Lula raised her head, shocked to find she was on the soft grass, lying with her mother cradling her in her lap. “What happened?” Yikes, was that her voice, so raw and raspy?
“Yes, that’s your voice that sounds like you’ve been gargling broken glass,” Jenna shouted, falling to her knees beside Lula.
“It’s my fault. I didn’t realize I had partially shifted and...and I nearly severed her arms with my talons. I must be exiled, my queen.” Belle’s eyes were closed, tears falling upon Lula.
“What? No. It was my fault. I went to the In-Between near the Mist. I knew I wasn’t supposed to go there.” She tried to sit up, but the world’s spinning prevented her from doing anything other than rolling out of the safety of her mother’s embrace. Goddess, what the heck happened between them standing and Jenna appearing?
“Shut up, both of you. First of all, nobody is being exiled. Second, Lula, you should know better than to go near the Mist when you’ve been told how dangerous it is. Your mother and I have told you since you were a baby dragonling, the dangers of it. We’ve never lied to you. Now, what is done is done. What we do now, is damage control. I need to see what you did and saw.” Jenna’s voice brooked no arguments.
Lula would’ve flashed away, but she couldn’t even get to her feet. Heck, she wasn’t even sure if she was in dragon form, or human. “I understand, and I’ll also understand if it is I you exile, Jenna.”
Jenna growled, something the Fey Queen didn’t do except to her mates.
The sound made Lula smile briefly. “Go ahead, invade my brain and while you’re there, can you figure out what I should do about my bearies?”
Before Jenna moved to touch her, Belle lifted Lula back onto her lap. “You’re my child. You’ll always be mine, no matter what. I’m sorry for what I did today. For the rest of my life I’ll never forget I almost killed my own flesh and blood.”
Lula brushed at the fresh tears running down her mother’s cheeks. If they’d been in dragon form, they’d have turned to jewels. “Mama, you didn’t mean to hurt me. Please don’t cry,” Lula begged.
Her mother wasn’t much larger than she was, but sitting there, wrapped in Belle’s arms, Lula felt like she had as a small child, loved and safe. How had her world gone from running from two possible bear mates, to almost dying?
“I said nobody was being exiled, dammit. Now, stop the crying. My babies cry, and my boobs leak. You two cry, and my eyes leak. I don’t like either of those things happening to me.” Jenna sat back with a sigh.
“What did you see?” Belle asked.
Fear snaked through her as she became aware Jenna had been inside her memories. Had seen what she’d seen. The purple eyes were wide as they met her and her mother’s. Jenna nodded, knowing exactly what needed to be told.
“Do you want to tell your mother, or should I?”
Lula licked her suddenly dry lips. “Can I stand up, please?” She hoped like all get out her legs would hold her.
Belle stood, her mother’s strength awe inspiring, helping Lula get her bearings. Lula paced a couple of feet away, wringing her hands. “I lied...to you earlier. I did see something when I was near the Mist. There was a great black dragon flying. Don’t freak out, Mama. He didn’t see me. I was gone in a flash and left no sign of myself, even if he’d been close enough to have seen me, which he wasn’t. I didn’t slip one scale into the Dragon Realm, I promise.”
“Your promises are meaningless, Lula. You promised to never go there, yet you did. Do you know a dragon can sense another even through realms if he or she even thinks they glimpsed another? Especially if one is linked through blood. If the black dragon you saw was your bloodkin, you could very well have exposed your birth to the very last dragon you should’ve. They will stop at nothing to hunt you and me down until we are captured and disposed of. Jenna, we must leave Fey. I won’t endanger you and the others.” Belle took a step backward, her arms out to her sides as if she prepared to shift.
“Stop right there, Belle.” Jenna pointed her finger at Belle then at Lula. “I’m afraid the damage is already done. Although Lula turned and ran and didn’t knowingly leave a trace of herself, I was able to see what happened afterward. As the chosen one of the Goddess, I can do things like that. The black dragon roared to the spot he thought he’d seen pink, a color he loved. Or rather, still loves, quietly so as not to upset the monarchy. He did as you’d said, sensed his blood. Even now, he is rushing to find the both of you. So, no matter where you go, or try to hide, he will find you. Although, I didn’t sense his need to kill either of you. In fact, the words I heard him roar were clear. He planned to claim you both and find a proper mate for his daughter.” Jenna pinned Lula with a glare.
“I have two mates, or rather two bearies who are going to be mine.” Lula pressed her fist over her heart. “He can’t make me mate a dragon, can he?”
Belle reached for Lula. “He’s the Dragon King. He can do anything he wants, Lula. Dammit, what have we done?”
THE ALPHA OF THE IRON Wolves was the first to move into their space, almost close enough he could take a swipe at them. Abyle watched the male, who had claws like he and his brother, knowing he was on the verge of shifting. He’d be a worthy adversary. Except he couldn’t combine into one beast like they could. A truth nobody but he and Atika were aware of. A truth they’d shared with no other, but if they had to do so, they would if it meant saving themselves in order to save their mate.
“Don’t, wolf, you don’t want to rattle our beast,” Abyle warned.
Kellen tilted his head to the side, nostrils flaring. “I saw what you were packing and no, I didn’t check out their junk.”
Several women snickered from the back, but he didn’t take his eyes off the threat in front of him. “What’s it gonna be, boys? You all gonna take us on, or tell us where our mate is?” There was no other option as far as he and Atika were concerned.
“Oh, for fucks sake, Kellen. How would you feel if someone kept me from you?”
“Lake, what did I tell you about letting me handle this, and you staying in my office?” Kellen growled, moving swiftly toward the petite female standing in an open doorway.
With the door open, Abyle heard two toddler boys chattering away. A pang of longing stabbed at his heart. Their younger brother recently found his mate in a little wolf, the first time in all of bear history to mate with one not of their own kind. Not to mention, Atlas was a thing of fables, being a dire bear and all. Thank fuck he took over as the head of their clan because neither he nor his twin wanted that title.
“They’re not going to eat our young, Kellen.” The woman named Lake, which was an odd name if you asked Abyle, sounded exasperated and not at all worried her mate was storming across the room toward her, with alpha anger radiating off him.
Abyle leaned against the wall, preferring to have a solid surface to his back with Atika next to him. They noticed a big wolf rubbing a weapon along the top of the bar. If they were in human form, it would certainly slow them down but not kill them. Silly wolves, who do they think they’re dealing with?
Atika elbowed him in the ribs, nudging his chin toward the bar. “I think the little one is the real threat.”