Page 30 of Fire Dragon Lover

Logan hugged Gretchen before he left with Sloan.

Forty

Gretchen

Gretchen wasn't sure how to feel about all she'd just learned in the past few minutes. She was upset and confused about why Logan would go if he knew he could be walking into a trap.

"How are you and the baby?" Hailey asked.

"Oh, everything is fine. Nothing wrong. We've just been staying here and taking it one day at a time. I mean, there are some minor inconveniences like I can't eat much, have trouble sleeping, and I'm tired all the time, but other than that ..." Gretchen dissolved into a laugh. "I'm happy. Or at least I was."

"Logan should be alright. Sloan is stubborn, but that does occasionally work in his favor."

"So, you and Sloan are ...?" Gretchen waited for an answer.

"We're something. Still trying to figure it all out. I guess we're taking it one day at a time, as well. We'll see. I've always wanted kids, but I've heard it's so rare. There are always other options, though. But that's a discussion for down the road. Right now, there's just a lot going on."

"Tell me about it." Gretchen snorted.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean—"

"It's okay. This," she said, pointing to her stomach, "wasn't in the plan. I want this baby, but the timing could have been better. I can't believe how much more complicated I've made things for Logan. I wish I wasn't making it worse. I don't know if we're going to have a reason to stay together after the baby is born."

"I saw the way Logan looked when he learned you were pregnant. He's not going anywhere. He loves you. Dragon men are complicated. Trust me, things between Sloan and I didn't start out easy. But what I've learned is, once they pick you, that's it. They will stick by you until the very end. So don't worry. Logan isn't going anywhere."

"What did you mean about things with you and Sloan not starting easy?" There was a brief pause before Gretchen added, "If you don't mind me asking." She needed something to take her mind off of her problems for a moment.

"I kind of thought I hated him. The whole enforcer thing. I thought they weren't much more than vigilantes. He was brash, and a little bit of a jerk, or at least I thought. But he's dedicated and protective. And once I stopped wanting to strangle him and started listening to him, I got to understand where he and the enforcers were coming from." Hailey smiled. "It doesn't hurt that the sex is fantastic."

Gretchen laughed. She was starting to realize she really liked Hailey, even if they met under such horrendous circumstances.

"I couldn't believe how—"

Gretchen's words were cut off when the glass window shattered from a violent explosion. Gretchen was thrown to the floor as Hailey threw herself over her new best friend. Gretchen tried to breathe, but she felt lightheaded. For a moment, she worried she might have smacked her head hard enough to cause a concussion.

But she'd gotten a concussion playing field hockey growing up. The way her head swam felt different. The room started to fill with smoke. By the time Gretchen realized she might be breathing in whatever it was that was making her lightheaded, darkness crept in from the edges of her vision before everything went black.

Forty-One

Logan

“Iknow the circumstances are unusual, with her being human, but she genuinely is his true mate, she is definitely pregnant with his child, and they were trying to kidnap her. He had no choice but to take the actions he did. We are permitted to shift in defense of ourselves and our families. I don’t see that you have any choice but to clear him of any wrongdoing in this matter.”

Sloan finally sat back down beside Logan, having finished corroborating Logan’s claims of self-defense in front of the council.

Four hours!Logan fumed.Four hours they have kept us here! This is ridiculous! I'm being attacked right and left, and I'm the one they put on trial?They exchanged a look as the council stepped back to confer.

After what seemed like an hour, but was probably closer to ten minutes, the elders returned to the table. The elder in the center of the long table, across from Logan and Sloan, glanced at the others, who nodded for him to take the floor and he pronounced their verdict.

“As much as we deplore the actions taken and the very public nature of the chaos that keeps erupting around you, the majority of us concede the necessity of what you did. As such, there will be no reprisal from the council for this matter. Be aware, however, that we will be watching you. This needs to stop. See that it does. You are dismissed.”

Logan and Sloan both stood, nodded respectfully to the elders, and strode quickly from the council chamber, anxious to get back to the women. As they burst out of the door, one of Sloan's enforcers ran up to them, his eyes wide and frantic.

“I’ve been trying to get to you for three hours. They wouldn’t let me in. They wouldn’t even deliver the message for me.”

“What happened?” Logan growled.

The enforcer gulped. “It’s the women, something happened. They’re gone!”

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