Dr. Kiyana Barnes did her best to keep her jaw from dropping as she looked from one dragon-shifter to the next. It wasn't the first time she'd been on a dragon clan's lands. However, it had been more than five years since the Department of Dragon Affairs had given her anything but desk assignments.
Not that she hadn't deserved them. After all, she'd screwed up big time five years ago by becoming involved with one of the dragon clan members she was supposed to be observing.
It hadn't been love, which had made the mistake all the worse.
But tonight, well, tonight was her second chance. While it was partially luck on her part that no one had really wanted to live with a dragon clan for six months, Kiyana had also spent years learning as much dragon-shifter history as she could. That, plus her past five years of stellar work reviews, had resulted in her obtaining the post.
Of course, she was more than merely an observer this time. She also had to help take care of the other human women. One of whom, Julie, currently hid behind Kiyana.
Being gentle wasn't her way, but she tried her best and whispered, "What's the matter? You were excited about coming to Lochguard, more than any of the others. So what happened?"
Julie replied, "I know, but now that I'm here, it's so much more real. They're all so tall, and fit, and, well, are you sure they won't turn into dragons and snap me in two?"
Kiyana's first thought was to tell the other woman to snap out of it. No one was going to shift inside the great hall and possibly knock down the walls or roof.
Remember, they haven't been around dragon-shifters as much as you, Kiyana. Play nice. With the reminder, she smiled and spoke as gently but firmly as she could. "Listen, Julie. Not only do you have your elder, ex-military brother coming here to watch over you, do you really think Lochguard will risk starting a war with the humans? Let alone do something as silly as shift inside a building?" She wanted to add they'd wait until a new moon, so no one could see, but resisted the joke. Julie probably wouldn't see it that way. So, Kiyana continued, "This is a party. Maybe a glass of wine will help you calm down and allow you to merely enjoy yourself."
Julie opened her mouth but promptly closed it. Kiyana looked ahead of them and noticed the gray-haired dragonwoman standing next to a tall man, the tattoo on his arm marking him a dragon-shifter. It was hard to miss the toned muscles of his chest and arms, which was another thing dragon-shifters tended to have, their muscles developed from a combination of flying and training.
While he wasn't movie-star handsome, there was something about his face that made her want to study it. Maybe his square jaw, or even his eyes—one was blue and the other brown. However, it was the patently fake smile on his face that made her lips twitch. He didn't want to be here, but the older dragonwoman had a firm grip on the man's wrist.
The older woman spoke first. "Och, sorry to startle you lasses, but I wanted to be one of the first to welcome you to Lochguard. My name is Meg." She gestured to the man at her side. "And this is my son Alistair. My unmated son, aye?"
Kiyana swore she heard a sigh from Alistair, but when she looked at his face again, it was the same fake happy smile as before.
Meg spoke again. "So what is the ginger-haired lass's name, then? I know the doctor because she spoke, but not the bonnie lass behind her."
Kiyana shouldn't care how the dragonwoman described Julie as bonnie but not her. When it came to traditional ideals of Scottish beauty, Julie had it all—red hair, blue eyes, and even a smattering of freckles.
She, on the other hand, was none of that. Kiyana was confident in her looks and with her body, but the older woman's words still stung.
Pushing down the unintended offense since attracting a dragon-shifter male wasn't part of her assignment, she forced herself to keep smiling. After all, she wasn't going to risk her standing in the DDA again by sleeping with a dragonman.
Julie spoke up, now standing right at Kiyana's side instead of behind her. "I'm Julie. Nice to meet you, Meg."
Meg released her son, gave him a look that probably conveyed something Alistair would understand but Kiyana wouldn't, and then Meg put an arm around Julie's shoulders. "Och, no, it's me who's pleased to meet you. Come, tell me a wee bit about yourself." She glanced at Alistair. "Come join us in a few minutes, aye?"
Alistair muttered, "Yes, Mum," before Meg and Julie moved toward the drinks table.
Kiyana probably could've made polite conversation if Alistair hadn't raised his eyebrow at that moment and said, "Go ahead, say what's on your mind, lass. Otherwise, you'll burst."
Grinning, she answered, "I think your mother wants to have you mated by the end of the night."
"Well done on saying mated and not married. I hope the others are as well informed."
She frowned. "Does that matter? It's not as if we've been welcomed onto dragon lands whenever we please."
The man shrugged his broad shoulders. "It probably doesn't matter to most, but my full name is Alistair Boyd. I'm to be your cultural liaison and educator."
She'd known the other women would have to attend classes primarily with Alistair Boyd. However, the man in front of her wasn't a stodgy type with glasses and tweed suit jackets. "I hope you don't teach whilst bare-chested, too. Otherwise, the women aren't going to be able to focus for at least a few days."
He smiled slightly. "Only a few days, aye? A little flexing would probably make it last at least a week." She rolled her eyes and he continued, "Well, I suppose I'll have to wear a shirt, then. I can't be distracting the humans longer than necessary." He motioned toward his dark blue outfit, which was a long length of material wrapped around his waist and thrown over his shoulder. It was similar to the Scottish plaids of old. "However, I would think if you're here to study us, you should already know what this is."
Needing to prove she wasn't an idiot, Kiyana put on her best professor voice. "Every dragon clan has a traditional outfit. In the UK and Ireland, the outfits are similar to plaids of old. They were originally a means of being cost-effective. After all, a long length of cloth could be cut into needed lengths. However, the practice never changed, even with modern-day technology that could allow any design or color one wished. In some regions, such as Scotland, some dragon clans and human villages would order the same color and share one long length." She paused and raised her brows. "Is that enough or should I go into how there were a few skirmishes over who gets what color?"
The corners of his mouth twitched. "No, that should be enough. It's a good thing you're here on another job or mine might be at risk. I usually teach history to the children here."