Page 2 of The Dragon Recruit
Faye MacKenzie was one of the co-leaders of the Protectors on Lochguard. She was also pregnant with her second child. “The bairn?”
“Safe for now. But Grant wants to speak with us.”
“Aye, I’m on my way.”
She ended the call and looked at her mother. “I have to go, Mum. Faye’s at the surgery.”
“Is she okay?”
“For now.” She kissed her mother’s cheek. “I’ll stop by later.”
With that, Iris dashed out of her parents’ house and ran toward the surgery. While she wasn’t as close with Faye as she could be, Iris respected her. And the thought of anything happening to the female made her heart twist.
Her dragon spoke up.Between Grant and Dr. MacFarland, she’s in good hands.
Not wanting to argue, she ran faster. Iris had just entered and skidded to a halt when Cooper waved at her from reception. She stopped next to him, and he said, “That was fast.”
“Aye, well, I can’t help it if you’re a slow runner.”
His lips twitched. “Let’s not bring up my loss again.” He gestured with his hand. “Follow me.”
They walked down a hallway until they reached one of the patient rooms. Cooper knocked before entering.
Faye lay on a hospital bed, propped up on pillows. Her mate and other co-protector, Grant McFarland, stood next to her, holding her hand.
Faye met her gaze and smiled. “I’m fine.”
Grant grunted. “You aren’t.”
A throat cleared from behind her, and Iris turned to see Dr. Layla McFarland—the clan’s head doctor and Grant’s sister-in-law. Layla entered and stood on the other side of Faye’s bed. “Well, you’re both right.”
Grant frowned. “What do you mean?”
The doctor answered, “Faye and the bairn are fine. This time. Faye had a difficult pregnancy with your daughter, and this one looks to be no different. Which means she needs to take it easy.”
Faye scowled. “Please tell me it’s not bed rest again this time around.”
“Trust me, I understand, aye? I had to endure that too. But whilst it hasn’t reached that point yet, you need to ease back on your Protector duties until the bairn is born.” Layla glanced at Iris and Cooper before saying, “I need all of you to make sure she follows my orders, aye?”
Grant nodded. “I’ll make sure she takes it easy, Layla. That’s why I called Cooper and Iris here.”
Layla said, “Right, well, I’ll come back in about ten minutes to go over Faye’s restrictions for the next six months.”
Once the doctor was gone, Grant looked at Cooper and then Iris before saying, “The two of you have been asking for more responsibilities for ages, aye? Well, with Faye and Isla needing me, I’m going to have to step back a little as well. Which means you two will need to handle most of the clan matters until our bairn is born.”
Iris was torn between concern for Faye and excitement at this opportunity. After all, she’d been waiting for years to be given more duties.
Cooper spoke up. “Aye, we’ll do whatever you need, Grant, Faye.”
“Yes, we’ll do whatever you need,” Iris stated.
Faye said, “Aye, well, you might not be so happy about it once we fill you in on a few things.”
Grant lifted a hand and brushed some of Faye’s curly hair from her face. “We can do that later, love. Right now, you need to rest.”
As the pair stared at one another, their eyes full of love, a stab of jealousy rushed through Iris. At one time, she’d dreamed of having that kind of love forever.
Until reality had taught her it was foolish.
