Fergus shook his head. “No, there isn’t time. What I need to ask of Bram isn’t Protector-related anyway. Just get him on the line.” Fraser remained silent and Fergus growled out, “Don’t make me ask again.”
“Fine,” Fraser answered. As he walked toward the front of the room, he muttered, “But it’s your funeral if Finn gets pissed off.”
Gina’s voice filled his ears. “What’s so important that you need to talk to the Stonefire leader?”
Fergus met her eyes again. “It’s not him so much as his mate, lass. But before they come on the line, I need your permission to share what Travis has done to you and the other females. If the DDA knows what BroadBay has been doing with the deceptive pregnancies, they may step in and help in a way that can prevent a battle and bloodshed.”
Hesitation flickered in his human’s eyes and he raised a hand to her
cheek. “The information won’t be public knowledge, Gina. Only those who need to know will. No one on Lochguard, outside of this room and possibly Finn and Grant, will know what the American bastard did to you. And if any of them brings it up, I will beat them to a pulp to defend your honor.”
As his dragon paced in the back of his mind, Fergus held his breath and waited for Gina’s answer.
~~~
Deep down, Gina knew she should just say yes and let Fergus share her secret. Yet as she tried to make her mouth work, memories of her so-called college friends calling her crazy for wanting to keep a dragon’s bastard flooded her mind. Or, how her parents had told her that if she kept the child, they never wanted to see her again. They wouldn’t have her younger sister associated with a dragon’s whore.
Only her ailing grandmother had taken her in with open arms. But when she’d died a few months ago, Gina had been on her own in Scotland.
Everyone on Lochguard had been kind to her so far, but would they remain so if they knew the truth? Or, if protecting her ended up costing them the lives of their loved ones?
Fergus stroked her cheek and she forced herself to meet his kind, steely eyes again. He murmured, “I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what’s going on inside that head of yours.”
Swallowing the emotion in her throat, she whispered, “If the truth got out, then everyone would either pity me or look at me with disgust in their eyes. And if it came to a fight just to protect me and their family member died as a result, then they’ll boot me out of the clan faster than you can say Lochguard.”
Anger flashed in Fergus’s gaze. “What in the bloody hell are you talking about?”
She frowned. “Don’t yell at me. I’ve been here a week and I’m not even your mate. On top of that, I’m carrying another dragon-shifter’s child and wanted by the American DDA. I know you’ll say the clan took in Arabella despite the dangers and her past. But Ara is a dragon-shifter. I’m a human carrying contraband. I can’t imagine any dragon clan wanting to protect me if it cost them their lives.”
Finn’s voice boomed inside the room. “Lass, then you don’t know us at all.”
Gina whipped her head toward the screen in the front, which displayed Finn and another male dragon-shifter with dark hair and blue eyes she’d never seen before. “Finn.”
The Scottish dragon leader answered, “Aye, it’s me. And this is Stonefire’s leader, Bram. But enough with the introductions. Tell me now, Gina MacDonald. Do you wish to stay on Lochguard? And don’t give me any excuses. Yes or no.”
At the dominance in Finn’s voice, she felt compelled to answer truthfully. “Yes.”
Finn nodded. “Aye, well, that’s good enough for me.” He looked to the other dragon leader. “How about you Bram?”
The dragonman’s reply was dry. “Does it matter what I say?”
A female voice from off-screen hissed, “Bram.”
Bram sighed. “Okay, Evie.” The English dragon leader met Gina’s gaze. “I do have another question for you, Ms. MacDonald. Before my mate works her magic with the DDA, do you plan to mate Fergus MacKenzie?”
Fergus growled at her side, but she hit his chest lightly. “Stop it, Fergus.”
Tightening his grip on her hips, he replied, “This shouldn’t be rushed, Gina. You need to make the decision on your own terms.”
She looked up at her dragonman. Fergus always put her needs first. Even in the short time she’d been on Lochguard, he’d always been kind, patient, and protective. In that moment, she accepted the truth—Fergus would never abandon her the way Travis had done. She trusted her dragonman completely.
Hell, she was half-way in love with him already.
Taking a deep breath, she finally answered, “I am making the decision on my own terms. I want to stay with you, Fergus MacKenzie, provided you want me to stay.”
An emotion she couldn’t identify flashed in his eyes before his pupils turned to slits and back. “Of course I want you to bloody stay, Gina. If you don’t know that by now, then maybe I need to do a lot more convincing and show you.”
He leaned down to kiss her when Finn’s voice interrupted them. “Right, then you’re going to mate each other right now, but in the condensed version with me and Bram as witnesses.”