“Do not touch me. I’ll be fine.” Belle went to step away, stumbled and fell, rolling onto her uninjured side. As she did, she shifted into her human form.
Lula gasped, shifting herself. “Oh, Mama.”
Atika moved to protect her, Abyle on her other side, their growls as the dragons got too close letting the males know they would kill if they had to.
“Your males attacked first, Nikai, and your friend did that to Belle. I will kill him,” Creed said, moving toward the male in question.
Nikai tossed his arm out. “I will take care of him.” He got to his feet, moving toward the other dragon. “Why did you attack when I told you to hold?”
“We were protecting ourselves,” Gaiston said.
“I see what happened here. I’m a royal of the Dark House. Do you not think I can’t see into the past? The truth is right here.” He waved his hand, showing them what he saw like a movie scene. The vision of the dragons swooping down, aiming for the pink dragons without pause, without a care for their lives. Within the scene, their intentions flowed out, the black dragon’s magic making even their thoughts broadcast as if they’d spoken their deepest thoughts. They had no desire for the two females to return to their lands.
“What sorcery is this?” Gaiston muttered.
Nikai grabbed him by the throat. “It is not sorcery but power, you fool.” Without a pause, he ripped the other man’s head from his neck, tossing it toward Creed.
Creed batted it away. “Ew, why you throwing me that?”
“I thought you liked that kind of shit?” Nikai shrugged, letting the rest of the body fall to the ground. “Anyone else?”
“Well, you thought wrong. I do not now, nor have I ever enjoyed head. Wait, I mean I enjoy getting head, from my mate. Ah, sheot, fuck it. I’m going home and getting laid unless I need to kill some more dragons?” Creed growled at the other dragons staring at him with a look of horror.
“I think you can go, big guy.” Jenna patted his leg.
“Thank you, My Queen. And ah, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell Reina about the head part.” Creed glared around him.
Atika covered his own laughter with a cough. He wasn’t going to have the eighty-foot fucker smack him around. “Where did she go?” he dared to ask, although, if he’d had his way, he’d have sent Lula off somewhere safe as well.
“Once the battle started, my demon was able to focus on who to kill and not to kill, so I sent her back home where she belonged. Of course, she’s going to rip my head off, not actually rip it off, but you know. 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.
When Creed flashed away, Atika let the laughter escape. He wasn’t going to call the crazy male his BFF, but they could be friends, if the other beast didn’t eat him. Wait, did he just say he was a freak? Hello pot said the kettle.
“Yo, pot, I don’t like bear, especially metal ones. Ew,” Creed said inside his head.
Chapter Nine
LULA KNELT NEXT TO her mother, worried about the amount of blood she continued to lose. “Mama, tell me what to do. How can I make the bleeding stop?”
Nikai knelt next to her. “It’s from a dragon.”
She glared at the male. “What the fuck does that mean? I’m a dragon. I can fix her.”
“A female doesn’t talk to a male like that,” Nikai growled.
“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, so you have no right to say anything to me.” Lula turned back to her mother, who was getting weaker by the second.
“I never told your mother any such thing. 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, but also mine, it was then I realized who you were. It was why I was coming for you both.”
“You lie,” Belle gasped, trying to sit up.
The acrid scent of her blood increased.
“Don’t you move, female,” Nikai roared, placing his palm over the wound. Golden light went from him to her mother. Lula had tried to heal Belle, but she couldn’t. Something was blocking her, but she didn’t know what, making her feel inept.
Abyle’s rested his comforting touch on her shoulder, followed by Atika on the other side. Her mates stood protective, ready to take on whatever came at her. “Your body is protecting our young, Lula Love,” Abyle whispered at her ear.
She jerked, her hands going to her stomach. During the battle she’d forgotten about their beast. The very fact they became one had amazed and freaked her out. However, this announcement was almost too much for her to take. She needed her mother to live so she could help her.
“What kind of child am I having?” she asked, Abyle and Atika.
“Our child. Does our beast disgust you? We don’t always merge into one, only when needed. Usually we are just two lumbering grizzly bears,” Abyle growled.
“Yeah, about that freaky fucking beast. You two out-freak Kellen,” Xan called.
“Goddess, he has no sense of self preservation, I swear,” Jenna muttered.
“He’s kinda right, though. I mean, I’m not saying I’m a freak, but those two becoming a fucking huge beasty-bear thing. Freaky as fuck.” Kellen clapped. “So, if we ain’t needed to kill, I’d like to go home and fuck my mate.”
“Do they ever shut up?” Nikai asked.
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 all home? I’m a little under the weather at the moment.”
“Halt, you cannot take Belle anywhere. Her life is tied to mine.” Nikai’s words dropped into the silence like a meteor on Earth.
“Belle, you were dying. I had to give you a piece of me to save you.”
Lula was sure she’d heard wrong, but she’d known the wound her mother had suffered was bad. “Was it just the one, or are the rest sentenced to death?” she asked, wondering which dragon she could kill. She’d kill all the bastards who’d tried to kill them.
“The one who tried to kill Belle is dead. The others were following his orders, as he was my second, and they thought they were my orders,” Nikai said, his voice low and deadly.
“What does this mean for my mother?” Lula let the subject go, her worry for the Dragon Realm meaningless as she held her mother, happy to feel the strength and warmth returning.
“She must come home with me.”
Belle sat up, shaking her head. “No way, Nikai. I won’t be accepted, and I won’t live like I did when I was young. I have a life and family who accept me as I am, damaged and all. I will not go back to a realm with people who look at me and my scales as if I’m less than.”
“You won’t be treated as anything other than my Queen, Belle. For 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—”