Page 10 of Surge of Storms

“I know.” She kisses me, and takes my hand.

We walk hand-in-hand back to the base, and it just feels right. I think I’ve spent my whole life just wanting to hold her hand. Wanting her to look at me the way she’s looking at me now.

She tilts her head and says, “Can you believe you were the storm dragon all along? I feel so stupid for not realizing it.”

I shake my head and answer honestly. “In my mind, I was the last person who would ever have been the storm dragon.”

She grins. “You’re the big, dangerous alpha.”

“Doesn’t sound right, does it?”

Her eyes twinkle. “Actually, it sounds absolutely perfect.”

THREE

Samantha

We reach the building,but before we can get too close, Dr. Duncan and Dr. Abigail come out of the elevator. Both seem out of breath and look frightened beyond belief. I glance around, expecting some new danger, but it’s just us.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, clenching Granger’s hand tighter.

They rush over, and Dr. Abigail's gaze snaps between us. “The security cameras showed Granger getting taken by the green dragon and you going after him. Security said Balor must have dropped straight down, because our systems weren’t triggered until he was out of reach. We radioed jets to go after you, but you disappeared from the satellites, so we weren’t able to follow you after that. You were MIA until our camera caught you walking into the base.” She reaches out and touches my arm, seeming to be unsure about what to do.

“We’re okay,” I say, appreciating her concern for me. “We were able to chase off the green dragon.”

“How?” Dr. Duncan asks, looking confused.

I release a slow breath, not wanting to go into all of this until I talk to my men first, but Granger answers. “We’ll tell you later, after we’ve spoken to Aydan, Evander, and Zane. For now, we’re wet and dirty, and Sam’s injured, so we probably need to focus on getting dry and getting her checked out.”

My gaze slides to his. “I’m fine.”

His dark eyes hold no room for argument. “We’ll make sure of that.”

“Okay,” Dr. Abigail says. “We can discuss it later, but we’ll need a full report.”

We nod and all climb into the elevator together. They get off on the floor with the labs, and we continue on to the medical floor. I feel like it’s entirely unnecessary, but Granger drags me off to be evaluated.

The doctors poke and prod my back, seeming unsure what to do. I understand. The wounds have healed over, but the injuries are both deep and wide underneath. They don’t hurt as bad as they did before I shifted, but I’m definitely sore, moreso since my hormones have calmed down a bit. Still, I’m not surprised when they say there’s nothing more they can do for me except provide pain relief.

“See,” I tell Granger, giving him a teasing smile.

His face is serious. “There aren’t any creams, ointments, anything?”

One of the doctors shakes his head as he looks at my back. “Dragon healing is different from the way humans heal. According to Zane, only the most severe injuries cannot be healed. Shifting helps speed up the process, but shifting back and forth too much can make it so the injuries do not heal correctly and could lead to permanent issues. It’s obvious her injuries are severe, but her body has already closed the wounds and begun healing. For anyone else, she’d need a great deal of stitches, one hundred or more to get all her many wounds put back together. For her, she just needs time.”

Granger doesn’t seem happy, but he thanks them for their help. I refuse the pain killers, and we get back on the elevator, heading to the floor with all our bedrooms. In such a small space, it’s hard to ignore how good Granger smells. And given the way his khaki pants are tenting, he likes my scent too.

“Granger…”

“You should try to rest and just focus on healing… until we can talk to Aydan.”

Aydan. Of course he’s still worried about him. I don’t know why, but I’m not. If Aydan can learn to share me with Evander, he can learn to share me with anyone.

I’m about to argue when the elevator reaches the correct floor. The doors open, and Dahlia is there, surprising us. She sweeps her hand through her black hair and grins at us, the smile reaching her dark eyes. “Good! You’re okay! I heard the green dragon was spotted, but everyone was too busy running around to tell me much.”

I try to match her calm, easy attitude. “It’s okay. The green dragon is gone, and we’ve dealt with him. Now, we just have to wait for Aydan, Zane, and Evander to get back from dealing with the salmon and brown dragons.”

Twodragons they should be able to handle. All along, they’d been planning on fighting against three with the help of the jets. Knowing that they only have to deal with two makes me feel a lot better.

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