Page 2 of Saving Her Dragon

Shrugging, Grey gave her a quick look and smile and said, “I have no clue.”

“Well, I’m gonna ask.”

“I think you said something about that a time or two.” Unable to hide his laughter, Grey pretended to cough into his hand.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Star rolled her eyes then chuckled. “You know how I get when a question pops into my head.”

“You just have to find the answer?”

“Yep! I just have to find the answer.”

Laughing right along with his Mate, Grey still couldn’t believe all his blessings. His Mate was nothing short of miraculous. He was about to see Garrett for the first time in what seemed like forever. He was going to introduce Star to his brother and get to meet the one and only Sydney Kavanaugh, the woman the Universe made for his brother.

Glancing out at the sprawling property, the Guardsman let out a soft chuckle. “Ya’ know what?”

“No, tell me.”

“I’ve imagined this reunion a thousand different ways.” Scratching the stubble that was always on his jawline no matter how many times a day he shaved, Grey’s smile widened. “And most of them involved dark alleyways, hidden sanctuaries, or dramatic midnight rescues.”

“Oh, you thought you were gonna be the new James Bond?” Star laughed out loud. “I get to tell everyone that I am married to Double-0-7?”

“No, you gorgeous goofball,” Grey snickered. “I just meant that after I got over being scared shitless when Garrett walked out of the Clinic, and no one could find him, I was sure he was on a mission.”

“Oh, I get it.” Star nodded. “You thought you would be two Guardsmen on the same mission but coming at it from opposite directions?”

“That about sums it up.” Smiling wider still, he added, “Of all the ways I thought I would find my brother, none of them, absolutely not a single one, included getting GPS directions to the home of Carrick and his Mate, in Texas of all things.”

Grey felt Star shift in her seat and let go when she gently slid her hand from his. But when she pretended to play with something on her phone, he knew something was up. On more than one occasion, he had listened to his lovely She-Wolf go into explicit detail about the overuse of cell phones, iPads, and the like. She thought people were too dependent on them and wasted too much time indoors on devices rather than being out and enjoying the world.

“And don’t forget the time she came home from shopping madder than a wet hen,” Darwin chimed in, using their unique and private link to be sure Star couldn’t hear them.

It wasn’t that they were keeping secrets. It was more that the Dragon King was attempting to counsel the Guardsman. No, he had never had a Mate before either, but he had been around more than his share of Mated couples and had seen first-hand how to maneuver tricky marital situations in the best possible way.

“Oh, yeah,” Grey mentally breathed. “Our Star was seriously pissed off at the woman in front of her in the checkout line. She came busting into the house, talking as soon as she opened the door, telling us how this utterly rude lady took twice as long as necessary to load her groceries onto the checkout stand because she was on the phone.”

“Not to mention, the woman was talking loud enough for everyone to hear about her date from the night before.”

“In explicit detail.” The Guardsman and the Dragon King chuckled. Then Grey went on, “It must have been seriously racy because our girl wouldn’t tell us everything that was said.”

“Very true.”

“But that’s neither here nor there. The fact that Star is scrolling through an app tells me that something big is up, and she’s trying to figure out how to talk to me about it.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“I don’t get it,” Grey huffed. “It is so unlike her not to just come out with whatever she wants to say.”

“Yes, that is true.”

“And I know she can feel the joy about to bubble out of me.”

“She can,” the Dragon King reassured. “And she is incredibly happy for you– for both of you.” Clearing his throat, something that said his answer was going to be long and a bit of a production, Darwin kept going, “But Star carries her own history. You know better than I that she sees peace as a fragile thing. Something she has to protect, while waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“You are so right,” Grey jumped in when Darwin paused. “She really is a ‘see it to believe it’ kind of girl.”

“Absolutely,” the Dragon King agreed. “And even then, she is always looking over her shoulder. Look at her.”

Grey did just that, and sure enough, Star was no longer looking at her phone. Rather, she was scanning the horizon as if looking for impending trouble.