Mating the Doctor: Gay Paranormal Dragon Romance

by Olivia Myers

  Isaac had initially looked frightened, but once he heard what Drake had to say, his expression quickly hardened into anger. “What are you going to do? Hold me hostage?”

  Drake’s body was shaking with anger and he was getting dangerously close to shifting. This was another problem that presented with shifters with human mates. Strong emotions can force dragon shifters to shift unwillingly. Mates often presented them with strong emotions. If Drake were to shift standing this close to Isaac, there would be nothing left of his precious mate.

  In the blink of an eye, Drake’s life had become out of control. He had thought he was so close to getting the vengeance that he thirsted for. Vengeance was only reason he had been able to keep going all these years. Instead, he was stabbed and humiliated. He found his mate during the worst time and circumstances, and his mate was a human. Drake had completed the mating bond with said human, and Isaac still didn’t understand.

  The past few days, Drake had been completely consumed with trying to figure out where the email had come from and how to explain everything to Isaac.

  So far, he had not been able to do either.

  He pushed himself away from Isaac and quickly crossed the room. Drake threw open the doors that lead to a balcony and forced fresh air into his lungs. His senses were going haywire and the beast was threatening to take control without permission.

  Drake forced his lungs to slow down and take in enough air. His body was vibrating, threatening to change forms. That was the last thing he wanted to happen right now.

  Isaac.

  He needed to remember that this was for Isaac’s safety.

  Drake honestly hadn’t thought that would work, but it did. Within a few moments, he was feeling almost normal. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Isaac. That was something he would never be able to come back from.

  A peek over his shoulder revealed that Isaac hadn’t moved from the section of wall he was pressed up against. It was almost as if Drake had never moved. The rage flew out of Drake’s lungs in a huff.

  This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Drake had wanted to find a way to explain being mates in a way that Isaac would respond well to. This wasn’t it.

  Drake was acting like a monster.

  How could he expect Isaac to love a monster?

  He forced his muscles to relax before he crossed the room. He knew he needed to tell Isaac something.

  “So, I’m a dragon, right?” Drake asked.

  Isaac looked back at Drake as if he didn’t understand the question. “Yes?”

  “Well, there’s obviously a lot you don’t know about dragon shifters,” Drake said.

  Isaac didn’t look as defensive anymore. He shifted a little away from the wall when he realized that he was going to get answers for the first time. “You would be correct to assume that.”

  Drake turned away to sit on the end of the bed, lowering his head into his hands., “One important thing that you don’t know is that dragon shifters have mates.”

  Isaac continued to stand in the same spot, looking at Drake in confusion. “What are mates?”

  “Soulmates?” Drake shrugged. “The one person who was put on this Earth for you. Dragons have the ability to sense their soulmate.”

  It was obvious that Isaac wasn’t connecting the dots. If he knew that Drake was talking about him, then he wasn’t going to admit it to himself.

  “And you are my mate, Isaac,” he said.

  The two of them sat in the silence that reeked of tension. It was heavy and left a funny taste on Drake’s tongue. Drake still wasn’t sure how Isaac was going to react to the news yet. There was nothing else to say until the man showed some sort of emotion about the revelation.

  “And what do you expect me to do about?” Isaac asked.

  The words felt like a punch to the gut. It felt like he couldn’t even breathe after Isaac spoke. This felt like the worst reaction that Drake could’ve expected. This situation wasn’t going how Drake had hoped.

  “There is nothing you can do about it,” he answered. “It’s too late. We’re already bonded.”

  Now Isaac looked enraged rather than stoic. It was a drastic change that twisted his expression until he was practically snarling at Drake.

  “What do you mean that it’s too late?” he yelled.

  Drake sank further into himself at Isaac’s anger. He had done all of this wrong.

  “When we had sex,” Drake said, “we completed the mating bond.”

  Drake hated having to say the words, and they felt like bile. They burned. Drake should've waited. Isaac hadn’t known what he was getting into and that wasn’t fair.

  The words seemed to release Issacs from his frozen position and he started pacing back and forth, ranting, “It’s not that simple. I did not consent to any mating bond. I didn’t even know that was a thing. I cannot stay here forever. I have a job. I have the research that I’ve devoted myself to. I have a little sister. And you’re fucking crazy if you think that you can keep me here.”

  Drake’s eyes followed Isaac’s form back and forth as he yelled. Every word was like another stab to the side. Everything he was saying was true. No wonder Isaac didn’t want to stay here with Drake.

  That was it. There was nothing else for the men to say, and without another word, Isaac was gone.

  As soon as the door clicked shut behind Isaac, Drake crumbled into a heap on the floor and didn’t move until the sun had shown its face once more.

  Chapter Eight

  Isaac wasn’t sure why he didn’t want to leave. There was no denying that there was a voice inside of Isaac’s head urging him to stay with Drake. It was impossible, though. He couldn’t stay here. He would be leaving his whole life behind, and he couldn’t sacrifice himself. So he left.

  He hadn’t thought about what he was going to do after he walked out of the door, but he went for it anyway. He walked out of the bedroom without glancing back at Drake. Isaac hadn’t had his phone when he had been brought here, and he had nothing but the clothes on his back. There was no way for him to even call a taxi.

  When he made his way to the bottom floor, Rowan was standing there. He wasn’t doing anything but simply standing and staring at the stairs Isaac had come down. His arms were crossed and his back was leaning against the wall.

  “Need a ride?” Rowan asked.

  Isaac sat in the car with Rowan, feeling completely uncomfortable. There was something about the man that put Isaac on edge. There was something that wasn’t right, but Isaac couldn’t lay his finger on it.

  He looked over and noticed how the blue interior lights from the car cast sinister shadows over Rowan’s face. Rowan glanced over at Isaac and smirked, which didn’t help with the malicious look.

  “So, I’m guessing that Drake told you everything?” Rowan asked.

  Isaac looked away from the man with a nod.

  “Why are you leaving?” Rowan asked.

  “Because I have a life to get back to,” Isaac answered.

  Rowan didn’t say anything. Maybe there was a part of him that understood Isaac even if Drake didn’t. Isaac gave Rowan directions to his apartment once they reached the city.

  They pulled up in front of the parking garage and came to a stop.

  “I hope you figure everything out,” Rowan said.

  Isaac got out of the car. “Yeah, thanks. And thanks for the ride.”

  Rowan nodded as Isaac shut the door behind him.

  Isaac shivered as he walked away from the car. That guy was seriously disturbing.

  Isaac quickly forgot about Rowan’s behavior as he entered his apartment building. The doorman looked surprised to see him.

  “Dr. Bradford!” he exclaimed as he opened the door. “It has been a while.”

  Isaac gave him a small smile. “I decided to take a spontaneous vacation.”

  He made his way to his apartment, and he only realized that he didn’t have his key when he reached the door. Isaac just hoped that Ashley was home.<
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  A minute after his first knock, Ashley came and opened the door. Isaac had never been so relieved to see his little sister in his life. Without saying anything, he pushed past her and into the apartment. He closed the door before he wrapped his sister in a tight hug.

  Her body was slightly stiff and she seemed confused. “What’s going on, Isaac?”

  “I’ve just missed you,” he whispered without letting her go.

  Ashley softly wrapped her arms around Isaac. “Why? Have you just been working a lot or something?”

  Isaac released his sister and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her words. He was relieved that being at Drake’s hadn’t worried Ashley, but on the other hand, he wasn’t sure why she hadn’t noticed. Granted, she was in med school and probably had a lot on her plate.

  “Yes,” Isaac lied. “There have been a lot of bad cases and I would hate to see anything happen to you.”

  Ashley wrinkled her nose at his answer. “That’s a morbid thing to say, but thank you, I guess. I have more studying to do.”

  Isaac watched as Ashley walked away and he slumped his body weight against the back of the door. This was his home, but this week had changed that. This didn’t feel like Isaac’s home any longer. In fact, he felt like a stranger standing in this apartment. Drake’s home wasn’t Isaac’s home either. Isaac had never felt more lost. He felt as if there was nowhere he belonged anymore.

  He pushed himself off the door and walked to his room with a sigh. This was even weirder. For some reason, it was weird to be walking into his own bedroom instead of Drake’s. How had his life changed so drastically in less than a week?

  When Isaac lay in his bed, he felt as if he hardly recognized the furniture that used to give him so much comfort. It only felt cold and empty now. He wasn’t sure when exactly it had happened, but at one point he’d stopped being able to sleep without the sound of Drake’s breathing in the room. Yet, it was obvious that Drake had been waiting to return to the room for the night until Isaac was asleep. To get around the problem, Isaac had begun to fake sleeping just so he could have his nightly melody.

  How was it so easy to become completely addicted to Drake in just a few days?

  That night, sleep was something to fight for. There was nothing Isaac wanted more than to be able to sleep and forget all about Drake. Something in his mind taunted him, and he knew if he were to sleep, he would surely dream of the man. There was no escaping him at that point. Drake was burned into Isaac’s thoughts.

  The next few hours consisted of a lot of sighing and rolling as Isaac obsessed over the man, he was missing. It was crazy. Isaac had barely known the man. He hadn’t been out the house even a week, and most of those days were spent not talking to Drake at all. Why did Isaac care so much? Drake was obviously troubled and needed help. He wasn’t “mate” or even boyfriend material.

  It didn’t make sense. None of it.

  Maybe Isaac was the one who was insane. To be fair, he might have hallucinated Drake turning into a dragon, completely creating this false reality. Maybe Drake was simply a random man who wasn’t as injured as everyone had thought and he’d happened to save Isaac when there had been a massacre at the hospital.

  Isaac hadn’t known that people had died right away. It was something he’d caught on the news a couple of days later. Isaac’s name hadn’t been listed anywhere. That was most likely why Ashley didn’t think anything about seeing him for a couple of days. It wouldn’t be hard to assume that the hospital would be slightly chaotic after the fact.

  Isaac’s eyes didn’t close until the sun was peeking over the horizon. He didn’t get the peace that he had hoped for. Instead, he relived his first night with Drake over and over until he opened his eyes again.

  Isaac had only slept for a couple of hours, but when he emerged from his room, Ashley was sitting at the bar counter eating toast. She looked up at him.

  “Jeez,” she said with a wince. “I’m just going to be honest with you, Isaac, and say that you look like shit.”

  Isaac rolled his eyes as he walked over to the coffee pot. As he poured himself a cup, he said, “Thanks, you always have told me what I needed to hear.”

  He turned back around in time to see Ashley shrug her shoulders. She said, “It’s probably from working all those hours lately. You need to take a break and get some rest.”

  Wouldn’t that be nice? Isaac didn’t respond to correct Ashley’s assumption. In reality, Isaac should feel well rested considering how little he had done this week. Instead, he had lost all his sleep over Drake.

  No conclusion had been reached, and Isaac still couldn’t wrap his brain around anything that had happened in the past few days.

  Isaac and Ashley sat together in front of the counter until it was time for her to get to class. As soon as she was gone, Isaac got ready.

  The first place he went was the hospital. It was surreal to be back in the building. There was something different in the air. Some sort of unrest that had never been there before. It was also a lot quieter than it normally was. He didn’t stop anywhere; he went straight to his boss’s office.

  He knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” a voice responded.

  Isaac slowly pushed open the door and walked on. His boss stood up as soon as he saw Isaac coming through the doorway. Isaac and his boss had never hugged before, but they did now.

  “I’m glad to see that you’re okay, Isaac.”

  He sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t come in earlier. I’ve just been trying to process everything that happened.”

  His boss pulled away from their embrace as he shook his head. “Don’t apologize. We’re all processing this differently. I’m just happy to see you alive and well.”

  Isaac gave the man a strained smile. He was alive, but he wasn’t quite so sure he was well. His silence prompted his boss to speak again. “Did you get any of my calls or texts?”

  “I left my phone here when everything happened. That was another reason I stopped by.”

  Isaac’s boss gave Isaac another week to process everything before he came back to work. After they said their goodbyes, Isaac stopped in the locker room so he could retrieve his phone, which was of course dead.

  For the rest of the day, Isaac found anything he could to occupy his mind, even if it was only for a few moments. The hours seemed to pass by slower than when he had been stuck in Drake’s bedroom all day with no one to talk to.

  He needed to stop thinking about Drake. Isaac was never going to see him again. He needed Drake to live in the past.

  The next day was similar, except Isaac didn’t go anywhere. He couldn’t sleep that night either. He was the same sighing, tossing and turning mess that he had been the night before. Isaac had the same short morning conversation before Ashley left for school once again.

  Then he was alone. Isaac had never hated being alone before. Now it made his skin itch. His throat burned with all the tears he was forcing back. He wasn’t going to cry over a man and a life that he didn’t even know. He was stronger than that.

  One day felt like endless hours of nothing. With no stimulation that could hold his interest any longer, Isaac started thinking of Drake once more.

  What if everything was true?

  What if every single thing that Isaac had seen and heard this past week was completely real? What if Isaac was freaking out because his mind couldn’t accept what was really in front of him? Instead, he had become completely paranoid, not trusting anything that he was seeing or hearing. What kind of doctor was he to not accept new information? In the medical world, there was something newly discovered every day.

  What if it was all true?

  If everything that Drake had told Isaac would true, then that would mean Drake was in serious danger. The only problem was that Drake’s pride was getting in his own way.

  As soon as Isaac thought it a possibility where Drake could get hurt worse than he had the first time, Isaac wanted to go back. He wanted to go back a
nd actually give the crazy feeling a chance. Who knows, maybe he would end up happy?

  It just still felt unreal, as if Isaac would definitely be crazy if he went back.

  That night, he didn’t sleep.

  In fact, he never even lay down in his bed.

  That night he paced back and forth in his bedroom, not stopping until sunlight was streaming in through his window. He had almost made up his mind. He wasn’t sure what was holding him back. He wanted to try the crazy life he’d gotten a glimpse of. If he got played for a fool, it wouldn’t matter. At least Isaac could say that he gave happiness a try. It was obvious that he wasn’t happy unless he was by Drake’s side. Which was weird to admit, even to himself. It just didn’t make sense.

  What was he going to do about Ashley? Sure, she was an adult, but Isaac had promised that she could live with him through med school and even residency if she needed it. She already had abandonment issues. What would she think if her brother, the only one who had stuck around, took off?

  The guilt wrapped around him like a blanket. It was a swaddle so tight there was no way he could break free from it.

  The longer Isaac thought about his decision, the more it became apparent that he was going to have to choose between Ashley or Drake. It was insane that it was even a question. Isaac would never think that he could ever pick someone above his own baby sister. But something about Drake was different. Isaac knew that if he let Drake go without trying, then he would regret it for the rest of his life.

  Isaac hadn’t gone to talk to Ashley that morning before she went to school. He couldn’t look her in the face. He couldn’t fight off the guilt any more than he already had. The decision had been made.

  He was leaving shortly after she did. He would still pay for the apartment every month; he just wasn’t going to live there any longer.

  Chapter Nine

  The moment the door closed was when Drake lost all of his sanity. He had always known he was a beast. He hardly recognized the man he had become. He hadn’t heard much about shifters who lost their mate who they were bonded to, just whispers of the horror it produced. There was basically no redemption. No chance at sanity. They were pitied and looked down upon. After the loss of their mate, they became shells of their former selves.