31. Orsen
Orsen
“You guys are lucky, you know that?” Luca asked as we took him on a walk around the horde lands. We needed some fresh air after the tense exchange in the clinic, and it felt good to be able to stretch my wings.
“We are,” I agreed, nodding once, even though I couldn’t help but think about how my horde had been in complete disarray, and we were doing everything we could to keep it from crumbling.
“Rowan… She’s fantastic. Do you have any idea how many Alphas have propositioned her over the years?” Luca’s brows rose as he spoke, and as soon as the words hit me, I struggled not to choke.
I paused, the other Alphas doing the same.
“What?” Nix asked, wide-eyed with panic. An expression that certainly mirrored the feeling drilling through me like a spike.
“Yeah,” Luca drawled casually. “Most Alphas understand that having a partner like her would be invaluable. Between her amazing attitude and take-no-bullshit stance, she’s a fantastic healer who would bring good health to any horde she’s a part of.”
“I get that—but who has been propositioning her?” I asked in a thin voice, fighting back a growl. I needed to know their names so I could throttle them the next time I saw them.
Luca shrugged, his nonchalance making me want to throttle him. That wouldn’t be good for horde politics, though. Still, I wasn’t exactly thinking with my upstairs brain, and I could admit that.
“A bunch of Alphas. It’s not like I’m keeping track.”
Rowan would be a huge benefit to any horde she joined—that was a given—but I hadn’t realized there were Alphas willing to disregard the hunt for their fated mate for her. I should have known an Alpha could be desperate enough, but I’d been so lost in my own thoughts that I’d never considered it.
“Relax, Orsen. If you treat her right, she’s going to stick around. Then again, after the start you guys had…” He trailed off.
I didn’t need another reminder of how we got off on the wrong foot. The first time I saw her again had taken me completely by surprise, and I was still paying the price for it.
“I’m doing everything I can,” I insisted.
Luca nodded. “I know. In fact, I want to help you. Samuel, my sister’s mate, is an enforcer.
A damn good guard—in fact, he’s one of my best. I’m thinking that he and my sister could stay here as your guests while she has the babies.
Samuel can drag along a few other enforcers, keep an eye out and protect Rowan. ”
“That’s… generous.” Greylen spoke slowly, casting a glance at Luca with his brow cocked.
“We can guard her ourselves,” I rushed to say, as the need to snap at him increased. “We’re perfectly capable of keeping Rowan safe.”
There was something about another dragon—another Alpha—offering help that rubbed me the wrong way. Hordes tended to keep to themselves. Accepting assistance from another Alpha would make us seem almost… unable? Like… failures?
“Samuel is one of the best. He’ll be here in a few days. He’s finishing up some business for me, then joining us.”
“He left his pregnant mate?” Grey asked.
Luca leveled him with a cool gaze. “He knows I will do whatever it takes to protect my sister, and like I said, he’ll be joining us soon.”
I glanced at Grey, who swallowed and nodded. Nix stood next to him and shrugged, unsure but clearly willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. I mean, he was Rowan’s friend, and we all knew what Nix was like when it came to Rowan.
“Still, you don’t need—” I started to say.
“Thank you. We accept,” Bastian cut in firmly, and I shot him a knife-sharp glare.
Confusion burned as it was made abundantly clear that Bastian wasn’t about to back down.
I’d assumed he would be the last person to accept help from an outside source.
Then again, after what he’d admitted about his feelings for Rowan and the entire situation, why wouldn’t he be willing to accept any help he could get?
“Why don’t we head back to the den and eat?” Nix suggested. “I’ll go get our girl—she’ll probably be finished with Poppy. I can escort them to dinner. We’ll have Ma throw together something for all of us.”
I thought about that and decided it was probably best if the formal dinner waited until tomorrow. My mother wasn’t the biggest fan of last-minute changes, and this one was a bit of a doozy. Still, she needed to know as soon as possible.
“Let me go talk to Ma. And keep tonight low-key. She’s already going to be pissed at me.”
“A horde dinner? Tomorrow?! Sometimes I swear I dropped you on your head as a child!” Ma blustered as she whipped around the kitchen, already in planning mode. All things considered, she was actually taking it better than I expected.
“In Orsen’s defense, Luca gave us no warning. If he didn’t host a dinner, he would be seen as downright inhospitable,” Griff pointed out from where he was sitting on the counter, eating an apple. I was torn between wanting to yank the thing out of his mouth and make him go help, and thanking him.
“He’s right,” I replied, looking imploringly at my mother. “I had no choice. You know that. And Bastian’s the one who insisted on them all staying here, so pin that one on him. Not me.”
Ma narrowed her eyes, her hands on her hips. I could practically hear the words ringing through her mind that she was polite enough not to say out loud.
“Luca is chill. He doesn’t need all the pomp and circumstance, Ma. You’ll be fine,” Griff said around a mouthful of food.
“Swallow your food, you. Okay.” Ma paused, looking around the kitchen as she nodded thoughtfully, the cogs in her brain whirring at lightning speed. “I can pull something casual but impressive together in twenty-four hours. What about tonight? He needs to eat!”
“Rowan convinced Luca to go get food at the diner on the road to town. That way, he can see the local area, and it gives you more time,” Griffin explained before I could, which had me glaring at him.
“Eat your damn apple, Griff. Unless you want to get up and actually help my mother prepare?” I shot him a look, and he retreated into himself slightly, hiding a smirk by rolling his lips between his teeth.
Griffin mimed zipping up his mouth. I had accepted Rowan’s suggestion of going to the diner with Luca, but I wasn’t particularly happy about it.
After hearing about how much our mate had been propositioned, I couldn’t help but imagine that Luca would do the same.
Yes, he was offering to help us, but he was a single Alpha and had eyes.
Ma looked upward, thankfully, her hands clasped together in a mock prayer. “I swear, that girl is a gift from above. I wouldn’t survive also having to put on a fancier spread tonight.”
“Don’t I know it?” I muttered, thinking back to how effortlessly she’d smoothed out the dinner situation before it became a huge problem.
I was trying to be quiet, but clearly not quiet enough because Ma’s eyes darted to me, and her brows shot up as she jabbed a finger in my direction.
“Well, maybe you need to remind Bastian of that?”
“Ha, and maybe someone needs to tell Cyrus that fact,” I grumbled back, emphasizing the issue. Bastian was influenced by his father’s dumbass ideas. How Cyrus had run this horde for decades, I had no idea. He was so set in his ways, it was embarrassing.
Ma snorted. “Nothing is going to change that old curmudgeon’s mind, other than a lobotomy, at this point. Bastian is a big boy, though, and can have opinions for himself. It’s time he starts acting like it.”
I shrugged. “You’re not wrong.”
If only it were that easy. Bastian was the apple who didn’t fall far from the tree.
He was as stubborn as his dad, and even with his own dragon situation out on the lawn, he hadn’t seen how disconnected he was from his wants and needs.
I mean, maybe he did, but it wasn’t enough to get him to wise up and work on his less-than-stellar relationship with Rowan.
Still… maybe with having extra enforcers around, the asshat would be able to relax a little. He could actually work on having the necessary conversation with Rowan.
“Maybe the visitors will help with that, actually.”
Ma cocked her head at me. “What do you mean?”
I shook my head. “Nothing, nothing. Sorry. Just let me know what you need for tomorrow. I’ll make sure it gets done.”
Smirking, my mother walked up to me, patting me on the cheek. “Get a pen, dear. It’s a hell of a list.”