Chapter 21
Orsen
Iprided myself on having excellent control of my dragon. But ever since Rowan reappeared, it had been battering against the walls I caged it in, demanding to come out. I wasn’t about to let that happen, of course, but I’d forgotten how damn tiring dealing with the bastard could be.
It was as if I’d been numb for six years, and all of a sudden, every emotion and sensation I’d repressed was rushing to the surface, bright and loud and really fucking annoying.
I hated it. Admitting that I was actually struggling with the scaley asshole didn’t come easily, nor was it something I was going to vocalize anytime soon.
With every passing day, it looked like Rowan would be staying a little longer.
Rory was getting stronger, and the clinic was almost ready for her to see other dragons in.
The horde was excited at the prospect of the new clinic.
But the anticipation had led to a very grumpy doctor standing in my office, huffing and puffing as he stomped around.
It took everything not to roll my eyes and kick him out.
“It’s a joke!” Jenkins spluttered as he paced around my office, throwing a tantrum, like he’d just come out of the proverbial egg. “She has no formal medical school qualifications!”
“She trained under a renowned healer,” I pointed out.
In fact, Rowan had studied under a healer with decades of experience treating dragons, whereas Jenkins had gained his medical knowledge from human med school.
If I mentioned that, though, it would only piss the guy off more, and I didn’t want this to take any longer than it had to.
I’d been in the middle of reading paperwork regarding our lumber supply business when he stormed in.
The arrogant fucker hadn't even bothered to knock.
Would it really be so bad if he just left?
For some bizarre reason, Jenkins seemed to believe being a healer made him as important as an Alpha, if not more so.
That facet of his personality had been grating on me for years, but now, Rowan was here, and it was pissing me off more than ever.
He was the only healer around, however, which meant we’d been forced to tolerate his impertinent behavior for years.
The nearest healer other than Jenkins was a four-hour drive away, and they naturally prioritized their own horde.
Placating him was the best option—for now.
“What, some woman who was just as obsessed with herbs?! You can’t be serious!” Jenkins was walking a fine line. First, he was speaking poorly about a healer I trusted—not to mention my mate—and now Kiki?
I had to bite back the urge to snap at him. Hell, I had to bite back the urge to knock the guy on his smug ass.
But unfortunately, it didn’t look like Rowan was going to stay long-term, or at least that’s what she was still saying. If I had anything to do with it, she’d be staying forever, but I couldn’t exactly chain her in the basement, no matter how much I wanted to.
For a variety of reasons.
Clearing my throat, I shook my head. “It’s only temporary. She’ll take care of some of the patients who’ve been clogging up your practice. Just think of that.”
The words felt wrong, but he was always complaining about lesser injuries taking up his time. Another reason he was a piece of shit. Doctors shouldn’t be hyped up about serious cases and annoyed at having to help anyone else.
“See to it that she stays out of my way. I won’t work if that human is messing up my practice!”
“All right, that’s enough.” My tone sharpened, and I leveled Jenkins with a glare. “Need I remind you that I am the Alpha here, not you. Watch your tone. You happen to be talking about a healer I approved, so it’s almost like you’re questioning my judgment.”
“I…” Jenkins’s posture shrank, and he looked around before straightening his shirt and marching off toward the door, saying, “I am the best healer here! I do believe you should keep that in mind.”
Sighing, I dropped my head into my hands. This was fucking exhausting. What time was it? Was it too early for a drink?
It was starting to feel like I could do nothing right. Rowan still disliked me, understandably so, and I couldn’t keep the horde happy, no matter what I did.
“He really needs to work on those manners.” Griffin laughed from the doorway, having heard the tail end of my conversation with Jenkins.
Other than a slight shadow under his eye, he looked pretty much back to normal, but a tiny part of me still cringed at seeing him.
“Griff…” My throat tightened as I tried to find the words, aware of how big a mess I’d made of things. “If you’re here to pile on, I’ve had enough for a year.”
He raised his hand to silence me, rolling his eyes with a sigh. “Stop, man. There's no need. I get it. In fact, I’m here as a friend. Figured you could do with a little help.”
“Help?” I asked, cocking a brow at him.
“I know Rowan a lot better than you. I’ve been her friend for a long time, so if there’s anyone who can give you the lowdown on how to smooth things over with her, it’s me.
I also happen to know she’s been missing these.
” Griffin held up a brightly colored bag of candy, the plastic crinkling loudly.
“What the…”
“Sour candy,” Griffin offered with a grin. “Rowan fucking adores this shit. For some strange reason. I think it’s close to chemical waste, personally, but she goes nuts for it. I ordered this when I knew she was coming because it’s hard to find.”
He tossed the bag to me, and it landed solidly against my palm. I studied it, its almost neon lettering against the yellow bag, and cocked a brow at Griffin as I set it down.
“Why are you giving these to me?”
Griffin shrugged. “Because maybe… God, I can’t believe this is where I’m at, but…”
The tension hung in the air between us, and I unconsciously shifted to the edge of my seat, studying Griff intently. He let out a long fucking sigh and then sagged, bobbing his head.
“Because… I want you to win some brownie points. If you guys don't fuck this up, it may mean my best friend is here to stay. And she is my best friend. I’d do anything to see her happy. So, don’t worry, my motivations are entirely selfish. It has nothing to do with you.”
I couldn't help but snort, hearing something honest behind all of Griff’s usual bravado.
“I wouldn't expect any less.”
“Speaking of being selfish.” He smirked, jerking his head at me. “I've been thinking about when I’ll be getting myself a cabin.”
“Don’t you like living in the den?” I frowned, cocking a brow at him.
Usually, dragons close to the Alphas lived in the den. They got cabins if they mated and had a family of their own. Griff didn’t seem close at all to settling down.
He nodded, the corners of his lips turning down. “I do, and I want to keep that room. Though you’re paying for new carpet because the blood stains will never come out.”
I scoffed, grimacing slightly. “Yeah… My bad?”
I chuckled, and sure enough, Griffin laughed along with me. I’d been dreading this conversation, but it looked like I didn’t have as much to worry about as I thought.
“I've been thinking about my future, and… I would like to find a partner one day. Given all the sacrifices I’ve made for our horde recently”—he gestured to his face—“not to mention bringing back our Alpha female without even realizing it because I'm that amazing.”
I bit back a laugh, rolling my eyes. “Which cabin do you want?”
The fucker knew he had me by the balls. He could ask for anything he wanted at this point. Hell, he deserved it.
“The old McCreevy cabin.” He smiled.
“That place is huge, but it’s falling to pieces. Don’t you want one of the newer cabins?”
Griffin shook his head, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. “Nope. I want that cabin, and I want you to pay for it to be completely remodeled,” he said with a smirk.
A groan escaped me as I fell back in my chair, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Fuck, that’s gonna cost me a fortune.”
Griff nodded. “I've been helping most of the families fix up their cabins for the last few years, though. So I know what needs to be done. I just need a little help funding the project.”
He grinned widely, loving that he had me by the short and curlies. I had to hand it to him; he knew how to negotiate.
“I’ll talk to Grey, tell him to approve anything you need.”
“Perfect.” That shit-eating grin beamed brighter than the damn sun.
“Thank you for these,” I said, holding up the bag of candy.
“You're welcome. Now, remember not to be a dickhead. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to fight you again, and this time, I won’t hold back.”
He wandered off, giant grin still plastered on his face as he offered a wave.
All I could do was smile—and roll my eyes.
We were extremely lucky to have that dragon in our horde.
I’d always known that, but now the reality of just how much he’d done for us sank in.
Griff did deserve the cabin. He deserved someone in his life, and I really hoped he got it.
If he’d never called Rowan, we could have gone our entire lives not knowing that our mate was out there.
The thought made me shiver.
Looking down at the bag, I stared at the sour candy for long seconds, then shoved my chair back and got up. Waiting to give Rowan the candy would have been the smart move, but the excuse to talk to her was too tempting to ignore.
“Where’s Rowan?” I asked Ma, who was bossing around several preteen dragons, getting them to clean the dining hall.
“She’s relaxing and watching some television. After the day she’s had, the poor thing could use it, so you better not be going in there to disturb her.”
Ma gave me that look only she could pull off, and I almost considered heading back to my office. Almost.
“I'm just going to provide snacks,” I said, holding the bag of goodies.
Ma nodded approvingly, then waved me off. “Go on, then. I have plenty to do here.”
Chuckling, I found the movie room down the hall, Rowan’s sweet scent growing as I got closer.
“Rowan?” I called out, knocking gently on the door.
She was on the large sectional, wrapped up in several blankets. So many, in fact, that I almost didn’t see her, but my greeting drew her head up from the pile, confirming there was actually a person in there.
“Got enough blankets?” I laughed, nodding at the mound she’d created.
“Never!” she growled, feigning offense. “What do you want?”
“To provide a peace offering.”
I tossed the bag of candy onto her lap. It landed amid the many folds of blankets that surrounded her. It took her a minute, but Rowan pulled out the bag, her jaw dropping as her brows hit the roof.
“Oh my God! Where did you get these?” If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought I gave her diamonds.
Grinning, I cocked my head. “Little birdie told me you like sour candy.”
Rowan narrowed her eyes at me, but not for longer than a second.
She was on a mission to open the candy. Then she stuffed several pieces into her mouth, groaning as her eyes closed.
The sound was… And I couldn’t look away.
Eating sour candy, of all things, wasn’t supposed to be an arousing experience, and yet there she was.
My mind went to all sorts of dark places.
I trailed my gaze from her face to the exposed skin of her shoulders, the tank top she wore doing little to hide her from me.
I could imagine pushing those flimsy straps down.
As if I had controlled it, one slipped down as she leaned back to pour more candy into her mouth.
That’s when I saw it.
Somewhat iridescent and raised in a chaotic pattern, dragon fire scar tissue crept up Rowan’s chest. There was no mistaking it. That dragon I’d been fighting to control bellowed in my head, my blood running cold.
It was clear as day. Rowan had been burned by dragon fire. But who?
“Are you going to stand there, or can I get back to my movie?”
I jerked to life, shaking myself as her words hit me. “Sorry. Enjoy the flick, Rowan. I… I just wanted to say something.”
“I’m listening,” she said, biting off a piece of sour candy that would turn her tongue blue.
“I’m sorry.”
Her movements paused. “For?” she asked after a moment.
“Everything?” I shrugged. “How I behaved when you got here? That… that wasn’t me. I hate that your first impression of me was so violent.”
Rowan nodded, not meeting my eye. “I know it was just instincts and all that crap.”
“No.” I gently grabbed her elbow so she couldn’t turn away.
“Instincts played a part in it, but I should have had better control of myself. It’s unacceptable.
I’m ashamed I hurt a member of my horde.
Even though Griff is fully planning to make me pay in his own way, I will spend the rest of my life indebted to him for everything he’s done and put up with. ”
“He’s going to be smug about that for years,” Rowan giggled lightly, finally meeting my eye.
“He will,” I nodded in confirmation. “But there’s no way I can truly make it up to you. You’re my mate, my instinct is to protect you and instead I terrified you.” My emotions were pummeling me now I was laying my feelings out on the table, and I was starting to choke up.
“Orsen…”
“I just want you to understand that I will do whatever it takes to make this work, even if that means leaving you alone. We failed you six years ago, Emmeline. I failed you.”
“You didn’t…”
“We did.” I insisted. “Someone hurt you, and we weren’t there to protect you.”
I may not have known the details, but our failure was pretty obvious.
“We can’t change it now,” Rowan sighed, running a hand through her hair.
“We can’t,” I agreed. “But no matter what happens between us, you’re safe. Please know that.”
Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and I took the opportunity to lean down, planting a kiss on top of her head. “Thank you for coming back,” I whispered, before turning to leave her to her TV time and candy.
Heading straight back to my office, I did my best to compose myself. I needed to text the others. We had a lot to talk about.