Page 16 of The Dragons' Healing Mate

Orsen gave me a disbelieving look, sitting in the chair across from me and getting comfy. I was going to kill him.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” He shrugged. “Definitely Nix, and maybe Grey, but notallof us.”

I matched his sarcastically baffled look with one of my own. “We allowed her to overrule us. We don’t evenknowher, and she is making decisions forourhorde.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I could understand the motivations of this dragon, Colin, but that didn’t mean I had to like them. Even more so, now that I knew who Allison’s father was. It put us in the middle of a fucking mess that I had no wayto plan for. Hordes were different, each with their own rules. We all got along—if you could call it that—because we didn’t step on each other’s toes, respected the separation.

Our horde had essentially stolen an Alpha’s daughter, who was apparently already on shaky ground with her family. And now I was worried we’d be dragged into a war over a criminal we were harboring.

“You know I was as upset about the kidnapping as you were.” Orsen’s voice cut through my thoughts. “But Rowan has a point. The guy was in dire straits. I can understand the motivation. Can’t you?”

“It’s not just that, Orsen. Fuck, I really wanted to find a way to deal with this without dragging the entire group into it, but Rowan hasn’t left me much choice. Allison’s father is Byron, from the Birch Creek Horde. Apparently, her mating with Colin wasn’t supposed to happen. She was promised to someone else, but this Colin was one of his enforcers; they fell in love, ran away, and became rogues together. I guarantee he wants her back.”

“What?” Orsen shifted in his chair, perching on the edge. “Are you serious?”

“Unfortunately. And now, because of Rowan, we’re supposed to give them sanctuary. We’ll be going up against Byron, and that’s no fucking joke. I don’t know about you, but I’m not in the mood for a fucking?—”

“War.”

I spun around, Orsen doing the same, and my eyes landed on the last fucking dragon I wanted to see. My father.

Despite only being in his forties, he looked far older. His hair streaked with gray, his face starting to sag as he shuffled into the room.

“Why on earth would you want to go up against Byron unless you were looking to start an all-out war between our hordes? Have you lost your damn mind?” he snarled.

Striding over to me, my father loomed, his displeasure obvious. Even now, as a full-fucking-grown adult, I swallowed hard. When he reached me, he shot a look at the chair. I clenched my jaw as I stood, relinquishing it to him. Sure, my father had a bad leg, one which Rowan had concluded was Jenkins’s fault, actually, but I knew he would have demanded the seat even if he didn’t.

Fucking shit. This is the last thing I need.

“I can assure you,” Orsen offered, leaning toward my father with his elbows on his knees, “no one islookingto go to war. But it may have found us, regardless, which we’ll deal with. The truth is, Rowan did what she believed was best for an infant in bringing them here. She protected a child, and that’s our top priority.”

“We don’t even know this child! Or its family! It had nothing to do with us, and it should’ve stayed that way.”

My stomach clenched, gut churning as the unspoken truth hit home. My father would have let Allison and her child fend for themselves, and knowing the situation as I did, that very well could have meant them dying.

“Their lives were in danger. There are precedents for that.” It wasn’t news to my father, and he glowered at me even while seated.

“I don’t give a damn about what may or may not have happened in the past withotherhordes. You let that woman, thathuman, into this horde, and now she’s making decisions? She’s not an Alpha. Hell, she’s not even one of us, which is apparent with the way she’s placedour hordein danger.”

My blood pulsed hot and hard as I stared across the short distance at my father. Cyrus had never been a tactful man.Despite the fact that Rowan wasour mate, he was speaking about her as if she were some outsider, a random stranger who didn’t belong. He knew as much as I did that she was ours—Emmeline had come back to us—and that gave her a right to speak her mind regarding the situation. Regardinganysituation.

But he was always like this, and I knew he didn’t give a damn what I or anyone else said about the matter.

“That human isour mate. She was taking care of a family who needed her. She’s a healer, for fuck’s sake. That’s her calling. Taking them in was also the right thing to do, despite how much I wanted to take it out on Colin’s hide. Byron might kill them, including the baby. Would you really stand by and let that happen?”

“It’s none of our business how Byron wants to run his horde. I’d expect him to stay out of our business, and we should mind our own. He needed the girl for a political mating, so she would be safe. We have myhorde to take care of, one who’s short of a proper healer now that Jenkins is gone.”

Orsen growled, and I silently cursed.Fucking hell, they’re going to throw down right here. I do not need this right now.

“Jenkins was harming this horde! You know that! Rowan is ten times the healer he ever was. More, even.”

The tension rose further, and I stepped forward to put my arm across Orsen’s chest as he surged toward my father.

“Watch your tone, boy. Remember who you’re speaking to.” My father didn’t move in the chair, simply glaring at Orsen.

“I do. I remember that Bastian is Alpha, as am I. Not you.”

Oh, fuck.