Page 71 of The Dragons' Healing Mate

“I’ll have you know, she says I’m thebestthing she ever made,” he said smugly, but I knew he was talking out of his ass.

Instead of a formal sit-down dinner, we had opted to have a cookout. In the large clearing beside the den, we had set up several barbecues and the bonfire, picnic tables had been laid out with little sun umbrellas. In the early evening air, the view was spectacular. The sun was just starting to dip below the trees surrounding the house, casting an orange glow over everything.

Allison and Colin were sitting at one of the picnic tables, Baby Rowan in his mother’s arms. They were in conversation with several horde members who were all fussing over the baby.

They looked admittedly adorable, but my stare shifted to my Rowan, who was sitting with Nina, having an animated conversation with Rory. The kid looked amazing; it was hard to believe that he was at death’s door only a few weeks before. I admired the way the sunset illuminated my mate from behind. She was angelic; there was no other way to describe her. Wearing a sundress, blonde locks flowing down her back, she was beautiful. It was enough of a distraction to have me pause for a moment, but we all needed to stand by Orsen as he kicked things off.

Once he had given his speech, I could go be with my mate.

“Thank you all for coming!” Orsen announced, raising his hand and getting everyone’s attention. “I know we’ve had a rough few weeks—maybe longer—but we havea lotto celebrate.We have welcomed a new family into our horde, and I am verymuch looking forward to seeing them grow with us.”

Several people turned to look at the young family, who were beaming, radiating happiness. Now theyknewwe were going to offer them protection. I could only imagine how much weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

“So, for the reason we have gathered heretoday, we have visitors from the Clover Valley Horde, Alpha Luca and his family members. I am thankful so many of you have come tonight to greet them.”

The horde clapped and hooted, making us Alphas laugh. Damn, it really had been a while since we’d done one of these. My chest pinched, and I considered how much had, quite frankly, sucked before the recent change. I knew Rowan was a big reason we had so much to look forward to in the future for once.

“And, as I’m sure all of you now know”—Orsen turned toward Celia, who was smiling brighter than the sun, doing a little wave as others looked on knowingly—“we’ll have another new member of our horde with us in no time.”

Everyone cheered, and Celia pulled Tanner next to her with a grin.

“It’s about time, isn’t it? And we all know who we have to thank for the horde’s recovering health. Rowan, wanna give us a wave?”

She turned bright pink, but Nina was all too happy to hype her up, getting Rowan to stand and do a little bow. She was adorable, and none of us Alphas could keep from smiling. Hell, I even saw Bastian fighting back a grin.

“To Rowan!” Nix toasted, raising his glass. We all followed suit, full of gratitude for the incredible woman who’d already done so much for our horde—and for us Alphas personally.

One hell of a mate, all right.

“We have so much to look forward to. We can’t wait to see what the future holds!” I added. I wasn’t much for public speaking, but I could chip in here and there when I needed to.

It didn’t escape my notice, however, that toward the back of the clearing, Cyrus was sitting on one of the picnic benches, looking like he’d sat in shit. He probably thought Bastian should have been the one giving the speech, probably thought that toasting to Rowan was adisgrace. For a guy I’d never been particularly fond of, I really hatedhim right now.

Bastian was the last person who should have been giving a public speech, though. He was grumpy, and his charisma was at an all-time low with everything that had been going on. I loved the guy, but he’d have been a downright buzzkill if we had him making the speeches. He needed to get his head out of his ass already, but I knew when it came to change and growth, that idiot moved at a snail’s pace.

“All right, enough of all that!” Nix stepped forward, a smile stretched proudly across his face as he raised his glass again. “Let’s get this party started!”

The horde cheered, laughing and joking as Ma stepped up and called out, “Get your plates, people! There’s plenty of food!”

It was warm and joyful. Yet again, I was in awe of how different it felt tonight. We’d been sorely lacking in big social functions for the past few years. While there had been some normalcy, typical birthdays and anniversary-type things, this was the first time the horde had come together to celebrate a guest and the growth of our people in ages. As far as I was concerned, this night couldn’t get any better.

Unless, of course, I got to spend some time with Rowan.

“Greylen! Orsen! Come see the baby!” Allison shouted, waving us over. I shrugged, bumping Orsen with my shoulder because, in the two seconds I’d looked away, Nix was alreadyover there, cooing and fawning over the little bundle. He wassucha sap for babies.

The two of us plodded toward her, shaking hands with some of the other dragons, commenting on the hard work they’d done for the cabin and inquiring about how injuries or conditions were holding up now that they’d seen Rowan.

This was a part of being an Alpha I’d forgotten about these past few years, when all of us were trapped in our depressive moods. It was times like this that I could see how important it was.

“Hey there, cutie,” Orsen said softly to the new baby, and I smiled as the little boy waved his hand and stared up at my clanmate like he was a giant or something. The kid wasn’t wrong.

“Want to hold him?” I wasn’t given more than a second to answer before Allison stood up and settled the baby in my arms. I felt awkward as hell as she coached me through how to hold him, but then Baby Rowan looked up at me with those big eyes, and I actually swooned a little.

“Oh, wow. Umm, hi.” I smiled at him, and the baby cooed, making those specific infant babbles that I hadn’t heard in alongtime. “Welcome to the horde, little guy.”

Warmth filled me in a way that would have been deeply embarrassing if it weren’t for the fact that we really did need a baby around here. Instinctively, I looked up, turning toward where Rowan was sitting. She smiled over at me, her eyes softening.

We just stared for a moment, the implications clear. I held eye contact with Rowan, need and desire, and most importantly, something I believed was love stirring deep within my chest. I wanted this with her, and holy shit, I could actually admit it.