Gaby had worked for years to become one of the local firefighters, belonging to the only contingent that included both humans and dragon-shifters. She replied, A child will give us something even stronger to fight for to stay alive, right? Besides, our family will help. You know they will.
Her inner beast sighed. Of course.
Whenever her dragon was so easily complacent, Gaby knew she didn't really agree and wanted to say more.
However, before she could pry, the American Department of Dragon Affairs—or ADDA—employee named Ashley Swift reached the podium and waited for the room to quiet.
Ignoring her pounding heart, Gaby focused on Ashley instead of the hundreds of men in the room. She could do with a minute or two to gather her courage and be who she usually was—a confident young dragonwoman who had learned long ago not to take anyone's shit.
Ashley finally spoke, her voice echoing in the room from various speakers. "Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Dragon Lottery. Each of you applied and passed the screening process, so congratulations. You've made it here, which is a good sign. However, I will give you all one last chance to leave without facing any sort of consequence from backing out. Think on this wisely because once this next minute is up, you're committed to the contracts you signed. And the minute to make a dash out the door begins…now."
Gaby forced herself to watch the room. A few men stood and walked out without saying a word.
For a split second, she wondered if it was because they took one look at her and said no way.
But then she pushed it aside. If they were that shallow, then it was their problem, not hers.
When the minute ended, Ashley spoke again. "Okay, those guys are clearly not meant to be here and ADDA will have to work harder at scree
ning in the future. Regardless, we'll continue. In case you forgot, you're to stay seated while Gabriela walks around the room, asking questions and determining who she'll pick. You're not to talk unless she asks you something. If you break any of the rules, you'll be escorted out." Ashley narrowed her eyes and looked around the room. "I've done this before and if you think you're above the rules and decide catcalling is going to somehow lure Gaby to you, then you'll be taken out of here quicker than you can snap your fingers." Ashley stood tall again and looked at Gaby. "The room is yours."
Gaby hadn't spent too much time with Ashley Swift until recently, but the more she learned about the human, the more Gaby liked her.
Nodding, Gaby turned toward the room and somehow made her feet work, heading toward the front row.
There were so many men, all different ethnicities, ages, and even confidence levels. Some were staring at the ground, others at her, and even some at the clock.
Okay, those staring at the clock were moved down the list of those to check out more closely.
Her dragon laughed. Hey, give them a break. If you were waiting to see if your future would change forever, you might look at the clock, too, to remember when it happened.
Right, because that's why they're doing it.
You never know. After all, they are human. A lot of times their actions don't make sense to me.
Gaby bit her lip to keep from smiling at her dragon's pitying tone. Shush, or I'll never be able to do this.
I'll be here, if you need me.
As her dragon curled up and laid her head on her forelimbs at the back of her mind, Gaby took comfort from the everyday action. She loved her inner dragon, but there was only one thing she couldn't do that a male's dragon could do—instantly realize if their true mate was in the room.
Yet another way females were at a disadvantage with dragon-shifters, in addition to being smaller in size in their dragon forms and not quite as strong.
Focus, Gaby. Right, she could do this. And so she turned all her attention to the men.
Maybe she should ask more questions as she walked by, but she wanted to move around first so she could at least glimpse everyone and then start winnowing them down to make her decision.
A few of the faces looked familiar. Of course there was a chance she'd seen them in South Lake Tahoe before. Her work's headquarters was based here, after all. Even if she mostly worked the surrounding forests, she still came to the city on occasion.
And yet, as a bearded face, another with stubble, one clean-shaven, and so on passed by, she had no idea how to choose. A handsome guy could turn into an asshole when he opened his mouth. And one of the quiet ones could turn out to be the male she'd always dreamed of.
Maybe she'd suggest in the future about how ADDA could give the dragon-shifter candidates portfolios of all the males beforehand, to help sort through them.
As Gaby reached the back of the large room, she noticed a dark-haired male with his hands behind his head, supporting it as he looked at the ceiling.
She couldn't decide if that was worse than looking at the clock.
But she swore she heard a sigh, and it made her curious. So Gaby went to him and drawled, "Bored?"