Chapter 5
Rowan
The kitchen was loud and chaotic when I arrived. Griffin had abandoned me as soon as we entered the den, making a beeline for the dining hall—thinking with his stomach, as always.
I, on the other hand, needed to talk to Ma before food.
The dragon in question had her back to me as she stirred an almost comically large pan of scrambled eggs.
While only a handful of dragons lived in the den, many more descended upon the dining hall for meals.
The gigantic room could easily hold up to a hundred dragons, so Ma had plenty of people to cook for.
She wasn’t alone, there were several others who I hadn’t been introduced to bustling around, taking large trays of bacon out of industrial ovens and following Ma’s orders.
Part of me felt bad for disturbing her, but I knew if I didn’t, she would tell me off for not doing so.
“Ma?” I called, raising my voice slightly to be heard over the clattering of pans.
She turned, her shifter senses allowing her to hear what I never would have been able to. “Rowan! My dear, how can I help? Have you eaten breakfast?” she asked as she wiped her hands on a dishcloth, heading toward me.
“I will eat in just a moment,” I assured her. “Griffin is already there, trying to steal all the good food before I get there. I just wanted to give you this,” I said, holding up the piece of paper with my scribbled notes.
She rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “Of course he is. You would think, with how many years I've been feeding this horde, nothing would surprise me. What’s this?”
“Some foods I recommend for Rory, specific things to help keep up his strength. You should have most of the stuff here—a few of the teas are a little more specific, though.”
I had jotted the list quickly before heading to the den, muttering about how much I wanted Jenkins to fuck off.
Ma nodded, looking over the list. “This is doable. I can send one of the boys into town to get whatever I need. There’s a health food store that carries just about everything you can imagine. We also have a pretty good herb garden here we can raid…”
“Thank you—just ensure Rory is eating and drinking as much of this as he can. I would take it to him myself, but that doctor of yours…”
Her brow knitted together. “Jenkins is an old blowhard. I’ll deal with him. Don't you worry, I will ensure Rory follows this to the letter. Now, you need to go have some breakfast.”
“I'm going. Thank you,” I replied, throwing her a smile before turning and leaving the room. Before I was one step out the door, she was at the kitchen counter, vigorously stirring her eggs, my note tucked into her back pocket.
Griffin looked at my breakfast over his potatoes and bacon with an expression I could only describe as utter horror.
As much as fried food appealed to me, Ma also had a wonderful selection of oats and toppings, which I had opted for.
Oatmeal with honey, almonds, and berries was one of my favorite combinations.
I could get fried breakfast foods at any diner, but fresh, delicious, home-cooked food and produce was a different story.
“You need to eat more than that.”
“This is plenty for me. I’m human, remember?” I smiled, picking up the bowl. The dining hall was bustling, with horde members coming in and out to grab breakfast. Griffin was doing his best to introduce them all to me while shoveling his face full of food.
So far, I had been introduced to two of the Betas: Harris and Logan.
They were both overgrown and loomed over me in size, but with big puppy-dog grins that softened them up plenty.
Logan’s eyes had lingered a little too long on me, but Griffin had growled at him, forcing the Beta’s eyes to the floor.
Unsure where to look after that, Logan had stared at the ground, blushing, before hastily asking if I wouldn’t mind looking at his knee at some point. He had injured it a while back, apparently, and it was taking its time to heal.
“Rowan, right?” A small blonde slid into the seat next to me, grinning.
“Yes, nice to meet you…”
“Nina.” She beamed, shaking my hand in her stupidly soft one. “Everyone’s so excited you’re here.”
Griffin snorted. “Not Jenkins. The bastard is being such a pain in the ass.”
"That’s no surprise, though, is it?” Nina raised her eyebrows at Griffin, a smirk tugging at her lips. “I’ve been avoiding going to that crotchety old bastard for years. If you have some spare time while you’re here, Rowan, I would love to bend your ear about some health-related things?”
I nodded, shooting Nina a smile. “Once I’ve got Rory on the mend, I plan to see other horde members, too, if they want second opinions. I don’t think Jenkins will approve, but I’m only here for a week or two.”
“Only a week or two?” Nina pouted. “Damn. Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer? We could use a good healer. The doc isn’t up to par, honestly.”
Griffin chuckled. “My friend here doesn’t stay anywhere for long. I’m pretty sure the Gazer horde offered her a lot of money to park it, but she turned them down.”
Nina looked over at me, a curious smile on her face. “Just how much did they offer you?”
She grabbed a slice of bacon off Griffin’s plate, ignoring his protests as she leaned in for a bit of gossip. I learned long ago that it was best to just give enough information to keep ’em satisfied.
“Good money, a house, and, if I so desired, any mate of my choosing.” I laughed, rolling my eyes. “I had to turn that down.”
“Why?!” Nina gaped at me. “Having your pick of a horde is like having a candy buffet! Heck, if you went for a clan, you could have multiple hot mates.”
“It just wasn’t for me.” I busied myself with my food, letting Nina and Griffin talk.
Almost everyone waved or came up to say good morning to Griffin before they got their own breakfasts. Griffin answered everyone with reassuring warmth. I doubted he realized that he was looked at as a leader, but I had been around enough dragons to recognize the behavior.
They deferred to him like he was an Alpha.
Then again, it seemed like he was the closest thing to one in North Oak.
“Oh, is it true that Alpha Orsen and Alpha Nix will be back tonight?” Nina asked Griffin, digging into her own breakfast, which Ma had handed her with a loving smile and a silent command to eat.
“Yeah, they confirmed it last night, but I don’t know what time. It’ll probably be late,” Griffin explained.
“How did their trip go? You said they were negotiating something?” I asked.
“They’re in the horde lands to the west of us. It’s mainly a goodwill trip to keep relationships between the hordes positive and ensure borders are confirmed, neither party encroaching on the other’s land and all that. Maybe discuss matings between clans.”
“My ma is actually from that horde!” Nina grinned. “She moved here decades ago when she met my father—folks regularly move between the lands and hordes, especially when love is involved.”
“That’s good,” I commented. “Crappy relationships with the neighbors can make everyone suffer. I saw some stupid shit in Alaska where hordes were so busy trying to tear each other apart that they forgot to look after their own.”
Given that females were rarer in the hordes, sometimes they got a little…overprotective.
After scraping the last of my oatmeal from the bowl, I hummed in appreciation.
Griffin pushed his plate toward me, and with a roll of my eyes, I plucked a piece of toast off the plate.
Griff wouldn’t stop until I ate more. He was like a mother hen with me, which was funny, considering I was his healer, and it was my job to fuss over him.
“So, what do you want to do this morning?” Griffin asked.
I took a moment to think. Ideally, I wanted to dive into the files and supplies in the medicine cabinet to get a good idea of where I stood and whether I needed to order more.
But I had a sinking feeling Jenkins wouldn’t let me near his offices unless I was treating Rory, and that was only because his Alpha had ordered him to allow me to help.
Were it up to him, I’d be back in my car, driving away, in a heartbeat.
“I want to look at the medical supplies. Will Jenkins be an issue?” I asked.
Griffin frowned. “He’ll be a pain in our necks, for sure, but Alpha Orsen is back tonight, and I’m sure he’ll set the old bastard straight. Maybe this morning, you just settle in. You sent the teas for Rory, right?”
“Yeah, his parents are giving them to him today. I’ll check on him this evening. Do they have a way to let me know if he improves or gets worse?”
Griffin held up his cell phone in affirmation.
A tall, lanky young man ambled up to our table. He couldn’t have been older than fifteen. “Uh, Griffin? Could we have Miss Rowan’s help? Kellan hurt his hand. I think he needs stitches. Doc said he was busy.”
He looked between the two of us, a slight panic on his face.
“Kellan?” I asked, already getting up.
“His older brother,” Griffin informed me before turning to the boy. “Alex, go up to my room. At the end of the bed is Rowan’s medical bag. Grab it for us. Where’s your brother?”
“With Ma,” the boy told him before turning and dashing out of the room.
“She’ll be in the back kitchen,” Griffin said, standing and gesturing toward the rear. “Follow me.”
“There’s never a quiet day for a healer.” I chuckled as I strode after him.
We entered the back kitchen, which was a smaller, more intimate one directly off the large room I’d eaten in the previous night.
Ma and another young man, who I assumed was Kellan, were sitting at a tiny table.
A cloth, stained bright red, was wrapped around his right hand.
Kellan looked slightly queasy while Ma fussed over him, putting pressure on his wound.
Ma’s face broke into a relieved smile when she saw me. “Rowan! Oh, you’re a welcome sight. Kellan accidentally got himself a nasty cut.” She nodded at the hand in question.