I wanted to marry him but got too nervous.
As if his proposal got me so excited I had a breakdown or something ridiculous like that.
Valentin bought it and is coming for dinner on Friday, where I’m expected to be all smiles and celebrate our engagement. ”
As I recapped the story to Pascal, I got angrier and angrier. How come nobody ever wondered what I wanted? None of these people who claimed to love me even cared what I thought.
“I don’t understand,” Pascal said. “Are you engaged?”
“I don’t get it either. Nobody asked me if I wanted to marry him, not even Valentin. They just assumed.”
“And you don’t?”
“No!” Yeah, I was pissed. My stomach hurt, which always happened when I got frustrated. “They’re going to kill me, but I can’t make myself love someone when I don’t, can I?”
“Can you be honest with your parents? They shouldn’t force you to marry someone you don’t even like. This is not the eighteen hundreds. Honestly, even expecting you to marry so early in life seems rather strange.”
“It’s not that uncommon in my parents’ circles.”
“No?”
“My father is…” It felt so good to be talking to Pascal about it. I might as well lay it all out there. “My name is Ansel Perrault.”
“Why is that…” I glanced at Pascal just in time to see his eyes widen with recognition. “Your father owns the Perrault concern?”
“Yes. That I’m out here alone, outside of a preapproved resort, without security detail and an entourage of staff, is not normal.
My father will have a fit. It was different when I was a kid.
But now everybody knows my parents from the media.
I’m lucky they kept me out of the limelight because I can still walk down the street without strangers recognizing my face.
Anyway. Getting married before my first heat would save me a lot of potential problems. If I’m still single by then, my parents will probably hire some high-profile heat teacher, but my reputation will be questioned. ”
Pascal was quiet for a while. When I looked at him, he was staring at me with this focused, almost angry frown. If I didn’t know better, I’d be worried he was annoyed with me. But it was just the things I’d said that bugged him.
“You’re not going to marry that man just to appease your parents,” he stated, a dark scowl marring his emerald eyes. He had beautiful eyes. Like huge green jewels. Now they glowed, and I felt a little strange staring into them.
It hit me at that moment. Pascal was a mythical creature, a shape-shifter who could soar through the sky. I knew but hadn’t truly realized, but now I did. It felt so huge. Life-changing.
The dragons were real. Pascal was one of them and emanated this energy, this concealed power that had me leaning closer until I could see the glimmering gold in the green of his irises…
I blinked.
“I’m not going to marry him,” I blurted. “I knew that the first night I came here. I’m stalling because I don’t know what will happen. I’m a little scared.”
“What are you scared of?”
“I guess I’m going to have to take responsibility for my own decisions. Be an adult. Marrying Valentin would be the safe choice. I’d fulfill the expectations of my family and friends and continue to live the life I’m used to.”
“Do you want that?”
“No. I want to finish college. Go traveling. Meet people. That’s what I want to do. But it’s scary too.”
“You’re much braver than you think, Ansel.”
I wanted to believe him. “Maybe.”
“You’ve traveled here on your own and met me. And I have it from reliable sources that I’m as scary as it gets. But you’re not afraid at all.”
“You’re not that scary.”
He looked insulted. “I beg your pardon, young man. I have a wingspan of forty feet, razor-sharp teeth, and twenty daggers for claws. I’m a monster, the most dangerous creature you’ve ever encountered.”
I snorted. “You are indeed terrifying. A big bad dragon.”
He grinned, bowing his head politely. “Thank you for the compliment.”
A strange lightness filled my chest when I laughed with Pascal. Dragons are real.
I smiled wide at him, and he smiled back. Then I laughed. The warm, giddy feeling spread through me, my heart beating a little faster.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, even as he laughed with me.
“Dragons are real.”
“They are. It’s no laughing matter,” he said with mock sternness.
But I was on a roll. “My granddad was right, and my parents were wrong. Not under any circumstances am I letting them make decisions for me anymore. The world is a magical place. There’s so much more I can do or be. And they have no idea.”
“You can be whoever you want, Ansel.” His eyes smoldered when he said that.
I sat up, determined. “Tomorrow, I’m coming back with you.”
“Back to Ardaine?”
“Yes. I’ll go home and talk to my parents.”
Pascal smiled at me. For the umpteenth time, it occurred to me how handsome he looked, in a rugged way I wasn’t used to appreciating in alphas.
“How about we fly back?” he asked.
It took me a few seconds to get his meaning. Then my heartbeat went into overdrive. “We can fly? You’ll carry me?”
“We have to get up before dawn. I can try to shift. If my wing is okay, we can fly to my car.”
“Wow.”
“Do you want to?”
“Of course, I want to. I’m going to fly with a dragon!” Then I deflated. “How are we going to take all my stuff? I mean, we can leave it here. I’ll pick it up later or send someone…”
“I’ll carry it.”
“But it’s a lot.”
“Ansel, when I’m healed, I can carry the entire cabin with you in it. Don’t worry about it. How did you bring the food here? Grocery bags, or did you have something else?”
“I have three big canvas bags and my backpack. I went two times with a full load, but we’ve already eaten a lot. If we leave all the canned stuff, it might fit.”
“Okay. We’ll take the perishables and all your personal things and leave the rest.”
“That works.”
I was going to fly. Some people took a plane, some a helicopter, and some had even been to space in a rocket. But I had by far the coolest means of transportation ever. I was a little nervous about seeing Pascal change forms, but as I got to know him better, I feared it less and less.
We spent the day packing and securing the cabin. Pascal could walk now without limping, favoring his foot only a little.
He was drying the dishes and putting them away when something occurred to me.
“Do you do something else?” I asked.
“I’m…doing the dishes? What do you mean?”
“No. Like a job. Are you just a dragon, and that’s it? Or do you have a job? Is that something you can tell me?”
His expression brightened with recognition. “Sure. I teach math.”
I gaped, mute, as Pascal the math teacher wiped a mug and placed it on a shelf. He took another, swirled the dish towel around it, then put it next to the first, neatly aligning the handles.
“You’re a math teacher,” I mumbled.
He threw his arms in the air, sending the dish towel flying. A chuckle bubbled out of his chest. “Out of all the things I’ve said and all the things you’ve seen, this shocks you?”
“Um. Yes? I mean, together with the other stuff it does.”
Pascal put one hand on his hip and cocked his head to the side. “What should I do, then? What would be the ideal dragon occupation?”
I gave it some thought. “A firefighter?”
Pascal burst into laughter. “I’m so sorry to disappoint you, Ansel.”
“That’s okay. Math is okay, I guess.”
“Okay? You hate it, don’t you?”
“It wasn’t my favorite subject in high school, no. Where do you teach?”
“College level, at Ardaine University.”
“So you’re that good at it, huh?”
“Applied logic is my domain, but no, I’m nothing special, I’m afraid. Just your normal college professor, tweed, elbow patches, and a thermos with stale coffee.”
“You don’t look like a professor.” I let my eyes travel down his mostly naked body and up again. Nope. Definitely not your usual professor. “I bet half of your students have a terrible crush on you.”
Pascal opened his mouth and closed it again, staring at me with what could only be described as dread.
“What? Don’t tell me it’s never happened.”
He straightened his shoulders and studiously wiped an already dry plate.
“The university has a strict anti-fraternization policy. The staff is forbidden from having any relations with undergraduate students. Relations with graduate students are discouraged and must be disclosed to a committee that might pursue disciplinary action. So when it happens, it’s awkward and very inconvenient. ”
“Meaning it has happened?” It had been my own stupid notion, but now the idea of Pascal’s students fawning over him annoyed me.
“I have been hit on once or twice. I clearly communicated that the interest was not mutual, and I’ve considered wearing a fake wedding ring.”
That made me grin. “Not a bad idea. I’m at Wintringham College. We have this young, hot French alpha teaching phonetics. Everybody I know hates the subject, but this guy’s lectures have the best turnout.”
“Wintringham?” Pascal’s eyebrows flew up.
“Yeah. I know.”
“It’s a good school, I hear.”
“Small, secluded, very expensive, with enough famous names to ensure enhanced privacy measures. Everybody knows about everybody, but nobody trusts anyone.”
“That sounds lonely.”
I shrugged one shoulder. Time to change the subject. “How old are you anyway?” I asked. “And if you say two hundred thirty, I’m going to have so many questions.”
He gave me a soft smile over his shoulder. “I’m thirty-nine.”
“Huh.”
He didn’t look almost forty. Thirty or thirty-five maybe, but not forty. But what did I know? I liked the way he looked. If he were my professor, I might have been one of those students with a crush. But I would never have the guts to hit on him.
The food supplies were sorted, the bags packed, and the kitchen counter wiped clean.
We would eat cereal bars and apples for breakfast so as not to create any mess just before we had to leave.
Pascal said that since the sun came up at half past six, we needed to get up at four and be ready to fly before five.
Apparently, the dragons only flew during the night.
I thought I’d never be able to sleep, not knowing what was about to happen tomorrow before dawn.
Even so, as soon as my head hit the pillow, I disappeared into limbo land.