Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

A s Hayley was led away, both man and beast wanted to go after her, hold her close, and take care of her.

Dr. Sid's bemused voice interrupted his thoughts. "She'll be fine, Nathan. No one is going to steal her away from you in the next few hours."

He grunted, but never took his gaze from Hayley's retreating form. "I'm fine and wish you'd stop fussing."

The doctor sighed. "You have bruised ribs on one side, hands rubbed raw from the rope, and who the bloody hell knows what else."

"Nothing I can't handle."

She poked him on purpose, and he grunted. "I thought so." Her voice softened a fraction. "I also need to ensure you don't have any internal injuries, which means going to the surgery." He started to protest, but she beat him to it. "You can't protect her if you die, Nathan. So let me keep you alive."

His dragon spoke up. She's right. I don't like it either, but we hid how much pain we're in from Hayley. It'd be nice to get patched up.

As Dr. Sid continued her examination, softly tapping and poking his middle, pain raced through his body and he sucked in a breath.

"That does it. You're coming to the surgery with me, even if I have to get some of the males to carry you."

His cousin, Luke, appeared at his side. "I can look after Hayley, if you want."

He winked, and Nathan narrowed his eyes. "She's mine, arsehole."

"No, really? I never would've guessed," Luke drawled.

Sid snapped her fingers. "Don't tease him right now, Luke. If my guess is correct, Nathan will take care of any perceived threats to Hayley, even you. Because she's his true mate."

Nathan's gaze shot to Dr. Sid. "How the bloody hell did you figure that out?"

"I'm a doctor. I notice things." She gestured for him to stand. "Now, come on. I need to determine if you have any internal injuries."

Bram joined their little group. "Go with Sid, Nathan. If you have to stay at the surgery for more than a few hours, I'll bring Hayley to you. The three of us need to have a chat, at any rate, and the sooner the better."

He studied his clan leader. But as cordial and friendly as Bram could be most of the time, right now he looked like the formidable dragon clan leader he was.

His dragon also recognized their leader as being higher in the dominance scale and said, Just do as he says. The clan will protect Hayley with their lives, if it comes to it.

I still don't like it.

You asked her to trust us. Now we need to do the same with her.

He mentally sighed. I hate when you're right.

Which is most of the time, so you must always hate me.

Ignoring his beast, he nodded at Bram and Dr. Sid. "I'll go. But let's make it quick. Hayley and I have loads of questions and desperately need some answers."

The doctor asked, "Can you walk, or do you need to be carried on a stretcher?"

"I can bloody well walk."

"Fine. Then keep up with me. If you fall behind, onto the stretcher you go."

Dr. Sid walked her normal speed, which he could mostly match, as long as he was careful not to move his ribcage and trigger sharp pains.

The entire journey to the surgery, he kept wondering what Hayley was up to. Strange as it was, he already missed her teasing him, her scent, her making yet another cup of tea as they talked about everything and nothing at once.

Not to mention kissing her skin, or hearing her moan as he made her come with his mouth.

Would she still want to spend time with him, now that they were back on the surface? And more importantly, would she ever want a mate-claim frenzy with him?

His dragon spoke again. She will. And now we can try wooing her for real.

Let's hope she still wants us when we're not the only choice available.

Stop being daft. Of course she does. You're just in pain and not thinking clearly.

Each step jarred his body, but Nathan clenched his jaw and focused on getting to the surgery. He needed to get well so he could strategize about how to win his true mate.

As Hayley sipped some hot tea—complete with a splash of milk—she relaxed a little.

Oh, her mind still whirred with a million questions, one of which was how Nathan was doing. All she knew was that he'd gone to the surgery, and she could see him later.

Sarah set down a plate of sandwich and crisps in front of her. "I know it's not a gourmet meal, but we didn't bring that sort of stuff to the children's camp."

Hayley shook her head, placed her tea down, and took a bite of the ploughman's sandwich. The ham, cheese, pickle, butter, and lettuce had never tasted so bloody good in her life.

Melanie sat across from her and said, "Let us know if you need more food after that. I know you can't tell us everything, but did you even have anything to eat while you were missing?"

After swallowing, Hayley replied, "There was food, but it wasn't great. I can't wait until I can talk more about it. I can say it was quite the adventure, though."

Samira sat next to Melanie. "Is there anything else you can share without getting into trouble? You and Nathan were missing for a few days, and we were all so worried. Bram had most of the clan searching for you two."

The concern on both Samira's and Melanie's faces made her swallow hard. She barely knew these women, and yet they'd truly worried about her.

It was yet another point for staying on Stonefire—there were some lovely people inside the clan. People she wouldn't mind being friends with.

Hayley replied, "I can share a little, I think. You know that Nathan and I are working on a law database project?" After the women nodded, Hayley continued, "Well, whilst searching for records under the great hall, we got trapped. Until today, at any rate."

"Oh no, that sounds awful!" Samira said.

Hayley grimaced. "I'm not a fan of enclosed spaces, either."

Melanie touched her arm. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"Thanks. If not for Nathan, I'm not sure what would've happened. And not just because I never could've done what he did to escape, either."

Dawn tilted her head. "Neither of you wanted to leave the other. Did something happen during your disappearance?"

She could brush it off. After all, she and Nathan still hadn't discussed the future, at least in concrete terms.

However, looking around the room, Hayley decided to be honest. After all, she might end up living on Stonefire, and she wanted these women to be her friends. "It's complicated. I'm…his true mate. But I haven't yet decided what to do about it."

Dawn took her hand and squeezed. "You seem uncertain, so what's holding you back from saying yes to him? Is it the frenzy? Because I can assure you, it's amazing."

"No, I'm not worried about that. Nathan would never hurt me."

"Then what is it?" Dawn asked.

Hayley bit her bottom lip and debated how to answer that. It wasn't as if she could say he might not want anything to do with her now that they were back with his clan. Or how he might forever think she was afraid of his dragon and not believe she could handle both man and beast.

Sarah spoke up. "It takes longer for some of us, Dawn. Hayley has an important career outside of Stonefire, aye?"

She studied the Scottish woman. Sarah was never the loudest voice in the room, but sometimes she could be extremely perceptive. "I do. And it's one of many factors I have to consider. Before you ask, no, Nathan's not pressuring me, either. But…"

Hayley had almost forgotten Percy was with them, she was so quiet. So when the dragonwoman spoke up, she nearly jumped. "But what?"

Percy was the youngest of them, barely over twenty, and the only dragon-shifter currently in the room. Her perspective could be helpful.

Just go for it. Hayley sighed. "It's silly, but I sometimes wonder if he only wants to go through with it because one, fate made me his true mate. And two, we were stuck together and bonded under duress. He's so different when we're alone, and I'm scared he'll never be that male again."

Percy replied, "I never even knew about true mates until I was brought to Stonefire, and then I was terrified when I learned of being Bronx's. However, when you meet the right person for you, things have a way of working themselves out. I couldn't imagine giving any male but Bronx my heart. And I saw the way Nathan looked at you. He cares for you, Hayley. That much is true."

Melanie bobbed her head. "And it doesn't always work out straight away, either. Tristan and I had a rocky start, and his behavior probably should've driven me away. However, with time, he ended up being the right person for me. And I know Nathan can be grumpy at times, but he might have reasons for keeping up a facade, like Tristan did."

Hayley already knew he did. But she wasn't about to share his past about the human who had been afraid of his dragon.

Dawn spoke up. "Besides, you don't have to make a decision quickly like I had to do with Blake, since we kissed and triggered his dragon's instinct. And even if Nathan ends up being the love of your life, will you want to become his mate and give up your old life? I love living on Stonefire, but sometimes it's not easy. You might already have a better idea, given how you've helped me and Sarah in the past. But there's a lot of hatred still for anyone who helps dragon-shifters."

"I know. And that doesn't bother me." She hesitated, and then said, "I've wanted to build a better future for dragon-shifters since I was a child."

Hayley proceeded to tell them about the little dragon girl, Martha. When she finished, Melanie came around the table and gave her a hug. "It shouldn't surprise me what's been done, but I'm sorry that happened to your friend. Even if it was a new friend, you were merely curious and wanted to play." She pulled back to meet Hayley's gaze again. "If you do decide to mate Nathan and live here, we can brainstorm more ways to reach humans and try to get past their hatred."

She bobbed her head. "Thanks. My job I could do from anywhere, I think. And my sister would support me, too. I just need to be sure of a few more things before making a decision."

Dawn said, "Of course you do. If there's anything we can do, any questions you need answered, come find any of us."

Percy smiled. "I know less than everyone else, so maybe we could learn together."

Hayley only knew a little of Percy's history, but none of it had been pleasant. She'd been a prisoner and denied any education until Stonefire had rescued her. The fact she'd allude to it so casually spoke of how strong the dragonwoman really was. "Thanks, Percy. I may take you up on that."

Samira said, "I still think we should start designing courses for humans about dragon-shifters. It'd make things a lot easier for new mates."

Hayley said, "Stonefire already has the most humans living on any dragon clan in the UK, so it makes sense to trial it here."

Melanie sat up taller. "And it's still just the beginning, wait and see."

The woman winked, and they all laughed.

As everyone started talking about what they would or wouldn't include, Hayley sipped her tea and relaxed a little more. If she did decide to stay on Stonefire, she would have friends. Even if it were early days, she liked the women in the room, plus a few others who couldn't be here, of course.

More than ever, she itched to see Nathan again and talk with him. She hated things being up in the air. Oh, she didn't expect things to instantly fall into place. But she couldn't do anything if they were apart.

Eventually, Ivy, another human mated to a dragon-shifter, came to take Hayley to the surgery. Apparently, Nathan was more hurt than he'd led her to believe. Ivy assured her it wasn't life-threatening, but Hayley's stomach still churned as they walked toward the clan.

Once inside the clan's boundary, she picked up her pace, eager to see Nathan. First, she'd help take care of him, if needed. But then she'd give him a piece of her mind for lying about his injuries.