Queens of Wings & Storms

by Angela Sanders et al.

  His eyes glistened with tears. “We could do nothing but make her comfortable as we sat by her bed and watched her fade into the next life.” He paused, swallowing deeply, composing himself. “I didn’t think my father would recover from his grief, but he knew he had a duty to his people to move forward. Drake and I were too young to help him with the responsibilities of the crown, so he had no one to shoulder the burden with any longer.”

  “He became obsessed with finding another planet capable of supporting our people as the prognosis of our home world stated we only had a few short months before total collapse. Once Earth was found, we were all gathered up and made our way here.” He pressed a kiss to the crown of my head before opening the door to his suite of rooms.

  “Thank you for sharing that with me Xander.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed tightly before letting him go. I immediately regretted the loss of his body against mine.

  “We are getting to know each other, little one.” He tucked a wisp of hair behind my ear, his eyes still haunted by the memories of his past. “It is customary to share the stories of our past.”

  “I know but, still, thank you,” I whispered, placing my fingertips on his lips, wishing I could kiss him properly. But, until we knew how the hormone would continue to affect me, no more kisses from my handsome dragon mate.

  “Call your sister, Aleria, ensure her that you are safe.” He smiled down at me, his soft blue eyes captivating me with their warmth and emotion. He retrieved a bag from the corner of the room which held my dress, under garments and my small clutch inside, handing it to me before retreating to the other room to give me some privacy.

  Exhaling sharply, I sat down heavily on the sofa in the living room, staring down at the dozens of notifications on my phone. Luckily, the phone was still at twenty percent battery, leaving me enough to get through the notifications and contact Sariah.

  I went through the texts first. Sariah had dropped a few in the beginning of the evening saying that she loved me, that she hoped I would have a good time and that I would meet some handsome dragons. Then there were harsh texts from my father and uncle.

  Uncle: You better not have run. You know we will let your whelp of a sister die if you run away from your mission.

  Father: You dirty whore, out all night. Alright getting right down to business I see.

  Uncle: You work quickly. Already have one of them in your bed? Or maybe you have both. No matter, you will do what we want you to do.

  Father: Stupid filthy cunt. You are no daughter of mine. Soiling yourself with dragons.

  Uncle: I see the dumb brutes couldn’t resist your charms. Report back to the house by 3pm for your next steps or we will withhold all of Sariah’s medications from her.

  Angry tears fell from my eyes as I read the messages. Conflict raged within me. Lost in my thoughts, I jumped when the phone began to buzz in my hands. Sariah’s name flashed across the screen and I sighed in relief.

  “Monkey, are you alright? Have they hurt you?” My voice was desperate, frantic.

  “I’m fine, Aleria.” She was weak.

  “Sariah, did they give you your medication this morning? Or anything to eat?”

  She just sighed through the phone, “It seems they forgot about me again.” A small, weak laugh echoed through my ear. “Tell me about the party. You didn’t come home, so that must mean something happened.”

  “Sariah, listen to me right now. I am going to call Father. You need to take your medication and eat or else you won’t recover properly from this little cough you have.” Damn them. I was going to kill them for this.

  “Aleria, don’t do this. Enjoy your mate.” She sounded so weak, so fragile, but her words made me pause.

  “Wait. How do you know he is my mate?” I asked breathlessly.

  “It is all over the internet, Ria. There are pictures of you two out on the balcony. Him carrying you away from the party. The gossip sites are all in a flutter about it. I can hear father and uncle shouting up here.”

  My mouth fell open, the phone almost slipping from my hand. “Oh my god I’m so screwed,” I muttered, putting my head in my hand. “Ari, I’ve got to go, but I’ll make sure that someone brings you food and your meds. Please take them. I will be home as soon as I can.”

  She huffed at me before disconnecting the phone. My mind was whirling as I brought up my social media account and saw the numerous messages and tags from old acquaintances asking me about my relationship with the Dragonkyn prince.

  “Shit, shit, shit.” I repeated, thumbing through the dozens of articles that speculated and assumed that I was his chosen mate. Some were even predicting the arrival of a new dragon princeling in nine months’ time.

  I fired off a quick text to Lucille, our head housekeeper, asking her to sneak some food up to Sariah’s room through the servant’s staircase. Within the message I added our code that meant to grab her spare medication that I had stashed just along the exit of the corridor as well. She responded immediately with a thumbs up, and I exhaled sharply, relieved that one thing would be going right this morning.

  The phone buzzed again, this time my Uncle’s name flashing across. I buried my rage and answered the phone with a gruff “Yes?”

  “Your job was to seduce them, not to fucking mate with one of them.” He was furious. I could only imagine how red he was, sweat beaded along his brow and spit flying from his mouth as he uttered the words.

  “I can’t really control that, now can I?” I bit out sarcastically.

  “Do you really think it wise to talk back to me, little girl? When your poor sister is in such a terrible predicament? What if we were to leave one of her bedroom windows open all night? Perhaps she would catch a terrible cold. Without her very expensive medical treatments, she would perish in no time, I am sure.” I heard my father and mother in the background, their cold laughter all blending together.

  “I’ll find your stupid artifact. Just tell me what I’m looking for.” My jaw ached from how hard I was clenching my teeth together. “But I won’t give you a thing if you don’t continue Sariah’s treatments and feed her. Don’t think I don’t know that you left her to starve since I left.” It was my only bargaining chip. My only hope was that they wanted this, whatever it was, so badly that they would keep up their end of the deal.

  “We shall keep our end of the deal, you brat. But know that your little relationship now complicates matters. You will need to dispose of him if you want to see your sister again.”

  My heart slammed in my chest, stuttering as he said the words. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, silly girl, he will never let you go. You are going to have to kill him if you are going to get out of that house alive. I will send you a picture of what it is we are looking for. You have three days. If that key is not in my possession at the end of the third day, Sariah will be dead, and it will be all your fault.”

  The line clicked dead, the phone dropped from my hands as tears streamed down my face, the thought of having to harm Xander physically made me sick. I knew I could never hurt him, but I would have to be creative to get this key and get out of the mansion to rescue Sariah.

  Why don’t you just tell him everything? He has resources, he can rescue her and keep her safe from the family. The nagging little voice inside her head yelled at her to trust my mate with the truth, beg his forgiveness and help with my desperate situation.

  No.

  I would do this and then leave. He deserved a better mate than me, anyways.

  Chapter 13

  Xander

  Pacing the other room, I left my mate to tend to her affairs. It was extremely early in our relationship, so I needed to learn to give her space to do her own thing. As I picked up my own phone, my brow furrowed at the number of notifications I had, ranging from text messages, missed calls and voicemails.

  A voicemail from my assistant, Ashley, had me pinching the bridge of my nose and growling. “Xander, what the fuck? You get a mate and you
don’t even call? We need to do a press release and damage control ASAP. You need to call me the second you get this!”

  I was worried this was going to happen. I knew with the amount of press at the event last night, someone may have been able to snap a picture of Aleria and I at some point. Scrolling through my emails, I discovered it was just that. Several gossip magazines wrote articles detailing their version of the evening’s events.

  The curse that left my mouth was fierce and I even felt the smoke leave my nostrils as I pressed the call button to ring Ashley.

  “Xander, fucking finally. What the hell is going on?” Her voice was frantic, an unusual sign from my always well put together and organized personal assistant.

  “Well, Ashley, I think that would be rather obvious. I reached my maturity last night and found my mate.” I chuckled, wishing it was as simple as that.

  “Damn it, Xander, I am buried in requests for interviews, for photo ops, for any details on the mystery woman that they caught on camera as you carried her away.” I heard her shuffling around papers followed by a deep sigh that ended on a groan.

  “Are you at the office? I thought I told you specifically to take the damn weekend off?” I growled at her.

  “How the hell can I do that when the social media world is blowing up around us because you found your freaking mate?” She blew a raspberry at me. “Congrats by the way.” She followed up, quickly.

  I shook my head and laughed softly. “Thanks, Ash. You’ll like her. She has spunk and is full of sass. Let’s just say that it has been a very interesting twenty-four hours.” I ran my fingers through my hair in agitation, pacing the length of my home office.

  “I’ll do what I can to hold off the vultures but start thinking strategy on how we introduce her to the world, because they are dying to know more about her. See you on Tuesday.”

  I said my goodbyes and slid the phone back into my pocket. That was why I paid Ashley the big bucks. She was a human but had proved her loyalty time and time again. She was more than just my personal assistant, she really was more like my right-hand-man. In fact, she didn’t know it yet, but I was already planning on giving her a sizable promotion to a new position that I had created as the Director of Community and Social Engagement. It was right up her alley and she more than deserved it. We always took care of our own, regardless if they were human or Dragonkyn.

  My head cocked as a feeling of despair settled in my stomach.

  Aleria.

  There was something wrong.

  I left my office and approached her in the living room, watching her quietly as tears streamed down her beautiful pale face. “Aleria, what happened?” Sitting down beside her on the couch, I gathered her in my arms. Her body shook with the deep sobs as she struggled to speak.

  “Baby talk to me. Did your family say something awful? Is Sariah okay?” I wiped away the wetness on her face, my thumbs lingering and stroking a soft rhythm against the skin of her cheekbones.

  She shook her head. “No, everything is fine. I had to contact my housekeeper to send her up some food because they forgot, but other than that she was okay.” The smile that graced her face was forced, put there only for my benefit. More happened during her conversations than she was telling me. I would have to get Klaas to check into her family immediately to see what he could tell me about them. There was something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on here.

  “Why were you crying, Rashka?” I swept the hair from her face, placing a kiss against her forehead.

  “Overwhelmed, tired, shocked.” She swallowed, looking me squarely in the eyes, her gaze flickering with fire now, “Did you see the articles on the internet about us?”

  Exhaling loudly, I nodded. “We are aware. My assistant is doing what she can to put out fires, but we will have to plan on a press conference or a released statement soon to keep the vultures off our backs.” Her spine stiffened at my words, a shudder running through her small body.

  “Xander, I need to-“ Her comment was cut off by the shrill ringing of my phone.

  “Drake.” I answered, indicating to Aleria who it was on the other end.

  “Monika has arrived and is on a bit of a tight schedule today. Can you please bring Aleria down as soon as possible?” Drake sounded off, but I wasn’t going to question it while in my mate’s presence. I had a feeling it had to do with her blood work results. I could sense his agitation through our bond.

  “We’ll be down shortly.” I ended the call before I pulled the phone away from my ear.

  “Let’s go, little one.” I rose to my feet and held out a hand to assist her up. “The doctor awaits.”

  She hesitated, wringing her hands together on her lap. “What is going to happen after the exam?”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “What do you mean?”

  A deep sigh left her lips. “Xander, I mean, what happens? Where do we go from here? I need to go home and see my sister. I have a life.”

  Of course she did. She also needed to gather up her belongs because there was no way in hell that I would allow her or her sister to stay under that roof any longer than absolutely necessary. A growl left my throat at the thought.

  I chose to calm my errant thoughts, not wanting to frighten her. “Let’s take it one step at a time. Once we are done with the doctor, we can go to your house and get a few things for you to stay here for a few days? We will have to wait for the news to die down a bit before you can go about your normal routine, so staying here it the safest option for now.”

  She placed a hand on my chest and took a step back. “I am going to my house, alone. Not with you.” She said firmly, her fist on her hip.

  “Aleria, the reporters may not know who you are now, but they will find out. We have enemies, people who do not want Dragonkyn and humans being together.” I held my ground. I would not leave my mate unprotected. Not when I had just found her.

  “I know that.” She grumbled under her breath.

  I continued, “And my duty as your mate is to protect you. I cannot let you go out alone right now. If you can’t agree to my condition, then we can send someone over to your residence to grab some items and to check on Sariah for you. I would even send Drake for you if it would put your mind at ease having someone you know go.”

  “No!” She protested harshly. “No, you don’t have to send Drake.” She sighed. “What about your assistant? She is human, isn’t she?”

  My eyebrows arched as I regarded her. What did Ashley being a human have to do with if she could retrieve items from Aleria’s house or not? This situation was growing stranger by the second.

  “That is a good idea. I will reach out to Ashley and ask her to retrieve some items. If you get me a list, I’ll send it to her.” I nodded as we left my rooms, making a mental note to get Klaas investigating as soon as physically possible.

  Drake greeted us with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. Monika, our family’s primary doctor for years, warmly introduced herself to Aleria and then escorted her into the exam room. I jerked my head to the side, indicating for Drake to join me in his office, which was sound proofed, ensuring we would not be overheard.

  Holding up a hand to stop Drake I spoke, “Before you begin with what is bothering you, I need to make a call to Klaas. Now.”

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed his number. As always, he answered on the second ring with a deep, “My Prince,”

  “Klaas, I need you to begin a thorough background investigation of Aleria Mikkelsen immediately. There is something that is off about the information she is telling me. Her family seems very peculiar. They are hiding something. I need you to find it.” Drake’s brow furrowed as he looked at me, the shock etched across his face.

  “Something struck me as odd as well, my Prince. Not about the girl herself, but the aura surrounding her.” Klaas spoke, his deep voice thick with mystery. He was the Captain of our guard for many reasons, the first of which was his loyalty to our family, but coming in a close
second was the fact that he possessed an uncanny second sight and affinity for sensing auras. A useful tool when trying to learn someone’s intentions.

  Klaas was a purple dragon, possessing strong telepathic, psychic and telekinetic abilities. He was raised alongside my father, and they were the best of friends. The man would willingly lay down his life for any member of my family without hesitation. There was no one else I could trust with this matter.

  “I think it is her family. Begin with putting men on watching their movements. Focus on the sister, her name is Sariah. She is an innocent in all of this and may be being used as leverage for something.” I rubbed my chin as I spoke.

  “It will be done my Prince. I will be in touch shortly with my findings.” Klaas, ever the efficient man, would get to the bottom of this situation quickly.

  Drake whistled as he sat down in his desk chair. “Fate sure knows how to pick them, doesn’t she?”

  The laugh that bubbled from me held no mirth, only frustration. “So, lay it on me, brother. What more do you have to pile on to my already fucked up situation?”

  He cleared his throat. “It isn’t exactly bad, just strange.” He pulled a file out from his drawer, examining the results again. “Some of her levels are going through the roof. I pulled her medical records from the online database of the clinic she attends and compared them. Her numbers and her results from this morning are aligning more with Dragonkyn results than any human results.”

  “What are you saying, Drake? That the hormone is messing with her body and what, turning her into a dragon? That is ridiculous!” I exclaimed, laughing at the thought.

  He set down two pieces of paper in front of me. “Here are your bloodwork results from last week, very standard normal numbers across the board for a Dragonkyn, right?” He pointed to one chart with various lines and levels. “Now here are Aleria’s results from this morning. Her levels are way higher than any human that I have ever seen and just below yours.”