by S. E. Smith
“Oh,” Melina murmured before she blushed. “Am I supposed to know that?”
Laughter echoed through the cave and the glowing lights brightened as it rolled over them. Aikaterina waved her hand and numerous galaxies, filled with thousands of stars, planets, moons and other celestial forms appeared. She walked through them, gazing at some and running her fingers over others.
Melina’s eyes followed her and she gasped when she recognized the blue and white sphere of the Earth. Glancing at the woman staring at the shape, she took a step closer. It was beautiful.
“Yes, it is. And filled with so much hope for the future if they are not destroyed,” Aikaterina whispered.
“What do you mean destroyed?” Melina asked with a frown.
“Your species is very strong and resilient,” Aikaterina replied with a sigh. “But so are other species. Some who use the resources they are given as a gift without regard to who they hurt.”
“Humans do that as well,” Melina responded with a sad smile. “We are learning. Or at least I hope we are.”
“Humans will,” Aikaterina stated before she waved her hand and everything disappeared. “But, that is for the future. The present requires you to be strong. Your mates need you.”
“What happened? Why did they take them?” Melina asked.
“Even a ‘Goddess’ can make mistakes,” Aikaterina replied sadly.
“Are you?”
“A Goddess?” Aikaterina asked with a laugh. “I’ve been called many things. I am but a wanderer through space and time. I have made this world my home. In return, I give to them my children as their companions.”
Melina’s mouth dropped open again as Cree’s symbiot flowed through Aikaterina as she became translucent. A part of her blending in with the symbiot’s body before she solidified again.
“The Goddess’ blood,” Melina breathed as she remembered Cree or Calo telling her about it.
“Yes,” Aikaterina agreed in a soft voice. “The Valdier give their essence, so they may live and grow. In return, my children watch over and protect them.”
“What did you mean by even a Goddess can make a mistake?” Melina asked hesitantly.
“When I gave the power of my blood, I also gave them the power of the dragon. I hoped that the three parts would balance each other and guide them. It takes a very special mate to calm the man and the dragon. They are both extremely powerful and… stubborn. It was not until it was too late that I realized it would impossible to find a mate strong enough to handle two such creatures,” Aikaterina explained calmly.
“But, why not just let them find their own mate? I mean, twins on Earth don’t marry the same person,” Melina asked.
“They are not made up of three beings into one either,” Aikaterina pointed out. “It is also different for the twins here. They bond in a way that is stronger than any other species I have seen.”
“What did you mean when you said I would need to be strong?” Melina asked, turning as the figure floated around her.
“They are to be put to death,” Aikaterina responded.
“No!” Melina cried out in shock. “No! Why?”
“Because none believe there is a mate strong enough to handle the Twin Dragons,” Aikaterina whispered as she began to float upward off the floor.
“Wait! Where are you going? What should I do?” Melina asked, stumbling on the uneven floor as she tried to follow the golden figure. “What should I do?”
Aikaterina smiled down at Melina. “Show them that they are mistaken.”
Melina stared upwards as the figure slowly disappeared. Her fingers moved to the pendent around her neck. She slowly pulled it up to stare at the three dragons. As she looked at it, she noticed that the dragon in the middle was holding onto one dragon with her forearms while her tail was wrapped around the other. All this time, she thought it was the males holding her, but in reality, it had been her holding them. She was the one. She was the balance that held them together.
Glancing up at the millions of glittering lights on the ceiling, a plan came to her. She refused to let her men die. They were a family. Her family.
What we do? Her dragon asked softly.
“We go kick some ass?” Melina said with a smile as she turned toward the entrance. “I’m going to need a very big shovel.”
Chapter 38
Calo stood stiffly as Bane read the finding of the Village Council. Cree had already been sentenced to death. His father would be spared. No crimes had been lodged against him. He would be held until after the executions of his sons. Only then would he be released.
Melina, Calo whispered to Cree.
Nothing, she is not responding, Cree replied as he glared at the Council.
Perhaps it is for the best, Calo said. I do not want her to feel this.
She will die with us, Cree mumbled, working on the chains holding his arms. My symbiot is with her, yet I feel nothing.
Calo glanced at his symbiot which hissed from the area it was contained. Only the threat of his immediate death had prevented it from attacking all those around it. He had tried to send it to Melina, but it couldn’t leave with the threat of his death.
“Do you understand the verdict?” Bane asked quietly after he finished.
“That I am going to rip Merck’s balls off and make him wish he could join his brothers in death? Yes, I understand that,” Calo replied with a nasty grin at Merck. “You should have just stepped away, boy. You would have lived longer.”
“Enough!” Bane said with a swipe of his hand. “Bring me the sword.”
“Bane, do not do this!” Creja roared, straining to break the chains holding him.
“You did what I could not, Creja,” Bane replied in a tired voice. “I do for you what I asked of you. I now understand the weight I asked you to bear.”
“It is not the same,” Creja choked as Cree was forced forward. “Brogan and Barrack had lost control of their dragons. Cree and Calo have not. They are not mad.”
“Accept this, Creja,” Bane said with a nod to the four warriors holding Cree. “May the Goddess have mercy on you, Cree Aryeh.”
Bane raised the sword above his head. For a moment, the accusing eyes of his sons stared back at him. Grief rose inside him, but he pushed it back.
His head jerked up when a brilliant flash of gold ripped the sword from his hand and spun him around. The gold reformed in the shape of Cree’s symbiot. The sword clutched between its massive jaws.
“You dare use the Goddess’ blood against us?” Bane demanded hoarsely. “Kill…”
“No! I do!” A soft voice said. “Let my mates go!”
*.*.*
Melina refused to think about anything, but releasing Cree and Calo. She had flown as fast as she could and when it wasn’t fast enough, she had begged Cree’s symbiot to get her to the village as fast as it could go. Her head was still spinning from the terrifying speed. She was thankful for it when she saw how close she had been to losing Cree.
With a snap of her finger, a portion of Cree’s symbiot dissolved and reformed in her hand in the shape of a shovel. A small smile lit her eyes at the familiar shape. She winked at Calo as she stepped forward.
“You do not have to be afraid,” Bane said, staring at the delicate female as she stepped closer. “You are safe now.”
“It’s not me that I’d be worrying about if I was you,” Melina informed him, her voice filled with the Southern accent that she thought she had lost.
“Who should I be worrying about?” Bane asked in confusion.
“That sorry-ass-piece-of-shit that I’m fixin’ to throw out,” Melina said, pointing the shovel at Merck. “You have pissed off the wrong mate, buster. You should have done what Cree told you to, then none of this would have happened.”
“You are not thinking correctly,” Bane protested, glancing back at Merck with a frown. “Merck saw Calo take you and hold you.”
Melina looked at Bane before she turned and walked over to Calo. Raising up on her tiptoes,
she pressed a hot, lingering kiss to his lips. A low rumble escaped him as she slowly pulled back with a smile. She ran her fingers down the front of his shirt before she turned and walked over to where Cree was kneeling.
“I missed you,” she whispered, threading her fingers through his hair. “Thank you for sending your symbiot to me.”
“You shouldn’t have come,” Cree replied softly. “I fear for you.”
“You don’t have to,” Melina told him, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his lips. “I’ve got my shovel.”
Cree’s eyes softened and a reluctant smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. She looked so damn beautiful and determined. His eyes flickered to the golden shovel.
“What are you going to do with a shovel?” He couldn’t resist asking.
“Throw out the shit who started all of this,” she replied. “I know how to do that pretty well.”
Cree couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. The more he thought of it, the funnier it seemed. The image of her standing in the repair bay, floppy hat, oversized clothes, dancing green eyes, and a pile of Pactor dung aimed for him whenever he walked through the door appeared as if they were standing there now.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“Not as much as I love you,” she replied, standing up and turning to look at Bane and the Village Council. “I’ll give you to the count of three to release my mates. After that, I’m going to start whipping some ass.”
“Now see here,” one of the council members started to say.
“One.”
“Bane, perhaps there…”
“Two.”
“Just take her,” Merck demanded, stepping forward. “It is obvious they have done something to her. I offer my protection, Father. I will claim her.”
Melina saw Merck glance at her with a look of determination on his young face. He really believed that Cree and Calo had done something to brainwash her. What was even worse, he really believed that he could just claim her! Melina was surprised when her dragon rose up at the last thought.
He no claim me! Her dragon snarled, taking control.
“Three,” Melina growled in a husky voice that was barely recognizable.
Her dragon reacted the moment Merck stepped forward. Melina felt her dragon’s power wash through her limbs as she twirled the shovel in her hand until she held the handle like a baseball bat. The flat side was facing outward. She wanted to protest, but her dragon was having none of it. The other male had threatened her mates and threatened her. She was fighting mad about both. Her feet instinctively widened into a batter’s stance and she found herself swinging with the strength of her dragon behind the blow as he reached for her.
Merck’s head snapped back as the end of the shovel connected with his jaw. The force spun him around. As he started to fall, she nailed him again in the ass - hard. Growling menacingly when several warriors started forward, her dragon took complete control over her and blew a long line of fire in front of them.
Melina grimaced when she realized her dragon was not finished with Merck. Swinging her tail out, she grasped Merck’s unconscious form around the leg and began pulling him toward a pen of livestock off to the side. Her dragon grasped him firmly around the ankle before tossing him into the middle of the muck. With one last snort of disgust, she turned back to glare at the others watching her in shock.
Bane stood staring at the dark green dragon before he looked at his youngest son. Remorse washed through him as he realized that he had almost committed a truly horrendous crime based on the word of a son he had spoiled. He took a step forward, pausing when the green dragon lifted the golden shovel lying on the ground with her tail and waved it at him.
“My apologies, my Lady,” Bane said hoarsely before he bowed. “My apologies.”
Bane started when he looked up into the vivid green eyes of the slender female. She was still holding the shovel, only this time in between her hands. She looked at him with determination.
“Release my mates,” Melina demanded. “Now. I’ve got a shovel and I know how to use it.”
Bane’s lips twitched as he gazed past her to where his son lay in the muck. He was pretty sure Merck had a broken nose, possibly a broken jaw, and the imprint of a shovel on his ass. It was minor compared to what the boy was going to be getting when he regained consciousness. He would be lucky if the Twin Dragons didn’t kill him.
“I can see that, My Lady. Release them,” Bane ordered.
Melina held the shovel tightly between her hands until the neck collars around Cree and Calo were removed. The moment they were free, she released the golden symbiot so it could reform while she threw herself into her mates’ arms.
“Oh God, I was so scared,” Melina whispered over and over. “I was terrified I’d be too late or they wouldn’t believe me.”
Cree and Calo curved protectively around Melina. The villagers and Village council standing in a semi-circle around them gasped as the silhouette of their dragons rose up. Two large male dragons held tightly in the embrace of the female.
“The Twin Dragon’s true mate. It is possible,” Bane whispered as tears blurred his vision and the image of his two sons, wrapped around their mate, appeared before him.
“I learn from my mistakes,” Aikaterina said soothingly as she gazed down on the trio wrapped around each other. “Brogan and Barrack will be given their chance.”
Epilogue
Lyla laughed as she and Melina hurried down the path. The sun was shining and Melina kept raising her face to it. They had moved into their new home just a few days before. It had taken a lot of grumbling and groveling, but Cree and Calo had finally forgiven the villagers for almost killing them after they kept bringing Melina different items for it and begging her to speak with the twins.
Well, they had forgiven most of them, Melina thought as she turned again to raise her face to the sun.
She grinned as she remembered Merck, Bane, and Lesann, Bane’s mate and Merck’s mother, coming by a few days after she had whipped Merck’s ass. Merck had still been on Cree and Calo’s poop list. It had taken both Creja and Bane to keep the twins from killing the terrified boy.
Melina had felt sorry for Lesann as she gripped her young son to her in a terrified hold as the men argued about Merck’s punishment. Lyla had finally been the deciding force when she reminded Cree and Calo that they had made their own share of mistakes growing up. They may not have been as bad, but they had still made mistakes.
“I… I just wanted to apologize,” Merck had stuttered, looking pale. “I thought you had gone mad like my older brothers.”
“You need to learn to follow directions, youngling,” Cree snapped coldly. “You almost cost all three of us our lives.”
Merck nodded, wincing. Both of his eyes had been black and blue. As part of his punishment for not follow directions when he had been told to stay away, Bane thought Merck should understand a little of the pain he had caused and refused to allow Merck’s symbiot to heal his son. It wasn’t much, but he wanted Merck to think twice before he disobeyed a direct order from his senior.
“Merck thought he was doing the right thing,” Bane had explained. “Still, he did not follow directions. He was told to stay away from your mate. I did not realize that he had chased her until after we had returned to the village with you and Calo. He will be leaving for Warrior’s training next week along with Heron. Both my mate and I have been too lenient with him.”
“I am sorry for what my son has done. Since the deaths of Brogan and Barrack… I spoiled Merck. I see that now.” She paused as she looked at them. “This is the first time since our older sons’ deaths that we do not feel the sense of loss that hung over us,” Lesann added as she smiled shyly at Cree, Calo and her.
“I… I saw them,” Bane said in a gruff voice, pressing his mate’s hand to his lips. “I could see them, with a mate.”
“I thought…,” Lesann blushed and bowed her head.
“What?” Cree had asked.
>
Lesann looked up. “I thought I heard a voice say Brogan and Barrack will be given a second chance,” she whispered.
“Maybe it was Aikaterina,” Melina commented. “She said she made a mistake. That she didn’t realize that it would be so hard for two alpha dragons and their men to find a woman strong enough to handle them both.”
“You… spoke with her?” Bane asked hoarsely as the others stared at Melina in shock.
“Yes,” Melina replied with a grin, looking at Cree and Calo. “She told me I had to show you that you were mistaken about Cree and Calo.”
Bane and Lesann had left shortly after that and the next day, the gifts and help had begun arriving. Calo and Cree had been quiet the rest of the afternoon after Melina admitted to speaking with the Goddess. Neither one of them doubted that she had spoken with the Goddess after she described what Aikaterina looked like, how she had floated, but most of all how Cree’s symbiot had flowed through her and gathered more gold.
Melina grinned as she remembered how their mouths had dropped open. She turned again seeking the sun when a shadow passed over her. A squeal escaped her when she was suddenly swept off her feet. Lyla’s laughter echoed behind her as she was tossed up into the air before being caught in the front fore claws of Calo’s dragon.
“Calo!” Melina squealed as she gripped his forearms. “What are you doing?”
We have a home of our own now, he rumbled down to Cree. Now, we need to fill it with dragonlings.
Melina, unaware of what he was saying, waved down to Creja and Cree who were standing on the back deck of their home. Cree roared after them. Happiness swept through her as he ran to the end of the deck and jumped, shifting as he did. Soon, Cree soared with them before settling on the left side of Calo.
It is time? She agreed? Cree demanded as he settled next to them.
Melina leaned back in Calo’s arms and sighed as she ran her hand over his chest. A low rumble escaped him. Love flooded him.
We can ask her afterwards, Calo chuckled.
Both of them watched as she raised her face to the sun. Never again would she be forced to pretend to be a boy. Never again would she have to live in the dark. And never, ever again would she be alone. They were both determined to make that wish came true.