Dragon Mated: Supernatural Prison #3

by Jaymin Eve

  His blue eyes sparkled and he leaned in closer. That scent of his, wild and rich, reminding me of the forest, wrapped around me. “I plan on carrying you out of here and straight to my room. Then I plan on staying in there for a week. After which I will have to leave to accept my council leadership, and then I will take you straight back to my room again.”

  I snorted, but deep down my entire body was tingling with excitement and anticipation. Some might think it was too soon after the battle to be getting naked and happy, but what better time to rejoice in love and life? There were no guarantees for tomorrow and I would take and embrace every second I had with Braxton.

  **

  My boys stood straight and beautiful on the dais, towering well above the community members of Stratford who filled the town hall – and the elite gathering of elders and leaders from other countries standing off to the side. The Compasses weren’t smiling, their expressions an equal amount of somber and awed. I had spent a lot of time with them over the past few days. We slept in a big pack puppy pile – which Maximus needed more than anybody. He didn’t speak much anymore, but he rarely left our sides.

  When we weren’t resting, we just did simple things: watched movies, talked about everything and nothing – Maximus just listened – and ate a lot of food. Damn, so much food. My curves were beginning to show again, and I was pretty sure that a baby belly was in my very near future. I still hadn’t done the ritual with Louis. I trusted the word of the golden dragon, so there was no real need.

  I knew the boys were a little nervous about their premature elevation into leadership roles, mostly because the time they should have spent learning about leading this community had instead been spent with Kristoff trying to lock them in Vanguard. But they would be brilliant. I knew it. They were young, yes, but they were born for this role and they would do it as fairly as they could.

  I was in the front row with my family and had a perfect view of the dais. My father was on one side, Mischa on the other. Her belly was growing by the day, but the secret was mostly still contained. For now, it was just my parents, Braxton, and me who knew. Oh, and one healer who had checked her over and declared everything was developing perfect and healthy. Now that her nausea had died down, and she didn’t have the stress of the dragon king in her head, she was able to eat more, and was making weight gains to match my own. I knew she planned on telling Maximus today, after his elevation to council leader. I still wasn’t sure how he was going to take it; the loss of his mate was still very raw.

  Time ticked away as we waited for the final select to arrive. The demi-fey were secretive about how their leader was chosen, waiting right up until the last moment to announce them. All heads turned as they finally entered the room, their chosen leader making his way up to the front to stand beside the Compasses. It was a troll, one which I did not know.

  Jonathon leaned over. “Jerak, he’s a good male. He was Torag’s hopeful successor.”

  I settled back into my chair. If my father was satisfied, then so was I. Plus, I liked when trolls were on the council. They were steadfast and resilient of mind; they could not be easily swayed to the decisions or beliefs of others, strong like ancient trees. Always a good quality in leadership.

  As soon as Jerak joined the Compasses, the room quieted. Every seat was taken, all of the township had returned, and the ghostly feeling of Stratford was gone.

  It was time to begin.

  I had never been to one of these ceremonies before. My father’s had been just before I was born, so I was really interested to see what would happen. Five elders stepped up behind the boys, each holding a large ceremonial blade in their right hand – gold, with a curved blade and glittery red stones embedded in the handle – and an ancient-looking book in their other hand, diminutive in size, with the sort of binding popular centuries ago, like a tiny version of the Book of Guidance. And speaking of, the large tome was in the center of the dais, waiting for its part in the ceremony.

  The five elders, who had travelled in from communities across Europe, where the majority of supernatural resided, started to read from their books. The language was fey in origin. I recognized some of the words, but since it wasn’t one of the classes I took advanced studies in, I was out of practice. I was pretty sure they were thanking the shining ones and also the gods of other races. They spoke of the five supernatural souls which make up our races, and the leadership of these. The last part sounded a lot like a spell, calling forth energy from the people to empower the leaders to govern.

  The words were flowing, mesmerizing. I could see the boys swaying as if they were caught up in the ceremony, unable to stop themselves. Finally the elders asked them to lay their right palm out in front of them, and with a quick slice the ceremonial blade cut into each one. Then they each took turns placing that bloody wound down onto the Book of Guidance.

  I was on the edge of my seat, barely breathing, as much in awe as the rest of the silent room. The energy was arcing around, flowing into them, and since I was bonded to Braxton, I felt the power flooding into him. The quads had already been blessed with a massive overload of power – hence their leadership at such a young age – and it was so much more now.

  As the five males bled onto the book, the energy of every supernatural in the room, and from across the continent, surged from us and flowed into the new leaders. It was subtle, just a small amount – you’d never notice it missing. And now I could sense them, like a shining beacon that drew all of us, that gave us a small piece of ownership over our new council members.

  You already own me.

  I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to Braxton being able to talk in my head, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

  As the five newly-appointed council leaders stepped back, the elders picked up their books again. They read a few more lines, bestowing their own blessings, and then it was done. I was up on my feet and flying across to the quads in seconds, wrapping my arms around each one. Jo and Jack were right there beside me; those two were so proud of their boys. It’s funny that the perfect mix of races, and love between those two supes, was the reason we had a set of quads strong enough to take out Larky and his brothers. Jo and Jack were really the heroes of the day, and they had not even been there for the fight.

  Nash bumped me as he dashed past to jump on his brothers. No one had been able to find his parents. It was thought they were killed by the Four when Nash was first captured, so Jo and Jack were taking the steps to adopt him. He was going to officially be a Compass.

  Fucking Four. I was beyond thankful that those bastards were dead.

  Jacob twirled me around when I reached him. Tyson did the same. Maximus simply closed his arms around me, holding me tightly for a few long moments. I relished the closeness. He had been so lost since Cardia.

  “I’m going to go away for a few days, Jess,” he said as he pulled back. I forced my face to go blank, even though I was already opening my mouth to protest. “I promise it’s nothing you have to worry about. I just need some time alone to get my head together … to deal with the fucked up darkness inside.”

  “What about your council duties?” I knew the boys would be straight into learning their roles. Louis and Jonathon – my father was an elder now too – were going to be their teachers. They had to fill a lot of roles since there were no previous council leaders left – well, except for Kristoff, but that dude was a dead man the moment he surfaced.

  Maximus’ eyes were black and glassy. “They’ll just have to wait. I’ll never be any kind of leader if I don’t find peace with … everything.”

  I swallowed down my pain and pulled him back in for another hug. “Call me whenever you can. I swear I will carry my cell phone around day and night. For you I will.”

  He actually chuckled and I held tight to this moment.

  “I love you, Jess, and I will be back soon. Can’t let my nephews be born without me here to keep Braxton from losing his mind.”

  I elbowed him. “They might
be girls.”

  He dropped a gentle kiss on my head and then he was gone. I had been his last goodbye. I just hoped he didn’t do anything stupid while he was gone. My throat was all choked up as I turned to the rest of the gathered.

  Mischa’s lower lip was wobbling as she stared after Maximus. Looked like her plans to tell him about her pregnancy was not happening today. She hugged herself, the loose shirt draping across the small bump. I really had to look to noticed it, but there was a definite size increase. So much sorrow laced her downturn face, and I was starting to see that for her the feelings had never gone anywhere. Mischa still cared deeply about the vampire who was never destined to be her mate. I just hoped they could work out their soap opera drama, for the sake of their child.

  “Jess…”

  I turned to find Grace. She had been different since Cardia’s death, lost somehow. I could still see the torment on her face.

  “I’m going away for a while,” she said, no hesitation.

  What the crap? Was this the day of people saying goodbye to me?

  “What the hell!” Tyson popped up at our side, as angry as I’d seen him in some time, gold already threading his honeysuckle eyes. “You can’t leave. We’ve already lost so much … you have to stay.”

  Grace swallowed hard, and for once didn’t run from the wizard. “My family is having some problems, Ty. They need me right now, and frankly I’d like to escape from the painful memories here. I need to do some cleansing of my soul, my chakras.”

  She reached out a hand and placed it on his chest, the first time I’d seen her touch him outside of healing. I held my breath, expecting for a moment that a mate bond would kick in between them. Unfortunately, nothing happened except for Tyson’s eyes – they went full gold, like he was completely immersed in a spell.

  “Will you come back to me?” he asked her.

  Grace sucked down a sob, then nodded, and with a last moment of something between them, she wrenched her hand free and ran from the building. Tyson started after her but I caught his arm.

  “Let her go, Ty. She said she’d be back. Let her make the choice. If you want her to choose you and Stratford, you cannot force it to be.”

  I could see him fighting for control. Eventually his head fell forward. “I’ll give her some time, but if she doesn’t return to me soon, I’m going to find her. She’s mine, even if she doesn’t realize it yet.”

  I let him loose, reaching up to pat his arm. “That’s my boy.”

  Tyson flicked me under the chin then, before turning to make his way slowly from the hall. I trusted that he would let Grace go for now, but the healer was soon going to feel the full attention of a Compass quad, and she was not going to know what hit her.

  Louis popped up then, scaring the shit out of me. My hand slammed against my chest. “For shit’s sake, Louis. Don’t you dare tell me you’re leaving town too.”

  He laughed, flashing white teeth, before shaking his head. “No, Jess, you’re stuck with me for now.”

  I gave him a hug. “I’m happy to hear that. I’ve been waiting for you to get back to town. Tell me, what happened with your brother?”

  Louis had left to deal with the mystics’ fallout a few days after the fight. Some of them had been a little unhappy about their forced exclusion, and we’d been worried for Quale.

  “I got there in time for the war of the mystics, but in the end they found peace with their situation and all decided to stay in the sanctuary. Turns out they quite like running a safe place for supernaturals. It’s going to be open to all now, all that need to escape. They can change the protections to let in supes who are seeking safety.”

  I smiled. That was kind of perfect.

  Louis lowered his head so we were eye to eye. “Besides that, I need to tell you two things. Firstly, your trial had been pardoned as a thanks from the supernatural councils across the world. They acknowledge that the incarceration of dragon marked was not sanctioned, and that you were simply doing your duties to free them.”

  Frig, I had sort of forgotten that I had a trial pending, the one from when I attempted to sneak into Vanguard to free the marked. Nice to have one less thing to worry about. I wasn’t sure those prison grays would look stylish with my soon to be massive-ass baby bump.

  “That’s great,” I said. “So what’s the second thing?”

  “I know you’re satisfied with the word of the golden dragon, but I was wondering if you’d still like to do the pregnancy ritual now? You’ll be far enough along to know the sex of the babies.”

  A surged of excited adrenalin hit me and I nodded enthusiastically. I turned around to find my mate. He was still at the front of the room speaking with the elders. Everyone wanted a piece of the dragon who had killed Larky. He was a hero. I guess we all were – right up until we did the next stupid thing and found ourselves neck deep in trouble. For now we’d take the accolades and gifts, especially since a lot of said gifts were food.

  Braxton noticed my gaze, and the moment I held out a hand to him he gave a brief goodbye to the elders and crossed to me. He was dressed more formally than usual, all black, button-up shirt – open collar exposing tawny skin – and dress pants. He looked tall, dark, and dangerous, my three favorite things.

  The moment we were close enough, he pulled me in for a kiss; touching like this now was second nature. His hands dropped down to rest against my stomach, which he did at least eight times a day. Louis cleared his throat a few times and eventually Braxton and I parted long enough to follow him from the town hall.

  It was nice to look around and see all our friends, pack, and family celebrating. Soon all of Stratford’s inhabitants would be on their way to the elegant dinner tonight in celebration of the new leaders. It would be party central here for the next few days. More than one supe would end up naked in the town center. For once, that was not going to be me.

  My heart was both light and heavy as we pushed through the crowds, making our way out into the quiet of the forest. “So how does it feel to be the leader of the shifters?” I asked the darkly handsome councilor.

  I was legitimately curious to know what changes were going on inside of my Compasses. I always knew they were going to experience this without me, and I was cool with that. I’d never wanted to be a leader. I was content in my power.

  Funnily enough, since Braxton turned out to be my true mate, I could actually experience this with them – tap into my mate bond and access his mind. But since we preferred our privacy most of the time, only sending thoughts when words were not readily accessible, I let him tell me instead.

  Braxton rubbed his hand down my spine, sending lovely chills across my body. “It’s strange, the power has always been intense with my dragon, but now I feel like it’s actually calmed down. The fact that so many souls are tied to my own, in a very small way, allows my energy to be doing something, almost as if I am constantly sending out reassurances to our people.”

  “So you can actually feel thousands of shifters’ energy?” It was mind boggling.

  Louis chuckled. He was a step in front of us, but clearly still killing it at eavesdropping. “You’ll learn to separate the mass from your own energy. Don’t give too much back to them, no matter how powerful you’re feeling. You’ll learn how to use it to enforce our laws, and to bring order to the chaos. Until then, enjoy the boost of power. It only lasts for a blink.”

  Yep, twenty-five years was a blink.

  Once we were safely ensconced in the tranquility of my forest, we began the ceremony. Louis removed a small pouch from his pocket, and I knew we would find the richest soil from Faerie, along with a few other herbs and stones inside. These were the five points of the fertility pentagram, and from each we would learn something of the babies I carried.

  Braxton stepped back, allowing Louis to paint the symbols around me with magic chalk. Then the five elements were scattered in even coatings on all sides and the sorcerer started to chant. The pull of energy was immediate, and I knew the res
ults would be faster and much more accurate with a magic user of Louis’ power at the wheel.

  Braxton’s eyes were soft, a light sky blue, as they stared into mine, both possessiveness and tenderness in that gaze. I loved the way shifters adored their pregnant mates, loving the changes in our bodies, worshiping the fertility of females.

  Braxton was happier than I’d ever known him to be. He’d been completed in that moment when our bond was made whole, when he knew the sacrifice I had to make was about tearing my dragon away from my soul, and not about choosing another mate.

  I wanted to express how blessed I was feeling. Words weren’t exactly my thing, but I was going to give it a shot. I tapped into our bond, opening the communication path. I couldn’t have survived the past week without you, Brax. I could never have found the strength to release my dragon, my Josephina. I love and adore you and I’m more than blessed to be having your children.

  I didn’t speak in his mind much, but when I did I made sure it was sappy and sentimental. That way there was no ammunition for the other Compasses to use against me.

  Braxton’s reply was cut off by Louis’ laughter.

  “Well, not that I expected any different, but you two are having some seriously strong-willed children. I’m not getting much from them; they’re hiding their energy from me. But I’m very happy to tell you that it’s definitely twins, a boy and girl. Your son is protecting his sister, protecting both of them, keeping me from reading their energy. I can’t tell if either are a dragon shifter, but they’re both developing rapidly and are healthy.”

  I bounced a little, and broke the circle so I could climb Braxton and reach his face for more kisses. “I don’t need to know anything other than the fact that they’re healthy.”

  Braxton chuckled. “Yep, if our children end up being dragon shifters, able to control all races, then we’ll deal with that when it happens. For now we celebrate our blessings.”