Page 24 of Dragon’s Revenge (Irresistible Dragons #7)

Chapter Twenty-Three

A dar’s recovery was progressing nicely, though the alpha didn’t agree, much to Delton’s amusement. He’d never figured Adar to be impatient, but the man was sure as hell eager to get out of bed and return to normal life.

He’d been discharged from the clinic the day before and had moved into Delton’s bedroom so Delton and Oliver could take care of him. Adar had protested he didn’t need help, but after being covered in sweat and exhausted from the short walk from the car to Delton’s bedroom, he’d quickly changed his tune. Delton had bitten back his “I told you so.”

Delton had slept on the couch, not wanting to share a bed with Adar out of fear he’d bump into him. He hadn’t minded, though he’d slept like crap—both because he’d woken up twice to check on Adar and because he was so out of his usual routine.

“I don’t like change,” Delton confessed to Adar when the two of them were taking a painfully slow walk the next morning. Adar’s muscle strength had suffered from spending so much time in bed, and he needed to build up his activity level again.

“I would’ve thought change was the whole point of your job.”

“Change inside people, yes. Outside change, not so much. It’s hard enough for people to heal and adapt when their lives are stable. When everything is constantly in motion, it’s damn near impossible.”

“Why?”

“Our brains don’t like change because it costs extra energy. Even people who say they dislike routine have that same issue. Running on habits is easy for us. It’s like an energy-efficient, preprogrammed setting, like getting ready for work in the morning. You always wear the same clothes and shoes, eat the same thing for breakfast, and you do it in the same order, right?”

Adar nodded, a deep frown marring his forehead. “I shower first thing, then get dressed, then eat. Meanwhile, I make a thermos of coffee so when I need to leave, I can take that with me.”

“Exactly. Now, imagine what happens if your shoelace breaks. Or you’re out of coffee. Or you get an unexpected call that disrupts that routine. How would you feel?”

Understanding dawned on the alpha’s face. “Annoyed as fuck. A couple of weeks ago, I dropped my thermos and it cracked, so I had to throw it out. I had a new one the next day because Naran had an extra one I could use, but that one morning, I was so frustrated and irritated. Like somehow, my entire day was ruined because of that stupid thermos.”

Delton chuckled. “That’s a perfect example. Your brain was annoyed with the break in routine because it now had to think about stuff you normally do automatically. It had to consciously run programs that usually play out subconsciously, which requires a lot of extra energy. Now imagine that on top of that, you had to switch jobs. Sivney said you had kitchen duty for the day and had to peel potatoes.”

The look of sheer horror on Adar’s face made Delton snort.

“That’s a nightmare scenario right there,” Adar said, shuddering. “The kitchen is definitely not where my talents are.”

Delton patted his hand, grinning. “Mine neither, so imagine how you would’ve felt.”

“I would’ve considered calling in sick…and I don’t do that. Ever.”

When Delton let go of Adar’s hand, the alpha grabbed his, lacing their fingers together. “This okay?”

A thousand butterflies took flight in Delton’s stomach. “Yes. Very okay.”

The smile Adar sent him only made those feelings stronger. “Thank you. You were saying?”

He’d been saying something? Right. He’d been talking about change. “My job is to help people heal from their traumas. Healing is nothing more than changing how we respond to stimuli, whether emotional or physical. It’s a slow process because it requires retraining our brains. That in itself is hard. Really, really hard. But it becomes even more difficult when everything else is also changing.”

Adar was panting slightly despite their slow pace, a testament to how hard a hit his body had taken. He’d been in prime shape before. “Like what?”

“Like you still recovering. Like the three of us figuring out how to navigate being mates. Like Rhene returning and taking his position as pack alpha again and Duff Bás being here, watching our every move, putting everyone on edge.”

Adar was quiet for a while, but Delton didn’t mind. He’d learned to be comfortable with silence a long time ago—a requirement in his job. One of the biggest mistakes therapists and mental health professionals could make was filling every silence with words. Sometimes, being quiet was the only way to get people to open up. Some people needed to be able to hear themselves think, and if Delton had to put money on it, Adar was one of them.

“You think this will affect Oliver’s healing process?” the alpha finally asked.

“It might, yes. He’s dealing with a lot right now.”

Adar’s body tensed, his hand clenching around Delton’s. Before Delton could ask what the problem was, he spotted the man walking toward them. He squeezed Adar’s hand, and they stopped, waiting for Duff to reach them. Was the dragon slayer out for a casual stroll, or was he looking for them? It seemed it was the latter because Duff stopped right in front of them. “I assume you know who I am,” he said, softer than Delton had expected.

“Yes.”

Adar’s one-word response wasn’t exactly welcoming and friendly, but Delton couldn’t fault him for that. Still, he felt obliged to introduce them. “I’m Delton, and this is Adar.”

“You’re the psychologist, right?” Duff asked.

“That’s me.”

“Rhene told me to talk to you,” Duff said to Delton. “Can we make an appointment?”

“Not without me present,” Adar said before Delton could respond. Then he looked at Delton, cringing a little. “Sorry, I should’ve asked you first. But it’s not safe for you to be alone with him. The man wants to kill us.”

Delton should’ve felt offended that Adar had bypassed him, but he didn’t. He’d never had an alpha be protective of him before, and he couldn’t say he minded how it made him feel. Safe. Like a treasure that needed to be guarded.

“Not you. The dragons,” Duff said, not even blinking an eye at that statement, which was worrisome.

“Excuse me for not taking that as a reassurance, considering our mate is a dragon,” Adar snapped.

Duff’s eyes widened. “You’re mated to a dragon?”

Delton straightened his shoulders. He still wasn’t sure what to think of Duff being allowed full access, but he’d have to trust that Rhene knew what he was doing. “Yes. Oliver, a dragon omega, is our mate.”

“Ah, I see. You need him to have kids,” Duff said.

Fury bubbled inside Delton. “We need him because he’s part of our triad. Without him, we’d be missing a piece. It has nothing to do with kids. Hell, we haven’t even discussed that.”

Duff blinked. “You’re not interested in having kids?”

As if Delton was going to discuss the details of their relationship with a total stranger. “I don’t see how that’s any of your concern.”

Duff opened his mouth, then closed it again. “I still want to talk to you.”

“You heard my mate. It’ll have to be with him present.”

In this case, Delton had no issues with Adar being protective of him.

“That’s fine.” Duff slowly took Adar in. “Not that I think you’d be much of a threat in your current state, even if I did have bad intentions. No offense, but I’m an experienced warrior.”

Adar inhaled sharply, but Delton squeezed his hand to signal he had this. “Do you know how he got hurt?”

Duff shook his head.

“He fought a dragon who was using dark magic…and he won. He killed him. So trust me when I say his current state, as you called it, is no reason not to fear him. He’d kill you with his bare hands if he thought you were threatening me.”

As awful as killing someone was, Delton couldn’t help but feel proud of Adar, not only for avenging their mate but also for continuing on long after anyone else would’ve given up.

Duff visibly swallowed. “Duly noted. Also, I’d love to hear more about why he had to kill a dragon.”

Of course he would. It would only reinforce his ideas that all dragons were bad and dishonorable. “You’ll have to ask him. I wasn’t there. Anyway, why did Rhene suggest you talk to me?”

“He said you could give insight into the traumas several of the dragons here wrestle with.”

“In general terms, yes. Not specifics.”

Duff tilted his head, studying Delton. “Rhene ordered you all to give me full access. I would think that as pack alpha, he’d have authority.”

“His authority as pack alpha does not supersede my ethical boundaries as a psychologist,” Delton said coolly. “I won’t break patient confidentiality, regardless of what my pack alpha says.”

Duff looked puzzled. “I have to admit I’m really confused about how this clan functions.”

“Pack,” Delton corrected him. “We’re a pack.”

“Pack, clan, isn’t that a semantic difference?”

“Not to me. There’s the Hightower pack and then there’s the True Doyle clan, now the only Doyle clan. They’re not the same, though it may appear so from the outside.”

“But you have to obey your pack alpha like the dragons have to obey their king.”

Delton hesitated. Something about the way Duff had worded that didn’t sit well with him. “Define what you mean by ‘have to obey.’”

Duff frowned. “What’s there to define? He’s your pack alpha or your king. He gives you a command, and you have to execute it.”

Delton immediately shook his head. “That’s not how this works. There’s no blind obedience, and moreover, neither Rhene nor Erwan would expect it or even welcome it.”

“You can say no?” Duff seemed shocked.

“Of course. What, you think Rhene could tell me to jump and I would ask how high? If you do, you truly don’t understand how we work. He’s our leader, but he’s not a dictator. We have a say through pack meetings, and if he gave an order I disagreed with, I wouldn’t do it. And while he may ask me why, and we’d have a conversation about it, he’d ultimately accept it. I wouldn’t be punished for refusing an order or something. It’s not the military.”

“But you’d be kicked out of the clan. Pack.”

“Of course not. Sure, if someone consistently goes against the pack alpha’s orders, a conversation would take place. But that has never happened. Also, Rhene welcomes pushback and an honest exchange of ideas and opinions. That’s why he made Sivney his second-in-command.”

“I thought that was a symbolic thing to appease the omegas.”

Adar snorted. “Symbolic? Have you met Sivney? There’s nothing symbolic about him. In fact, most of us are far more scared of him than of Rhene.”

Duff’s face showed nothing but utter confusion. “Scared? Of an omega? Or does he have the power to order punishments?”

With every word he spoke, Duff showed how little he understood about pack culture. Delton was beginning to understand why Rhene had brought him here.

Adar shook his head. “It’s not about punishments. Not in the way you think, anyway. Sivney’s displeasure is punishment in itself. The pack loves and respects him, and we want to please him, for lack of a better word. He works harder than anyone else and has our best interests at heart. That makes it easy for us to do as he says.”

Duff looked from Delton to Adar, then back. “I don’t understand any of this. It’s like you’re speaking another language.”

They were. Duff’s framework was so fundamentally different that nothing they said came across the way they wanted it to. He was filtering everything through a lens that was so dark, so wrong, so distorted. If they wanted him to see the truth, they’d have to start at the very beginning. They’d have to teach him their history, their language, their framework.

“I’d love to explain more about our pack and how we operate,” Delton said, and for the first time, his friendliness toward Duff wasn’t forced. “I have time this afternoon if you’re up for it? We could meet at my cabin so Adar can be present too.”

“Sure. What time?”

Delton mentally ran through his schedule. “Around three, would that work?”

“Works for me. See you then.”

Duff walked away before Delton could explain where the man could find his cabin. Maybe he already knew? If not, he could ask anyone and they’d help him…though maybe not before making sure he had no bad intentions.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to talk to him?” Adar asked softly as they watched Duff take off. “I don’t trust him.”

“Neither do I, but I trust Rhene’s intuition…and I think he’s onto something. Duff has no idea what our life here is like. He doesn’t understand the first thing about our culture, and if we don’t explain it to him, he never will. Battling prejudice starts with being willing to share openly.”

Adar let out a deep sigh. “I believe you…but don’t think for a moment I’ll let him out of my sight.”

Yup, his overprotectiveness was seriously hot.