“We’ll stay with you,” Damon says.
I look at Ty. “This is your party. Shouldn’t you talk to people?”
“If anybody wants to talk to me, they can come talk to me.” He shrugs.
I think of the girl who tried to talk to him earlier but decide not to bring that up.
Of course, that girl came up cause she wanted to flirt with Ty. It makes me a little angry to think about, but I’m sure she was a nice girl.
“Seriously, guys,” I say. “I’m fine. Go hang out with your friends. I’ll try to find somebody to talk to.”
I want to be brave, and I definitely don’t want to use them as a crutch.
Eventually, they all agree, but I notice none of them walk off too far. I try to ignore them as I make my way through the house. I’m oddly comforted by the fact that they want to make sure I’m okay.
As I’m walking onto the back patio, I hear a girl talking to her friend very loudly.
“I don’t know why they invited Reign. Everybody knows she’s a demon.”
A demon?
I mean, I’m a little cranky first thing in the mornings, but I’m a pretty nice person. I try to treat others the way I want them to treat me, just like my mom always taught me to do. Hearing her call me a demon hurts, but I ignore it and keep my head held high.
Then I hear another name.
Temptress.
Whore.
When I hear that, I turn around and walk back into the house. I try to hold in my tears because these people don’t deserve the satisfaction of knowing that they’ve hurt me. Nope, I will wait until I’m in the room and then I will cry.
Part of me wants to look around and find Damon. Or Ty. Or Kade. I want to tell them, and I want to make it go away. But they deserve to have fun. I’m not going to ruin their weekend just because I got my feelings hurt by a few mean girls.
“Why is she here?” I hear somebody ask.
I know without looking that they’re talking about me.
I just keep walking until I get upstairs and I make my way into the master bedroom, shutting the door behind me. It isn’t until I’m alone that I finally allow myself to break down.
I hate that I’m letting myself cry. I hate that I’m weak.
I’ve had people be mean to me my whole life. I know the horrible things girls whisper about me—it’s nothing new. I just got my hopes up, thinking maybe it would be different this time. I was wrong and I won’t make that mistake again.
Maybe I’m just not meant to have a lot of friends. Gemma, Courtney, and Piper are enough. The guys… they’re more than enough.
I lie down on the bed and climb under the covers. I allow myself to cry.
Allow…
I say that like I have a choice. I wish I wasn’t crying, but I can’t stop now that I’ve started. It feels a bit like somebody had kicked me in the chest.
The door opens, but I don’t look up. I already know it’s the guys. I knew they would come after me, I just hoped it would take them a little longer to notice that I came upstairs. I really don’t want them to see me crying. Still, nothing I do can stop the tears.
Kade immediately comes over and hugs me. Damon, after seeing Kade, comes over too. But Ty stands in the doorway. I look over at him out of curiosity to see what he’s doing.
“Who do I have to murder?” Ty’s fists are clenched, and his face seems set in stone.
“It’s nothing,” I sniffle. “It was stupid.”
“Let me be the judge of that,” he says, walking closer to the bed.
Damon and Kade both hold onto my hands and I sit up so I can talk to Ty.
“Nobody said anything to me specifically,” I explain. “Somebody called me a demon. And one person called me a temptress.” Ty is getting more tense with everything I say, so I wonder if I should tell him the last part or not, but I decide to not keep anything from him. “And somebody called me a whore.”
Ty’s face is red with anger, and I swear his hazel eyes darken.
“I’ll be right back,” he says, but his voice is calm.
Too calm.
He turns and walks out of the room, so I turn to Damon and Kade. “Somebody should go with him.”
“I’m on it,” Kade jumps up from the bed and follows Ty.
Damon stays with me.
“What do you think he’s going to do?” I ask Damon, as Kade shuts the door behind him.
“Probably murder some teenagers,” Damon answers.
“Damon, I’m being serious.”
“I don’t know, but part of me wants to murder them too. Those things they said… you know they’re not true, right?”
I nod my head.
I do know they’re not true, but it doesn’t stop the words from hurting just the same.
“I’ve been called these things my entire life.” I drop my gaze to my lap. “Ever since I was about thirteen-years-old. I once had this sixty-year-old lady in a grocery store throw a ham at me. I don’t know what it is about me, but there is something that makes women hate me. I don’t understand. I wish I could change. I want to be liked and accepted.”
“It’s not your fault. You don’t deserve to be treated like that by anybody,” he says, then pulls me into his arms.
His touch is comforting. It’s exactly what I need.
These guys always know exactly what to do. It’s almost like they were hand selected for me, which sounds crazy. Rather it be fate or luck, I’m glad that they’re mine.
Protected.
Everybody is gone.
Ty kicked them out.
I feel a little guilty about it. I mean, he made everybody leave at, like, nine o’clock at night. I hope they all have somewhere else to go, but none of the guys seem concerned with that.
Ty is current packing everybody’s bag. He’s still fuming. I think keeping busy helps him.
“Is everybody okay?” I ask.
Kade looks at me with an eyebrow raised.
“I mean… everybody he kicked out. Do they all have a place to go or stay?”
He grins, shaking his head. “You’re worried about the kids who said all those awful things about you?”
“It’s not their fault,” I protest. “There must be something about me that makes them hate me.”
“You’re too sweet for your own good. Those kids are fine. They’ll go get a hotel for the night or they’ll head back. Either way, they won’t be sleeping on the streets or anything like that. I promise.”
I nod.
Good.
I know the guys don’t get it, but it truly isn’t their fault.
Ty zips up the last bag and takes a deep breath before looking at me.
“The jet is waiting for us,” Ty says. “We’re going home tonight. I don’t want to be in this house right now.”
I stand up and walk over to him. “Ty, it’s not a big deal. What happened, I mean. What those people said doesn’t matter. I’m used to it. I’ve been told these things my whole life by people. It just hit me the wrong way tonight. I guess… I thought that I could fit in here. I thought maybe I could make friends. I was wrong. But it’s not like I need more friends. I have you guys. And I have my friends at school.”
“I feel like I need to be mad for you.” His eyes darken. “You’re too nice to people. You have no idea how hard it was not to figure out who said those things about you, but I knew that if I found out who, it would be bad.”
“I love that you’re willing to stand up for me. That is the best trait I could ask for in a mate,” I say, using their term. It feels right. “But I’m okay. I’m sorry that I cried. My feelings were hurt, but I feel better now. Thanks to you.”
I wrap my arms around Ty and burry my face in his chest. He wraps his arms around me and squeezes me tight, pressing his lips to the top of my head.
“Reign, you are everything to me,” he says, his voice low.
My heart warms at his words.
“Let’s go home.” He squeezes me once more before letting go of me.
I’m ready to go home.
“Can you stay the night at my house?” I ask Ty, then look at Kade. “You too. I’m not ready to say goodbye to you guys yet.”
Ty nods. “We’ll stay.”
I address at Damon. “Do you think Victoria will mind?”
“I’m certain she won’t,” he answers.
Good.
Because I’m not even sure I care if she got mad. I need my mates tonight. They make me feel protected, like nothing could ever hurt me as long as they’re around.
Sunday, September 1
It changes everything.
There is nothing better than waking up surrounded by my mates. I don’t know how I’ll go back to having them not in my bed after this.
Can they just move in?
Probably not. We are still in high school.
Damon was right. Victoria was completely cool with the guys staying over. She didn’t say a word when Damon told her they were staying. Though, I wonder if she knew they were all staying in my room.
After taking a shower and getting ready for the day, I meet everybody in the dining room for breakfast. Victoria ordered out, of course. She doesn’t cook—I’m not sure if she can cook as long as her fake nails are. But I’m not complaining because I don’t know how to cook either. My mom and I ate out a lot. Fast food was our favorite. And when we did eat at home, it was usually stuff like cereal and pop tarts. We were healthy.
Today, I have to talk to Victoria.
I need answers.
I don’t know why, but I’m nervous to speak with her. I’m not even sure where to start. Maybe I can ask her why everybody hates me. Well, not everybody. Just women, which is half the population.
I want to know what the term ‘mate’ means.
I want to know where my mom is, though I’m not sure if Victoria knows the answer to that.
While eating breakfast, everybody is talking about plans for the rest of the weekend, but I’m lost in my own thoughts. A sound outside captures my attention.
“What was that?” I ask.
“What was what?” Victoria asks.
Then I hear the sound of glass breaking. Everybody gets up to see what’s happening. Kade, Ty, and Damon all make sure that I am close to them as we go to investigate. What I see outside has me completely speechless.
This can’t be real.
I look at something I thought was only real in fairytales.
A dark gray dragon is flying through the sky, blowing fire from its open mouth. Its red eyes are trained on… me. It swoops down, coming right at me. It’s then that I realize just how massive the dragon really is. It’s probably about thirty feet across and its wings almost look like bat wings. It’s different than the dragon painting I saw in Kade’s bedroom.
The painting.
That looked like a real photograph.
Oh, my gosh. It was real.
But… dragons? Really?
Maybe this is all some kind of dream.
As the dragon swoops down, there is another spot in the sky. I see a black dragon with bright blue eyes fly toward the dark gray dragon.
I recognize the black dragon from the photo in Kade’s house.
I can’t look away as the black dragon crashes into the side of the gray dragon. There are two more black dragons joining the blue eyed one.
Somebody grabs my hand and I look away for a second, surprised that my guys aren’t there. It’s just Victoria. She is pulling me inside, away from the fight. I want to stay and watch this magnificent fight take place, but I know it’s not safe for me out here. I allow her to pull me inside, but I wonder just how safe we are in here. There is glass all over the floor. I have a feeling that nothing could keep that dragon out if it really wanted in.
Well…
Maybe those other three dragons could.
“Where are the guys?” I ask Victoria, now realizing how strange it is that they’re not here with me. They wouldn’t leave me for anything.
Unless…
But it couldn’t be.
I mean, sure that dragon had the same blue eyes as Kade, but that’s merely a coincidence, right?
But the longer I stand there looking at Victoria, the more I realize that it’s the only explanation. She doesn’t say anything at all, she just lets me figure it out on my own.
My guys…
My mates…
They’re not human.
They’re so much more.
“They’re dragons,” I breathe, awe spilling from my lips.
Maybe I should feel insane for saying the words out loud, but the words feel right. They feel like… something I’ve known for a very long time but just haven’t wanted to admit it to myself.
“Dragon shifters,” she corrects.
“And me?”
“We’ll talk when they get back. The boys need to hear this too.”
I swallow hard.
My whole life changed when I moved to Vegas, and I’m finally about to know exactly what it means.
I’ve always felt different from others.
Always.
I don’t know if I’m a dragon, but I’m definitely not human. I know this without a doubt.
Whatever Victoria is going to tell me…
It’s going to change everything.
Succubus?
Victoria, Esteban, Ty, Damon, Kade, and I all sit in the living room. Victoria stands up suddenly, walking toward me. She sits on the coffee table, directly in front of me. She doesn’t look me in the eye as she talks.
“Reign, I have to tell you something,” Victoria begins. “Something that your mother should’ve told you years ago.”
Kade squeezes my hand and I’m thankful for the encouragement.
Kade is holding one hand, Damon is holding the other, and Ty is playing with a strand of my hair. It’s like they all can’t stand to not touch me right now and I’m glad. I feel like I would be falling apart right now if it weren’t for them. They make me stronger.
“The Evermore women are succubi,” she says.
“I’m a… succubus?” I ask.
She nods.
“It’s why men are so drawn to me?” I raise my voice at the end. It’s a question, but I already know the answer.
“Yes.”
“Wait… aren’t succubi demons?”
Which is why the other students had called me a demon.
It makes so much sense.
“No. We are not demons,” she says. “We don’t feed on the souls of men. That’s ridiculous. We do, however, feed off sexual energy.”
“Sexual energy?”
She nods. “Have you ever noticed that you get a kind of… high… after…” she looks at the Damon, then back at me. “Well… after you have sex.”
My face grows warm. “I have never done that.”
“You’re a virgin?” she asks.
I nod.
Her eyebrows crease while she looks at me. “Huh. Well, maybe when you kiss a boy you feel really good? Kissing used to be a high for me when I was young. Before I had sexual relations.”
I shrug. “Yeah, I guess I do. I just thought it was normal though.”
She clears her throat, clearly uncomfortable with the subject.
“There is something else,” she says. “Something about you.”
The boys all stiffen at her words.
Oh, goodness. What is she about to tell me?
“Your mother had a mate. A soulmate,” she explains. “Succubi usually don’t. Like me, I never had a mate. I married Esteban because I was tired of feeding off strangers. I wanted to have a real family.”
It’s sweet, but also gross. Because she’s now telling me that she feeds off Esteban’s sexual energy, which is just too much information.
“Sorry,” she says, as if she just realized what she said.
“It’s okay,” I assure her, because I need her to continue. “Who is my father?”
“Your father is Regius Basilicus.”
The name means nothing to me, but I can tell by the reaction of everybody else in the room that it means something. Even Esteban let’s out a surprised grunt.
“Who is Regius?” I ask.
“He’s the king,” Ty answers.
“The king?”
“Of the dragons,” Damon pipes in. “He’s… the ruler of all of the dragon world. But I didn’t even know he had a mate, much less a daughter.”
“It was kept a secret because there are people after him. People who want to take the crown.” Victoria paces back and forth. “He put his mate and daughter into hiding for their own safety.”
“Wait… he’s alive?” I raise my voice. “My mom told me he was dead.”
“Yes, he’s alive,” Victoria says.
My dad is alive.
“Wait… if my dad is a dragon, what does that mean?” I stare at my aunt, trying to process all that I’ve been told.
“It means that you are not just a succubus. You are also half dragon,” Victoria says. “And you are the princess.”
The end.
Book 2, Dragon Elite, is available now!
Letter from Scarlett
I don’t know if I’ve ever had more fun writing a first draft. This book was so, so, so much fun to write. I love this world, I love these characters and I loved everything about it. I hope that you all feel the same, because there are five more books planned for Reign, Ty, Kade, and Damon. I so look forward to exploring more of this world and these characters and uncovering secrets. I honestly am so excited to write book 2!
If you did enjoy this book, it would mean a lot to me if you left a review wherever you picked this up.
For more information on this series, be sure to check out my blog https://scarletthaven.net!
—Scarlett Haven
More Books By Scarlett
Elite Academy:
Mystic Academy (Prequel)
Vampire School (Book 1)
Vampire Born (Book 2—coming soon!)
Shifter Academy: United:
The New Girl (Book 1)
Dragon Royalty (Dragon Shifter Academy Book 1) Page 12