Chapter Nineteen
Rowe
His eyes hurt come the morning.
Not because of any injuries he’d sustained, but from his lack of sleep. Too many nights over the past week he’d stayed up late, or simply been unable to sleep while he pondered how to make things better between him and Cheryl.
Then, just as he’d finally taken that next step with her, disaster struck. It was one endless thing after another. Part of him longed for the peaceful life back in the dragon enclave. Maybe Rowe had been wrong; maybe he didn’t belong out here amongst humans and the other shifters. Could it be that he was destined for a life of slow-moving deliberation?
The enclave ran one of the biggest and most secure banking systems in the world, and there would always be a place for him among them if he so chose. Every dragon born to the enclave had that right. Still, Rowe wasn’t sure a suit-and-tie desk job was what he wanted.
There had to be a balance point somewhere, right?
“They were busy.”
He blinked. “What?”
Cheryl was staring outside the kitchen window as the dull gray-filtered light of a winter morning lit the room around them. “The wolf shifters. They tagged the barn again, and smashed the ATV to bits. I can see it now.”
He frowned. How the hell had they done that without him hearing? True, he’d been tired by the time he made a call, took a shower, and held Cheryl until she fell asleep. Still, smashing it should have caused enough noise to wake him.
“I see.”
“There’s probably more. That’s just what I can see from this window,” she said crossly.
Cheryl had taken the revelation of the shifters better than he’d ever expected. Having seen evidence of it firsthand certainly helped in the belief department, even if everything she knew told her it wasn’t actually possible.
“It’ll be okay,” he assured her. “We have the money to fix it.”
“It’s not the money,” she snapped. “What if word gets back to my boss about everything going on? I’m going to lose my job.”
“Then I’ll get it back for you.”
“That’s not the point, Rowe! The point is that I got the job. I got the promotion. I did that. Not you, not my parents, not anyone else. I earned it. I don’t want to lose it after all the work I put in, and I certainly don’t want someone else to intimidate my boss into giving me my job back.”
Rowe hadn’t thought of it that way. He’d never meant to insult her or her ability to work for what she wanted. To him he saw it as his kind screwing things up for her, so it should be him who righted the wrongs. Cheryl would never see it that way though, he knew that, and should have known that before he spoke.
“Um, sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you.”
She sighed. “I didn’t mean to unload on you like that, either. I’m just on edge. I’m sorry.”
He crossed over to her and kissed her on the cheek, wrapping his arms around her small frame, feeling the littleness of her in his grasp. Despite the softness of her body, her wonderful curves still felt perfectly tiny to him. It was a match made by fate.
“It’ll be okay.”
She shook her head. “No, it won’t. The farmhands are going to have a fit when they see that, if they haven’t already. Who knows, maybe they were awakened by the events.” Her shoulders straightened.
Rowe knew she’d come to a decision about something.
“I need to send them home, don’t I?”
He ran his thumbs down the sides of her neck, actions answering her more than words could. Rowe was well aware she wasn’t going to like doing that, but for not only the safety of the farmhands, but also to help maintain the secrecy of shifter kind, they needed to go. It would only be temporary; once everything was settled they would all be free to return if they wished. Right now though, someone had to send them home, and that someone unfortunately was Cheryl.
After all, by her own words, she was the one in authority. Not him.
“I guess it’s best to do it before they get started for the day.”
Rowe didn’t answer. There was no need. Instead he leant his support the only way he could for the moment, and kept working at the knots in her muscles. Even as he would relax them out she would tense up again.
Finally Cheryl sighed and that was that. He followed her outside. The day was warming swiftly, the chill of the prior night evaporating, and melting the little layer of frost that had formed. His boots clung to the muck though he didn’t notice. His attention was elsewhere.
The workers reacted predictably. Most of them had already noticed the damage and a group were gathered outside their residence, talking anxiously among themselves. When Cheryl ordered everyone out and told them the place was shutting down temporarily, there were no protests.
Some looked upset, some relieved, but all of them seemed to understand that something was going on, and they were glad not to be involved with it, even if it threatened their livelihood. The promise that they would all have first chance to return after the issue was settled helped though. It meant they could go find work in the meantime, and not worry about losing out on the opportunity for better pay when things were settled.
Many asked questions as they left, but Rowe was there to head most of them off. Cheryl simply didn’t have the experience in fending off questions about shifters yet, and he didn’t want to risk her letting something slip by accident. Nobody argued with his answers, and the trucks and cars on the property slowly dwindled as the laborers packed up their things and headed out.
Finally the last pickup was gone. They stood watching for a moment, recognizing the finality of what they’d done. Rowe found himself wishing he could explain to Cheryl that this was for the best. That he could handle things much better now that he only had to worry about protecting her, and that he didn’t have to guard the secret anymore.
All that was left was to tell her about himself, and to track the shifters down to their den. Simple. He could have it fixed in a day. Add on a few more for Cheryl to cope with the knowledge he was a dragon, a few after that for them to simply be alone. A week, max, and the workers could return. He even suspected that Palin could be talked into paying them for the time off, especially if they hadn’t found other work in the meantime.
“It had to be done.”
“I know,” she said, sad and dejected. “That doesn’t make it any easier of a pill to swallow.”
Rowe hated seeing her like that. Beating herself up inside, thinking it was all on her. This project was going to succeed. Rowe wasn’t going to let it fail, no matter what it meant he had to do behind the scenes. With or without her knowledge.
“Now there’s just one last thing to do,” he said, bracing himself.
Cheryl turned, eyes wary and suspicious. A thick lock of curly hair fell across her face, hiding her perfectly arched eyebrow. With a casual flick she pushed it away. Her eyes never moved the entire time. “You flinched as you said that.”
He held back his grimace. Rowe had tried to keep his emotions contained, but she was better at reading him than he thought.
“What is it you haven’t told me, Rowe? Again.”
Ignoring the barb, he forged ahead. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner they could get back to being mates.
“You need to go as well. I’ll handle this.”
Her mouth dropped open and she stepped away from him. “No way in hell,” she snapped. “I’m not leaving you alone, Rowe. You’re not going to stay here alone. That’s suicide. Against a bunch of wolf shifters? What on earth possessed you to say that?”
Rowe bore up stoically under the tongue-lashing, not letting the pain in her expression affect him. He couldn’t, not now. He needed to stay strong. To stay aloof. Getting into an argument was not the way he’d wanted it to go, but if it served to piss her off enough to get her to leave, then his mission would still be accomplished. She would forgive him in time.
That was a pain he was willing to endure if it meant the assured safety of his mate. No price was too large to pay when it came to her.
“What would you staying accomplish besides playing to your pride?” he said once she was finished. “The best way to help me is to be somewhere that I can be confident you’re safe. Without you at risk, I can deal with this as needed.”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this. What are you going to do, hunt them all down and shoot them?”
“I don’t own a gun.”
He didn’t need one. The rest of her sentence was fairly accurate though. With Cheryl gone to safety, Rowe would show these upstarts just why it was such a terrible idea to mess with a dragon. It would be far too intense of a battle for a human to be around. And if they knew his connection to her…
Rowe shuddered at the thought. No, he couldn’t allow that to pass.
“I’m not leaving. End of story, Rowe.”
He started to say more but she pushed past him, tears sparkling at the corners of her eyes. She made it halfway back to the ranch house before spinning on him.
“I can’t believe you.” Her voice cracked, but she pushed on, wiping tears away as they fell. “This is exactly why I should never have opened up to you in the first place. Mixing business with pleasure was a terrible idea. I should never have done it. You don’t believe in me, just like everyone else. You look at me and all you see is an obstacle in the way. I’m not stupid; I know I couldn’t tangle with a werewolf. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help in other ways, Rowe.” She looked down, shaking her head. “You’re just too blind to see it.”
Then she was gone, disappearing back inside. Rowe stood in the same spot, swaying in time with the breeze as he tried to pick up the broken pieces of his heart, all while dealing with the guilt weighing him down. Shortly after that, the questions started.
What if.
What if she was right, and keeping her around was a help? What if she was the key to beating them somehow? What if her presence made him a better fighter, and enabled him to win easier?
What if he listened to her and he was wrong? What if she stayed and they killed her? What if she saw his secret and couldn’t accept him? What if he accidentally killed her during the fight?
For time unknown he just stood there, lost, unsure what to do next.
Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Rowe whirled to face the newcomer.
Make that newcomers. Not just a representative, which he’d been half expecting, but judging by the numbers the entire pack was making an appearance. There were more of them than expected, too. He thought about Cheryl in the house, fear clouding his mind. He’d wanted her gone, to get to safety, but now it was too late. They were already here.
All he could do was hope and pray that they thought he’d sent her away as well.