As the teacher dragonman turned on a projector and preceded to tell the story of how different dragon factions helped William’s Harrying while others took in refugees and helped rebuild communities, Gina soaked in all of the information. The media usually portrayed dragon-shifters as selfish, brutish creatures. While that might be true in BroadBay’s case, she was starting to see it differently. Between Lochguard and the history of some dragon-shifters helping the human refugees in the winter of 1069-1070, her fear of her son turning out similar to Travis and the rest of BroadBay lessened. With Fergus and Lochguard behind her, she could easily see her son sitting in this very classroom, learning the lesson she was hearing.
For the first time, Gina had more hope than worry for the future.
~~~
Fergus had to give Alistair credit—the dragonman was much more engaging than the history teacher they’d shared as teenagers. Old Mr. Morrison had usually ordered them to read books silently while he scribbled notes at his desk. No questions were to be asked. If a student tried, Mr. Morrison’s response had always been to find it in the book.
In a way, that retired dragonman helped make Fergus who he was since he always looked for answers on his own first.
Yet as Gina kept raising her hand and participating in the class, he soon forgot about his old school days and simply enjoyed watching his female’s enthusiasm.
His dragon spoke up. I wish she was this enthusiastic with us.
She will be. Once we find out all of her favorites, we can surprise her all of the time.
You’re supposed to be an intelligence analyst, so start gathering information and figure it out.
You know I already have. Just have some patience.
His beast huffed and fell silent. His bloody dragon wasn’t much better than a spoiled teenager. Maybe once Gina agreed to be their mate, his dragon would mature and mellow a bit. Not that Fergus was holding his breath; if Holly’s influence didn’t help mature his brother, he doubted his dragon would do it alone.
The bell chimed, signaling the end of class. Alistair held up a hand and the students fell silent. “We ran short of time today, but maybe Ms. MacDonald can join us again and you can ask her some questions then. For tonight, I want you to write one paragraph on how the Harrying of the North helped to shape modern dragon-shifter society. You’re dismissed.”
One of the two female teenagers in the room turned and stared at Gina. Fergus tensed, in case he needed to protect his human. But then the teenager smiled and walked up to her. “I hope you’ll come back, Ms. MacDonald. I’ve always wanted to ask about the American dragon clans.”
Gina tensed under his hand, but she kept smiling and her tone was light. “I’d love to come back. I’m not sure what I can tell you, but I can give it a go.”
Alistair’s voice boomed out. “You’ll be late, Lindsey. You can talk with Ms. MacDonald later.”
Lindsey smiled one last time and left. Alistair closed the door and then leaned against his desk. “You’re quite the student, lass. Come back any time you like. You tend to ask the questions the teenagers are often afraid to ask.”
Fergus stood and helped tug Gina to her feet. Excitement filled her eyes. “Can I? I was worried about asking too many, but soon the others joined in and everyone got involved. It’s just so interesting. Very little American dragon-shifter history is known, so it’s nice to learn anything at all.”
Fergus’s dragon growled. Keep her away from Alistair.
Don’t worry. Even if Alistair wasn’t an honorable male, we have to leave soon anyway. He has a meeting in ten minutes.
So I’m not the only one worried.
I’m not worried. But I want more time alone with Gina.
Alistair nodded at Gina. “Provided Finn says it’s okay, you can sit in any time. Maybe I can even drop by the MacKenzie house for supper soon and I can give you more answers in a one-on-one session, if you like.”
Fergus growled. “That won’t be necessary, Alistair.”
Alistair studied him a second. “Like that, is it? I didn’t know.”
Fergus should’ve pinned a sprig of heather on Gina’s coat earlier. Then he wouldn’t have to go through this; everyone would know she was his true mate then.
Fergus nodded. “It is.”
Gina looked from Fergus to Alistair and back again. “Like what? Tell me what’s going on Fergus.”
He looked down at Gina. “Let’s go somewhere private and talk.” Gina’s eyes turned concerned and he cupped her cheek with his free hand. “Don’t think of the worst possibilities, lass. I just have a bit of news.”
Alistair cleared his throat. “Well, you two clearly have a very important conversation. I have a meeting in here with a few other teachers, so you should probably get going anyway.”
Gina smiled at Alistair and Fergus prevented himself from growling again as she said, “Thanks for having me, Alistair. I’ll be back and soon you’ll be begging me to leave.”