Page 33 of The Lost Nation

Ronan’s voice was calm, and he didn’t pause from making marks on his map where the last unicorn sighting was rumored to have been.

I grunted.“Easy for you to say—she isn’t pissed atyouanymore."

Ronan slowly raised his chin, and shot me a look.“Youlaughedat her.Much more egregious than simply trying to argue with logic."

My nostrils flared in indignation. “Her idea was ridiculous! To simplyaskto walk in and destroy the pool of chaotic magick—”

Ronan huffed.“You didn’t even let her try. She knows Thad the best out of all of us, and she obviously thought there was a chance he’d say yes. Getting into the fortress peaceably is best for everyone. But we’ll never know now, because youhumiliatedher in front of everyone at the meeting!”

Well, when you said it like that itdidsound awful. Was that really what I’d done? It had just seemed so...ludicrous at the time.

Ronan snorted with impatience. “It doesn’t matter if she'd suggested you approach Thad wearinga dress—you don’t embarrass our mate like that in front of our friends and allies.”

Oh.Oh.

I stood up from the table. “I need to go.”

Ronan pursed his lips. “Just give me ten minutes warning to vacate the area if you want to bring your 'reconciliation' back to the treehouse,” he called out.

“I was thinking the hot springs again,” I replied, alreadyanticipating her forgiveness and subsequent make-up activities.

“Someone is confident,” Ronan muttered.

I dove out the window, preferring to fly rather than shift. I noticed Enya sitting outside of the entrance to the female's cave, trying in vain to coax the other two female drakens out.

My chest clenched in guilt.The attack on Aldur had ruined our plans to try and get the other draken females out and about the island without the presence of the unmated males, so I was unsure how to help them next. I’d thought they would take losing Xana hard, but Enya said the other two seemed unaffected.Then again, that was the problem. They didn't care about anything.

The nearly-finished treehouse that the males had been building for Xana was still being worked on. I knew my warriors were hoping the other females would move in, but it was hard to say what the way forward was.I refused to force the females to leave the cave if they didn't wish to.

I arrived at the witch village, but Wren wasn't there. As luck would have it, Vela told me she had just shifted to the lava tubes to visit the females. I smirked, realizing I must have just missed her.

I shift back towards the old lava tubes, keepinga healthy distance from the cave opening to respect their boundaries.If the other two females had allowed Wren inside, that was incredible progress.

“Wren! Are you in there?"

I felt foolish yelling into the wind, but I’dpromisedthem that no male would cross their threshold. That included me.

After a few moments, Wren came a few steps out of the cave. She didn’t look thrilled to see me.

“What?” She asked flatly.

I deflated slightly.“I...can you come here?”

I couldn’t very well seduce her properly when she was so far away, after all.

“No.”Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she glared at me.

My eyes narrowed. “Then I will come to you.”

Wren snarled, her claws and fangs outstretched.Perhaps she was more pissed than I had anticipated.

“You come any closer and I’llskinyou.”She hissed.

Myblood responded immediately to such a visceral challenge. I smirked. “You always knew how to flirt with me.”

Enya poked her head out of the cave to see what the commotion was about, her white hair hanging down her face as she scowled at us.

“I'll hold him down if you like,” she snarled, and that threat stopped me in my tracks. Enya was a decent warrior, and had already kicked my ass once in this lifetime. I knew she wouldlovea second chanceto bloody me up.

---