The Fae Queen’s Harem_A Reverse Harem Paranormal and Fantasy Romance

by Meg Xuemei X

  A squad of light Fae in white armor rushed to him and their future queen.

  Rosalinda, Adrian, and a few dragons also marched in, blood all over their black armor.

  “Our army defeated Tianna’s, Your Majesties,” Adrian said, approaching me. “Half of the dark Fae surrendered. We flew here as fast as we could.”

  I nodded. “King Finrod’s light Fae army crushed the demon hordes.”

  Elvey smiled. “We saved the day.”

  Accompanied by my four mates, I headed toward my grandparents’ coffins. Their glassy coffins, however, hadn’t fracture. I stood before them. Elvey’s magic lashed out and unsealed the coffins.

  The former dark Fae king and queen were holding on to the last thread of their breaths because they were waiting to say goodbye to me.

  Hot tears rolled down my face at their suffering. They were the last of my Fae family, and soon they’d be gone.

  “Grandparents,” I said. “Go in peace. I’ve avenged you and my parents.”

  “We’re so proud, granddaughter. And thank you, queen to Sihde and the Dragon Realm and her four mates,” they said with a satisfied smile, and ceased breathing.

  Two bright orbs formed from their no-longer-beating hearts and rose to the air. The orbs whirled around me, touching either side of my cheeks with such tenderness and warmth. And then they were gone.

  My mates pulled me into their solid, muscled arms—all four pairs of them—to comfort me and lend me their love and support. None of them fought each other for my affection and attention. And all of them had a piece of me. All I had belonged to them. I was theirs.

  “We won the war on all sides,” Iokul said. “We vanquished our enemies. Anyone who wants to harm a hair on our mate’s head will think again.”

  “Enemies will never be of short supply,” Elvey said. “And such is life. But we’ll always have the privilege of defending our mate. I think our Daisy darling also likes some continuing challenge and uneventful adventure.”

  “Not too uneventful,” I said wearily.

  Elvey chuckled.

  “We’ll never leave you again, sweetheart,” Rai whispered.

  “And I’ll even learn to get along with the annoying light Fae demigod,” Blaze said.

  Elvey arched an eyebrow. “I might still be a handful for you.”

  Blaze grunted and then sneered. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  Then, I felt a strong tug in my soul, pulling me—

  Something or someone was calling me outside the temple, and it was family.

  I had a hunch. I had wondered if I could meet his soul again when I freed all souls from the black heart.

  “I need fresh air,” I told my mates.

  I couldn’t stand another second in this house of horrors.

  Finrod’s warriors were taking care of Tianna’s former prisoners and survivors.

  I untangled from my mates and raced out of the temple, with Elvey and Iokul leading and Blaze and Rai bringing up the rear. I sighed. From now on, they’d always form a protective formation around me, and it would be hell to fight four of them.

  The stench lingered in the air even outside the temple, but the sun and moons had pierced through the gray clouds and fogs.

  Things would be changing now. The sparkling blue would return to the ocean, the white sand would be as pure and hot as the beach in The Flowing Isle, and the healthy colors would once again blanket the forests in Sihde.

  I would work with Finrod and my four mates to seal the portal to the demon realm. As for Phantom, I hoped he got what he’d come for and wouldn’t return to our world.

  I overlooked the piles of demon corpses on the plain under the stairs. We’d won the war on all sides, but we’d also lost a lot of worthy warriors.

  Victory always came with grief, sacrifice, and loss.

  Finrod and his elite guards appeared at the entrance, Nerida limp in his massive arms.

  “Is she okay?” Elvey asked, stalking toward them.

  “She will be,” Finrod said, his jaw tight from rage, fear for her lurking in his darkened blue eyes. “I’ll allow no one to ever hurt her again.”

  Elvey held Nerida’s hand in his gently, then he kissed her forehead.

  “We’ll visit, King Finrod,” I said. “We’re allies now. Our courts will be open to each other.”

  “We’re family, Daisy,” Finrod said.

  And then he and his warriors vanished.

  A horn rose in the air, long, sorrowful, and triumph. The light Fae army was calling retreat. They’d gathered their dead.

  “Burn the temple to the ground,” I told Adrian as he stood guard with other dragons. “And burn every inch of the Breath of the Wild with the dragon fire.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty. We’ll purge the evil in the land,” Adrian said and shifted.

  A black dragon led his kind to take off and set the land ablaze.

  I felt the familiar magical tug in my soul again, and I looked up.

  A glowing orb, the last soul that had lingered, drifted toward me.

  I recognized whose soul it was, and tears streamed down my face.

  “Father,” I said, my voice thick with emotion.

  Light expanded from the orb, and a giant of man of light stood in front of me. He had a strong, regal, and handsome face, golden skin, and rich-brown hair.

  “My daughter,” he said. “You’ve grown into a beautiful woman. You’ve claimed your birthright and become what you were born to be—the just and fair queen to Sihde, the Dragon Realm, and the six human cities. I’m more than proud.”

  He moved toward me, and all my mates immediately stepped in front of me to block him.

  “He’s my father!” I snarled.

  “One can never fault caution,” Blaze said. “We don’t know who he really is. He might not be who he claims to be.”

  “I recognize my own father!”

  My father chuckled in amusement. “I like that they’re protective of you.” He scanned my mates. “I’m Raven Danaenyth, Daisy’s father.”

  My mates stepped back.

  “These are my overbearing, bonded mates,” I said, gesturing to each of my mates as I introduced them to my father. “Rai, Elvey, Blaze, and Iokul.”

  “Guard my daughter well but try not to step on her toes, boys,” Raven said. “Or you’ll have me to answer to.”

  I didn’t know how that would work since he was nothing but a spirit now.

  My father seemed to realize it and shook his head with a wishful sigh. “I have to go now, Daisy. I’ve used up my time. I needed to say goodbye and tell you I couldn’t have hoped for a better daughter. All my suffering was worth it just to see you today. I must go find my beloved wife, your mother.”

  “Go, Father,” I said, tears still glinting in my eyes. “Go find her.”

  “We love you. We always will,” he said, his feather-light fingertips touching my cheek.

  He shifted to a massive red dragon basking in light, and then he was gone.

  I buried my face on my mate’s shoulder. It seemed to be Rai’s because the scent of storm and autumn wrapped me in its protective and powerful embrace.

  When the last sob left me, I raised my head and gazed up at my mates. And joy burst in my soul.

  The mask dissolved from Rai’s face. When my eyes searched for Blaze and Iokul, who also pressed around me, their masks were also gone. It was as if their masks had never been there before.

  They’d passed the trial. The final piece of the curse had lifted off them.

  They grinned at me. For the first time, in centuries, their skin breathed free air.

  Their faces were as masculine and gorgeous as I’d pictured.

  Blaze’s ember eyes sparked with liquid heat, his skin golden. His curvy lips looked even more sensual without the metal mask above it. I’d kissed those lips hundreds of times and still couldn’t get enough of them.

  My face flamed as I thought how he would soon ravish me with those lips. He winked at me, ob
viously sharing the same thoughts.

  Iokul cleared his throat, reminding me of his turn. The wind ruffled his flowing silvery hair down to his shoulders.

  My gaze fixed on his icy silver eyes. No mask would ever cover half of his face again. His skin was paler than his brothers, his nose straight and noble. My ice consort king was both masculine and elegant. When we returned, I would taste his sculpted lips that burned hotter than fire.

  Then I returned to Rai, my most level-headed mate, who had played a role of being the nastiest bastard toward me during the Challenge. It’d hurt him more than it’d hurt me.

  My fingers traced his sun-kissed strong face, like I’d always fantasized doing.

  He shuddered at my touch, the first touch on his face after nearly a century.

  I peeked into his heated sapphire eyes and was lost into them.

  Finally, my gaze found Elvey, who watched us with fallen stars wheeling in his hooded eyes.

  “This has been wicked fun,” he said. “But let’s get out of here, shall we?”

  He grabbed me, and I seized my other mates just in time.

  And we teleported in a spark of light and shadow.

  28

  Sihde was healing, like the Dragon Realm.

  The magical barrier between the two realms had been removed. However, Sihde was still forbidden to the humans, and I didn’t want to break the tradition that had been forged since Fae came to existence, for good reasons.

  I might be a revolutionary, but I was also pragmatic.

  Who knew what the humans would do? Someone would get greedy. Someone would trap a Fae and experiment on their immortal DNA since Fae were more like humans than dragons were.

  We brought almost every exiled dark Fae back to Sihde. After centuries, they finally had a safe home. That was the least I could do for my mother and our people.

  To the dragons and humans, I was the Dragon Queen. To dark Fae, I was the Fae Queen. And to my monsters that Elvey had brought from Pandemonium to aid our war, I was still their Fury Queen. The monsters and beasts now live in the rainforest between the Fae and the dragon realms. They were forbidden to hunt outside the rainforest.

  My mates and I divided our time between the two realms. Our new thrones in Sihde were set in the gemstone-adorned palace in the Forbidden Forest, which had returned to be one of the most beautiful, dreamy places on the planet.

  The blossoms shone like little stars and never faded, the magic beneath the soil was potent like the choicest wine, and the music flowing with leaves, wind, and spirits made every heart full of joy and poetically melancholy at once.

  A pure magical stream sparkled at the back of my palace.

  Yet we didn’t live idly.

  The world wheeled by, life went on, and the potential enemies schemed and lurked in the shadow.

  King Finrod and Queen Nerida visited us often. Nerida loved the shine of twilight in the Forbidden Forest.

  And if we craved for Fae coffee, we would visit them.

  Finrod refused to share the recipe, just to entice us into the Flowing Isle.

  My four mates still bickered and kept competing against each other, and now with Elvey joining us, it got messy sometimes. Elvey still loved to rile up everyone. Often, it was Elvey and Iokul against Blaze and Rai. But whenever we faced outside force, we were a united front.

  They said happily ever after is supposed to be a fairytale. I’d come from a dark fairytale that turned out to be so bright. My four mates wanted me more than anything in the universe and cherished me every second of the day. I believed in true love, but I also believed that you had to keep fighting for love and never take each other for granted.

  But to be honest, sometimes I did wonder if it were but a dream that I had four hot mates who tasted sinfully divine. And sometimes I had nightmares that convinced me that I was still the three Fury beasts shrieking above the jungle with unbearable loneliness and unquenchable rage. Whenever I had those bad dreams, one of my mates would wake me up, cradle me in his arms, and then bury his massive cock deep inside me to persuade me that he was real, and they were all real.

  My dragon princes also suffered nightmares every now and then.

  “Fuck,” Iokul said. “I dreamed about painting the demon bitch’s toes again. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever done. Fuck.”

  “You took the blunt hit for us, brother,” Rai said, giving Iokul an appreciative look. “We did what we had to do. We’ll do it again if we must to keep our mate safe.”

  “Next time, one of you will do the toes,” Iokul said. “Because I’m done with them.”

  “What about our mate’s toes?” Elvey asked with a smirk. “Will you deny Daisy the pleasure? If you could paint other woman’s toes—”

  I gave Elvey a scolding glare, but he intentionally avoided my eyes.

  “Well, in that case—” Iokul sighed.

  “No more toe-painting on anyone,” I said firmly. “Not now, not ever.”

  All of my dragon mates looked relieved.

  “I don’t mind painting your lovely toes, dearest,” Elvey said. “And I’ll even suckle them to make you feel really good.”

  My toes curled, and I suppressed a moan.

  Blaze and Rai glared at Elvey. Even Iokul, his best pal now, sent him a look of disapproval.

  “Since you all mentioned it,” I asked. “Why did you have to do it physically, Iokul, when you could have used the glamour you borrowed from Elvey?”

  “The damned demigod forbade us to use his glamour for ‘trivial things.’ Those were his words,” Blaze explained for Iokul, since his brother didn’t want to sell Elvey out. “We didn’t want to mess it up and have the demon bitch finding out about the glamour. So, we used it only when absolutely necessary, like in the end.”

  In the end, when Tianna had thought all of my dragon kings had betrayed me and were fucking her, they’d only fucked with her mind.

  Still, the memory of that fake act haunted me like a lasting bad taste. I wasn’t beyond pettiness.

  “Do you know how hard it was to restrain ourselves from touching you,” Iokul whispered under his breath, his silver eyes flashing with torment, “when all we ever wanted was to touch you and hold you.”

  “We had to fight so hard not to come to you, so we wouldn’t ruin the plan,” Blaze said, his golden eyes turning molten in anguish. “The nights were most difficult. We got used to holding you in sleep. We pined for your soft, warm body curling around us.”

  “I was the one who truly hurt you,” Rai said, shadow of guilt, shame, and anger coating his sapphire eyes. “I laid my hands on you.”

  The memory of him backhanding me by accident and sending me across the ground flashed before my eyelids. It’d hurt him more than it’d hurt me. He still couldn’t forgive himself for that.

  “If you never want me again, I—I don’t know what to do,” he said, his voice breaking, his eyes pleading.

  I’d denounced all three of them in Tianna’s former court. I’d struck back harder at them in double revenge. And I’d learned that both Iokul and Blaze had punched Rai and broken his nose for that mishap, and Rai had begged them not to stop.

  I touched Rai’s masculine beautiful face. His skin felt so warm and smooth without a mask. “It was an accident,” I said. “And you—all of you—did what you had to do to save me. I can’t even imagine what you’d gone through. So, no more guilt. No more sacrifice. And no more keeping me in the fucking dark. I’m serious. I’m far from over it. You’ll have to learn to trust me and earn my trust again.”

  “We promise, love,” Iokul said, “as long as you give us a second chance.”

  Elvey leaned against the wall, watching us.

  We sprawled on the vast bed in the Golden Palace in the Dragon Realm, resting. My dragon mates stroked me with their hands. Our dynamic interested him. I met his gaze and smiled invitingly, beckoning him to come to us.

  Yet he did not join us.

  I didn’t want him to feel left out,
but I’d give him time and space and let him get used to this first.

  He was one of us, no matter if he realized it or not. He would eventually. We had all the time in the world, and I was learning to be patient.

  We would leave instant gratification to the mortals.

  “It infuriated us more than anything to watch Elvey have his uncouth hands all over you,” Blaze said. “It was the worst torture ever. I wanted so much to punch his face, but my cold logic kept telling us to back off while he was protecting you.”

  Elvey’s hands were anything but uncouth, but I wouldn’t point it out. I didn’t want to take a side, even though I had almost rolled my eyes at Blaze’s comments.

  “As I said, the demigod got the best deal,” Rai grunted. “While we had to breathe through our mouths subtly, so the demon bitch wouldn’t know how her stench put us off, while we had to constantly come up with clever excuses to fend off her unwanted advances and harassment, Elvey was enjoying and fucking our mate every night.”

  “Not just every night,” Elvey said with a grin of challenge. “The mornings were just as fantastic.”

  “Why don’t we just punch him now?” Rai hissed.

  “Bring it on, bitches,” Elvey said with a lopsided grin.

  “Hey! Hey!” I shouted sternly before anyone could move to deliver a blow. “What did we say about being civilized? Can’t you boys keep the promise for even two days?” My voice turned to whimper. “Can’t I even have peace for the evening?”

  My mates all looked sheepish before they glared at each other.

  My manipulation worked for only a second.

  “You put up with a shitload from us, honeybee,” Blaze said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I apologize as well,” Rai said.

  Only Elvey chuckled, but he became solemn the next second.

  “I haven’t properly thanked the three of you,” he said sincerely. “Though, if you hadn’t watched Tianna break my bones, you’d probably never have taken the deal. Anyway, I still owe you a big one, brothers.”

  My dragon kings silenced for a second. Then Blaze waved his hand to show his generosity.

  “We’re even,” the fire dragon said. “Without your elaborate plan, we might never have been able to kill that snake. Together, we are unstoppable. Look how we united two realms and the human cities and healed the land.”