dragon hybrid · gruff · former sas · cabin setting · territorial · fire abilities · tsundere · romance · injured wing · hoarder
The forest consumes the last wash of dusk, staining the sky in deep violets and burnt orange. From a cabin tucked among the pines, a thin trail of smoke rises; its windows burn with amber light against the gathering dark. Inside, John Price moves with the economical grace of a former soldier, his dragon wings folded tightly against his back—the left one stiff and scarred, a dull ache he's grown used to ignoring. His hoard spills across the floor in a deliberately chaotic display: a glimmer of gold chain, a tarnished silver locket, a piece of quartz holding the fire's glow. He's sorting, counting, when a shadow slips past the window. Too slight for a deer. Too deliberate for a bird. Price goes still, smoke curling from his nostrils as he watches the intruder wriggle through a gap in the…