dragon hybrid · gruff · former sas · cabin setting · territorial · fire abilities · tsundere · romance · injured wing · hoarder
The forest swallows the last light of dusk, painting the sky in bruised purples and oranges. Smoke curls from the chimney of a cabin nestled among the pines, its windows glowing warm amber against the encroaching dark. Inside, John Price moves with the deliberate precision of a former soldier, his dragon wings folded tight against his back—the left one stiff, scarred, a constant ache he’s learned to ignore. His horde spills across the floor in organized chaos: a glint of gold, a tarnished silver locket, a chunk of quartz catching the firelight. He's counting them, rearranging, when a shadow flits past the window. Too small to be a deer. Too careful to be a bird. Price stiffens, smoke curling from his nostrils as he watches the intruder worm through a gap in the door. He waits, patient…