Heath by Emilia Hartley

His one chance at happiness ended ten years ago.

Heath doesn’t want to be back on his old clan grounds. The ghost of his dead wife haunts him enough when he’s away from this place. Here, where Heath’s old clan leader killed her, the past doesn’t confine itself to haunting a room or a few private moments. It seeps into every place, every time, every thought. Heath won’t stay a second longer than he must to right the clan’s mistake from back then. At least that’s what he tells himself until he meets Buffy. The woman is wildly different from his dead wife, but he feels an unbelievable connection to her that makes him feel guilty in addition to haunted. Dragons only get one mate, and he’s had his. Or at least, he used to think so. Now, he’s not so sure.

All the same, he failed to protect his wife. He doesn’t deserve a mate.

Buffy isn’t looking for a mate. She can’t even figure out her own dragon. Hoping for a bit of relaxation and some help reconnecting with her increasingly distant and unpredictable beast, Buffy accepts her best friend Jude’s offer of a vacation cabin. The ramshackle hut and ominous lake are anything but relaxing, though, and Jude’s all wrapped up in her new man and her new clan. The only bright spot in this so-called vacation is a gorgeous, but moody neighbor. The attraction Buffy feels for Heath might be worth all the trouble of coming here if only the man weren’t so closed off.

She’ll get him to open up somehow. She and her dragon are beginning to feel like their sanity depends on it.