As a teenager, she had loved the traditional dresses which fastened over one shoulder, hugged her breasts, and flared out at her hips, but no longer. Her tattooed arm was burn-free, but even with the strip of material over the shoulder of her healed burns, her other upper arm was pink and wrinkly.
In other words, ugly.
She shouldn’t care, but this was the first formal gathering she would attend in nearly a decade. At that moment, her heart thumped in her chest as her stomach churned. Unless the Scottish leader decided to dance around the great hall naked, everyone would be staring at her and talking about her. She was “poor Arabella”.
She narrowed her eyes. Well, fuck them. Putting her shoulder back, Ara turned from the mirror and headed toward her front door. She may still be afraid of her inner dragon and have flashbacks of her time with the dragon hunters, but she could take care of herself. She would prove it at the gathering.
Snagging her cloak and tossing it over her shoulders, Ara exited her house and into the brisk April evening air. Her cottage was quite far from the main living community, but she loved to walk. The silence always brought a sense of peace.
Within ten minutes, she could see the outline of the great hall.
She arrived early, just as Bram had requested, so as she approached the giant brick building, the area was mostly empty. Five or six dragon-shifters raced in and out of the hall with the meal preparations, but they were so preoccupied, they didn’t even notice her.
Tugging her cloak tighter around her shoulders, she entered the great hall and looked around the long, rectangular space for Bram. She spotted him in a corner talking with a tall, blond dragonman she didn’t recognize. His hair was short, yet his face was covered in a blond scruff, which was an odd contrast to his formal, kilt-like attire. While his dragon-shifter tattoo was on the arm turned away from her, she knew every dragon-shifter in Stonefire by sight and he wasn’t one of them. The unfamiliar male had to be from Lochguard.
Her stomach churned even more. As her heart rate kicked up, a small sense of panic crept upon her. Why would Bram ask her to meet alone with the other male? The blond was tall, muscled, and could pin her down without breaking a sweat.
Much like how the dragon hunters had pinned her down as a teenager before torturing her.
Closing her eyes, Ara breathed in through her nose and out her mouth. Bram was in the same room. He would never allow anyone to hurt her. As long as he remained, she could handle meeting the other male.
Her distress brought out her inner dragon. The beast rarely spoke to her, but it sent wary thoughts of calm. A year ago, Ara would have run from the room and tried to banish the beast from her mind. Yet after nearly nine months of counseling and encouragement from her brother and his mate, she had the strength to say, It will be okay. Go back to sleep.
Her dragon gave a soft roar before retreating. Maybe one day, Ara would be able to converse and work with her inner beast like every other dragon-shifter, but it was not that day.
“Ara.”
As soon as she heard Bram’s voice, she opened her eyes. An apologetic expression was written all over her leader’s face as he continued, “Finn came early. I told him to wait over there, but if you’re up to it, we can talk to him now. I’ll be right there beside you, so you won’t have anything to worry about.”
While a part of her was relieved Bram would protect her, another part was embarrassed. The Scottish leader didn’t need to know how broken she was. Deep down, she wanted to experience a fresh start with someone who hadn’t coddled her over the past decade. That was part of the reason why she’d agreed to be in charge of tech security with the Scottish clan.
Curious to see how the Lochguard male reacted to her, she glanced over at the blond Scottish dragonman. She steeled herself for pity, but was surprised to see only curiosity.
His look solidified her decision. Looking back to Bram, she said, “You have a lot to do. Introduce us, and as long as we stay in this main hall, I should be able to survive answering his tech questions and requirements.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Setting up the future teleconferences is part of my job for the clan. I’ll find a way to make it work.” Her clan leader studied her and she resisted the urge to lash out. She wouldn’t make Bram appear weak in front of the other leader. “I can handle it.”
With a nod, Bram ushered her over to the Scottish leader. Up close, he was taller than she’d thought. She had to look up to see his eyes, which were an interesting mixture of brown with gold flecks. The curiosity from before lingered, and she couldn’t make out an ounce of pity, making her uneasy.
Then he grinned and Ara drew in a breath. It took everything she had to focus on his words as he said, “Bram said his tech expert was a female, but he forgot to mention she had beautiful brown eyes, the exact color of dark chocolate.”
Bram growled at her side. “Finlay.”
Finn grinned wider. “You said honesty was the best policy. I won’t lie about her eyes.”
Arabella blinked. She couldn’t remember the last time a male had praised her. She knew she should scowl and tell him to stop it, but she resisted.
Instead, she said, “My eyes have little to do with my brain. The sooner you ask your questions and tell me your requirements, the sooner you can go flirt with the ‘lasses’ as you Scots say.”
The Scot winked at her. “I like a lass with bite.”
Ara felt a flush coming on. Fuck, I won’t let this flirt affect me. Think of your work.
Her mind filled with security protocols and encryption sequences, and her mind calmed once more. Right, now stop acting like a schoolgirl and carry on.
She arched an eyebrow. “If listing all of your female preferences in one go will help you focus, you have thirty seconds. Go.”