Some may think his dragon was being cocky, but Zain sensed it was true. They'd been sleeping together, in full pajama-wear, for weeks. He wanted nothing more than to spread his female's thighs and make her scream his name.
But Dr. Sid and Gregor still didn't have a guaranteed cure. Something about a few leads, but they wouldn't risk it yet.
Good thing the doctors had their heads on their shoulders because if it were up to Zain's cock, Ivy would try any and all leads as soon as possible, regardless of the drawbacks.
Pushing the bloody reckless thought aside—his brain agreed 100 percent with the doctors—he replied to his beast, That will come eventually. For now, Ivy said she wanted to meet us at the surgery. And whilst she said it was nothing bad, I'm uneasy every time she returns there.
She hasn't gone back into a coma since waking up. She loves us too much to leave us.
Ivy had never said those words to him, but he sensed she might. Zain wasn't the most articulate about his feelings, but the thought of losing Ivy made his heart stop.
And no matter how much he tried to deny it, he was falling for his own mate.
His dragon grunted. Don't fight it. She will be ours in all ways soon enough.
As the surgery building came into view, he said quickly, You can go on about that later. Right now, Ivy needs our help, or possibly our support, with something. So let's focus on that.
His beast fell silent, and Zain picked up his pace. By now, he was more than familiar with the building's back entrance and had memorized the keypad code required to enter. Dr. Sid's office door was open, but when he peeked inside, only Gregor was there with his and Sid's son—Wyatt—on his lap. Gregor said, "No, Cassidy's not here. They're all in the research lab. But before you go, I wanted to give you a wee update about curing Ivy."
Zain and his dragon went on full alert at the mention. "Did you find something new?"
Gregor bobbed his head. "Aye, we think so. Although there's still some testing left to do. And whilst I wish it was all good news, there's a side effect that you should know about."
"As long as Ivy will be alive and no longer poisonous, I don't care what it is."
Gregor bounced his son and handed the young one a set of toy keys. As the baby gnawed on a bright yellow one, Gregor replied, "You might care about this, though, Zain. What we think is the cure will most likely alter her DNA code a little. And whilst that doesn't seem a big deal, it means that if she's your true mate now, she may not be once she goes through the treatment."
He relaxed a little. Zain had been prepared for far worse. "Is that all? I don't bloody care about her being my true mate or not. Ivy is my female, end of story."
Gregor smiled slowly. "Aye, I thought as much. But I wanted to ask all the same. Your answer proves you care for the lass."
He resisted the urge to verbally lash out at the Scottish dragonman. After all, Zain would owe the male more than anything he possessed if he finally healed Ivy. "Does Ivy know about this yet?"
Gregor shook his head. "No, not yet. Trahern and Emily are doing a few la
st tests to ensure Ivy's health and safety. And whilst I hate keeping it from the lass, Sid and I thought it best not to distract her from her work. So don't tell her yet, aye?"
"You want me to keep something this important from Ivy?" he asked incredulously.
"Only for a wee while. Sid and I are going to talk to her about it tomorrow. Since it requires using bits of dragon-shifter DNA to make things right, we want to make sure she's okay with that."
Zain's honor was torn. Ivy had been lied to for so long during her time working with the Dragon Knights, and he'd vowed to always be honest with her.
And now the doctor wanted him to lie. By doing so, Zain wouldn't take Ivy's focus away from her work, work that could protect his entire clan.
For a male who used to believe everything was black and white, it was yet another gray area.
His beast spoke up. It's more of us not telling her the full truth than lying. And I know that's just as bad, given her past. But let's just check out what she's doing in the research lab first and then decide what to do.
Zain said to Gregor, "Maybe, but I can't guarantee it. I want to be honest with her."
Gregor nodded. "I'll leave it up to you. If you think she can handle it, then tell her. But if she can't, and her health regresses, we'll have to wait to give her the treatment, and we have no idea what could happen in the meantime. Everyone speaks of you having good judgment, including Sid, so I hope it's true. Either way, just let us know which path you choose."
He grunted, not trusting himself to say something he might regret.
Not wanting to stick around and learn if he had just been put through yet another test, Zain left the office and headed toward the research lab. While he'd never been inside, he'd learned the entire layout of the surgery during his post of watching over Ivy.
So he knocked and waited to see what his mate had to share before he decided what to do about telling her the truth.