Sired: A Dark Reverse Harem Romance (Ascension Book 3)

by Kenna Bardot

  “Mireyah, I understand you’re pissed. I grew up in the North, but thankfully I didn’t spend that much time in it. However, status is everything to them. I’m not surprised they would invite you. If you don’t go, it would be an insult to them and not a sign of weakness from you.” She rubbed my arm up and down to calm me.

  It was working. “I want to hold my head up. Show every single one of them who ever looked down on me that this is me now.”

  “Do it, darling. It’s your right.” Aes looked me up and down. “I presume you’re keeping the uniform on.”

  I looked down and exchanged a look with Hydra. “Yes. It’s me.”

  “If that’s the case, we should go, Mireyah,” Oryn said, offering me his elbow. Aes stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. “Have fun, guys. I love you both and all, but I am so glad I need not go.”

  Given Oryn and Aes lived in the North, it was only a brief walk over to the party.

  Hydra dug her talons into my shoulders as we approached the house, and I could see the party going in full swing inside. Those claws made me grateful I'd chosen to wear my Dragon Guard leathers under my coat, even if the party wasn't a work event for me.

  I wanted to represent the group who showed me more welcome than I’d had in the North. I wanted to remind them I no longer belonged to my Houses, because my loyalty belonged with the Dragon Guard.

  As we walked into the massive home, a Tovenaar man lingered in the foyer, greeting everyone as they made their way inside. His home was like a museum, artworks and sculptures displayed everywhere, and I knew that as the leader of the Northern region he had the best of the best at his disposal.

  "Oryn!" he said cheerfully, approaching the two of us with a broad grin. He reached out two hands and rested them on the Kald's shoulders. "How are you?"

  "I'm well enough, Pax," Oryn said. "May I present Mireyah Dracari?" he introduced me, and it still jarred me to hear my new name.

  "Ah yes, the newest Dragon Guard!" Pax said, leaning in to kiss my cheek chastely. "Such a pleasure to meet you, my dear." Hydra flapped her wings on my shoulder, warning the man off in her usual moody way.

  "Congratulations on your son," I murmured, and it was an effort to hold his black eyes when he smiled down at me. They reminded me so much of Ashric's, sending a chill skittering down my spine as I remembered the sensation of his eyes on me on the path home not many nights ago.

  "That's very kind of you. My nephew has always spoken highly of you. I truly hope there have been no hard feelings between the two of you. He's always been a troublesome boy," he smiled with a shrug, as if anything could excuse the behavior.

  "Ashric is your nephew?" I asked as I took a step back and distanced myself from him further.

  "Yes," he said, and I followed his eyes as they glanced to the entrance to the living room. "I realize his actions where you were concerned were likely a little unorthodox. You mustn't blame him. He honestly means well, but he had a tough childhood. His parents weren’t kind to him as a child. It broke something not even the Northern matrons could fix before he went to Godsvail. I fear it shaped him in ways we'll never truly understand." As he spoke, I met Ashric's eyes. The God who had spoken of me with his uncle. It made disgust curl in my gut.

  He stood so still it was like he'd frozen solid, the baby in his arms calm as though he wasn’t being carried by a monster. He didn't cry or fuss the way I would have expected of anything so innocent subjected to Ashric's touch. When his eyes glanced up to the circlet on my head, they turned glinty with a glare that I swore I felt down to my soul.

  I didn't imagine it sat well with him that he'd been outdone by a human he had wanted to make cower. By someone he wanted to rape and beat and own. But the mark of the Dragon Guard was one of the highest honors.

  And it was mine.

  I turned my eyes away from him to return my attention to his uncle. "I think you will find that I am unsympathetic to Ashric's plight. Many of us had difficulties in our childhoods, but they're no excuse to turn around and abuse the vulnerable."

  Pax raised an eyebrow at me as he smiled. "I do not think I would describe you as vulnerable."

  "Even if you genuinely believe that, what of the others he abused? Do they not count because they are not here to speak of the things he did to them?" Oryn’s face hardened as I spoke, but whether it was in disapproval of me or anger on my behalf, I had no idea. I shrugged. "I suppose not. What worth do humans have, after all?" I asked. "Congratulations again on your new son."

  I gave Oryn a meaningful glance, stepping into the party and downing a glass of bubbly liquor I snatched off a passing tray. Hydra's breath on my neck was my only reassurance that I'd done something right. That my path had led me to a dragon of my own, a bond I hadn't wanted but couldn't ever imagine myself being without now that I had it.

  “Jaiya,” I said coolly when I was faced by my former boss. She was resplendent in a tall sparkling gown of white, her white hair swept up and away from her striking face.

  “Mireyah.” She eyed me up and down and the look on her face showed that she found my choice of outfit lacking. I smiled because it made my choice of wearing my uniform a marvellous thing.

  “I assume you’re happy for me., I’ve found a place that accepts me for who I am.” I touched Hydra. “I know I’ve been very satisfied that I haven’t had to see you or anyone else in this place every single day.”

  “Do you think you’re better just because the Dragon Guard were stupid enough to take you in?” she feigned an indignant laugh.

  I returned it and shook my head. “Oh, Jaiya. I’ve always been better, even when I was still working for you. You’re the one who thought otherwise.” Her mouth dropped open, and I left before she could say anything.

  I'd barely taken ten steps into the main space when a group of Goddesses closed in, looking breathtaking in their flowing pastel gowns that contrasted the black of my uniform and coat so spectacularly.

  "Hello!" a Kald said pleasantly, though her tone remained refined. "I am Verena of House Kald." Her bronze hair was a beautiful contrast to her dark skin, her smile kind as she introduced the others with her. "These are Tanith of House Vide and Khione of House Tovenaar."

  “It’s nice to meet you, Verena, Tanith.” My jaw clenched when I looked at Tovenaar. “Khione I’ve met.” She glared at me, and I felt like she wanted to be anywhere else but there. I felt the same way given she’d been unpleasant at the previous party I had been to.

  The young Vide looked down with keen interest. "Such a pretty dragon she is!" Tanith gushed, leaning down to let Hydra decide if she wanted to nuzzle her. When the dragon didn't move with any interest, the Vide woman straightened.

  "I'm sorry. She's finicky," I admitted.

  "Understandable. I am certain that her life has been greatly changed since losing her mother," Verena returned with a polite smile. I nodded my agreement, extending my arm down so I could scratch the back of Hydra’s head.

  "You've made quite the stir in Demiorgo. Joining the Dragon Guard so soon and that’s after you Ascended with five Sires." She gave me an openly friendly look, but I had to force my smile. “That’s me, yes.” I braved myself for any sort of judgment that was sure to follow.

  "Well I must say, I wanted to hate you," Tanith laughed. "I thought you must be selfish as can be, taking Charolais off the market like that when you had four other options. He would have made a very valuable husband for someone." She shrugged. “As it stands, he’s a wonderful friend and partner.”

  “You’re his partner?” I took a moment to think of it, because he’d never talked about his partner.

  “That’s me. Made me sad that it can’t be anything else.”

  "Tanith," Verena scolded her, but I shrugged it off. I knew that my men would have accumulated interested women in our years apart. It would have been naïve to think otherwise, but I trusted them when they said they hadn't acted on those offers.

  "It's alright. Charolais is a very valuable husband. His gr
eatest value is himself though, and how fiercely he loves those who he is loyal to."

  Verena seemed to sense the awkward moment, looking to diffuse it. "We've all played with multiple men at once, of course. Who hasn't wanted to find out what that feels like? But marrying so many! How do you keep up?" she asked, and I glanced down at Hydra for a moment to calm myself against the intrusion. I'd never get used to the fact that people seemed to think that just because I was in a relationship with multiple men, that it somehow left my sex life open to the public.

  "It's no hardship," I said simply, smiling to diffuse the clear dismissal of her interest in gossip.

  Khione spoke for the first time. "You were a human at one point, I heard. I imagine nothing could be worse than how you must have suffered being near those filthy things. Taking a few cocks must seem like a pleasurable experience in comparison."

  Her friends stilled at her side as I stopped trying to restrain my anger and glared up at her. "Humans do what they must to survive. I don't see how that makes them filthy."

  She glared right back, looking like she might respond, but an arm wrapped around my waist and I startled before I felt him. I looked up in pleasant surprise. “Char! You’re here.”

  “Charolais. I thought you said you wanted to stay to work,” Tanith asked with a teasing tone.

  “Yes, Char, why aren’t you at work?”

  “Had to leave since everyone is in the bloody party,” he replied with a smile. He gave me a kiss on the temple. “Glad I’m here.”

  “Ah, Char. How nice of you to join us. I wonder that you let your wife wander around alone. If she were mine, I wouldn’t let another God take her as his date.” Ashric sidled up, his monotonous voice breaking through our conversation.

  "Ashric," I muttered with an eye roll. "Don't you have anyone else to torment with your presence?" Hydra, who at that point had been perfectly quiet to watch the interactions, reared back on two legs, baring her teeth with a roar.

  While I didn’t particularly mind it if Ashric burnt to a crisp, I recognized that it was not an excellent idea to do it in public.

  He glared at Hydra, and then his eyes glanced back up to my circlet. "I see you've added a few glorified accessories to your ensemble, Mireyah. You never did have very good taste."

  The Goddesses watching our interaction gasped as a unit. Verena clutched her hand to her chest before she snapped at the Tovenaar. "The dragons are sacred creatures. How dare you reduce such a beautiful young one to something so insignificant?"

  Ashric leveled her with a glare, but the Kald goddess made no move to back down from her stance. I decided that I admired her, even if she pried and had shitty taste in friends.

  Anyone who returned Ashric's steely glare with one of her own earned points in my book. "It would seem that you've no longer got an audience who is so willing to trash talk me now, Ashric," I said, turning to the black-haired devil with a smile. "That alone would make my glorified accessory worth her weight in gold. I know you'll find this hard to believe, but there is a bond between us that goes deeper than anything you'll ever know. Since you do not care about anyone but yourself," I snapped at him. Hydra’s jaw snapped closed on the hem of his trousers and he had to pull for her to let go.

  She ran up beside me and growled, low and steady at the back of her throat.

  With my hand on her, I sent Tanith and Verena smiles, pointedly ignoring Khione. "It was very nice to meet you both." I allowed Char to pull me away. “I’ll see you around, ladies.”

  Ashric's hand grabbed my forearm, squeezing tightly as I turned to face him. "You're wrong," he mumbled. "I care about you."

  “I suggest you let her go, or you will regret it.” Char spoke quietly, and Ashric smiled.

  “Or what, Charolais? There is nothing you can do.” He walked off despite his words, and I turned my attention to where Char vibrated beside me in fury.

  “If you wanted to go, you could have searched me out," he said.

  “You were working. Even Tanith said so,” I put in, reminding him I didn’t care about the fact that he had a cute, young Vide he worked closely with day in and day out, but the hypocrisy of it drove me mad.

  “Work was important to me but if you wanted to go, it should have been with me and not Oryn. Speaking of which…” he trailed off and dragged me towards Oryn, who was talking with a short, older-looking Kald.

  “Oryn, I appreciate you taking my wife to the party but we’re going now.”

  Oryn started and glanced back and forth at me and Char. “Sure, Char. Bye, Mireyah!”

  “Bye, Oryn. Thanks.”

  Char was stiff-backed as we left Pax Tovenaar’s house, and he was quiet as we walked through the Northern region. Because I was annoyed with him, I didn’t really mind the silence.

  “Next time, if you really want to go to a party, I would appreciate it if you tell me and only go if I could,” he finally said, breaking the silence when we were mostly away from the more active parts of the North.

  I was shaking and I could feel Hydra nuzzling against my hand. I held out my hand to get her to stop. “No. I’ll go if I want to go. Alone or with Oryn or with you, it’s my choice.”

  “It’s embarrassing for you to go with another God when you’re married to me.” Char raised a brow at me, but he was otherwise blank.

  “You have a female partner, a beautiful one, and you never thought to mention it. In fact, I had to learn about her from her.”

  “I don’t see how….” I held up a hand and Char stopped, nose flaring in annoyance.

  “Just imagine if I had a male partner, and we worked together every day and you just found out not from me, but them. That would be worse than just going to a party with a friend I barely see once a month.” I pushed his shoulder, and he stumbled back.

  Not because I was that strong, but because I’d surprised him. I swiped a hand at my eyes, desperate to hold the flood of emotions back until he understood exactly why it was a problem for me.

  “Okay, you might be right. But you understand why it hurts that you went to a party with someone else when you could have gone with me?”

  “Might?”

  He held up his arms in defense. “Fine, you’re right.”

  I nodded. “Then you’re right too. But, Char, you’re always working. I never know where to find you anymore.”

  He took my hand and kissed me. “I love you, Mireyah.”

  “I love you too. Please don’t be an idiot anymore.”

  Twelve

  Mireyah

  “How is your training going so far?” Haisley asked me as we ate lunch in the outside dining of the dining hall. Because she was still small enough, Hydra curled up next to me, eating her own lunch in delirious happiness.

  “Your husband is a taskmaster, Haisley, I will not lie, and I end every day exhausted. But he makes me feel confident that I can pass the basic exam and go into a duty I can excel in.” I took a bite of bread before washing it down with a very light icy tea.

  “Speaking of which, duty? Kald or Majele? Or maybe something else.”

  An image of Lys sped through my mind, and I answered with a certainty I felt from Hydra. “I was thinking about trying to get into Unwanted duty, the Cadre.”

  “Deep end, Mireyah. But you can surely try. Hydra’s mother was in the Cadre, so it makes sense.” At the mention of her name, Hydra looked up from her meal and Haisley sent her a smile.

  I stroked her down the neck and something streaked inside me - decisiveness, joy.

  "Even most real Gods can't qualify," the Byta, Arkin, called out. His dragon rumbled beneath him as they lounged in the grass and the Goddess who sat on the dragon with him, his wife, also laughed.

  "I am a real God," I shot back. "The fact that I have a dragon should prove that."

  "No. You're human scum posing as a Goddess. Your one job was to spread your legs and bring forth a new generation. To raise the young in the nurseries and be a good mother. Now who will give your Sires children
if you are distracted by your delusions of grandeur? You were a human whore, then you were a Sylfe whore, and now you should be a whore of a wife. Not one of the elite." Jarek, his friend, shot back, his own dragon behind him snorting as his handler spoke.

  "I have never been a whore," I said in return. "A woman who embraces her sexuality does not automatically warrant such a title. Especially not if the men who do the very same aren’t referred to the same way.

  "Spoken like a whore who wants to make excuses for herself," he spat, and his friends snickered around him.

  "And you speak like a man who cannot please a woman and then blames her for it. Perhaps you should mind your own business and stay out of mine. What difference does it make to you if I fail and cannot qualify?”

  “You’re an embarrassment to the Dragon Guard,” his voice was soft, but I had to wonder what I had done to warrant such anger. “Yula should have gotten your dragon as she deserves it.”

  “Jarek, I suggest you stop before you embarrass yourself. You applied to be part of the Cadre and not getting in should not have you attacking anyone who wants to be. There is a plan for all of us,” Haisley inserted. She largely tended to remain neutral in any of the drama around the Reserve, so her support in the face of his unjustified anger spoke volumes about her thoughts on his statements.

  “You don’t have a dragon. You don’t get to talk to us that way,” Jarek spoke up with a sneer but was interrupted.

  “But I do. Jarek, Arkin, be quiet or you may have another conversation with Corban,” Chett instructed.

  The two quieted down, but not before all three of them sent me dirty looks. Whatever resolve was in me simply strengthened. Like I had shown the North that I was better than they tried to make me feel, I was determined to do the same in the Reserve.