Chapter 2
Anthony
The old tattoo had tingled once yesterday, but I’d expected that.
I’d only been back in town for a few days.
When the time came for me to come back to Bluewater, my parents had warned me that Skylar hadn’t moved away, as I had always hoped she would.
I was prepared to run into her again and do my best to ignore the mating call.
Yeah, right. I should’ve stayed gone. I’d never intended to come back and take over as alpha during Skylar’s lifetime, but my father up and decided he wanted to retire and enjoy the good life, so he said.
Then, in the next breath, he told me I couldn’t get any ideas about Skylar, that humans and dragons couldn’t mate.
I should’ve told him no. Told him to wait.
But here I was, getting ready to be introduced to my new team, and my tattoo tingled again. It had been tingling for two or three minutes now. She had to have entered the building, at least.
They’d warned me Skylar was a nurse, but I’d stopped them there. I didn’t want to know. As my tattoo flared to life, scalding my arm for the first time since I was sixteen years old, I stiffened and looked at the door of the small conference room.
And she walked in. She didn’t notice me, either. My dragon roared inside me, urging me to make my presence known, but all I could do was stand there and try not to look shocked by her presence.
I schooled my features into an inscrutable mask, something I’d perfected during my intern years.
And finally, after what felt like a dozen lifetimes, she looked up and met my gaze.
My breath caught in my throat. My tattoo burned until it throbbed to the beat of my heart, which was beating in double time.
After all these years of my instincts screaming at me to go home and find Skye, there she was, sitting at a conference table in front of me.
I knew I should’ve checked to make sure she didn’t work here. Of course she worked at this hospital. Of all the doctor’s offices and all the hospitals in the world, she worked here. She could’ve gotten a job at a nursing home, pediatrician’s office, telehealth, even.
But no. She worked at the one place I wanted to work now that I’d be in Bluewater indefinitely. As of the next new moon, I couldn’t move away from the cove without moving the entire clan with me.
They’d go if I ordered it. But I’d never do that to them. This was their home, our home, and had been for a couple of centuries now, though the clan had grown exponentially in the last hundred years or so. So much that the townsfolk had decided years ago we were some weird cult.
I had no idea how to remedy that situation. I didn’t even know what to do about my fated freaking mate sitting right in front of me, pretending she didn’t know me.
Starting something up with Skye would mean directly disobeying my alpha. But he wouldn’t be alpha for long. Soon, it would be me. That changed things a lot.
Focusing on the job, I tried my damndest to pretend the love of my life wasn’t sitting in front of me, her shiny brown hair still full of red highlights. If I breathed deep, I would’ve been able to smell her. I had no idea what that would do to my blazing arm.
Focusing on work was easy, but ignoring my arm wasn’t.
I rubbed it self-consciously as I introduced myself.
“Hello, everyone. I’m really looking forward to being back home and working in the town I grew up in.
I can’t wait to get to know all of you.” I smiled encouragingly, meeting everyone’s gaze—except Skye’s.
Her, I glanced over. If I looked again, I was liable to ask her to excuse herself and come talk to me in the hall.
After all these years, seeing her again was like a ray of sunshine warming my face… and burning my arm.
Sucking in a deep breath against the pain, I continued introducing myself.
“As I said, I grew up here and went to Bluewater High until my junior year. Then, I was accepted to the Regents’ School for the Gifted in London, where I finished my junior and senior years.
After that, I attended Harvard University, then Harvard Medical School.
I accepted a position at Boston General until a family matter brought me back here. ”
I hadn’t said it to impress anyone, though if I managed to impress Skye in the process, I wouldn’t have been upset.
I’d dated a few shifter women over the years, but my dragon and I had known what we were missing.
Though the pain on the mark had faded the farther away I got from Skye, nothing was ever the same after kissing her.
“So, that’s me. I hope to get to know all of you very soon. ”
The hospital CEO, Dr. Smith, beamed at the table. “Why don’t you all tell Dr. Mason your names and specialties, at least, before we go face the day?” He looked at his wristwatch. “We just have enough time.”
Looking to his right, he pointed at the woman who had walked in with Skye. I tried to pay attention to her, but my gaze kept slipping to her left, to Skye.
“I’m Camilla. Just Cam.” I forced myself to listen and look at her.
I was overwhelmed with being in the same room as my mate again, but that didn’t mean I could ignore these other people.
I’d be working with them day in and day out.
“I’m the primary care office manager, and the only full-time receptionist, though we have several part-timers. ”
I nodded at her and smiled, then counted to three before looking at Skye. She narrowed her eyes at me.
What was I supposed to say? Anything? I hadn’t said anything to Cam. Panic scratched at my throat.
When I was about to open my mouth and say her name, Skye spoke.
“My name is Skylar Wills, APRN, CPNP-PC, FAANP, FAAN. I’m the only nurse practitioner in primary care, so I float out of peds frequently.
” She arched one eyebrow, challenging me.
I ducked my head and smiled. She’d get no challenge from me. I was impressed by her credentials.
As I continued down the table, missing everyone’s names and references completely, I thought about what she’d said.
By the letters she’d rattled off after her name, I knew she was a nurse practitioner with the pediatric specialty and likely had a master’s degree in nursing.
She was a fellow of the prestigious American Association of Nurse Practitioners as well as a fellow of the American Association of Nurses.
Most everyone else just rattled off if they were a nurse or LPN, and so on.
Only Skye went so far as to list everything.
She knew exactly who I was and wanted me to know that she saw me.
I couldn’t help but wonder if in all that time, all that schooling had kept her too distracted to find a long-term boyfriend.
Or even worse, husband. I didn’t see a ring.
Damn it, she was so hot. She’d always been intelligent, but I’d never known she wanted to go into nursing.
I’d stalked her on social media nearly every day since I joined and friended her on there, but she rarely posted.
I didn’t know much more about her from her social media than I’d gotten via hearsay from my family and clanmates that had lived in the town this whole time.
My tattoo kept burning, distracting me not only from the people around the table but it even flared hard enough to distract me from Skye herself.
Dr. Smith dismissed the room, but I didn’t move. It was probably rude of me, but all I could do was stare at Skylar.
And she stared back. And she didn’t move.
We kept our gazes on one another until the room emptied.
I finally looked away to see her friend, Cam, give her and me a strange look before backing slowly out of the room and closing the door behind her.
“Okay, then,” she whispered in the hall right before the door closed.
“Why are you here?” Her voice was flat and the furthest thing from welcoming I could’ve imagined. “Or am I hallucinating?”
I shook my head. “I’m here. And I was telling the truth. My mom and dad asked me to move back home.”
Different emotions passed over her face until she squashed them all down and settled on anger.
I couldn’t blame her for the insincerity in her voice as she stood.
“Well, so nice to have you back. I look forward to working with you.” She didn’t mean it.
“It’s good to know you’re alive and breathing and I can see it in person instead of stalking you occasionally on social media. ” That she meant.
At least I wasn’t the only one doing the stalking, but damn.
I felt like shit, if a little smug that I wasn’t the only one creeping social media.
I knew my reasons for staying away, and a part of me had hoped she’d missed me as much as I’d missed her.
But the bigger part had hoped she’d forget me.
I wanted to know she wasn’t hurt because of me.
“If that’s all, Dr. Mason?”
My hopes fell through the floor. She hated me. I nodded and watched her walk out of the conference room. Dr. Smith came in the moment she left. “One moment, Ms. Wills.”
She stalked back into the room, but Dr. Smith was totally oblivious. “I’ll leave it to Ms. Wills here to show you the ropes. I know you were happy with the schedule Dr. White left, yes?”
I didn’t remember discussing that whatsoever. It must’ve been one of the things I missed during the staff meeting, so I just smiled and nodded.
“Good, good.” He looked at Skye. “You’ll show him around and baby him a bit until he’s broken in?”
She gritted her teeth but nodded. Dr. Smith didn’t notice a thing. “Good, good. Good. I’ll leave you to it!”
With a sigh, Skye watched him walk out. “Come on,” she said sullenly. “We’ve already got patients.”
“I know how important routine is,” I said and hurried around the table to join her. “I’ll do my best to keep to it. I don’t want to throw anyone off.”