“Actually, now that you mention it, he only went to medical school about a decade ago. Or, at least, he gotbackfrom medical school then. I don’t know for sure, but I think Bastian’s father sent him because everyone’s health was starting to decline.”
“I guess that makes sense,” she said, muttering to herself again. “If he wasn’t using typical human medicine before, maybe the decline was natural.”
“Natural decline?” I asked.
Rowan bobbed her head. “The well-being of a horde ebbs and flows. It’s normal. Usually, there are a few years every decade or so when things get a little worse. The female birth rate for dragons is low anyway. If Bastian’s father had been concerned when that happened and sent Jenkins to medical school, and then he made the problem a whole lot worse,thatwould explain the situation you find yourselves in.”
I didn’t want to admit it out loud, but she seemed right. Her argument was logical and made perfect sense.
“You really would only need ten percent of this to start up a clinic?”
“I wouldn’t even need that. I pretty much have a clinic already. Sure, a few extra thousand would be nice to get some additional herbs, in case of emergencies, but realistically, I have everything I need. The old healer thought of that. Jenkins boxed up all his stuff and ignored it, for some reason.”
“But if you had the money, what would you do with it?”
“Honestly, if there was money to spare, I would probably talk about building a few greenhouses, so I could grow more plants to help. But other than that, we don’t really need anything. There are probably far better places to invest. Housing, for one.”
I grimaced again. She had hit the nail on the head.
At the same time, though, I made a mental note to start looking into greenhouses.
“Yeah, it’s recently come to our attention how much we’ve let things go.”
“Why, though? You seem like good guys.” Rowan asked, her voice sincere, no accusation in her tone.
I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to tell her what happened without making her feel even an ounce of guilt, because it wasn’t her fault at all. “Honestly, we all kind of lost our way after you went missing. It’s only now that you’re back, we’re starting to open our eyes and realize how big of idiots we’ve been. We’ve been neglecting our horde. Yes, we’ve been here, but it’s not the same as being truly engaged. They deserve better. You make us better, Rowan, you always have.”
“Grey…” She trailed off. The way she said my nickname so softly made my chest burn with a need I hadn’t felt in a very long time.
“I’m not saying this to put any pressure on you. If you want to leave, you can leave. I don’t want to force you to stay. But it’s true. Do you know how hard it is to lose a mate?”
Rowan grimaced, leaning back in her chair. “I’ve seen dragons who have lost their mate, and they lose all the will to live, usually.”
“We nearly did,” I said. “But we had each other to lean on. Plus, we didn’t know where you were. There was still hope that you were out there somewhere. Even though we didn’t believe it, and we assumed you had died, deep down, wehoped. And, well… here you are.”
“And here I am,” she repeated softly. “The question is, who got rid of me? Or at least, tried to get rid of me?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. Do you know anyone who would want you dead?”
Rowan snorted. “I mean, Jenkins probably wants me dead, but I wasn’t a healer back then, so…”
I chuckled. She probably wasn’t too far off the mark there.
“Can you really picture anyone in the horde wanting you dead?”
“No. They’re all kind, open, and welcoming. Well, other than the older generation, but they’re old and set in their ways.”
“Yeah, we don’t listen to them,” I said with a laugh.
“But it wasn’thereI was hurt, was it?” she asked, lifting her hand and chewing on her thumbnail—something she used to do when we first met her. It was her stress reaction. The movement was eerily familiar. “It was a few days’ drive from here.”
“My best guess is that it was a rogue. Maybe they saw us together, happy, and decided they wanted it. Or they wanted to destroy what we had.”
Rowan nodded thoughtfully. “That does seem like the most plausible explanation, but I hate it because I need a clear answer to feel safe.” She stood up, running her hand through her hair. Agitation rolled off her in waves, and everything in me wanted to fix it. Rowan needed comfort, not stress.
“Come here,” I said, holding out a hand. I just wanted her near me, but once she placed her hand in mine, I couldn’t help but drag her into my lap. She didn’t resist, sitting in my lap and resting her head against my neck, seeking comfort from me in a way that made my dragon happy.
She weighed next to nothing physically, but the emotional burden of having my mate in my arms again was almost overwhelming. Her skin was soft where it pressed against mine, and instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her, cocooning her close to me.
