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.”
He grunted. “She shouldn’t be coming here at all. There’s too much we don’t know about her.”
His inner dragon—the second personality inside his head—spoke up.She’s lived and worked on Clan Stonefire for years. Every clan leader Euan has talked with only has good things to say about her. She’s not here to hurt anyone.
At one time, I would’ve said the same about the people on Lochguard having a good reputation and protecting its own.
That was a long time ago, with the old leader. Finn has done his best to prove he’s different and welcome us.
None of that makes up for what Mum, Dad, and Tor went through.
Torquil, whom everyone called Tor, was his much younger brother. At sixteen now, Tor had been a wee bairn when they’d fled from Lochguard into the unknown.
His dragon’s voice softened.Tor is much stronger than you think. Thanks to inventions by some dragon-shifter scientists in the UK and beyond, he’s fairly safe while flying away from the clan.
Fairly safe isn’t good enough.
His younger brother was hard of hearing. Tor could hear loud sounds and some medium-range ones, but nothing below a certain decibel—which meant he couldn’t hear whispers, small noises that could signal an approaching enemy, or even most normal conversations. The hearing aids helped, but Cam forever worried that the dragon hunters would find Tor and kidnap him.
His dragon spoke again.The dragon hunters have become a bigger problem recently, which is why Euan is talking more with Finn, as well as with Bram from Stonefire. However, Tor is clever and is learning more and more how to use the vibrating warning devices in his dragon form.
Before he could argue with his beast some more, a wee car pulled up to Seahaven’s main gate. “Finally.” He pressed a button and spoke into the microphone, which would relay to the outside speakers. “Who are you?”
“Dr. Emily Davies from Stonefire.”
Her soft, lilting Welsh accent took him aback. Oh, he’d known she was from Wales because of his background check, but he’d expected something more to the point and clipped, like a lot of dragon doctors used.
His beast snorted.She’s human.
Ignoring his dragon, he replied, “Enter and take the first left. Park in front of the first building, but stay in the car.”
He punched in the security code, and the gate swung inward. As she drove and parked in front of the building, he toggled between security cameras to follow her progress.
Dean sighed. “Aren’t you going to meet and greet her? She’s a guest, after all, aye?”
“My first duty is to protect Seahaven. If she can follow orders, then I’ll greet her.”
Running his hands through his hair, Dean replied, “You’re the boss. Although I’m not sure how Auntie Mary will react once she hears how you treated the female.”
Mary was Cam’s mother, and since most of the families on Seahaven were related, almost everyone was an auntie or uncle. In reality, Dean was his second cousin. “At work, I’m your boss and you’re a Protector. I’ve already had to give you a second chance after what happened with that Lochguard lad, Logan, aye? Don’t make another mistake that makes me kick you out entirely.”
As expected, Dean stayed quiet. The male had been fooling around with his brother, trying to impress a lass when he’d missed a threat and a Lochguard dragonman had been injured and nearly died in the process.
Dean had been sorry and trying to prove himself ever since. Well, mostly. Sometimes he needed a reminder.
His beast sighed.Right, well, forget about Dean and go greet the human female. She’s been waiting several minutes now.
The human following his orders was a good sign, and Cam hoped it meant she wouldn’t become a problem.
Impatient to get this over with, he headed out of the room to greet her.
Emily was usedto taciturn dragon-shifter Protectors. After all, Stonefire’s head Protector, Kai Sutherland, wasn’t exactly Mr. Charming. However, Kai was fair and never intimidated someone when he could merely ask them to do something instead.
She sensed the Seahaven Protectors might be different. Because as the minutes ticked by, the urge to get out of her car and find someone to show her to her accommodations was strong. She’d had a long, emotionally exhausting day, and all shewanted to do was take a long bath, eat some chocolate, and get a good night’s sleep before jumping into her research.
She didn’t have time for power games.
