Page 17 of Saving Her Dragon

And it was. It made perfect sense to Sydney. It was the ideal, comforting explanation. For a fleeting second, she felt better.

But as Garrett opened his eyes and looked across the sunny bedroom, she felt a cold reality settle into the pit of his stomach. Whatever was happening to him at night didn't just bypass his own mind.

It took Han down with him.

The atmosphere in the kitchen ten minutes later was aggressively, determinedly normal.

Sydney practically attacked the skillet, tossing in heavy strips of bacon and whisking eggs with enough force to crack the bowl. She was creating a wall of domestic noise, a sensory shield to convince them both that today was just another day on the ranch. Garrett sat at the island, nursing a fresh mug of coffee and insisting, for the fourth time, that he felt perfectly fine.

“Seriously, Syd,” he repeated. “I feel fine.”

“I know,” she said. “I’m the one that told you everything would be okay.”

“Yes, but…”

“But what?” Grey asked, walking into the kitchen. The look in his eye said he had read the room and was prepared for a discussion.

His sharp eyes flicked from Sydney’s tense shoulders to the slight stiffness in Garrett’s posture. Looking back to Sydney, he shrugged.

In response, she shrugged right back.

"Alright," Grey said, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms. "Who died?"

"Nobody," Sydney said quickly, not turning around from the stove. "Everything is fine."

“Yeah, I heard that.” Then to his brother, he said, “So, how about you tell me what’s up?”

"I sleepwalked last night," Garrett answered smoothly.

Looking over her shoulder, Sydney instantly read the look on Grey’s face. He knew his brother too well. He knew Garrett was trying to hide something, which everyone knew was a lesson in futility.

Grey didn't blink. He just walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a mug. "You sleepwalked?"

"Apparently," Garrett replied, watching his brother's reaction closely. "Wandered out into the backyard. Had a full conversation with Sydney. Remembered absolutely none of it this morning."

Grey shrugged, taking a slow sip. "Happens. Stress does weird things to a person. I once woke up entirely naked on top of a chicken coop."

Of course, that was the exact moment that Star stepped into the kitchen doorway. Eyes wide with a mixture of horror and delight, she whooped loudly, "You what?"

The kitchen exploded in laughter. Carrick, who had been lingering in the hallway, let out a loud bark of laughter, while Garrett’s shoulders shook as a genuine, deep laugh broke through his lingering anxiety. Even Sydney couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her lips as Grey slowly turned a deep shade of crimson, glaring at his Mate.

"It was at least twenty years ago," Grey grumbled, though a smirk tugged at his mouth. "It was a very stressful time. It was the first mission for a group of new Guardsmen I had trained."

"I am never letting you live that down," Star laughed, walking over to press a kiss to his cheek.

Just like that, the monster in the dark, the whole sleepwalking debacle, was shrunk down to a funny family anecdote. It was another logical explanation. Another comfort.

But as the laughter died down, Garrett’s soldier instincts took over. Sydney watched him set his coffee mug down, his expression shifting into something focused and precise. She was learning very quickly that when her Mate encountered an unknown variable, he didn't panic; he established protocol.

"Regardless," Garrett said, his tone turning practical. "We need precautions. Until we know this is just a temporary glitch, we treat it like a security variable. We lock the deadbolts at night. Put a bell on the back door. Syd, if you feel me get out of bed again, you wake me up immediately. Don't just follow me."

"Deal," Sydney agreed, relieved he was taking it seriously.

Garrett offered a faint, fleeting smile. "If you see me heading north toward Oklahoma in my boxers, just tackle me."

Underneath the joke, Sydney caught the tight flicker in his jaw. He was unsettled– but he wasn't going to let it paralyze him.

In fact, the rest of the day turned out to be the best day her Mate had experienced since his return. There were no weird physical freezes. No cognitive fogs. The Texas sun climbed high, and Garrett leaned into the daylight with a fierce intensity.