“Am I…” Her throat tightened. Fear overrode her ability to speak.
Isabella knew nothing about what it took to become a shifter, but the pain in her shoulder made her fear the possibility. Her stomach churned as she thought of her unborn child. The change between human and dragon would rend her body in ways she could never imagine. She couldn’t bear to think of what that would mean for her pregnancy.
Dillon cupped her face. “He didn’t bite you. You are safe.”
She looked him in his yellow eyes. He repeated the words several times over until her breath became normal again.
“Okay,” Gavin said. “If the two of you are done staring longingly at one another, I have a question. Now that we have two assholes from my father’s clan, what do we do with them?”
Isabella didn’t care what happened to Jake, but she turned toward Nate. He slept on the floor, still unconscious from Nellie’s magic. He’d even started snoring softly. She told Dillon and Gavin how he’d been nice. She touched her shoulder, grateful that there’d been such a wide difference between the two men.
“Go easy on Nate,” she said.
Dillon’s hands left her face. One dropped down to hold hers. She savored the touch and how the distance between them had shrunk. Dillon no longer seemed out of reach. He kept touching her, kept looking at her.
“Someone tell me what the hell just went down,” Casey demanded.
Evangeline launched into the story of how she and Nellie had knocked Nate unconscious. Casey’s expression turned from rage to pride. He, too, kept touching his mate. Seeing the similarities between the way the men acted gave Isabella hope.
Perhaps she had that kind of love after all.
Chapter Seventeen
Home.
The first place Isabella thought of was the cabin. Then, she remembered nearly everything she owned had been packed away as she prepared to move. Danger had arrived and struck hard. What had seemed like a joke had turned into an inescapable pain for Isabella.
Gavin would surely kick her out now. She couldn’t even lift boxes with her shoulder messed up as it was now. Her skin flashed with red hot pain when it connected with anything. When she flexed, the muscles reminded her of the bits that had been pierced by talons.
Dillon held her while Evangeline drove them back to the cabin, but Isabell struggled to hold onto any kind of happiness. Her relief had been so short lived. She yearned to grasp that feeling and hold it close again but couldn’t when she knew her days at the cabin were limited.
Once they stopped, Dillon directed her to the bathroom where he could take care of her injury. As they passed her room and she saw the boxes, her heart fell and dragged on the floor behind her.
“I want to stay,” she whispered, mostly to herself.
Dillon shut the bathroom door behind her and lifted her onto the counter. “I’ll talk to Gavin. He’ll understand.”
She shook her head. Dillon didn’t give her the chance to mope. He lifted her tank-top over her head. She cringed as she raised her arms. Her shoulder would never be the same. The gashes would heal, but when she twisted and saw herself in the mirror, she glimpsed the smeared ink of her tattoo.
What had been a delicate floral arrangement in black ink was now a mess of red skin.
Dillon rocked back on his heels. A downward turn tugged at the corners of his mouth. Yellow swirled on the perimeters of his blue eyes.
“This isn’t your fault,” she said.
“I was right beside you. I was looking for other dragon shifters, and I didn’t even see him.” Dillon didn’t take his eyes off her shoulder.
She hung her head. “Gavin is right. I need to leave because I’ll always be a target. Evangeline and Nellie can handle themselves, but everyone that comes to hurt you will know just by looking at me that I can be used against you.”
Dillon gently touched her chin. “You are the strongest person I know. Anyone else would have begged to be saved, but you bore this pain to protect everyone. You did everything right.”
She choked back a sob. “I still ended up in that position. If I was different, then it never would have happened.”
Dillon brought her close until their foreheads touched. His warmth washed over her and eased her tight muscles. She wanted to give in and cry but didn’t know what Dillon would think of her if she broke down now. So much had happened, and there’d been little time to process it.
“Let’s get a look at your shoulder.” Dillon leaned back.
Isabella could already tell that she would need to go to a doctor. Explaining what happened to the doctor would be a challenge, but she wasn’t a shifter. This wouldn’t heal overnight. It needed professional attention.
“Is it okay if I hold you?” Dillon asked, his voice nearly a whisper.
She spun back to him, surprised. He looked up at her with fearful eyes. Her heart hurt. She felt the pain like a physical knife, and it hurt so much worse knowing that this was her own doing.
“So, I wasn’t lying when I said that I sometimes get scared around you,” she began. She didn’t want to lie to him anymore. He deserved to know everything. She explained exactly when her body decided to panic and what she thought the reason was.
Dillon listened patiently, but his face was a mask the entire time. She struggled to get a feel for what he was thinking as she spoke. She waited for him to lean away, to march out and slam the door.
Instead, he nodded, and a small smile appeared. “I never want to make you think of him. We can take this one day at a time until every part of you knows without a doubt that I will love you and keep you safe for the rest of my life.”
Her breath left her. She swallowed another sob and threw her arms around his neck. He stiffened in her grasp.
“I don’t know how to translate this,” he said.
Her shoulder hurt something fierce, but she held on tight. “Thank you. I don’t deserve you.”
Dillon gently pulled her arms away. At first, when she saw the flat set of his brows, she worried that she’d somehow angered him.
“Don’t say something like that. You deserve so much more. This is basic human kindness.” He kissed the tip of her nose, then whispered, “Wait until I shower you with everything you deserve. You are my mate. I’d give you the whole world.”
Though she needed to get off the counter and see a doctor, Isabella knew her life would be going in a better direction from here on out. Her chest flared with warmth when she thought of the word mate. She’d yearned for that kind of love, the endless depths of affection she’d seen with Evangeline and Casey.
While they needled each other and lent each other strength, Isabella had a different kind of relationship. Dillon made her feel whole again. He showed her that she could be loved.
“I know my due date is months away,” she began. She bit her lip then decided to go for it. “I’d like it if you would be my baby’s father.”
Dillon grinned.
“You’re going to be a great dad,” she said with absolute conviction.
“I’m a baby daddy,” he said and laughed. She could feel his excitement pouring off him.
She could think of no other man better suited to be a father. Dillon’s patience and kindness were exactly what she needed, but those qualities would also help them raise a happy child, too.