Protector (The Full-Blood Book 1)

by Serena Nova

  I love you. Seraphina. Your Great-Grandmother.

  Tears welled up in my eyes as I folded the letter back. The Queen had told me to trust my instincts, my men. I looked to the window, the soft colour of the morning showed through the crack in the curtains. It was early, and the perfect moment to go and train, to let my mind work on what I had just read.

  I moved out of the bed, pulled on my purple and black sports bra, easy training pants, and my sport shoes. Picking up my swords, I placed them on my back and some knives on my upper thighs. I looked at the journal on my nightstand, and for a moment, I became scared. Because if what Seraphina had said in that journal was true, it would mean that those Kings were mine. Somewhere deep down, the butterflies had started moving, they took away the fear. And a grin spread over my face. If they were truly mine, then maybe I needed to let them know I was theirs, too. Screw the Selection or the other Witches, I needed to find my men. Happiness had swelled up around me, and I knew I looked stupid with that grin on my face. But it was such a relief, acknowledging the feelings I had felt for them. Finally letting them in, reacting to them for the first time, and not feeling held back because I couldn’t be with them because of who I was. They had known, they hadn't seemed to care. And if the Natural Bonding thing was real, it would mean that the pull I had felt towards them was real, too. I almost skipped out of my room and moved towards the training field outside, happy to find out that I hadn't been going totally going crazy towards them.

  I pushed open the door to find the summer warmth already in the air. The Kings were there already, they sparred with each other. When I moved closer, I could see the sweat on their naked upper bodies. It made them glisten in the sun. Their muscles rolled over their backs with their movements. All four of them looked at me at the same time. Almost as if they sensed me coming.

  “Hi. Can I join?” I asked, my voice came out low and breathy. I swallowed around the lump that had formed in my throat after looking at them.

  “Yes. Warm up,” Flynn commanded. I moved towards them, placed my swords on the ground and started my warm up. Moving through the movements I knew by heart. When that was done, Flynn paired me up with Averey. His silver-grey eyes moved over my body, stopping on the skin of my stomach. I did the same, checking him out. His muscled chest, his powerful arms holding the sword in his right hand. He wore simple shorts, showing me his powerful legs. The full summer heat of the day wasn’t there yet, but you would think it was.

  Not wanting to fan myself, I moved into a standard position, holding my swords out.

  We both started to circle each other. I could hear the sound of steel on steel somewhere behind me. Knowing that the others were training, too, I focused back on Averey, and right on time. He had moved fast towards me. I blocked and spun away, slicing with my swords through the air, wanting to hit his. The clang of steel vibrated through me when my swords hit. I looked into his eyes, my heart rate picking up a notch at the heat in his. Smouldering me from the inside out.

  I spun back, breathing harder. Not just from the fight.

  “What are you going to do?” he asked me, when he moved towards me again. Now slicing towards my head. I ducked and swiped with my feet, but he dodged as he jumped over them.

  “About what?” I asked him, when I got up and moved around him.

  “That the whole world will know who you are.”

  I slashed at his side. He blocked again and pushed me off. I stumbled back from the force he had put behind it.

  “It is what it is,” I answered him. He pulled up an eyebrow.

  “You were against it a few days ago, really against it,” he said and moved towards me, I blocked his sword and kicked out with my feet. I hit him in the ribs, causing him to grunt a little.

  I shrugged at him. “That’s the past.” And it was true, it was the past. And I had needed to let go of a lot of things that were in the past. The thing that mattered then, was finding out if they wanted me as much as I wanted them. Finding out if we could build something.

  And finally, finding out what that Nox fellow was doing. And hopefully, finding a way to close the Gate without sacrificing myself or them, because I couldn’t do that. What a freaking to do list.

  A smile played over his face at my answer. “It is,” he said and moved towards me. He moved around me, and I blocked his sword coming low for my legs. He head butted me, and I groaned.

  “It’s on,” I grumbled at him.

  I swung with my swords in a circle, and he stepped back. I moved towards him, letting my senses spread out, used my magic to see more. His eyes lit up when he noticed, and I felt him doing the same. Swirling away from his sword, I moved down to the ground, kicking out with my feet and getting back up in one motion. He had found a way to move around me, and kicked me in the back. I almost fell, but I used the air to keep me from falling to the ground, pushing myself back up where I gave him a cheeky grin. He smiled back at me.

  I moved in again, swinging my left sword high and my right low. He held one sword, he needed two to block this move. But then, he began to pull up earth and blocked my right sword. The earth dropped back, and he kicked at my hand holding my right sword. I lost its grip, and it fell to the ground. He then swung with his, I ducked again and ran into him, hitting him square in the stomach as he grunted from the impact. He pulled me up and lifted me over his shoulder, the sky flashed before me before I used the momentum to throw my legs over his shoulder, too, and landed behind him, I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down to the ground. He landed hard, and I moved over him, using the earth to capture his sword arm. I sat with my legs over him, his breathing hard enough that it moved me up and down a little. The thought made me blush.

  His other hand moved slowly to my leg, almost as if he knew that I had changed, that something in my mind had clicked after reading Seraphina’s journal. Something had clicked, or my stubborn streak didn’t want to hide my feelings for them after yesterday. They had stood beside me, like Seraphina said they would. I breathed out slowly, getting my own breathing back under control. I smiled down at him.

  “You lose,” I said. His hand was now on the inside of my leg, and I could feel more than the rising of his laboured breathing against my core. Heat flooded me again, and I knew that he had seen it in my eyes, because his darkened. My mouth opened on a soft sigh.

  “Up,” I heard Flynn growl. I looked at him.

  “Why? I’m comfortable like this.” I wiggled my ass a little, and it made Averey move under me. His length pressed against my ass. And I was loving it, so freaking bad.

  “Training isn’t over,” he said.

  And I pouted at him. He pulled me up from Averey. I gave him a smile not wanting to drop my gaze to the erection in his pants. There were a few things I had done and some I had not yet. That was one of them. It was fun to tease him, but going so far was enough for now.

  Flynn pulled me flush against him. He lowered his mouth next to my ear and whispered, “Guerrero, don’t tease Averey so. That isn’t nice.” I looked up at him, when he pulled away. My face turned red with that, and I looked at the ground. Did he know I was a virgin?

  He placed his hand under my chin and lifted it up, so I looked at him again. I saw it in his eyes, he knew, despite my flirting, that I was a virgin. “Don’t worry, Guerrero, we will be gentle,” he said and kissed me, his soft lips moved slowly over mine, teasing and tasting. I pressed closer to him, and he chuckled against my lips before he pulled back. “See,” he said, arching an eyebrow at my flushed face and my faster breath.

  “Fine,” I growled out, getting what he was saying. Hot and bothered, I moved away from him. Luckily for me, I wasn’t the only one; his pants showed some straining in the front. It made me flush even more. I was so out of my league there. I needed to keep it in my pants, though not for long, I hoped. Because the idea of them with me, naked and all sweaty, was a real appealing thought.

  “Go train with Rayan,” Flynn said when he walked over towards Averey who was s
till laying in the sand.

  “Come, Rayan,” I said and pulled him by the hand a little farther away from the rest, “let’s get some space.” More, I needed more space from Flynn and Averey. It wasn’t any easier with Rayan in front of me, his lean body taunting me with every move he made. His honey-blond hair, now golden in the rising sun, his blue eyes full of mischief.

  “So, you want us,” he said, a grin on his face. “You want this gorgeous body.” He motioned to himself. The twinkle in his eyes came out more with the teasing he was doing.

  “No,” I lied and crossed my arms over my body. If he could tease me, I could tease him.

  “Okay,” he said and sat down. “Then we don’t train.” I looked at him on the ground, shrugged, and moved to sit next to him. He was looking at Cian and Flynn fighting. Their movements flowed into each other, no moments of hesitation like some new fighters had. It was mesmerizing to watch.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Rayan asked, his voice low and soft.

  “What?” I looked at him. He was looking at me, his blue eyes missing the twinkle they had a moment ago. I missed them already.

  “That you were a Full-Blood, that you were a Royal.”

  I swallowed at that. “I couldn’t, and then, I didn’t know how.” It was the truth; from the moment I had seen them in the throne room, they had pulled at me. And I hadn't known what to do with that until the journal.

  “We would never have killed you, if you thought that.”

  I chuckled at that.

  “I swear, we couldn’t,” he said almost as whisper.

  “Why?” I turned in the sand, so I could look at him.

  “Because you are our Natural Bonded.” He was now looking at me, his face fully serious. His everlasting smile was gone, and I could see the uncertainty in his blue eyes. He was scared.

  “I know,” I said to him. I had known from the moment I met them, felt the pull. I knew then for sure that it was okay, that it was something good, and I wanted to relish in it. I wanted to know them, be with them, even when it was destined by the Natural Bond.

  “You aren’t scared of that?” he asked me.

  I shook my head no. “Why would I be? I’m meant to bond with four amazing people. In the short time I got to know you guys, you saved me and Astra.”

  “You finally admit we saved you.” He chuckled, some of the twinkle making it back in his eyes.

  “Yes.” I groaned out. “You let me stay even when most of you already knew who I was. You kicked Thalia out of the castle, thank the piggies for that. And you didn’t mind leaving Astra in the Selection. You protected her.” I bit my lip. Not knowing how to say what I had wanted to say, I blurted it out in a rush, “And my Great-Grandmother had seen you guys. So, yeah, with the pull and so on. I trust my instincts, and they are screaming for you.” I looked at my hands and the sand that was moving through it on the ground.

  He laughed at that. “So, you trust your dead Great-Grandmother?”

  I nodded at that. It sounded silly, but it was true. She had known what it was like to be Naturally Bonded. “And my instincts, mostly those,” I told him.

  It was silent for some time, and we both looked at the others training.

  “You know,” Rayan started. “I loved someone a lot. I thought she was my Natural Bonded, she made me believe it. And then she dropped me.”

  “What happened?” I asked him, while I focused back on him.

  “Not now, please?” he asked me, his eyes were downcast, and his voice was softer than ever, almost a whisper.

  I looked at him, seeing him in a new light then, it explained so much about him. His flirting, his always laughing. Showing the world, he was okay. Yet, it was only on the outside. On the inside, he wasn’t; it hurt me to know that someone had done that to him.

  “I can’t promise that I won’t hurt you, Rayan. I can promise that I won’t let you fall.” I grabbed his hand and squeezed.

  “Thanks.”

  We both looked back towards the others. It was decided, I trusted my instincts. It still didn’t mean I would jump them right away, and become their bonded. I wanted to find out more about them, learn more and see if I really would like them. Not just because of the pull I felt towards them. I would, maybe, date them. That thought had made me nervous.

  When the others were done, we got up and moved towards their Quarters. Breakfast had been served already, and we all started eating. They joked together and laughed, and I looked around at them, enjoying their company and their easy going way around me. It made me feel I was at home. I joked with them, we talked, and we ate, it was nice.

  22

  “We need to tell the other Witches about the ball,” Rayan said, he was sitting next to me. Every so often, he would lean over me to grab something, his hands casually touching my arm or leg. It made me squirm in my seat every single time. The others had glanced at me every so often, too.

  They could tell that something had changed in me, it was true, I had come to terms that the pull I felt towards them, was normal. It hadn't meant I would roll over and lay on my back for them. Okay, maybe I would have, still didn’t mean they owned me, or that they could tell me what I wanted or needed.

  “Okay?” I asked him.

  “We need to introduce them to the rest of the world,” Cian told me. I looked over at him, sitting across from me.

  “You guys will still go through with the Selection?” It came out as a growl; jealousy and I weren’t good friends.

  “Yeah,” Rayan said, and I snapped my gaze back to him. His eyes held the twinkle I had started to like.

  “We have to,” Averey said. I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. “Sweetheart,” he started, only for him to stop talking. He didn’t know what to say, the air had become thicker, the tension rising.

  “We have protocols to follow, love. We can’t just abandon everything,” Cian said, his hands folded on the table. His green eyes were soft.

  “We have a plan, Sweetheart,” Averey finally said. I looked at him, waiting for him to say more.

  “What plan?” I asked when nothing came out.

  He closed his eyes with a sigh. “We can’t tell you,” he said. I held up my hands and pushed myself and the chair away from the table. The Queen had told me to trust them, and it hadn't started that well.

  “Do what you want,” I said and moved towards the door.

  “Love–” Cian started.

  I turned around and held up my finger, waggling it at him. “Nah, don’t,” I said and turned around again.

  “Isadora,” Averey said, his voice low as it sounded through the room. I stopped before the doors and waited for him to speak. It was a command from my King and not the man I had started to like. Maybe even more than, like.

  “You need a dress; there is a dressmaker in the castle. Servants hall, two doors left from the Kitchen. Go to her.”

  I started moving, only to be stopped again.

  “And you will be at the ball, as a Witch.” He didn’t have to add anything more to it. The silent command to leave my weapons in my room was there. I nodded, pushed open the door, and moved towards the hall. I breathed out for a moment, just leaning against their door. When I pushed myself off of the door, I started walking towards the servant’s hall. I had walked out on the left side of the castle, the council’s side. It meant I had to walk the long way, but I didn’t mind, it calmed me down a bit with the walk. I found the right door after asking a servant. These doors looked so much like each other. I knocked one time.

  “Yes?” I heard a voice from behind it. When I pushed open the door, I entered a small room filled with fabric and a high window that let in light. The sun was fully risen then. Everywhere I looked, I found fabric, piled and piled on top of each other.

  “Hello,” I said, though I couldn’t find anyone. I was sure I had heard someone answering my knock.

  “Yes, here. Hello.” I saw a hand waving above me. I looked up towards a high closet, finding a young woman on
a wooden ladder.

  “Good, can you take these from me?” She lowered two dark-blue rolls of fabrics. I grabbed them and stayed next to the ladder. She picked out another roll of fabric–that one silver–and climbed down. Her brown, curly hair reached just above her shoulders, and while she climbed down, it bounced around. Her brown eyes were darker than mine, and her face was filled with freckles. A small mouth and a petite nose all on a soft round face greeted me, smiling.

  “Hello,” I said again.

  “Hi, thank you. You can place them there.” She pointed towards a table against the wall next to me.

  “And you can tell me which fabric you liked the most.” She had a soft and sweet voice, one that easily reflected the person standing before me.

  “What do you mean?” I asked her, still holding the fabrics.

  “You are here for a dress for the ball, right?” She pointed again to the table, placed the silver fabric on it, and I moved to do the same.

  “Uh, yes. That is right. How did you know?” I pulled my eyebrows together at her, wondering.

  “Oh, girl.” She giggled sweetly. “I know a lot.” A twinkle had appeared in her brown eyes when she said that, and for a moment, I was taken aback.

  “And you aren’t the first one to walk in here today.” She giggled again. Then it hit me, she was joking with me.

  “Oh,” I said, and a soft laugh escaped my throat. Something I had needed then more than I thought.

  She giggled again. “Come on. Pick the colour you like. I know that one of these two was made for you. One of them will go with the silver,” she said while she stroked the silver fabric lovingly. It was beautiful, the same silver of moonlight when it hits a lake, breathtaking.

  I looked down at the two blues on the table. One was a dark navy-blue, almost midnight. The other was a darker blue that flowed over into a lighter blue. I looked at them both, but my eyes kept going back to the midnight fabric.