Page 39 of Taught By the Dragon
But wouldn’t that show weakness? Not to mention if she let one piece of her inner wall fall, would the rest come tumbling down soon after?
Her eyes landed on the collection of children’s books Violet had slowly been bringing her. At first, she’d been embarrassed and thought it was to mock her reading skills.
But Violet had asked her to read them, and it was a series centering on dragon-shifters who didn’t quite fit in and how they learned to be better people to both others and their inner dragons. The stories were mostly about embracing differences instead of hiding them.
It was almost as if Violet knew Percy struggled with being the outsider and was trying to show her that she didn’t have to be.
Bloody hell, realizing that made her feel two inches tall.
Sighing, she got off the bed and went to the door. She opened it slowly, making sure no one was out there, and her eyes landed on a book on the ground.
She picked it up and thumbed through it, going back inside her room. As she read the story, she felt even more like an arsehole for yelling at Violet.
The story was about a dragon-shifter student, and her inner dragon was the only one who hadn’t emerged yet, no matter how much she wanted it to. The female would cry and try to hide from the students who all had flashing dragon eyes, even her friends. She sometimes hid from her family too, hating how people pitied her.
However, one of her friends eventually found her and said to have faith it would happen one day. Until then, the friend said she could ask her dragon questions anytime she wanted, until they got their own, so the female dragon-shifter wouldn’t feel so lonely.
By the end of the story, the late bloomer had her inner beast. And because she’d taken her friend up on the offer and asked a ton of questions, she’d been better prepared to work with her dragon than if she’d stayed hidden away.
Closing the book, Percy traced the picture on the cover. Even if Violet’s knocking had stalled her dragon coming out, the girl had only been trying to help her.
The middle of her chest hurt. As she rubbed the spot, her eyes heated with tears. For the first time in her life, she thought someone might be trying to help her without wanting anything in return.
And how had she reacted? By treating Violet like crap.
Wiping the back of her hand across her eyes, she took a few deep breaths and went searching for Violet. She could try again with her dragon later. But for now, she needed to make things right. As weird as it was, the fifteen-year-old might be her first-ever friend who wasn’t her dragon.
It was scary as fuck to think she wanted to apologize and care about someone else’s feelings. But to not do it, to just brush it off, seemed so very, very wrong.
And so Percy went looking for Violet.
* * *
Bronx finishedhis call with Bram and headed back inside the cabin, only to find Violet madly stirring some sort of dough or batter. That meant something had upset her.
He went over to the kitchen and leaned against the counter. “What happened?”
She mixed the contents of her bowl more briskly. “Nothing.”
“Then why are you about to start flinging dough or batter, or whatever the hell is in there, all over the kitchen?”
She huffed, stopped mixing, and set down the bowl. She turned toward him, her cheeks flushed and her pupils flashing rapidly. “Why would someone try to push everyone away? And shut them out? Even if all you want to do is help them?”
He had a sense something had happened with Percy, but he wouldn’t jump to conclusions. “Everyone’s past is unique, Vi. And many people go through trials and tribulations, which make them the way they are. No two people are ever exactly the same, and that actually makes life more interesting.”
She grunted. “And bloody difficult.”
He resisted smiling at her tone—which he knew wasn’t funny, but she was rarely gruff—and replied, “Yes. Want to talk about what happened?”
She sighed. “I don’t want to complain about something that seems trivial when compared to so many other things.”
“Just because you think your situation is arguably better than someone else’s doesn’t mean your feelings are less important.”
She smiled. “You sound like a dad right now.”
He shrugged. “That’s what I’m mostly good at, I think. Well, most of the time.”
Violet came closer to him and looked into his eyes. Yet again, her height made him realize how grown-up she was. “You’re a brilliant dad.” She grinned. “Most of the time.”
