Chapter 2

Chapter Two

N athan Woodhouse sat in his corner station of the main Protectors' monitoring room and tried not to yawn.

Normally, he loved his job. He often scoured the internet for specific information, or analyzed data to look for patterns, or developed new programs to better protect his clan from the dragon hunters and other enemies.

But lately? Well, lately things had been quiet. Too quiet for his liking.

His inner dragon spoke up. You could try socializing a little. Finding a female would make things less boring.

Even if it had been a while since he'd had sex, Nathan mentally shook his head. No. The last time I tried to open up and find someone, she stomped on our heart. I don't ever want to go through that again.

If you had listened to me, then she never would've had the chance to hurt us.

Not this again.

Yes, this again. Tracey never let me be in charge, was afraid of me, and how you thought that would ever end well, I have no bloody idea.

True, his ex had been human, and Nathan had mostly fallen for her via messages and phone calls. However, the first time they'd met face-to-face—even knowing he was a dragon-shifter—Tracey had nearly run away at his flashing dragon eyes.

But even so, he'd remembered all their conversations, the teasing, the ease he'd felt talking with the human. And in the end, it had blinded him, and he'd fallen in love with her.

So when she'd eventually called him a monster and a freak, it had ripped his heart in two.

His dragon's voice was softer when he said, That was nearly three years ago now. You could at least agree to Bram and the DDA's proposal of attending human and dragon social events.

No. No more humans.

His beast growled. Then who? No one on Stonefire catches our interest. And there's no way Bram will allow you to transfer clans. We're key to keeping everyone safe here with your work.

Then we won't have a female of our own. It's pretty simple.

No, it's not that simple. Don't you want to find a mate?

At one time, Nathan had dreamed of that. Of having a best friend he could always talk to, of being a good father like his own dad, and of adding to the chaos of his family's dinners.

But he was nearly forty and life had basically said he wasn't destined for that kind of life.

His dragon spoke again. Think of it this way—you wouldn't be bored right now if we had a mate.

Before he could think of a way to reply to his beast, both his clan leader and his boss—head Protector Kai Sutherland—walked into the room. Given their serious expressions, Nathan sat up and asked, "What is it?"

The two rarely visited together, unless it was something big.

Kai motioned with his head. "Come. We need to talk in private."

He stood and soon the three of them were inside Kai's office. Nathan sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Bram and Kai stood on the other side of it.

Bram spoke first. "While things remain quiet on the dragon hunter front, we need you for a special assignment."

Finally. Something to stave off his boredom. "What is it?"

Kai spoke up. "Do you remember the human named Hayley Beckett?"

Nathan paused for a second. "Vaguely. Didn't she help Dawn and Sarah with their children's custody cases?"

Kai nodded. "Yes. She recently talked with Bram and pointed out how we lacked any dragon-related central law database. Bram wants one created, which is where you come in."

"That seems easy enough. Give me the details, and I'll get started."

Kai put up a hand. "Not so fast. This is going to be a joint project. She'll gather the information, and you'll handle the programming side of things."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I'll create a secure upload server and, as she adds to it, I can start working on the database."

Bram shook his head. "This work won't be conducted remotely. It's too sensitive."

Nathan tried not to be offended by Bram's words. "I'm one of the best at encryption, Bram. No one will be able to access the data."

"And I believe you. Regardless, she needs to access our old records here. And since you can't do much until you talk with her about what she wants and needs—and starts providing data for you—we decided that you can show her around the clan, help her locate all the records, and generally be there for any of her questions."

Nathan frowned. "Why me? You know I prefer hiding away in a corner, behind a computer screen. I'm not exactly tour guide material."

Bram replied, "Aye, I know. But you've been hiding away too much in the last few years. I think spending a little time away from the computer will do you good and still help Stonefire." He opened his mouth to protest, but Bram beat him to it. "If an emergency comes up, you'll be back at your desk straight away. But spending time with the human female will not only help you learn what Hayley wants faster, it'll get Denise off your back too, right?"

Denise was his stepmother. He loved her dearly, but she was a bit of a matchmaker and meddler for her children. And even if she hadn't given birth to him, she was as much his mother as his birth one had been before she died.

His dragon spoke up. And this setup will help you practice being around females again, too.

Don't get any ideas, dragon.

Someone has to. I'm tired of using our hand.

Ignoring his beast, he focused on Kai and Bram. "I don't really have a choice in this, do I?"

The corner of Kai's mouth kicked up. "Not really. You can do this, or I'll put you on Tech Support duty again."

Nathan groaned. While he knew not everyone was comfortable around computers or technology, he most definitely didn't have the patience to teach someone how to use it.

His dragon spoke up. It's not really a contest, is it? Spend time with a pretty human female or spend our days telling people to turn off their computers or phones and then back on again.

His beast was right about Hayley. He'd seen her before, and while a little disheveled, it didn't detract from her curves or lovely brown eyes.

His dragon grunted. See? Even you noticed her. Let's take the assignment.

Nathan eyed his clan members. "As long as you don't expect me to be Mr. Cheerful, I'll do what needs to be done. How long will this take?"

Bram shrugged. "I don't know exactly. Maybe months."

He blinked. "What?"

Bram said, "Finn will be sending down some records as well. Between ours and theirs, it's going to take some time to go through them all. Yes, you'll eventually create the database. However, in the meantime, you need to help the human find and sort through the records."

"Couldn't some of the other clan members help with that?"

Bram replied, "There are a lot of projects going on right now, some of which you don't know about. For the moment, you're the one with both the clearance and the most time to help Hayley."

He was about to grumble when his dragon spoke up. You wanted something to stave off our boredom. This is it.

He sighed. It wasn't like he had a choice. "Fine. When will she get here?"

Bram smiled. "She'll be here within the hour."

"Wait, what?"

His clan leader nodded. "Aye, we wanted everything finalized before suggesting it to you. Although I'm surprised you didn't hear about it sooner, to be honest. Your stepmum volunteered a room in their cottage for Hayley to use during her time on Stonefire."

"Bloody hell, she's staying with my parents?"

Kai's lips twitched. "Yes. You know the clan's bursting at the seams, and whilst we're building new cottages, it'll take time before we have any available for newcomers or guests again."

Nathan nearly groaned. His stepmum would most definitely try to matchmake. That was probably the entire reason she'd volunteered to host the human.

His dragon laughed. It'll be fun. Besides, no one will make the human feel more welcome than Denise.

Even so, I don't want her to get any ridiculous ideas.

Nathan looked at Kai. "There wasn't anyone else who could've taken her in?"

Kai shrugged. "Denise volunteered, so I didn't ask anyone else. She's been a great help with the human-dragon children's events, so I had no reason to say no."

He eyed his boss. Ever since Kai had mated his human, Jane, and recently became a father, he wanted everyone else to find the same happiness.

His head Protector had come a long way, that's for sure.

His dragon said, You've wanted that too, for years. Don't try and pretend otherwise. You can't lie to me.

Ignoring his beast, he stood and sighed. "Fine. When should I meet her?"

Bram replied, "When she arrives. She'll need help with her luggage."

Nathan grunted. "Okay, I'll get her settled into my parents' house, and then I can set up a schedule with her."

Which he'd do as quickly as possible, so his stepmother wouldn't have time to embarrass him. To be honest, he might need to miss a few family dinners to save both him and Hayley from any matchmaking shenanigans.

His dragon sighed heavily but didn't say anything.

As Kai and Bram discussed the finer details of what Hayley would need, Nathan did his best to listen. However, it was hard to concentrate as his inner beast all but strutted around in his mind.

Between his dragon and his stepmum, Nathan would have to be careful. Otherwise, he could end up mated to the human before he knew it.

If there was one complication he didn't need right now, it was another female fearing his dragon half and running again. Even if he didn't know Hayley, in his experience, most humans couldn't handle both sides of a dragon-shifter.