24. Rowan
Rowan
After what felt like eons, the gentle clicking of my keyboard had become a constant as I typed up all the paper notes.
I’d been determined to start this process sooner rather than later because my eventual hope was to be able to share my findings with other hordes and improve health care for all dragons.
Lofty, I know. I’m a glutton for punishment, I guess.
It was also a good distraction from the Bastian situation. I was itching to check on him, which was silly, considering he was going to either yell at me or snore at me, given his condition.
Still, it was nice to have something like that to focus on to take the edge off this endless paperwork. I’d made a fair bit of progress today, too. Maybe at this rate, I’d be caught up with documentation by—
Crash!
I jumped in my seat, looking around the room, half expecting to see a hole blown through the wall.
“What the hell?” I stood up in a hurry, abandoning my work to rush to the front door and take a look outside.
That boom had been like a plane crash or something, not that I’d ever had the misfortune of seeing a plane crash.
As I stepped outside and turned around to the side of the building, I still didn’t see a plane, but something else had definitely crash-landed in the grass.
A very large, very dazed-looking dragon lay in the yard in front of my clinic.
Instinct took over, and I ran toward them, worried that a landing like that could have broken a wing or worse.
Hurrying to the dragon’s side, I held my hands up as I skidded to a halt, making sure the he knew I wasn’t a threat.
Things could get dicey when one was in this form.
“Hey, there. I’m just coming to check on you. It’s Rowan. I want to make sure you’re—”
My stomach dropped as I realized the dragon I was looking at wasn’t one of the younger pack members or even an older dragon who’d experienced some flight issues. I knew this one—intimately.
Dark iridescent scales rippled as the dragon registered me, dilated pupils stretching even farther.
A huff of breath shot out of his nose, hazy smoke following.
I shook my head, as if that would somehow make him disappear.
It didn’t work, of course, and I exhaled hard, running a hand through my hair as renewed panic wormed through me.
“Bastian. How… how did you even get out here?”
I wasn’t about to get an answer with him in dragon form, but there was no mistaking the drunken fog hanging over his eyes. He was still high from all those painkillers.
Dammit, Grey was supposed to be watching him, ensuring something like this didn’t happen. Watching Bastian, I just had to stand there for a few minutes because I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t do anything while he was in dragon form, but I also had no idea how to make him shift back.
“Ugh, this is not my day.” I turned to Bastian, pointing toward the house behind him. “You need to go back to bed. You can’t be out here, crashing into things like that.”
His dragon eyes did their best to focus on me, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was watching me like he was… sad. His large pupils looked like endless obsidian pools on his massive face, and a tiny whine bled out of him.
“Are you… No, you couldn’t be. Look.” I pointed again, trying to make myself understood, as if I were talking to an oversized Doberman. “The house. You need to go back inside. Shift and—”
That whining picked up, and Bastian pulled himself across the grass with his claws, his belly pressed against the ground, until he was right at my feet, his snout nudging my legs.
When I reflexively shot my hands up, worried he was going to bite me or something, Bastian whined once more, and then… rolled over to show me his belly.
“What in the world?” I was totally thrown for a loop, staring down at an enormous, imposing dragon who apparently wanted belly rubs. “What the hell has gotten into you? Do you really expect me to… pet you?”
Exasperated, I startled again when I heard voices rushing over from the house. I looked up to see Orsen, Nix, and Grey running toward us, worry painted on each of their faces.
“Rowan! Bastian—” Nix stopped himself when he put together what he was seeing. “Well, I suppose you know already. What… what is he doing?”
My brows were at my hairline, my heart in my throat. “Hell if I know! I was working when this oaf decided to crash-land outside my clinic. Why is he in dragon form?”
The three of them pulled to a stop a few feet from Bastian’s gigantic dragon tail, Orsen smirking through a laugh while Grey shook his head.
“No idea. I left him in his bed. Thought he was fine, passed out, but clearly I was wrong.” Greylen crossed his arms over his chest, radiating exhausted energy, while Orsen looked tickled pink. “He’s not going to do anything, though.”
I shot him a glare. “Are you serious right now? Why is Bastian rubbing his dragon head on my feet!?”
Nix snorted, not bothering to hide his grin or the laughter bubbling out of him. “It looks like he’s trying to get himself some scratches.”
“You’re kidding, right? This is Bastian we’re talking about. I’m expecting him to spin around and bite me in half.”
The dragon in question glanced up at me, and I swear to God, gave me puppy-dog eyes. I was getting sappy, sad, whiny puppy-dog eyes from a dragon who I was very sure hated my guts. My focus snapped to the others, silently pleading and in shock. Orsen cocked his head, snorting under his breath.
“He’s not going to eat you, Rowan.” He sighed, shaking his head with a grin that seemed so very apologetic and still loving. “From everything he’s doing, I think he just wants to be near you. Maybe earn himself a few pets.”
I still couldn’t believe it, but as if he were trying to agree, Bastian pressed his nose into my legs and did his best to purr.
A laugh escaped me, and I sagged, glancing at this massive, grump-hole of a dragon who was suddenly searching for a cuddle.
My chest pinched, and I couldn’t stop myself from running my fingertips over his scales.
A contented sound leaked out of him, and that odd, manic energy I’d felt billowing off him relaxed.
“See? Bastian isn’t at the wheel; his dragon is. They adore you.” Orsen nodded. “Maybe you can keep him soothed, and we can get the big lug to wander back toward the house.”
Nix and Grey seemed to agree, moving alongside Orsen as he cautiously approached Bastian. But the moment they got too close, the dragon turned toward them, snapping his jaws in warning. All three of them stopped, holding up their hands like I had.
“Or maybe not,” Grey said, shaking his head. “I think this is a two-person party.”
Panic nearly took over me again, but Bastian immediately melted into relaxed mode once the guys stopped moving and stuck his snout into my lower half again.
I kept stroking the top, admiring the silky smooth and oddly warm scales.
Eventually, the others backed away, letting Bastian remain calm. Now, it was just him and me.
As the seconds dragged on, Bastian nuzzling into me, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I kept petting him, feeling different areas of his head to see what he liked. Still, was I really going to stand there in the yard and pet him?
Abruptly, Bastian lifted his head and nudged my legs hard enough to knock me over.
“Hey!” Sitting up, I glared at him. “What’d you do that for?”
Again, he obviously couldn’t answer, but it didn’t matter.
Bastian’s actions were answer enough as he crawled over and dropped as much of his head into my lap as he could without crushing me.
He closed his eyes, that purr rumbling out of him again.
He proceeded to get comfy, apparently planning to take a nap right in the middle of the yard.
“I have to work, you butthead. You can’t just—” But he pushed into my chest, cutting me off.
“Oh, sure. Push me around. At least I can tell it’s really you now.” I narrowed my eyes at him, resting my arm on his head and trailing my fingers over his scales. “Grump.”
I shot a look up to see Nina coming around the side of the clinic, returning from her outing. She seemed relaxed until her eyes landed on the massive dragon. She stopped short, confusion washing over her face as she pointed at Bastian.
I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Don’t ask. Just… go do paperwork or something.”
Nina giggled, shaking her head with a smile. To her credit, she didn’t ask and just wandered into the clinic without a word. The snoring dragon in my lap didn’t move a muscle, and I chuckled, petting his head.
“When you wake up from all this… woo, you’re going to be so mad.”