Page 90 of The Dragons’ Eternal Mate

Griff chuckled. “Did I like running the joint? Of course, I did.”

Orsen nodded, deep in thought. He glanced between us. “Well. We need someone we trust to run the Birch Creek lands, well, what used to be Birch Creek. Running two hordes is too much for even the best Alpha. It’s smart to divide the workload.”

The land was large and hard to control from our current den. We’d discussed sending one of us out there to oversee the transition, but none of us had wanted to leave Rowan.

Griffin was the perfect candidate.

He sat up with a hard jerk, staring at Orsen in shock, brow furrowed.

“To be fair, I think you’re the obvious choice,” I agreed. “We need someone there, someone close to the horde. None of us can do it, but you…”

“You would suit it, Griff. That is, if you want to,” Rowan said. She gave him a smile, that compassionate heart of hers shining through.

“I-I do. If, you’re sure?” Griffin looked between us. “I mean, I’m not turning it down, but I’m not, you know, anything special.”

“Your success with the horde says otherwise,” Bastian added, his stare straight as an arrow as he looked at Griff.

“Yes. Yes, I want that.”

There was a tiny beat of silence before Rowan leaped out of Bastian’s lap and hurried over to her friend, hugging him. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a good squeeze, and we all laughed as he let out an “Oof!”

“Oh, you’re going to do great. I just know it.” Rowan landed on her feet, patting Griffin’s arm. “And we’re all right here. United front and all that.”

Griffin cast a glance over the four of us, nodding once. “Thank you. I know you’ll have my back, and… I’m going to do right by those dragons. After Byron, well, they fucking deserve it.”

“Here, here.” Orsen raised his beer, and we all cheered. There were so many reasons to celebrate tonight.

“Okay, now I have to go find a baby to cuddle.” Rowan laughed before heading over to the other side of the clearing, where Allison was helping Ma with the food, Colin nearby with Baby Rowan. The moment our mate approached, he held out the baby, knowing full well she was after a cuddle.

The four big, bad Alphas of North Oak stood there like idiots, all of us watching our mate with matching dopey smiles as she cooed over the baby.

“How the fuck did we get so lucky?” Greylen asked.

It was hard to put the feeling in my gut into words. Rowan was everything we could have ever wanted in a mate and more. Emmeline had been phenomenal, and she would have made a wonderful Alpha… but Rowan was an exceptional Alpha. More than that, she made us exceptional.

If I could, I would erase the past and every moment of pain she had been forced to endure, without question. Then again, there was also no denying how the fucked-up events of the last six years had made us all stronger.

“I have no clue. But I am not going to waste this second chance.” I smirked before waltzing off in the direction of my beautiful mate. “Not for a single second.”

Greylen

Nix and Rowan cooed over the baby, ignoring everyone around them while the celebration hummed with energy.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” Orsen said, looking around the gathering at all the dragons who’d come to celebrate with us. So many smiling faces and easy conversation filled the clearing, spilling into the den and surrounding areas.

“Nah, but I don’t mind that,” I said. “I never want to take this for granted.”

Bastian grunted his agreement. It went without saying that, out of all of us, Bastian was the one who felt strongest about never taking what was in front of him for granted again.

He’d also been the one to end Cyrus, once and for all, and we all knew he’d carry that weight for the rest of his days. There was no way the tranquility and peace around us would fail to impact him after that.

“But I can admit I’m starving”—Orsen jerked his head toward the tables of food—“so, let’s go eat before it’s all gone.”

Chuckling, I followed Orsen, eager to dig in because every dish smelled amazing.

“Orsen! Get your mate some food! I swear, I raised a heathen!” Ma blustered, swatting her son playfully on the shoulder while several of the dragons around us chuckled.

There were tables and tables of buffet food being laid out for the guests, easily enough to feed double the two to three hundred dragons who had gathered. And, of course, Ma was worried about Rowan getting something to eat.