30. Rowan
Rowan
Thankfully, I had simply needed sixteen straight hours of sleep and a shower hotter than the devil’s ass crack to feel a whole lot better. I hadn’t told Ma or Nina that I had been sick, only that I was exhausted.
It wasn’t like Bastian was going to tell anyone, because no doubt he was going to avoid me like the plague once again. It was a weird habit of his, being sweet then hiding.
So I went to the clinic around lunchtime, my head thick with sleep. Fortunately, I had my stash of human medication to dive into.
Thank the gods above for painkillers.
I was in the store cupboard, taking inventory while Ma helped Nina with admin.
“Rowan, you have a visitor.”
Ma’s voice was far more subdued as it rang out in the clinic than it had been earlier in the day, which made me feel slightly off. She had taken over for a few hours so Nina could have a break. The moment she’d arrived, she’d pulled me into a hug, squealing about Celia being pregnant.
Good news spread fast.
It seemed like the cat was well and truly out of the bag.
“If it’s Mr. Habberburger again, tell him I’m working as fast as I can on the salve, but I can’t brew the ingredients any faster.”
“It’s not Mr. Habberburger,” Ma said. “Actually, I don’t recognize him?”
That caught my attention, and I stopped what I was doing.
After putting down my papers, I slid out from behind my desk and made my way to the small lobby of the clinic, where a tiny gasp escaped me.
A familiar Alpha stood in the lobby with waves of dark brown hair pushed back from his face, standing easily a foot taller than me. He had deep blue eyes and the smile of a friend who’d come for the first visit in a long while.
Behind him was a heavily pregnant woman, cradling her bump, with the same dark hair and friendly eyes as the man.
“Luca!” I screeched, running over to him and throwing my arms around him.
The list of dragons I would happily hug wasn’t overly long, but Luca was definitely up there.
The Alpha of the Four Ridge Horde, he and I had become good friends over the years.
In fact, I had visited his horde several times on my healing adventures, which was why, when I needed someone to protect me, he was always the Alpha I had called.
Including just after Orsen had first kissed me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, pulling back to look at him, so surprised that he would travel like this with a pregnant woman.
“You’ve not been calling as much as usual. I thought I’d best come check on you. Especially after the whole kidnapping thing.” I made a face, which he brushed off. “Don’t worry, my motives aren’t entirely selfless. You remember Poppy?”
Luca nodded to the female dragon behind him, and I grinned over at her, glancing at her very round stomach. “Of course I do! How can I forget the poor woman who has the misfortune of being your sister?” I laughed, greeting her with a light hug as well.
“Yes, it’s truly bad luck, but I accept it.” She giggled.
“So… something has changed,” I said, looking pointedly at her stomach with a laugh of my own.
“Yes! I’m mated and very happy.” She beamed, her eyes sparkling.
“Let me guess… Samuel?” I asked, using the name of an enforcer, who I’d seen giving her googly eyes more than once.
Luca nodded. “See, this is why I wanted you to see her. She misses nothing!” he told his sister.
I cocked my head, accepting the compliment, then added, “Does Orsen, or any of the others, know you’re here yet?”
Luca smirked. “Nope. I wanted to test a theory.”
“What theory was that?” I asked, unsure whether I actually wanted the answer, considering the obvious mischief in Luca’s eyes.
A wicked smile slowly spread over his face. “I wanted to see how easy you are to kidnap.”
“Yeah. About that,” Ma said in an uneasy tone. “Judging by what I’m seeing out the window, there’s going to be a barrage of angry Alphas storming into the room in the next few seconds.”
Luca looked at his watch. “That was over three minutes! That will not do.”
“What was over three minutes?” Greylen asked as he shoved into the clinic, the others hot on his heels, even Bastian.
“How much of a head start could I have if I’d tried to kidnap Rowan. Seriously, what are you doing for security?”
Orsen looked dumbfounded, but it quickly shifted to annoyance, which reflected on the three other Alphas, who looked like they were restraining themselves just enough not to cause a fight.
“We have security. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s him.” Orsen gestured with his head at the other door at the back of the clinic, where Griffin was walking in casually. Orsen was glaring like he would send literal daggers Luca’s way if he could.
Luca didn’t look over his shoulder. Orsen and he were locked in a glaring contest that I knew no one would win. But Griff was there a moment later, swaggering up to Luca with his typical bravado.
“Dude, the only reason I didn’t set off alarm bells and tackle your ass to the floor was that I know your dumb face,” Griffin greeted, shaking Luca’s hand in that weird bro-way men tended to do.
Luca’s eyes went wide, the tension dissipating. “Griff! How are you—Wait, were you on guard duty?”
He nodded, smirking. “Yep, I wasn’t going to trust anyone else. But that ugly mop on the top of your head is very recognizable.”
Luca rolled his eyes as Griffin ruffled his hair before nodding approvingly.
“I suppose that’s something, then.” Luca narrowed his eyes at Griff before facing the Alphas, which made my heart rate shoot up again. “But you only have one dragon on patrol?”
“Hey,” Griff interjected, but it was the short growl escaping Orsen and Bastian that made me nervous.
Before either of them could speak, though, Grey stepped forward, reaching for his cell phone, saying, “It’s fine. We know him.”
Silence hung for a moment, and I made eye contact with Poppy, both silently communicating that some de-escalation was necessary. She put a hand on Luca’s arm, squeezing lightly, and I shifted toward Orsen, clearing my throat so that he’d remember I was there and everything was fine.
“Well, now you’re here.” Orsen exhaled as a smile spread across his face. “I guess we need to officially hold a horde dinner?”
I resisted the urge to groan. I had sat through a great many horde dinners in my time.
They were usually fun celebrations, like the feast before the night flight, but most of the time, I ended up working as a healer during them.
People wanted medical advice or just to gripe about something.
I very rarely got to relax during the event.
Then again, I didn’t mind Luca sticking around for another day or two so that we could catch up.
Even though I was feeling rather settled in North Oak, it was nice to have a friend stop by. It reminded me that I wasn’t just a healer or mate to some grumpy Alphas. I was me, too, a person with a friend she dearly missed.
“Okay, you boys sort that out. I’m going to give Poppy here a checkup!” I announced, gently guiding the pregnant dragon into the exam room and leaving all the Alphas to their grandstanding.
Even though they were being friendly, I half expected them to start comparing dick sizes.
Ugh, men.
“I’m serious!” Poppy sat up, wiping the gel off her stomach after the Doppler reading. “I’ve heard such incredible things about you, and I want you to deliver the babies.”
Twins. Poppy was heavily pregnant with twins.
There was something so joyful about helping multiples enter the world. It was one of my favorite things to do; I had assisted on a triplet birth several months before I arrived at North Oak and still thought about it regularly.
I smiled, shaking my head. “That’s so sweet of you. But do you really think Samuel is going to want to come all this way?”
“It’ll be fine.” Poppy was all smiles as she stepped off the table, her hand going to her belly as she gazed at it lovingly. “Samuel and I can stay in North Oak until the babies arrive. That way, I’m sure to get the best possible care.”
My chest squeezed. I really had missed my friends, but it felt selfish to give into that desire. Still, it didn’t look like I had much of a choice right now. Poppy wasn’t the type of woman to get bowled over. When she put her mind to something, that was pretty much it.
“Well, I wouldn’t hate seeing you.” I grinned, and she nudged me with her shoulder, making us both laugh.
“And it is good to have a healer on standby to check you out. Things look spectacular now, though. All that movement, measuring right on track, and very strong heartbeats. You’ll have two brand-new dragons, ready to take the world by storm in no time. ”
“God, I hope so.” Poppy sighed through a chuckle. “Being pregnant is exhausting.”
I rubbed her back as we headed toward the clinic lobby. “I have no doubt. You’re growing two people, after all. That’s a lot of work.”
“Huh, when you put it like that”—she smiled, giving her best pregnancy waddle—“I’m kind of a badass.”
“Extremely!” I pulled her toward me for a side hug. “And it’ll be awesome to see just how much of a badass you are on the big day, too.”
“With you by my side,” Poppy squeezed me back, “I know I’ll be in good hands.”