Page 3 of The Dragons' Healing Mate

I turned briefly to him, giving what I hoped was a reassuring look. “Hey, let’s not worry about that now. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, but first, I need to figure out how to help you give birth.” I directed the last sentence at Allison.

She looked at her bump, worry painted over her face. “Is the baby okay?”

“It looks like the baby isn’t in the right position. The head should be down here.” I lightly tapped the bottom of her belly. “Instead, their feet are here.”

“Is that bad?”

“I’m going to be honest with you—it’s not ideal,” I replied, doing my best to keep my voice level. I needed to remain calm and in control, even though my head was still pounding from being taken. “Plus, you’re not the only one who’s tired from all this. It’s hard on the baby, too. But there are some things we can do.”

“Do it. Do whatever you need to do to make sure they’re safe,” she blurted out.

Her face was flushed red, and sweat dripped down her brow. The poor woman must have been exhausted.

I looked around the cabin at their meager supplies. Saying they didn’t have much was a vast understatement. Back at the clinic, I would have access to herbs and equipment to help the birth move along smoothly.

“Okay, the first thing I’m going to do—that you’re not going to enjoy—is have you stand up and walk around. Colin, this is where you can help Allison,” I said, motioning to the Alpha who was pacing.

“How can I help?” he asked, stepping forward. I almost chuckled, seeing as I’d just told him how he could help. Men tended to lose what little brain cells they had in the birthing room, in my experience.

“I want you to support her as she does a few laps of the cabin. Taking plenty of steps can help encourage the baby into the right position. It may not feel the best, but it’s what’s best for the baby.”

“Let’s do it,” Allison said, holding out her hands to her mate.

He helped her up. When she winced, I could see the suffering on his face, clear as day. My heart ached for them. I could only imagine what my Alphas back at the horde were going through—again.

It was going to be a long freaking day getting this labor to progress, but I had a mission, and I was a healer. This was what I did.

I helped Allison on her other side, catching her eyes and taking a breath. “Okay, here we go.”

Orsen

Rowan was gone.

One moment, she was on our lands, safe with us, the next, just…gone.

Again.

I didn’t—couldn’t—handle it. All the emotions welling up were too much, so I did what Bastian seemingly did best and shoved them down.

Later, I could freak out.Afterwe’d found our mate.

“I’m putting cameras in her clinic,” Grey muttered as we paced the woods, desperately trying to pick up her scent. “Like, patient privacy, sure, but on those doors? Cameras. Lots of fucking cameras.”

Grey and I were on foot, whereas Nix and Bastian were in the air. My dragon was itching to come out, to take to the sky and look for our mate, but I knew that a divide-and-conquer method would be best. Sometimes, there were things that human eyes could see on the ground that dragon’s eyes couldn’t from the sky.

Was the universe out to fucking get us? We’d already lost Rowan once, and now it was happening again? My gut churned as I stalked through the undergrowth, hunkering down as Ishuffled to pick up on the slightest change in scent, any shift in the earthy freshness that even whispered Rowan’s faint scent.

You fucking lost her.

My thoughts were still screaming at me, my stomach heavy with guilt and nausea. It was impossible to ignore how they choked me, the blame that followed every step I took. We hadn’t been there.Ihadn’t been there. We were Rowan’s mates, her Alphas; we should have stopped whoever had taken her, but it was clear that someone had.

“Nothing over here. Let’s move to the south,” Grey called out. We shifted our search pattern easily so that we didn’t miss anything.

There had been the distinct scent of a male dragon mixed with Rowan’s at the clinic. She’d been with another male moments before she’d gone missing. I wasn’t leaping to conclusions when I assumed someone had kidnapped her. But why? And who?

You have to do better than this. You need to be a better fucking mate.

My dragon growled, and I was in full agreement. I needed to protect Rowan. Not only was she an amazing healer and valuable to our pack, but not having her near made me feel like the forest’s walls were closing in on me.