I didn't raise my son to be a soldier

Ash  June 25th 1917

"Hey, big guy, you play poker?" Someone calls out to me. I turn to see five men sitting at a table. Nothing special about them. There's nothing that would make you look twice except for their scent.

None of them are human. I smell dragons, werewolves, and a vampire. None of which I was expecting to find here. Three months with my brother was barely enough to teach me the basics of the human world. My family taught me how to handle money, politics, and the social structure workings. Darius even showed me how to drive, though I'm horrible at it now. All of that was just enough for me to pass as a human. That didn't mean I was prepared to handle other supernaturals.

"What are you playing for?" Honestly, I'm not ready for this. Yes, I've dealt with my own kind during my three years in the Royal army, but that was still in our world. This was the human domain. The rules changed for all of us. But if I don't go over there, I might worsen things.

"Reds are a penny, blues are a quarter, and the whites are a whole dollar. Are you interested, or is that a little rich for you, country boy?" The tall man smirks at me, clearly sending a challenge. He's completely relaxed, watching my reactions with a look I expect from a high-ranked soldier in the royal army. I know what he's doing. He's sizing me up. 

"Deal me in." I sit across from him, pretending I'm clueless about what's happening.

"What makes you think he's a country boy, Salvador?" One of the werewolves tosses at the dragon. He looked to be about eighteen, with a thick accent. "He doesn't look like he's from Georgia." 

"Call it a hunch, Billy. And not everyone from the country is from Georgia. Just because you are." The dragon turned back to me, offering me a disarming smile. "I'm Salvador Lombardi."

"Walter Riley." The name had been my nephew's idea. We'd gone through several names that involved aspects of my dragon name, but none fit. So he'd come up with Walter.

"Walter," The dealer muses, showing off his shuffling skills by juggling the cards in his hands. "Leader of the army."

"If you say so." It was true. That's one of the reasons we'd gone with it. "And you are?"

"Nick Walker." He cocks his head to the side, smirking before dealing the cards. "Where are you from, Walt?"

"San Francisco." It was easier to say that than admit I was from Alaska. That opened the door to other questions I wasn't prepared to answer.

"You don't look it." the vampire drawls out, tapping his fingers on the table. "You look like you're from further up."

"Leave the new guy alone, Eric." the other wolf snorts. "What does it matter where he's from? Like you're really from Colorado." 

"Hey, what matters is where you call home." Nick shakes his head, nudging me. "Isn't that right, big guy?"

"Whatever you say." My attention stays on the vampire. The few I've dealt with were the equivalent of my age, but this one looked older. He was pale, but not so much that he'd raise alarm bells. He had a tall frame, but it's hard to tell since we're sitting. Still, I'm a few inches taller.

I won't deny it. I'm instantly attracted. I don't know if it's the green of his eyes or his almost elven features, but I like him. Eric, that's what the werewolf called him. Of course, you couldn't mistake him for a woman, but there was a delicate beauty about him that I'm sure others had noticed. As I take my cards, I can feel him still watching me, but I focus on my hand. I might be interested, but that doesn't mean he is. Besides, Elena warned me how dangerous it could be to advertise things like that.

"I'm Billy," The werewolf holds his hand out, and I give him a quick handshake before he points to the other wolf. "This is Frank."

Once the introduction was done, we started to play. I'd learned to play cards from the miners who came to find gold twenty years ago. I was pretty good, but that's something they'll have to learn on their own. Maybe they see me as some naive kid who doesn't know anything about the world, but I'm not. True, most of my knowledge was from my books, but I wasn't planning on being trampled over by anyone.

We play a few hands without talking much. They all appear to know each other, and I'm the odd man. Though the one who seems the most relaxed is the one I'm wary of. Salvador. I'm almost certain I've never seen him before, but he's looking at me like he knows me. Of course, I look different in my complete human form, but that might not be enough.

Unlike other races, dragon shifts can be paused halfway. It takes practice to control the magic, but you can choose how much dragon is present once you do. For me, it's always been natural to keep my hair and eyes the colors of a dragon, and I've been told that makes me look very different. Halona... my mother said I had something called a frosted glow when I was in between. As if my magic was radiating around me. So, I doubt this dragon would recognize me if he did know me, but the same could be said for him.

"And the pot is mine!" Nick takes all the chips on the table with a wide grin. It's strange. He's won seven times now. 

"You're cheating!" There was no way someone could win that many times in a row. No one was that lucky, not even in our world! "There's no way you could manage to win that many times!"

"What?" Nick halts and looks at me. The others at the table don't move, saying nothing. Did they know? They had to. It was too obvious. "No, I'm not."

Slamming my cards down on the table, I get up and face him. He does the same, glaring at me with his jaw set. It's a good act, but I see the twitch in his eyes. He's lying, and we both know it. I'm not like my mother, either of them. I'm not patient, and I got that from my father. The other thing I got from him is I hate to be cheated.

"You heard me. No one gets three royal flushes in a row." Now I was angry. Maybe I overreacted, but they'd throw jabs at me throughout the game. The fact I was clearly not like them, my height, and sharing looks when I lost a round.

Now we were attracting the attention of the other soldiers. I smelt adrenaline in the air, and it only fueled my agitation. Nick was almost a foot shorter than I was, but even with his uniform, you could tell he wasn't a weakling. That was fine with me, I wasn't either, and I'd be damned if they were going to talk down to me because we were from the same world. If it'd been humans who did it, I could've tolerated it, but not from my own. Nerva may have had more influence over me than I thought.

"Might not be a good plan to insult someone who's being friendly, Walt." He takes a step forward, and I stand to my full height. To his credit, he doesn't back away. "It's just a game."

"Who says I'm looking for friends?" Nick's eyes change from gray to sky blue for a second, and I see the hint of fangs, but I doubt anyone noticed. "And when there's money involved, it's never just a game."

Nick turns to his friends, chuckling at what I've said. Salvador glared at us. He didn't want us to get into this here in front of everyone, but I didn't care. This was why I couldn't be a diplomat or a lawyer. I preferred to settle things with a fight, not peacefully, and by the looks of it, Nick was the same way.

"You don't want to start this, friend," Nick warns, but his spark tells me this is precisely what he wants from me. "You might be over your head."

"I don't think I am." There was no point in intimidating each other, but I'll give him one if he wants a challenge.

"Enough." A hand grabs me and pulls me towards the door. I try to turn to punch whoever has me, but I stop when I see it's Eric. He takes the back of my shirt and drags me outside. Salvador had Nick by the collar and was following behind us.

It's dark outside, and he doesn't let me go until we're at the back of the boat. He shouldn't be this strong. My father was the only one with the strength to move me like this. When he's sure it's just the six of us, Eric lets me go, and Salvador does the same, but not before smacking Nick on the back of the head.

"You're both acting like hatchlings." He growls. "Nick, you know better than to shift in front of humans. And as for you..." 

Salvador points an accusing finger at me. I growl, not hiding my fangs now. Who did this dragon think he was? Salvador was almost as tall as I was, but he was leaner. He pops his neck and rolls his shoulders like he's the one preparing to fight. His eyes change from brown to blue, and the tips of his hair change to silver.

"You'll need to learn quickly if you intend to survive this world, Ashari Atreanous." He declares, and my anger freezes. "Otherwise, why did you leave your father's wing?"