My mate was in front of me. The woman I’d loved more than anything and anyone, who I’d spent nights cuddled up with in front of a campfire. I had watched her dare Bastian to jump off the old dock, despite the darkness, watched her laugh and sleep, watched her fall in love with each of us.
“They told me your new name, but I forgot it in all the excitement,” I blurted as a greeting, even though it was a complete lie. I just needed something to break the ice. Everything in me wanted to call her Emmeline, but I knew she didn’t remember that life. And maybe she would see that I was trying.
After all, I needed to be smarter than my clanmates. I wasn’t going to demand she remember or call her a name that felt wrong or strange. I was going to meet her where she was.
Her head popped up, those green eyes meeting mine, making my heart pound at their familiarity.
“I’m Greylen,” I introduced, holding my hand out to shake hers, even though I knew herintimately. From her perspective, this was our first meeting, and I neededto treat it as such.
She stared at my hand for a moment, slowly rising from her crouch. “Rowan,” she said softly, reaching out and placing her soft hand in mine. God, the way it felt. I nearly crumbled. “Nix is around here somewhere, but he wanted to go grab a snack.” She giggled.
“It’s… it’sreallynice to meet you.”
Rowan glanced away, and I ducked my chin, realizing I was staring. “You’re… you’re one of them, right?”
I nodded. I wasn’t going to lie to her. What good would that do? “I am.”
“Your clan has been…”
“A lot?” I supplied, pleased when a small laugh escaped her.
“To say the least.”
“I’m sorry about them. I’ll admit that all this… It’s been a shock for us too.”
“Trust me, I’m well aware how much of a surprise this whole situation is.” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I keep having to resist the urge to run for the hills.”
“Please don’t.” The words were out before I could stop them—a quiet plea.
My dragon needed her near, and the thought of Rowan disappearing again made it wail in desperation. It felt so wrong to ask this of her. Rowan had no clue what’d happened, who we were. But I couldn’t stop the urge to make sure she didn’t leave.
She bobbed her head, eyes tracking down. “I’m here for a while. I have to heal Rory.”
I nodded, too, my jaw tight. “How did you become a healer?”
Rowan tilted her head to the side, brows pinching together as she narrowed her eyes. Several seconds passed, and I didn’t press. I waited, hoping it was clear that I was genuinely curious, that I wasn’t going to rush her into anything.
“I was healed,” she said finally. “I don’t know what the others told you…”
“Griff gave us the basics. He’s very loyal to you. Wanted you to tell your own story.”
A smile broke out across Rowan’s face. “Loyal to a fault, I always say, but he’s my family. We’ve been through a lot together. I trained with Kiki. You’ll know of her?—”
“Everyone does. Most Alphas would sell their left nut to get her to visit their hordes, even for a week, with her healing skills. When she died last year… we all mourned.”
“She was a hundred and twenty years old and had lived a good life. She was ready,” Rowan said, even as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. “I miss her. She saved my life and spent monthshealing me in her hut. When I took an interest in learning, she took me under her wing.”
“So, is it because of Kiki you know about dragons?”
“Oh yeah, she explained it pretty early. I think she was trying to jog my memory. It was obvious my injuries were caused by a dragon, so she assumed I was part of this world.”
I shrugged one shoulder, turning down the corners of my lips, fighting the urge to wipe the tear from under her eye as I said, “It’s a fair assumption to make, I suppose.”
“After a few years working with her”—Rowan gazed down as she began to walk, not a conscious choice, it appeared, more of an urge to move— “I got the itch to explore, to help more. Unlike Kiki, I was young and could go to hordes that didn’t have their own healer or were too isolated. It worked out well. I got a reputation as a damn good healer, and I’ve been treated wonderfully everywhere I’ve gone.”
I watched as something shifted behind her eyes, Rowan leaning back as she folded her arms. A stretch of silence haunted us until she sighed and looked at me again.
“What about you?”
