Not wanting to hear Cam’s reply, Emily said goodbye in BSL before racing out of the room to wait by the door.
Once Emily left the room,Cam signed to his mother, “Stop meddling.”
She lifted her eyebrows and signed back. “What meddling? She’s your charge whilst on Seahaven, aye? So it’s your job to take care of her.”
“That’s not what you were implying.”
She shrugged. “It’s not my fault that you took it that way.”
After narrowing his eyes, he faced Tor and continued, “You’re doing it too.”
“I want to show her my dragon, that’s all. And since you’ll show us the maneuvers first, that means she’ll see your dragon form first. I thought you might like that.”
Most of the time, Cam loved his family. But right now, he was tempted to fly away and live in the wild for a while, just to get some peace.
His dragon spoke up.I’m glad Tor asked because Emily should see us in our dragon form. She should also give us ear scratches. It’s been far too long since we had any.
Not you and ear scratches again.
His beast huffed.It feels good. Not as much as sex, but given how you avoid that, I will take the next best thing. You better ask her to scratch our ears, or else.
Or what?
I will meddle more and find a way to get closer to her. I like Emily, true mate pull or not. And she’s lonely.
Aye, I can tell she is. But that’s not part of our job description. Besides, Mum will introduce her to everyone else.
His dragon sniffed.We’ll talk again after tomorrow.
Then his beast curled up and fell asleep.
Someone touched his arm, and he found his father standing next to him.
Angus Alexander wasn’t a verbose male, so when he spoke his sons listened. His dad said, “She gave up everything to study and help dragon-shifters, lad. Remember that the next time you think she’s like that witch from a decade ago.”
With that, his father took his mum’s hand and tugged her out of the room, leaving Cam alone with Tor. His brother signed, “Take her home, Cam. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After clasping his brother’s shoulder and squeezing it, he left and found Emily staring at a wall full of family pictures.He approached, and she murmured, “You have so much history here.”
The photographs and paintings were always just there, so Cam rarely paid attention to them. However, the painting of his five-times great-grandfather showed his dragon form behind him and his human form in front, with the both of them near Stirling Castle. “There used to be a dragon clan close to Stirling in Scotland, and it’s where most of my dad’s family came from.”
She pointed to the daguerreotype picture of his maternal great-great-grandmother. “Who is she?”
“My mother’s great-grandmother.”
“And where is her family from?”
“From Ireland originally, before they came to Scotland a hundred or so years ago. I don’t know a lot about them since they disowned my mum after she married my dad, but she loved her great-grandmother before she passed. That’s where she got her love of dragons from, although my great-grandmother was forced to marry my human great-grandfather instead of a dragonman she fancied.”
For a few beats, they stood in silence, and Cam wondered if he’d overshared. Not that he usually revealed his family history to just anyone, but he couldn’t seem to hold back where Emily Davies was concerned.
She finally spoke again. “Humans and dragons have so much in common, even when it comes to biology. However, so many on both sides label the other as ‘bad’ or ‘inferior,’ and it’s heartbreaking.”
He stared at his many-times-over great-grandfather’s painting. “It’s easier hating a common enemy than trying to understand someone a little different from you. I’m not saying I think that’s a good way to live, but rulers and leaders have used united hatred for centuries to hold on to or obtain power.”
Emily shook her head. “Well, I don’t accept that’s the only way to live. Dragons and humans lived equally once, many years ago, and I want to see it happen again.”
“Aye, and how do you plan to make that happen? I’m not poking fun, but I’m just curious.”
