by C. D. Gorri
Atika covered his laughter with a cough, while others didn’t. Belle had lived for thousands of years, and to see hardened males laugh after a gruesome battle, she couldn’t help but smile. Life was filled with terrible things but finding a sliver of hope and joy, was worth celebrating.
“Where did your female go?” Atika asked Creed.
“Once the battle started, my demon could focus on killing the bad guys and you know, not killing the good guys. So, being the smart male I am, I sent her back home, where she belonged. Of course, she’s going to rip my head off, not physically rip it off, but you know. Why does head keep coming up in conversation? Anyhoo, see you around, BFF. Kellen, you better watch it now, I got a best friend who can become a total freaky ass thing.” Creed saluted them before he disappeared.
After Creed flashed away, several males, including the dragons, sighed in relief. The big red demon was a fearsome sight to see in his other form. He was larger than the largest dragon. She was glad he was on their side.
“He is crazy, but I like his crazy. Being his friend is a good thing. However, I’m not sure if I’ll be calling him my BFF. I mean, his demon form can eat us. Wait, did he call me a freak? Does he look in the mirror when he’s like, eleventybillion feet tall with red skin and horns that go from his head to above the clouds. And let’s not even talk about everything else being freakishly large, ‘cause I did not look down.” Atika crossed his arms, glaring at his mate.
Lula and Abyle laughed at the other male’s words.
Belle felt as though her life was slipping away, but she smiled so her daughter wouldn’t see her pain. Lula deserved happiness, and she loved that she’d found it with the bears.
“Holy shit, he just spoke in my mind and called me pot. He actually said he doesn’t like bears, especially metal ones and said, and I quote ‘ew.’ Yep, he’s my new bestie for the restie.” Atika pulled Lula into his arms.
“That’s good,” Belle said. She was feeling too weak to get to her feet. Fear slammed into her at the absolute certainty she was dying in the foreign land.
Lula pushed out of her mate’s arms, falling next to Belle. She wished more than anything she could reassure her baby girl all would be fine. Yet the untruth wouldn’t fall from her lips.
“Mama, tell me what to do. How can I stop the bleeding?”
Nikai knelt next to Belle, staring at the wound on her side. “This is from a dragon’s claw.”
“What the fuck does that mean? I’m a dragon. I can fix her.” Lula’s sparkling eyes, so like her mother’s, glared up at him.
“Females don’t talk to males in such a manner,” Nikai growled, wondering why he felt such dual emotions to protect her, yet scold her.
“This female does. Who are you to tell me how I should or shouldn’t talk to anyone? You told my mother to get rid of me. That means you gave up any right to say shit to me.” Lula turned from him.
He was shocked to hear such a disgusting suggestion fall from his child’s lips but didn’t want to argue with her. Not while Belle appeared to be getting weaker with every passing second.
“I never told your mother that. I didn’t even know of your existence until I saw a pink dragon through the Mist. Your scent was very similar to my Belle’s and mine too. It was only then I realized who you were. It took me a while to find you, but nothing short of death could’ve stopped me from coming for either of you.”
“You lie,” Belle gasped, trying to sit up.
The acrid scent of her blood increased, making him and his dragon crazy with the need to see to her safety.
“Don’t you fucking move, female,” Nikai roared, placing his palm over the wound. Golden light moved from him to Belle. He’d give up everything within him to save the stubborn female. He held his other hand up, putting an invisible shield between them, stalling his daughter...Belle’s child. Goddess, they had a child, and from the looks of it, she was every bit as stubborn as her mother. He had felt her anguish as she’d tried to heal her mother and failed. He wondered when she’d figure out why she wasn’t able, or if she was unaware of all things—dragons.
Her mates surrounded her tiny form, which again had his dragon snarling with the need to protect. His dragon was a possessive beast, and she was his blood. Nikai battled to push the beast back. This was his young, yes, but they were her mates.
“Your body is protecting our young, Lula love,” Abyle whispered.
Nikai hid a smile when Lula’s hands flew to her flat stomach. Goddess, he wondered if she’d have stayed and battled if she’d have known, then saw the way her other hand reached for her mother’s. He dropped the shield so she could get near the female who had taken his heart and given it to their child. Lula was fierce and loved his Belle, her mother. Fuck, he wasn’t good enough for either of them. Yes, Lula would’ve stayed and died. Her love and loyalty were too strong to do anything else. Like mother, like daughter. Pride bloomed within him that he had no right to.
“Mama, I need you,” Lula cried. Her chin wobbled and tears fell down her cheeks, pink jewels forming piles beneath her.
Nikai froze at the sight. He’d read about the dragons whose tears could form jewels. The dragons who created the rare gems were the rarest treasures. They were powerful beyond measure and coveted. Kingdoms rose and fell during battles to secure them. He turned to his Belle, wondering if she too had the same ability, stunned as a single tear fell from her eye. It too formed a jewel once it hit the ground. Only her jewel was larger, brighter than Lula’s. His heart raced. Belle’s and Lula’s identity was going to rock the Dragon Realm. The implication of who and what they were alone was sure to cause major chaos.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Belle placed her hand over Lula’s.
“What kind of child am I having?” Lula asked, looking toward her mates.
Nikai stared at the twin males, remembering the sight of the gigantic bear with fur that had glinted like the shiniest metal. He had been surprised to see the dragon fire bounce off the bear’s surface. His elite guards who’d attacked them hadn’t been prepared either, or had they realized the beast below could reflect their own fire back at them? They were perfect mates for his daughter.
“Our child, Lula. Does our beast disgust you? We don’t always merge into one, only when needed. Most days, we are just two lumbering grizzly bears,” Abyle growled.
“Yeah, about that freaky fucking beast. You two out-freak Kellen, and since I’m his second, I should know,” a male spoke from behind them and nodded.
Nikai leaned to the side to see around his daughter and her mates, noticing the shifters were gathered together. But the one who’d just spoken had his hands on his hips while the others shook their heads.
“Goddess, he has no sense of self preservation. I swear, Xan, you’re going to get yourself left here or maimed,” Jenna muttered.
“Who are you, female? I sense a great power within you.” Nikai asked, keeping his hand on Belle’s side. Her wound was almost fully healed.
“She’s the Fey Queen, so don’t fuck with her, or you die. I’m Kellen, the Alpha of the Iron Wolves, and I give zero fucks who you are or what you are. I’ll gut you from nuts to throat if you make one wrong move toward her.”
Nikai grinned when the alpha shifted his hands into claws that sparked like metal clashing. Not the average shifter. His female had found allies in the most unlikely beings.
“Alright, I guess he’s kinda right, though. I mean, I’m not saying I’m a freak. But if you ask me, those two becoming a fucking huge beasty-bear thing? That’s freaky as fuck.” Kellen clapped. “So, if we ain’t needed to kill, I’d like to go home and fuck my mate.”
“Thank you, Kellen. That’s why you are my bestie, and Xan is…well, he’s Xan.” Jenna slipped her arm through the male’s arm. Nikai scented the air but didn’t smell the mate bond with them.
“Goodness, no. He is not my mate. My mates are at home with our little ones. If I’d have brought them here, shit would’ve been really b
ad. I mean really, really bad. They’d have killed dragons, drank their blood, and then, well, I’d have been having wild wolpire sex in this crazy place. Yeah, it’s best they were completely unaware. Oh shit, I am in so much trouble,” Jenna muttered and tapped her head.
“Holy fucking shit, Jenna. I’m not talking to them assholes for you. You will tell them that Creed did it. He’s bigger than them and mated to their baby sister. That’ll make them mellower.” Xan nodded with a smile that looked, well, crazy.
“Do they ever shut up?” Nikai asked. In his world, the dragon guard didn’t act the way these males did. However, he wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he didn’t hate it.
Belle shook her head, her color improving. “Only when they’re fighting or with their mates, but even then, it’s iffy. Jenna, can you flash us home? I’m afraid I don’t feel a hundred percent at the moment.”
“Halt, Fey, you cannot take Belle anywhere. Her life is tied to mine.” Nikai didn’t realize how his words would affect the gathering. When he’d seen the terrible wound Belle had suffered, he’d known what he had to do to save his mate. She’d taken his heart when she’d left him, so giving her another piece of him was nothing new.
“Excuse me, but you’re not the boss of her.” Jenna stood with her hands on her hips, speaking like the Fey Queen who was used to giving orders. Nikai was sure most listened to her, but he was the Dragon King. He didn’t take orders; he gave them. However, he had an inkling that the crew he was surrounded by didn’t give a shit about his orders.
“Belle, you were dying. I had no choice but to give you a piece of me to save you.” He pressed on the sealed wound for emphasis.
“What does this mean for my mother?” Lula asked, moving to sit next to her mother on the ground.
Lula and Belle wrapped their arms around one another. Nikai fought the urge to grab both females into his arms and shelter them from the world. With each passing second, his world was slipping away again, like sands of time in a glass jar.
“She must come home with me,” he blurted, knowing damn good and well nobody would buy his lie.
Belle pulled away from Lula, shaking her head. “No way, Nikai. Before leaving our realm, I wasn’t accepted. I don’t wish to live that way ever again. My family and friends accept me as I am, damaged and all. The thought of going to a realm where the color of my scales makes me less than holds zero appeal to me.”
“You won’t be treated as anything other than My queen, Belle. For thousands of years, I’ve searched for you. I’ve loved you, missed you, and longed for you. At my side, you will rule as you should have. Lula, you’re our daughter. You will have your choice of—”
Atika and Abyle cut his words off with a growl.
“Nikai, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m mated to two males of worth. I don’t want or need your approval. Mother, do you have to go with him to live? What about me, us?” she sobbed.
Belle got to her feet. “I don’t have to go with him to live. I feel the part of him inside me, which means he is a part of me now. Lula, when you gave parts of yourself to others, he did the same for me. Nikai, I’m grateful you saved my life, but I won’t go with you…I can’t go there to live.”
Nikai nodded, getting to his feet as well. “You’re right, Belle. However, now that I’ve found you, I won’t let you go. Not without a fight.” He bit down on the urge to sweep her into his arms and take her back to the Dragon Realm with him.
“Are you going to fight for me, Nikai? The same way you fought for me all those years ago. If so, save your breath and head home.” She paused, then turned away. “Jenna, can you please help an old dragon?” Belle asked, chuckling without mirth.
Before Nikai responded or questioned what his mate meant, Belle and the Fey flashed away. He looked at Lula, needing to tell her the truth, even if she didn’t believe him.
“I didn’t tell your mother to terminate her pregnancy. There’s no way in Hell I’d have said anything so appalling. Children are cherished in our realm. My child…you would’ve been more so. I loved her, and I’d have loved you. No, I do, love you both. If I’d have known about you…I wish I could’ve...it doesn’t matter. Lula, may—can I check on you from time to time?” Nikai asked. He coughed to clear his throat. Anguish filling him at the realization that he was losing not only Lula, the child he’d only just found, but his truemate.
“Give me time to come to grips with my new reality?” Lula asked, gripping both her mates’ hands in hers.
He saw her knuckles go white with the force of her hold on the males. Nikai nodded, then pulled a small silver ball from the air. He’d told her he was the Dragon King. She nor her mother were privy to the reality of the magic he could wield. Although Belle came from the Dragon Realm, she hadn’t been there when he’d come into his powers, which were part of his birthright. Nor was she aware of the prophecy that gifted him the ability to see the past like he’d done earlier. If he’d known to look before Nadim’s death, he’d have been aware of Belle and Lula.
His bond and the power he received from it, were small parts of why his brother was so damn angry and jealous. Nikai didn’t understand why Nadim was the way he was. If Nadim would’ve followed through with what he’d been born to do, they’d have ruled together, but he’d been the damaged one, not Belle. In the end, Nikai was given gifts, and sometimes he considered to be cursed with those very same things.
The power of the Dark Dragon made him volatile without a mate to temper him, but he refused to take a female as his when she wasn’t Belle. His guards weren’t aware of the full scope of his abilities. They feared what he could do, or would do, if they betrayed him. Ripping Gaiston’s head off without an ounce of remorse was nothing to him. Nikai and the other dragon trained together daily, were similar in size, yet it was nothing for him to rip Gaiston’s head from his massive body. In the span of one heartbeat to the next, he’d gone from talking, to killing his second, without missing a beat. Now, as he held the small orb with the swirling clouds inside, his daughter eyed it warily. Smart female.
“Take this. It’s a way to contact me without having to come here.” The realm they stood in wasn’t a place to come for a visit, without consequences. The male who ruled the land made allowances, but he expected things in return.
He held steady, waiting. This small space they were in was safe, but Lord Mkikoa didn’t take kindly to anyone popping in and destroying his world. However, he’d granted him this space. If only he’d thought to come to The Mist before he might have sensed his daughter or Belle.
“Does it go both ways?” she asked, taking the orb from him.
Nikai shook his head pushing thought of what might’ve been away. “I will not invade your world if that is what you’re worried about. Having a piece of myself in your mother gives me access if I wanted, but I will not do so. I will earn her trust, or I will die alone.”
He turned away from them, looking toward his guards. He’d thrown up a shield, so they weren’t able to listen to what was said between him and his...family. Damn, he had a daughter who hated him and a mate who loathed him for something he hadn’t done. Without looking back, he strode toward the males waiting for him, pulling his armor around him like a cloak.
Lula gasped. “You killed that one male who tried to kill my mom. Now, tell me. Are there any more sentenced to death over the battle they waged, or was he the only one you sanction? Because let me tell you, if any are to die, I want to be the one killing them.”
Nikai felt his chest swell and almost wanted to point to one of the stupid males who’d followed Gaiston’s orders. He and Belle’s child would slay any and all dragons without blinking an eye. Bah, she’d probably kill every bastard who dared raise a scale toward her and her family, him included. Belle’s daughter was amazing in battle.
“The one who tried to kill Belle is dead. The others were only following his orders.” He raised his hand, seeing the flash of anger in his daughter’s eyes. “I’m not justifying any of their a
ctions, but he was my second. As such, it gave him a level of authority while I was away. Although they did wrong, they thought they were following my orders,” Nikai said. His temper was leashed by a thread, ready to snap with visions of the battle Belle and the others were forced to fight.
“Well, I still think they should be beat or something equally awful. Maybe de-nut them. That’s gotta be fucked up even for you dragons. Do you boys have nuts? Tell me they don’t regrow if they’re cut off?” Xan asked.
Nikai pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering how this male was still alive for real.
Lula snorted and crossed her arms over her chest while the crazy male spoke. The jewels beneath her going unnoticed or uncherished. If the dragons were to see through the shield he’d erected, they’d be clamoring for them.
Nikai looked at the male who spoke, agreeing with the others that he was a little crazy and remembered he was the one they’d called Xan. “Trust me, they’ll be properly...whipped when we return to our home.”
“Nikai,” Lula called.
He paused just before shifting, turning to face Lula after wiping his face clear of expression. He hoped he’d hidden the turmoil well before looking at the younger version of his Belle. “Yes, Figliadrak?”
“Thank you for saving my mom.” Lula held the silver orb up. “I’ll be in touch.”
He gave her a salute, touching two fingers to his brow, then shifted into the huge black dragon that most feared. His scales had always been black and shiny, but as he’d taken the throne, they’d become iridescent.
Before he was out of hearing range, Lula’s words made him pause. She asked her men to take her home in a soft, wounded tone that made him ache. He held his breath as she told her males that her father was a beautiful beast. Goddess, how he wished his Belle thought the same. His heart thudded at the love the trio felt, wishing he had that with Belle. He gave a low chuckle when a male below groused about having dragon blood on him, followed by what sounded similar to gagging and muttering about demon spit. Nikai contained his laughter because he was sure Creed, that crazy fucking demon who’d taken him on a trip into actual Hell, had done the spitting on purpose just to rile the other male.