The Last Dragon: Paranormal Shifter Romance Short Story

By Selina Coffey

Amabel Parker has always been 'the clever one'. She's worked hard for that title, spending most of her time reading and making sure that she remembers and understands everything in her books. She is determined to retain that title as she starts college. The teaching assistant, Tristan, has a pretty face and an undeniably sexy body. But Amabel is convinced that he's just another incompetent idiot filling in for the professor... Until he publicly humiliates her in class! No one, no one has ever challenged her like that intellectually! Before long, mutual irritation turns to mutual attraction… and now, Amabel is about to discover the dark secret behind his mysterious eyes.

 

Author's Note: This is a 10,000 word short story. Story contains mature language and themes, intended for adults only.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lovy Books Ltd
• Release date: Aug 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223699873

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Amabel Parker?

Here! Amabel called, raising her hand in the air without looking up from the book she’d been reading. After a few days on campus, she had quickly learned how the first day of any class usually went. Of the four classes she had already attended that week only one of the professors had actually bothered to show up. Much to Amabel’s annoyance, most chose to send their teaching assistants in their place. Amabel had taken to silently referring to them as 'not professors' after the second time it happened.

The majority of the first class was spent taking roll-call, followed by the weakest of introductions to the course before the T.A. dismissed everyone for the day. So far, Amabel hadn’t learned a single thing except to bring a book to class so she would have something to do while the not professors called people’s names. The first time it happened Amabel tried to let it go without much thought, but now, her irritation was getting the best of her. How could she possibly hit the ground running if the professors weren’t even there on the first day? How could she ask them any of the questions she already had? To her, it all seemed incredibly wrong.

Still, Amabel did her best to listen as the teaching assistant for her English Literature class began to speak.

Now that roll is out of the way, he said, Hi everyone, I’m Tristan. I’m Professor Tucker’s teaching assistant. You’ll probably see me more often than you’ll see him this semester, so get used to me.

Tristan smiled at the twenty people in front of him. Amabel rolled her eyes and looked back down at her book. It wasn’t a particularly interesting book, at least not so far, but she found it much more entertaining than whatever Tristan had to say. Plus, she knew she was less likely to blow up at him if she didn’t listen quite so intently.

After a few seconds of silence, Amabel looked up to find the entire class staring at her as well as Tristan. She didn’t say anything, but she closed her book slowly, a flush already creeping up her neck onto her cheeks.

I’m sorry, Tristan said to her, his eyes narrowing slightly, Am I interrupting your leisure reading time?

No, Amabel croaked. She cleared her throat and added, I’m sorry.

Don’t apologize to me, Tristan scoffed, You’re only wasting your own time. If you don’t want to be here, the door is right back there.

He gestured behind her toward the exit. Amabel didn’t move or speak, she simply held eye contact with him and tried not to cry from embarrassment. If there was anything she hated more than not being taught properly it was being called out in front of a classroom full of people. Her cheeks were burning as Tristan continued to stare at her. It wasn’t until after Amabel gave up and looked down at her hands that Tristan cleared his throat and continued on with his introduction.

As I was saying, he said, still clearly annoyed, I’m Tristan. This is English Literature 3306. In this class we will focus primarily on…

Amabel kept her eyes glued on Tristan as he spoke, but she let her mind drift. She was already so angry with how college life was turning out. When she received her acceptance letter to the University of New York she’d been so excited she could barely sit still. Neither of her parents wanted her to move so far away, but after a monotonous childhood in the small town of Trent, Texas, Amabel knew she needed to find something new for herself. Something different. Something big. Something great.

For months she dreamed of all the things she would learn. She bought her required books so far in advance that she had read all of them long before she even left Texas.