Page 23 of The Dragons’ Eternal Mate

My stomach dropped. Rowan lurched out of my lap, my pulse sprinting. Part of me wanted to mention that Rowan was in her tiny pajamas, with a zip-up hoodie over the top. But it really didn’t matter, now, did it?

Her mate needed her. I knew, to her, that was all that mattered. We sprinted out of the den with Griffin, toward the clinic, where they had taken Nix.

Fuck, buddy. What have you gotten yourself into?

Running with Griffin to the clinic, Rowan demanded an overview of what she was up against, shouting, “What happened?!”

“Cyrus set fire to the cabin when they got there. He saw them coming, then the fucker ran off.”

I could see the moment her healer brain kicked into motion, and she nodded. A burn was serious, but a dragon could heal from that as long as it wasn’t too bad. Rowan needed to see it for herself, of course, but if it wasn’t that severe…

“And the others?” I shot a look at Griffin, and he glanced at me with a bob of his head.

“They’re all right. They didn’t go as far into the flames. They just tried to put it out before the entire forest went up.”

I nodded back at him. We could get through this. We could. We had to.

For Rowan.

Rowan

“Stop scratching at it!” I said, batting Nix’s hand away from the bandage on his shoulder.

For someone who had recently demonstrated just how well he could take orders when Bastian and I were with him, he was abysmal at it now. In fact, he’d been terrible at listening to the healer in the room the entire time I was patching him up.

“But it itches,” Nix whined pathetically, frowning at me like I was going to be sympathetic.

Thankfully, my mate hadn’t been harmed too much. There had been a slight scuffle when they had arrived at the cabin. From what I understood, Cyrus had managed to get away from them by setting fire to the cabin. Nix was sporting a rather impressive burn on his shoulder, but thank God, it was a normal one, and not dragon fire, so in a few days, he would be as good as new.

Gotta love that advanced dragon healing.

I smacked his hand again, glaring at him. “You can’t scratch it. It’ll make it worse.”

“But, Rowan!” he whined, and I rolled my eyes, feeling slightly less than sympathetic.

“Zip it, or I’ll put the stinky ointment on it,” I threatened, pointing at the container resting on the counter.

Nix wagged his brows at me. “You could kiss it better…”

Reeling back, I scrunched my nose. “I’m not kissing your burn.”

“No, you kiss me! I’m pretty sure your kisses have magical healing properties, and by simply making out with me, you’re gonna help me get better faster.”

I frowned, trying to hold back a smile at my mate’s antics.

“Did you give him that strong painkilling stuff you gave me?” Bastian asked, walking into the room from the hallway. He’d clearly overheard Nix’s begging.

“Nope, I haven’t given him anything for the pain yet because I’ve been focusing on making sure he doesn’t get an infection. He’s this irritating all on his own.” I turned and smiled at Bastian, who gave me a knowing grin.

“Me? Irritating? You are all crazy!” my golden retriever Alpha grumbled, making me laugh, unable to keep it in anymore.

“Well, you’re about to get a dose of painkillers, so you’re going to be extra irritating.” I giggled, scrunching my nose playfully at him.

“So, kisses, then? Because kisses are⁠—”

I clamped my hand over his mouth so he’d stop talking. “No. The medical-grade kind that will actually help. Just do me a favor and don’t take the lot like our boy Bastian here. I’m not dealing with that twice. And shifting right now would be a terrible idea.” Nix started kissing my hand messily. I yanked it away, laughing as I wiped at the excessive saliva on the bed.

“Freak,” I muttered, walking to the cupboard. I gathered up what I’d need to make the painkiller tea and set it all out. “Bastian, could you put the hot water on?”