Page 48 of The Dragons' Healing Mate

Pouting, I crossed my arms. “No. Unfortunately, that would be taking advantage.”

“So? If anyone has the right to take advantage, it’s you… You’re his fated mate, after all.”

“Well,hedoesn’t think so.”

Nina shook her head, crossing her arms. “Well, the dumbass can only hide from fate for so long.”

That might have been the case, but now wasn’t the moment to ponder the question. Bastian needed a babysitter, and it wasn’t going to be me. I waswaytoo busy.

“Will you go get one of the Alphas? Someone needs to escort him home. I’m not sure his legs are working.”

Nina cackled. “Of course! I’ll see who I can find.”

A few minutes later, Nina strolled in with Greylen, who hurried right over to Bastian and tried to lift his head by his chin. It just dropped back down while Bastian aimlessly swung his hands at Grey.

“Luckily, there was nothing in what he took that would harm him. He’s not going to feel any pain… but he’s not going to feel much ofanythingfor a while.”

Rolling his eyes, Grey nodded. “Thank you for keeping him safe.”

“All I did was watch him to make sure he didn’t fall off the chair.” I laughed as Bastian floated off in his own little world.

Grey shrugged as he approached me. “Honestly, that’s a lot more than he deserves.”

“Well, Nina suggested we take a permanent marker to his face…”

Grey smirked. “I mean… I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I certainly would get a good laugh from it.”

I glowered playfully at Greylen. “He’stechnicallymy patient. I have to behave myself.”

Grey scrunched his nose. “Well, that’s no fun.” He sighed, walking back over to Bastian and grabbing his hand. “Come on, big boy, up you go.”

Bastian stood, then swayed. Grey had to put an arm around him to stop him from toppling over. “Thank you for taking care of him. I’ll make sure he gets to bed safely. Ma will keep an eye on him.”

“Good.” I nodded, thinking about how long this would likely last. “I’ll check in on him later.”

Grey turned to leave, tugging Bastian with him, but the grumpy dragon turned to look at me with glassy eyes. “Pretty,” he muttered, his words slurred as he tried to focus on me.

Pretty? Was he talking about me?

I was pretty sure Bastian would rather jump off a cliff than give me a compliment. Then again, painkillers in such copious amounts did tend to make people a bit more generous with their praise.

“Aww, man, you think I’m pretty? Or is it our mate you’re talking about?”

Grey asked, shaking his head with a grin.

Bastian eyed me, or as much as he could. “Mate.”

He said that word so softly with a reverence that made my stomach turn. I looked away. “See you later, Bastian. Go get some rest.”

Greylen

Bastian was well and truly away with the fairies. Off the deep end. High as a kite. Hammered.

“Come on, you stupid lug,” I groaned as I hauled him up the stairs toward his bedroom. How I had managed to get him into the den without anyone noticing was beyond me. I couldn’t really be stealthy when I was trying to half carry, half drag a very loopydragon up the stairs.

“Hey, Grey, what are you up—Whoa.” Ben, one of the younger dragons in the horde, stopped, and I grimaced through a smile, trying to play it off. “What’s up with Alpha Bastian?”

“Hi, Ben. Sorry, Bastian’s had a bit of a?—”