“Karry,” A.D. harshly snaps. “Take a moment to really think this shit through.”
“Let her do it,” I pipe in on a small shoulder shrug. “I’d do it.”
All eyes turn my direction, but it’s my Fated Mate who grumbles, “There’s no need to try to go Single White Female on my ex, Ana.”
He’s met with a slightly impressed look. “Big ups for referencing Abel’s favorite movie.”
His wink is playfully smug.
“All I’m saying is…if it were me and this was happening with one of my brothers, I’d do it without hesitation, just like her. And I know they’d do the same for me. And if you, big, burly, fire-breathing dragonholes really stop to think for a sec, you know damn well you’d all do it for each other too.”
Uncomfortable shuffles are taken by each of the Draak siblings in a silent indication that I’m correct; however, Gene clears his throat to add to the conversations, “Master Draak, Master Draak, Master Draak…you know that Lady Draak is correct. You all know that Lady Draak is speaking nothing but the truth.”
“But I said it, not Dae.”
“Now that you are officially bonded, you too are Lady Draak,” Gene warmly explains.
“Fuck me, that shit is going to get confusing.”
“Wait until the oldest Master Draak is Fate Mated as well.”
P grunts in disgust over the idea prompting A.D. to playfully poke, “The shit is contagious. Consider this the only warning you’re getting.”
His brother releases a small gag prior to concurring, “Fine. You have a valid point, Ana. If A.D. or Z needed my essence, I wouldn’t hesitate to volunteer either.”
“Same,” his brothers state in tandem.
“However-”
“Of course, you’d have a fancy but,” I mumble under my breath.
“-I would want an actual trained medical professional to handle the situation not a trainee.”
“Watch your mouth about my Fated Mate,” Z growls, pointing a sharp finger at his oldest brother.
“Z,” Dae sweetly starts on a soft smile, “it’s a fair comment. I am a vet who is training to become a doctor on this side of The Fog. I’m not qualified to do this anymore than I was qualified to remove that thing from Little B or those bullets from you.” Her chin suddenly kicks up in unexpected confidence. “But let me remind you, P, I did both of those things successfully – with much less knowledge than I have now – proving I am capable of more than my current paperwork indicates.”
“I trust her,” Karry declares firmly. “She’s one of you.”
“She is one of us,” Z overly emphasizes. “She is a member of this family.”
“A super fucking important member,” I purposely stress, receiving a bashful grin from her.
Small silvery puffs of smoke precede his seething declaration, “Let my Fated Mate do what she does best.”
P forces himself to nod in a surrendering nature.
“Genie Gene, will you please escort Karry and Krystie to my practice room?”
Me questioning the statement is instant, “Practice room?”
“Genie Gene turned one of the spare rooms into basically a medical space for me. I’m typically very hands-on and like being hands-on and learning in a hands-on environment too. We filled the space with all sorts of supplies and tools and gadgets, and my ultimate frame of mind is that we can turn it into an inhouse hospital room for me to do necessary procedures that we come across. Shifters are fortunate enough to heal themselves but not all creatures have that liberty. And since we don’t really know what someone is going to be mated to, I would rather be prepared than not.”
Z gets noticeably growly with a specific glimmer in his eye.
Ah.
The horny for your mate when she’s flexing her skills shit is hereditary.
P’s sneering at the sight and sound alike is followed by an exhausted exhale. “I’ll see if Dr. Devries is willing to make another house call at this hour. More medical hands for this situation seems wiser.”
Dae nods in agreement as beings begin to exit the room. She looks at me with a sibling-like smile. “Your turn.”
“I’m fine,” I quickly insist while shaking my head. “I’m-”
“Slightly wheezing when you talk,” she politely points out, “which tells me you’re not as fine as you’re pretending to be.”
“Why are you wheezing?” P questions, swiftly spinning on his heels to return to the room.
“You see what you did there?” My quiet scolding is attached to a glare. “You summoned The Boogeyman.”
“Why is your Fated Mate wheezing, A.D.?”
Rather than answer his brother he firmly states to Dae, “Can you examine her, please?”
“She needs my consent,” I swiftly argue in my continued refusal.
“I definitely prefer it,” Dae agrees immediately.
A.D.’s hazel stare promptly shifts to me and presents a pleading gleam. Feelings of dread and inconsolable sadness slowly begin spreading throughout my entire body in such a way it’s impossible to ignore.
Fuck. Me.
That shit really does work both ways.
“Fuck, fine,” I submit through gritted teeth. “But just to be fucking clear, this is a total waste of time. I’m okay. Really. Just a few scratches. I get beat up worse than this sparring with Abs.”
“Abs?” Z voices his confusion.
“Her youngest brother,” my Fated Mate informs before I can.
“You should really be upstairs or downstairs or in the back shed, wherever your Frankenstein laboratory is, trying to bring that broken flamingo back to life. She needs saving, not me.”
“That’s next,” Dae warmly giggles prior to picking back up her listening tool. “Discovering why my Fated-In-Law isn’t breathing properly is now.”
“Did she get injured during the rescue?” P interrogates his brother. “How injured? And how did it happen? She was just supposed to be a distraction!”
“Yelling will not help anyone’s blood pressure,” Dae scolds during the moving of her cold tool over my ribs. “And it makes it harder for me to hear.”
A.D. and I both struggle not to grin.
Silence is reluctantly presented to the doctor who changes from listening to the area to poking. Initial applied pressure receives no response, yet when she pushes down significantly harder, I yelp, “Fuck!”