Page 51 of The Dragons’ Eternal Mate

I rubbed my knuckles over his sternum, but he wasn’t responding. “Orsen!”

Nina and I moved in a flash, flushing his wound with the herbal concoction, then forcing him to drink down the activated charcoal. I hurried through stitching up his wound, ensuring I got the muscle and skin, then we rinsed it with more of the specialized antitoxin, waiting for it to work.

Unfortunately, there was only so much I could do.

Then there was waiting.

So much waiting.

Watching Orsen suffer, writhing in agony as the poison worked its way through his body, was easily one of the hardest things I had ever experienced. I had done everything in my power to help him, all I could do was wait.

Waiting was the worst part. At least when I was actively healing someone, I could do something. Sitting around and just observing—it made me feel powerless.

I sat at his bedside, intently watching him, looking for any sign of discomfort other than the occasional tossing and turning. Even after an attack that brutal, Orsen was still handsome. Gently, I ran my hands over his face, memorizing the sharp line of his jaw. I desperately wanted for him to open those eyes and look at me. Every hour I sat there at his bedside, Ma on the other side of me, something chipped away at me. It was raw, exposed. Every wall I had ever built was obliterated, and now I was vulnerable.

The room was always full of dragons. Ma never left his side. Nina filtered in and out, taking care of other patients. Griffin popped his head in regularly—I got the impression he would have stayed, but he needed to ensure the horde was okay because the Alphas were all distracted. Plus, I knew for a fact that seeing anyone suffering from the poison was a sore spot for Griff. He pretended he was fine after what had happened to him all those years ago, but I knew it still bothered him deep down.

One of my mates was always in the room with us, usually standing behind me, giving silent support. I had forced Grey to sit in an armchair. His shoulder was hurt but healing nicely. The blade had hardly touched him, so the poison had easily cleared from his system. Orsen, on the other hand, was subjected to a much larger dose.

“Sit,” I had growled, jabbing a finger at the armchair.

“I don’t need⁠—”

“Sit,” I repeated.

“My legs work perfectly fine.”

“For me?” I asked softly.

All fight slipped from his face at my gentle request. He sighed, heading over to the armchair and sinking into it.

Dragons recovered fast, so Orsen should have been healed already, were it not for the poison. Still, even considering that his body started to work its magic. I would regularly lift the bandages, inspecting my work for any sign of infection. I also rinsed the wound with herb water to prevent that.

“I can do that,” Nina offered softly as I prepared to rinse it again.

“He’s my mate. I’ll do it,” I replied in a detached tone. I would have felt bad about being so cold, except I simply didn’t have it in me to be warm and personable. Not when I was nothing but hollow and exposed.

My vision was starting to blur from exhaustion, but I refused to sleep.

A small smile graced my lips when I thought about just how much I would tease Orsen for lying in bed shirtless had it not been for the severity of the situation. My mate, no doubt, would have reacted by dragging me into bed with him.

I loved him.

In that moment, I fucking hated how much I loved him. Without realizing I had given a huge part of myself to the four Alphas of North Oak, and I was vulnerable.

That was something I couldn’t dwell on, though, so instead I focused on watching over Orsen. He would get better.

Then I would yell at him for putting himself in danger.

It took six hours, but when Orsen opened his eyes for the first time, turned his head and looked at me, I broke out in messy sobs. I wanted nothing more than to launch myself into his arms, but I also knew that would disturb his wounds. The healer in me couldn’t do that.

“How do you feel?” I asked, touching his forehead lightly.

“Kind of shit, but not deathly shit.” He chuckled, his voice cracking. I grabbed a glass of water with a straw, helping him take a sip.

“You’re going to be in bed for a while,” I told him. “You were poisoned.”

Orsen sat up with my help and Ma’s. She was almost back to full health, and her skin had scarred up, so she insisted on being by her son’s side. Nothing would stop her. He was still a little pale, but his color was slowly improving.