Orsen
Three days.
I had been sitting at my mother’s bedside for three days while Rowan worked tirelessly to heal her, that salve so much more valuable than I could ever have imagined.
Ma was finally starting to stabilize, but I refused to sleep anywhere other than next to her. I still didn’t know what Cyrus was up to. I wasn’t risking her life again.
My mother had been in and out of consciousness. It was obvious she was in a lot of pain, so Rowan had been giving her some strong herbal painkillers, which kept her pretty out of it.
“What?” I shot a look at Griff, silently agreeing that this was not the fucking time.
He grimaced. “There is a scout from Birch Creek here. They are insisting on a meeting.”
“Why the fuck would I want to talk to any of them?” I growled, too tired and stressed to be dealing with some other dragons’ problems.
“Trust me, I don’t want to talk to them, either. But I get the feeling they’re not going away, and I refuse to admit why you’d rather be here at the moment. I don’t want them to know we are weak.”
I nodded with a prolonged sigh. He was right. Even while we’d been falling apart, dealing with Rowan leaving and Ma being injured, Griffin had been holding the horde together. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be good enough for a snob like Byron, not that I wanted to give that idiot anything.
“Good thinking.” I looked at Ma, squeezing her hand. “I need someone here with her, though, if I’m going to go.”
“I think we need all four of you there, to show a united front.” Griffin held my stare, both confident and cautious. I hated all of this. I felt so fucking useless, sitting here, with no way to help my mother, and now all this horde business.
However, Griffin was right, again.
“Fine. Get the others and someone to sit with Ma. I’ll go, but I want you and whoever you trust at this bedside the entire time. Understood?”
“I can stay,” Nina offered from the threshold. “Rowan was planning another ice coat—I can do that while you take care of business.”
“Thank you.”
Griffin hurried out of the room, and the growing exhaustion that’d been dogging me for days only got worse. I was in no state to deal with Byron’s cronies, but I had no way out if we wanted to keep up good relations and appearances.
I stared down at Ma’s sleeping face. “Sometimes being an Alpha sucks, Ma. It really does.”
“Greetings. I’m Christopher, an enforcer for Birch Creek.” The dragon who stood across from us stuck out a hand, which we all looked at, not concerned with pleasantries.
“What do you want?” I asked, not bothering to be polite. Bastian was on my left, Rowan a step behind him, both flanked by Nix and Greylen. I wasn’t too keen on her being in the presence of this stranger, but I knew better than to try to make her stay behind.
The scout’s eyebrows rose at my brisk tone. Usually, when meeting dignitaries from other hordes, we would maintain at least the illusion of politeness, but I was too exhausted to attempt that. Plus, they had come to our lands without any warning.
I did not like that.
There was also the fact that I knew exactly what this was about, and the answer we had for this fucker wasn’t one he was going to like.
“Our Alpha, Byron, sent us here with an official request. He wants his daughter returned to him.”
Allison.
The dragon my mate had given sanctuary to a few weeks ago, although that felt like ancient history now.
We had been waiting for something like this to happen.
Allison’s father was a possessive man and didn’t like that his daughter had left their horde to mate with someone he didn’t approve of. And now they had a baby together.
“Nope,” Rowan replied, her tone casual and direct. “I can tell you right now, that’s not happening.”
Christopher appeared startled. “Excuse me. I don’t know who you are, but I’m certain you don’t speak for the Alpha of this horde.” He stared pointedly at Bastian.
“Why are you looking at me?” he snarled, letting Rowan step in front of him.
“Your father assured us that you are the Alpha of this horde, and that you would return our Alpha’s daughter to us.”
A growl escaped me, every muscle going tense. “I don’t know where you got your information from, but we are a clan of five. Rowan does speak for the Alpha clan, and you will speak to her with the respect her station deserves, or I’ll send you back to your Alpha with a very different problem.”
Christopher at least had the decency to look abashed, his wide eyes scanning over all of us.
He quickly recovered, though. “Either way, we need Allison to return home. Byron has made it very clear that he wants his daughter back and is asking you to cooperate.”
“And if we don’t?” Nix asked, meeting the representative’s energy.
The stranger’s eyes widened all the more. “Then Alpha Byron will be greatly displeased.”
“He can be ‘displeased’ all he wants.” Bastian narrowed his eyes, sizing Christopher up. “When, exactly, did my father inform you of our horde’s hierarchy?”
I turned to Bastian, silently conveying a message. Do you think…
He nodded.
“Alpha Cyrus has been a guest of our horde for the past week.”
A guest? That fucker.
Is that what Byron considered someone running from his own son, who was happily going to gut him for trying to murder his mate not once, but twice?
In a way, this was good because now we knew exactly where Cyrus was hiding.
It made sense that he would take shelter with another old asshole like Alpha Byron.
“Alpha Cyrus is no longer welcome in this horde. He has been banished. In fact, he is wanted for some pretty serious crimes,” Greylen explained smoothly, not missing a beat. “Are you saying that your horde is harboring a fugitive?”
That made the guy pale. “I assure you; we’re doing nothing of the sort.
Alpha Byron is respectful and understands boundaries, unlike you, who are keeping his daughter away from him.
He is willing to go to extreme lengths to get his daughter back.
She is the light of his life. No father should be separated from their child. ”
Rowan made a gagging noise, and I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped my chest.
Christopher looked affronted, and I stepped forward, gleefully towering over the man.
“Do you honestly believe the bullshit that’s coming out of your mouth?
Everyone here knows Byron is a piece of shit who’s going to sell his daughter off for political gain.
Allison is very happy here with her fated mate and their child. ”
Christopher sneered, trying to look down his nose at me. “Byron will graciously allow Colin and his bastard to stay with her, even though he should be put to death for crimes against his horde.”
“We all know that fated mates supersede horde politics,” I shot back.
“Allison and her family are members of North Oak now. I hate to say it, but you’ve been sent on a fool’s errand.
There’s no way in hell they’re coming back with you.
You can try and word it any way you want, but our stance is firm. ”
“You would really meddle in another horde’s business?”
“I think the fact you are harboring a fugitive means that you are currently meddling in our affairs, and apparently have been for several days, so it seems like this is more than fair game.” Rowan smiled sweetly.
As the representative stuttered, Bastian stepped forward, creating a wall of bodies, standing by my side and sending a clear message.
“Now, let me make one thing painfully clear, because you seem to only want to listen to me,” Bastian snarled.
“If my father so much as sets foot on North Oak lands, I will personally make sure his death is slow and painful. He is a disloyal rogue, and I will revel in ending him. As far as Allison and her family go, we have already officially claimed them as ours. You’re welcome to try and take them, but let me assure you: anyone who does won’t live long.
My mate gave them sanctuary, and we honor that here. ”
I couldn’t help but smirk, enjoying every tremble and whimper that slipped out of the man in front of us.
That united front Griffin was talking about was glaringly obvious.
Bastian, I, Grey, and of course Nix, were here to not only defend Rowan’s decision and support her, but we were declaring the consequences to anyone who tried to fuck with us.
Something serious had shifted in Bastian, and it pleased me.
“Since you seem a little slow, allow us to break this down for you.” Grey faced off with Christopher.
“Allison, Colin, and their son are North Oak Horde members. Cyrus is not. He is officially a rogue, an exile, and is wanted for crimes against the horde, including directly threatening the ruling Alphas. His sentence is death, which will be carried out the moment he dares to set foot on these lands. Any horde found aiding him will be considered enemies of North Oak and will be choosing to start a war. Should he be delivered to us for punishment, it would greatly please us. And we might consider leniency.”
Nix chuckled, raising his brows as Christopher took a step back. “Attempt to kidnap a member of this horde at your own peril, asshole.”
“Leave. And don’t return,” Bastian said, using that distinctly Alpha tone.
Without another word, Christopher spun on his heel and stormed off toward the car he’d used to get here. He got in, before slamming the door, and drove off. The five of us watched the road until any sign of him disappeared.
I was damn proud of what we’d done, all of us, but I wasn’t fool enough to believe that would be the end of it. This was far from over.