Protecting Seahaven (Stonefire Dragons Universe #5)

Chapter 1

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.

Now, zooming down the motorway, the pressure behind her eyes and in her chest grew to the point she let out a sob. As quickly as she could, she found a place to pull over. Then she laid her head on the steering wheel and cried.

Years and years of hoping and wanting, all for nothing. She’d taken any encouragement as proof. For once in her life, she’d ignored the evidence and dreamed for something else to come true.

And now look where it’d gotten her—a sobbing mess in a car, about to meet and live with strangers for months, and possibly not have a home to come back to. If Trahern became too busy with his new mate and stepchildren, then Emily might lose her best friend, too.

She’d already lost her family years ago, so the thought of that happening only made her cry harder.

Eventually, her throat hurt and she had no more tears. Wiping her face, she took a few deep breaths. Then she flipped down the sun visor and looked into the small mirror before whispering, “Get yourself together, Emily Davies. This will not ruin my trip. I’ve waited far too long for this chance.”

Not long ago, Dr. Daniel Keith—a dragon-shifter doctor on Clan Seahaven—had identified some plant samples for her that might help with her latest serum formula. One that might offer the ultimate protection against most dragon hunter poisons.

And given the closed-off and protective nature of Seahaven, it’d been a miracle to get an invitation to study the plant samples and test them.

You always knew, deep down, it was hopeless with Trahern.

Don’t let your foolish fantasies steal any more of your life.

She’d fought tooth and nail, even against her family, to study dragon-shifter biology.

This was the chance of a lifetime, too. Not just for her, but also because she was one of the few who could truly help protect against the hate group trying to hurt, capture, and destroy the dragon-shifters.

Taking a few deep breaths, she nodded at herself in the mirror.

Trahern had been her best friend for a long time, they worked well together, and he’d even once saved her from a group of drunk guys who probably would’ve assaulted her.

However, in hindsight, she’d romanticized that event from her university days and had thought it’d meant something to Trahern too.

But in reality, he was just a good dragonman who didn’t like bullies or worse.

Not that it wouldn’t take time to lick her wounds and reflect on her foolishness. She wouldn’t allow something like that to ever happen again.

If it ever happened at all.

But after living on Clan Stonefire for so long and seeing how most dragon-shifters treated their mates, she deserved someone who wanted her as much as she wanted them.

True, she was now thirty and had wasted far too many years pining for Trahern. But no longer.

Even if she still missed him and his quirks.

Stop it. Seahaven is a completely new dragon clan for you, and they won’t care if your heart cracked earlier this morning. They invited you because of your brain, so don’t let them see you as a hot mess.

Maybe for some, it would be impossible to put on a brave face after her crap morning. But Emily had done it several times before in her life, the hardest being when her family had moved to Australia on short notice and had rarely contacted her since.

Now Trahern was gone, too.

Her eyes heated with tears again, but she shook her shoulders and head to clear her thoughts.

She was renowned for her research on dragon-shifter biology, as well as her work with Trahern on crafting dragon-shifter medicines and antidotes to help with everything from curing poisons to making it easier for human women to give birth to half-dragon babies without dying.

Which had been a huge problem in the past, when survival rates had been about fifty-fifty. They were now more ninety-ten, meaning there was room for improvement.

And with the possible new formulas she could make with some of Seahaven’s recent findings—nearly all the dragon-shifters living there had human mates—she could make it even safer for human women.

That’s right, focus on work. You could save even more lives, and that’s more important than anything else.

After a few more deep breaths, she turned up the music and sang—poorly—at the top of her lungs for a while, until the GPS said she was nearly to Clan Seahaven.

The small splinter dragon clan in Scotland was in Sutherland, near the coast. They’d formed their community about fifteen or twenty years ago, when the old clan leader for Lochguard—the main Scottish dragon-shifter clan—had banished any humans from their land.

Those with human mates, and their extended families, had uprooted and worked out a deal with some local humans to build their own little safe haven.

The current leader of Lochguard, Finn Stewart, had invited them to move back. Under his leadership, humans were welcomed. However, Seahaven had declined.

Not that she blamed them, of course. They’d probably created their own little sanctuary and had no desire to risk it all again.

Maybe her invading their little world was a bad idea. But no, she’d been invited by Dr. Daniel Keith, their head doctor. So she was a guest, not an unwanted intruder.

Still, as she made the last turn onto a single-track road leading to Seahaven, she steeled herself for whatever might come. No matter how her heart ached, she wouldn’t show it to these dragon-shifters. She would be cool, professional, and completely in control.

She nearly laughed out loud. She wasn’t good at being impassive, although she’d gotten better at it over the years with Trahern since he didn’t handle emotional outbursts well.

Stop redirecting everything to Trahern. He’s your friend and colleague, nothing more. He made his choice, so now it’s time for you to craft your own future.

With that last little pep talk, she pulled up to the large gate in front of Seahaven and waited to be let inside.

Cameron “Cam” Alexander stood inside the small building that served as both the main security building and the clan town hall, and narrowed his eyes at the screen. “She’s late.”

Dean MacKay, one of the few other Protectors for Seahaven, arched an eyebrow. “She’s driving all the way up from bloody England. Who knows what the traffic might be like, and it’s not as if she could shift and fly here.”