Page 69 of The Dragons’ Eternal Mate

I ran a hand through my hair, looking around the clinic. In the space of an hour, I had managed to turn it into a complete shambles as I ran around like a tornado, gathering different herbs and remedies.

“There are a few in the woodland nearby. Samuel is with my guys, sparring. They want to make sure they’re ready for tonight.”

More than anything, I wished Griffin were with us. He was still off patrolling, and there wasn’t enough time to call him back.

Then again, it was probably a small mercy; I doubt he wanted to witness a challenge involving his close friends after what he had been through himself.

“That would explain the crashing I heard earlier. I’m pretty sure one or two of them accidentally knocked down a few trees.”

“That sounds like them.” Although I’d wanted to be there with them while they practiced, I knew I was more useful at the clinic.

“You know what? As it’s a quiet day, maybe I should take the time to show you how to set up a healer’s kit—kill two birds with one stone.”

“Please!” Nina stepped forward, an eager look on her face.

Truthfully, I was thankful for the distraction. Teaching had a way of diverting my mind.

And I desperately needed a diversion.

Nix

“You’re not protecting your neck!” Bastian growled as Orsen scrambled to his feet after a nasty swipe.

“Can you blame me? You were aiming for my dick!” he shouted back, brushing the dirt off his sweatpants.

We had been training all morning. By we, I meant Orsen, with the help of Bastian, of course. But he needed to be ready for a fight with Byron, and we all knew that, despite the dragon’s age, he wouldn’t make it easy.

“You need to focus!” Bastian was being rather… intense. He grabbed Orsen’s shirt, preparing to swing at him again.

“What’s the point of this?” Orsen growled, shoving him away. “We’ll be fighting in dragon form. There’s no way Byron would want to stay in his squishy human form.”

“You will be,” Samuel agreed from the side where he was watching, arms crossed. As he was a skilled fighter, he had graciously agreed to leave his mate and babies for a few hours to help us prepare for the challenge.

And by we, I still meant Orsen.

All the rest of us could do was be willing punching bags and cheer him on, in a manner of speaking.

“I need a break,” Orsen grunted, storming off to the side of the clearing where we had a cooler filled with snacks and drinks.

He’d been hitting it hard for several hours now. With Bastian needling him the entire time, I was surprised the guy hadn’t shifted and scorched his ass. Lord knew the two of them had a temper. Still, I had a feeling Bastian was worried. That was why he’d been a particular delight this morning.

We all circled around the cooler, Bastian dragging his feet, and passed around drinks. It was hot and muggy, and that was adding to the reasons to be cranky. Standing in silence for a moment, we all just stared into the distance. The looming reality in front of us wasn’t backing off.

Orsen looked around, swallowing before speaking. “I know we don’t want to discuss negative outcomes…”

“And we won’t,” Greylen frowned, tossing him a bottle of water.

Narrowing his eyes, Orsen didn’t relent. “We need to. If something happens to me, then North Oak will be compromised.”

“We won’t allow that to happen,” I said, clapping a hand down on his shoulder.

I meant it. If we lost North Oak and Birch Creek tried to take over, we would put up one hell of a fight. Birch Creek was smaller, and we had more fighters. We also had a hell of a reason to make sure we won.

Shaking his head, Orsen sat on the ground. His entire posture slumped like he had the weight of the entire world on his shoulders.

He did, in a way. The future of our horde was on him.

“It’s bullshit. We should be fighting together,” Bastian growled. “That’s the whole point of a clan; we lead the horde together. We protect the horde together.”