Page 60 of The Dragons’ Eternal Mate

“I wanted to talk to you guys about Cyrus,” Orsen announced, taking a seat at the table across from me.

“What has the fucker done now?” Immediately, my mind conjured up the many possibilities. Unfortunately, he was fairly well-connected and was proving difficult to handle without starting an all-out war.

“It’s not that he’s done anything new. I just can’t keep sitting on my ass, so to speak.”

“It’s time to stop waiting for him to come to us?” Bastian cocked a brow, regarding Orsen with what could only be described as excitement.

Orsen nodded. My stomach clenched, knowing it was inevitable but still not looking forward to it.

I leaned across the table. “What are you suggesting?”

“We’ve been on the defensive for so long, and that’s clearly not working. It’s time we smoke the bastard out.” Orsen pounded on the table, deep-seated fury glowing behind his eyes.

“Why now?” Nix asked, running a hand through his hair. “We’ve been waiting for him to mess up for the last few weeks. What’s changed?”

Orsen dropped his head, letting out an angry breath. “Rowan needs to be safe. She’s losing weight, she needs more sleep, and we can all see how much stress she’s been under. I can’t explain it, but after last night, it just… feels different.”

He had a point. Everything was different. For the first time in six years, we were together as a clan. The part of us that we’d believed to be well and truly annihilated was back, stronger than ever.

“We found each other again,” I supplied. “We’re all here as a clan, and you don’t want to risk anything happening.”

Orsen nodded. “After Rowan fell asleep, I just watched her. All I could think about was how Cyrus was out there, how he was going to keep coming after her. We’re finally together again, happy and… He could rip that away from us at any moment.”

My belly sank at that thought. Clearly, Nix felt the same because he let out a gruff whine, his brow scrunching with worry.

Our mate was our first priority. Our horde was a close second.

And they were all under constant threat because of Cyrus. Orsen was right. We couldn’t wait around any longer. If we didn’t do something, he’d just keep sending people to attack.

“I should be the one to go after him. I’m the reason this all happened,” Bastian said.

“No.” Orsen shook his head. “Stop that bullshit line of thought right now. You are not the reason. The reason for everything is Cyrus. He’s a jackass, plain and simple.”

“Rowan won’t be happy about this,” I mumbled, shaking my head. She won’t like any of her mates leaving.

Orsen shrugged, making a face. “Well, I have an idea… but I don’t know whether it’ll make Rowan hate me even more.”

I cocked my head at Orsen, who grimaced. “Oh Lord. What are you thinking of now?”

“I—”

The door to the kitchen opened, and we all turned to see who’d intruded on the conversation.

“Looks like I turned up at the right moment.” Griffin sauntered into the room and took a seat. “You rang?”

I looked questioningly at Orsen.

He nodded. “I messaged Griffin to join us. As our enforcer.”

Ah.

“What’s happening?” Griffin asked.

“We want to go on the offensive when it comes to my father,” Bastian explained, tenting his fingers beneath his chin.

Griffin nodded. “I think that’s the smartest thing you’ve said all year.”

Bastian shot him a halfhearted glare, and I chuckled.