Hope was still choking back tears when the dragon’s human fingers began to twitch behind her back. With every stroke of the shovel, Hope’s eyes got wetter and wetter as she remembered Alaric’s words. His disappointment was worse than his anger, she thought.
Leaves crunched under the weight of the shifting dragon and Hope finally turned, pulling out the knife and raising it above her head in a flash. She glared down at the dragon, trying to steel herself for what she needed to do. She had already thought she’d killed the dragon - hell, she was digging the grave two seconds ago - so why was she hesitating now? 
Maybe it had something to do with the very human eyes looking up at her. The dragon stuck its hand out towards her, insisting on something silently. Hope only raised the knife higher, pressing her lips together tightly. She was so grateful the dragon looked away that she didn’t notice her glowing throat. She didn’t notice until it was too late.
Alaric had already swiped the knife from her hand and stabbed it into the soft side of the woman’s throat, cutting off the breath of fire before Hope registered what was happening. She stood in place, eyes wide and mouth open, as the dragon fell backwards and landed heavily with a thud. Alaric stepped back to stand next to her, watching to make sure the dragon really was dead this time.
“I couldn’t do it,” Hope said quietly. 
Alaric turned his head to look at her pointedly. “Good."