Page 47 of The Dragons’ Eternal Mate

Recognizing Griff’s voice, I pushed onto my elbows to look around the room and found the dragon standing near the bed. He was spending so much time with us, keeping everything together, but worry painted his face now, and it was a hell of an adrenaline rush.

If it wasn’t for that concern, I would have grumbled at him for disturbing me in bed.

I sat up, trying not to disturb Rowan, who was passed out next to me, Bastian on her other side. She had taken to cuddling with one of us in the night, usually wearing nothing but one of our T-shirts.

“What’s wrong?” I asked quietly.

Griffin nodded toward the door. “We need to move. A patrolling scout got wind of figures encroaching on our territory. He tracked them for a minute and confirmed they’re enforcers from Byron’s horde.”

If I hadn’t been worried before, I fucking was now. “Shit. Have they breached the perimeter yet?” Griffin shook his head, his eyes darting to Rowan, who was still passed out, snoring sweetly. “Fuck, we need to go. Okay. You grab Nix and bring him here. He’ll need to stay with Rowan. He was still recovering from his injury. I’m not risking him going right back to the clinic. We’ll get Grey. I think he’s sleeping in his office.”

“I’m not.” His voice came from the door. I looked up, seeing him fully dressed. “I got an alert on my computer a few minutes ago. Allison’s cabin is secure, as are those closest to the intruders. Guards have been set up outside them all.”

An impressed smile lifted the corner of my mouth. “Fuck, yes. Well done.” I looked over at Bastian, who was waking up, that heightened hearing alerting him to our conversation. “We’ll leave as soon as Nix is here.”

He nodded, gently getting out of bed. “We need extra guards on Allison’s cabin. Griff?”

We had given Allison and Colin their own cabin, since the growing family needed space. It felt like the right decision, but I was doubting that now. Maybe I should have insisted they stayed in the den where they were safe?

“I’ll send some dragons there while getting Nix.”

“All right, then.” I looked at Rowan, my heart squeezing as I watched her gentle breathing. “Let’s go.”

The woods were still and quiet as we navigated through the trees in the dark, watching every step to ensure we didn’t alert anyone to our presence. I was certain Cyrus had given the opposing enforcers directions to Allison’s cabin, because they were already on the side of the horde lands where the unoccupied cabins were located. The bastard had told them where to look while he hid behind Byron’s walls like a fucking coward, only popping out when he thought he had the upper hand.

Stopping and crouching behind the cover of a large bush, I gestured for Griffin, Grey, and Bastian, whispering, “Where were they last spotted?”

Grey looked at his phone, pulling up a remote view of the feed. “I don’t see them at her cabin. They must be sticking to the tree line, where I can’t technically put cameras because it’s not our land.”

“Do we at least have a number?” I turned to Griffin, and he wobbled his head, prefacing the uncertainty of his answer.

“About four. They were in tactical gear, according to Blake: all black and stealthy. Hard to track. He said they appeared to be, and I quote, ‘on a mission,’ focusing on little else.”

“I have to imagine they’re here to kidnap Allison and drag her back to Byron’s horde. They knew we weren’t giving her up, so…”

Yeah, the new family was moving back into the den first thing in the morning.

Bastian let the words hang, and I nodded back at him. “As much as I hate to say it, we need to cover more ground. We might want to⁠—”

“Split up,” he supplied. “Yeah, shitty but true. Grey comes with me, and Griffin goes with Orsen. We’ll sweep the area in a circle and see if we can pin them down.”

Silent agreement spread through us. We all separated into our units without another word, creeping through the undergrowth in a wide arch that would lead us to Allison’s cabin in the middle. If the enforcers were trying to take her, this should put them between us when we arrived. We’d have them surrounded.

Griffin and I took off to the south. We were noiseless as we sprinted through the trees, my heart pumping hard against my rib cage. I didn’t like this. I didn’t like that the enforcers had dared to come at all. And I particularly didn’t like that they’d done it in the middle of the night. Yes, it made sense, of course, but there used to be honor when two hordes were at odds. At least, I’d thought there had been.

But considering my father had been killed by his own brother for power… maybe that was just a romanticized myth I’d allowed myself to believe.

In front of me, Griffin stopped short, and I had to move to the side at the last second to avoid plowing into him.

“What the hell?” I whispered sharply. “Why are you⁠—”

“Look.” Griffin pointed a few yards ahead, where the little-used path to Allison’s cabin was. Not many people came from this direction anymore, so it was overgrown. There, waiting with something large pressed against his side, was fucking Jenkins, of all people, a miserable sight for sore eyes that did not miss his stubborn ass.

I scoffed, and Griffin nodded along. “What the fuck, right? Why would he be here?”

“For Allison.” I shook my head, glaring as the slimy fuck stood there. “I have to imagine he’s here to do something to keep her quiet. Knock her out, or some other shit. But he’s hardly a quiet dragon. If they haven’t found her cabin yet, they wouldn’t risk getting discovered because they’d brought him with.”

“That makes this a damn good time to interfere with their plan, doesn’t it?” Griffin smiled, and I crouched just as he did.