Chapter One
As Dr. Emily Davies drove away from Clan Stonefire and toward the Scottish dragon clan of Seahaven, she willed her tears to wait. She needed to get away, far away, before she let herself break down.
Although the memory of her conversation with Dr. Trahern Lewis—a dragon-shifter doctor on Stonefire—less than half an hour ago kept replaying in her mind:
Emily waited by her car, surprised at how late Trahern was. He was always punctual, to a fault.
She should know, given how they’d been friends for so long, ever since she was a university student.
But then his dark-haired, bespectacled form came into view. She waved at him, and he raised his hand for a second. As he came closer, she noticed his frown.
When he stopped in front of her, she said, “I thought maybe you were lost in an equation or research.”
“No.”
He remained silent, staring off to the side. Emily was used to Trahern’s idiosyncrasies and knew he wasn’t big on eye contact.
Then his eyes met hers, flashed to slits a second, and then he blurted, “I have agreed to mate Grace Butler.”
Emily’s heart skipped a beat. Grace had recently been rescued from a dragon hunter research and experimentation facility, where the prisoners had been held against their will. “Pardon?”
“It’s true. She’s afraid and needs a way to stay on Stonefire. I have no mate, and this way we can monitor her children for lasting effects from the drugs the hunters gave her.”
For a few seconds, Emily merely stared at him. Trahern had never wanted a mate before, and she should know—she’d fancied him since her university days.
And now he was going to mate a stranger? Even though she wanted to shout and demand why, she knew better and merely asked, “Do you think that’s wise? It means you’ll have to live together.”
He stared off into the distance. “I know there are more negatives than positives. But my dragon convinced me otherwise.”
Trahern’s inner dragon rarely spoke to him. Emily suspected it had something to do with Trahern’s father and his treatment of the dragonman as a boy. However, his dragon talking and convincing Trahern to do this was important, and meant Grace might be their true mate.
And Emily was fairly certain she wasn’t his.
All these years, she’d wondered if his dragon was just indifferent to females in general. However, he clearly wasn’t. The beast merely needed the right woman to speak up.
Her chest tightened, and her eyes heated with tears.
It was foolish because Emily knew Trahern had never shown a real interest in her beyond friendship. And yet, ever since he’d saved her in university, she’d thought they had a bond. One that might eventually become something more.
She’d been a fool.
I will not break down in front of him. I won’t.After a few deep breaths, she pasted on a half-smile and nodded. “Congratulations, Trahern.”
“I suppose. When will you be back?”
“I-I don’t know. Not until I’m done.”
“Of course. Be careful and keep me updated. If you need my help, just ask.”
He put out his hand, and she shook it. Trahern rarely liked physical contact, and so she’d always taken his willingness to shake her hand as a sign she meant more to him.
She really was a fool.
As her head pounded, she knew she needed to leave, or she’d burst into tears. And more than ever, she wanted to drive to the furthest reaches of Scotland to Clan Seahaven and focus on her research.
After removing her hand, she opened her car door. “I’ll email you updates. Congrats again, Trahern.”
Not waiting for a reply, she jumped into the car, started it, and drove away as Trahern lifted a hand in farewell, the early morning sunlight glinting off his glasses.
