Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

Samantha

I'm freshly showered and sitting on my bed with Aydan and Granger. Aydan is perched on the edge of the bed, his wounds cleaned up by the medical staff and already mostly healed. Granger is laying across the bed, looking completely comfortable. It reminds me so much of when we were kids, except that we're not diving into a bunch of snacks.

Snacks do sound good though.

"So, Aydan is a dragon too," Granger says, looking thoughtful.

Aydan flashes him a grin. "I guess so."

Man, he's way too excited about this. It's like the one way he felt Evander was superior to him has disappeared, and he feels like the big man on campus. This can't possibly be good for his already swollen ego.

After a quiet minute, Granger sighs. "How is it that I'm not a dragon? This whole thing seems unfair. Literally, my two best friends can go all scaly, and I'm stuck here like this."

Aydan pats his leg. "Tough luck, buddy."

Granger's gaze meets mine. "Do all dragons have to be tall, good-looking guys? Is that like a requirement?"

I laugh and lay down beside him. His arm goes behind my head, and I snuggle in against his body. "If all dragons were tall, good-looking guys, you'd be a dragon too."

"You're just saying that," he says, in an ah shucks kind of way.

I squeeze him tighter. "No, I'm not."

Then I snuggle in more tightly against him. It's weird. With Aydan and Evander touching them makes me feel all tingly and wild, like I'm on fire. With Granger though? It's soothing in his arms. Like being wrapped in a warm blanket. And his scent, books and soap, makes me feel safe in a way that's hard to explain. It's like I'm home in his arms.

I'm so grateful to have him as one of my best friends.

"I guess we'll have to change our name," Granger says.

Aydan lifts a brow. "Our name?"

He nods, his face brushing my hair. "The Wolf Pack doesn't sound nearly as cool as the Dragon Pack."

I glance up at him. "Are you going to get a dragon tattoo then?"

He winces. "Maybe some temporary ones? I don't think the permanent ones are necessary. I mean, a thousand pokes with a needle? I can handle it, but why would I want to when one week I could have a dragon tattoo, and the next something awesome like a unicorn?"

"You have a point there," Aydan says, grinning.

"He's a true bad boy," I add on, trying not to laugh.

"Do you want me to be a bad boy?" Granger asks, smiling.

I smack his stomach. "Not one bit. You're perfect the way you are. Temporary tattoo or not."

"Speaking of needles," Granger begins. "How did you hold up to all the tests, man?"

Aydan's smile falls away. "They were fine. I just hope with information from the three of us, they'll actually be able to find a way to keep Sam safe, and maybe control the green dragon in some way."

"That would be nice." Okay, it'd be more than nice, but I don't know what else to say. I'm tired of being terrified of the green dragon. I'm tired of wondering when he'll pop up next and how we'll be able to take him down, even though I've been promised that there's all kinds of security now at Specter Inc. against dragons. Apparently, the last attack taught them something about the way we work, and they adjusted their air targeting systems.

Whatever that means.

"The scientists are actually trying to find a way to communicate with one of the Sleeping Dragons. They think if we could ask one a lot of our questions, it'd be a hell of a lot easier to find a solution to dealing with the green dragon and the other Awakened ones," Granger explains, then sighs. "They also think as dragons continue to wake up, we'll be in trouble."

"Trouble how?" Aydan asks, frowning.

Granger gives him a look. "Just imagine dozens of dragons like the green dragon… just picking up people and eating them, or burning things down. The dragons that are awakening are hundreds of years old, and more animal than human. We don't have any idea how to communicate with them as humans, how to control them, what they want, other than Sam, what motivates them, how they live. Basically, the entire world is going to change now, and we need to do our best to stay at the top of the food chain. The only way we'll be able to do that is by finding a way to live in peace with them."

For a minute, I just imagine the way the world will change with dragons, and the thought is chilling. Aydan, Evander, and I are still more human than dragon. We're not going to attack people, or burn down things, but the Awakened Dragons might.

"Do they think all the awakened dragons are drawn to Sam?" Aydan asks.

"Based on the map, yes. The male dragons start heading in her direction every time her scent isn't concealed well enough."

"Well, she should be fine for a while," Aydan says, grinning.

Granger groans. "TMI, man, TMI."

My face gets red. "Can we try not to talk about all the scent covering stuff unless necessary? No matter how scientific we try to get about it, we all know what we're talking about, and it's creepy as hell."

"Agreed," Granger says, a little too quickly.

I snuggle against him more.

"You know what's weird?" Aydan asks.

"What?" I wait for his answer.

"I don't mind Granger's scent on you. I feel like it should bother me, but it doesn't. It's not that I like his scent, it just doesn't upset me."

"Probably because you know he's not a threat," I say.

"Ouch," Granger mutters.

I stroke his stomach. "You know what I mean."

He sighs. "I do."

There's a quiet minute before I say what I'm thinking. "Evander and you are going to have issues with each other's scents. You weren't a dragon before. You're going to see how he's been feeling since having you around me, and you're going to have to control yourself."

Aydan scoffs.

"I mean it."

His blue eyes meet mine. "I'm a dragon now. You needed a dragon. Things should be simpler now."

"They're not," I tell him honestly.

Anger flashes in his gaze, but he says nothing.

"What's good to know, if you think about it, is that Sam now has two male dragons to protect her. That should make her a lot safer, and that's all that really matters," Granger says, and I'm grateful for how he manages to soothe things in even the tensest moments.

I snuggle closer to my best friend, and think of Evander. There's a familiar pulling in my chest. I feel it connecting me to Aydan, but to Evander too. It feels wrong that he's not here, that we're not all together. I want to fix this, to ease this pain inside of me, but I just don't know how.