Chapter 26

Kalani
How dare he have the nerve to get between her and Sasha? He didn't know it, but she would always choose Sasha over him. He had another thing coming if he thought they weren't going to talk about this. She stepped out into the King's private garden, hurrying over to the other girls. They looked up at her and immediately went on alert.
"What happened?"
"Something happened between Aiden and Sasha. She used our safe word."
Raven's eyes widened. "What? Where is she?"
"I don't know, but we need to find her."
They all nodded in agreement, before standing up. Kalani led them upstairs to the main hallway before pointing to the left of the courtyard.
"Melissa, go that way. Sherri, go straight. Raven, go to the right. I'll go around and take the back. Please, if you find her, convince her to come back. We have to help her fix this with Aiden. She's the reason we are here together and don't have a death threat hanging over our heads."
Kalani put her hand in the middle of their little circle. The others put theirs on top of hers.
"TEAM SOMA!," they all screamed, before Kalani watched them dart off in their assigned directions.
Kalani turned around and ran straight into Gregory who had been watching them. She walked right past him, ignoring his presence. He fell into step beside her.
"Annie-"
She spun on him angrily. She moved closer to him until she was pressed against his chest with her eyes shooting daggers at him.
"What the fuck just happened between them?"
"He found out she had been lying about being blind. If she was lying about that, what else is she lying about?"
"You have no idea what the hell you just did," she spat, backing away from him. "You have no idea how much he means to her." She punched him in the arm. "And you fucking helped crush her. What in the hell is wrong with you?"
"The king said-"
Her hands fisted by her side and she straightened to her fullest height of 5'6. "Hear me and hear me good. FUCK THE KING!"
She turned around and stormed off. He chased behind her and snatched her off the ground. She lashed out, swinging wildly with her fists and legs. He carried her down the hallway, up the stairs and deposited her on his bed. She jumped up and tried to dart around him. He grabbed her around the waist and tossed her right back onto the bed, where she bounced a few times before stopping. She snarled at him and he leaned against the door, cutting off that route of escape.
"Look, Annie-"
"MY NAME IS KALANI!"
He narrowed his eyes on her. "Annie, I tried to talk to him out of doing this. I told him to talk to her. I didn't want to say that to her!"
She glared at him. "What did you say to her?"
He sighed and dragged his hand down his face. "I told her she would never be our queen."
Her eyes widened as she stared at him. She stood on the edge of the bed, using it to make herself look bigger.
"You said what to her?"
"You heard me."
"Why would you say that to her?"
"The king said he couldn't have a queen he couldn't trust."
She picked up the lamp on the bedside table and launched it at him. He ducked and it shattered behind his head.
"Annie, please, I don't want to fight with you."
She grabbed the other lamp off the other table and pulled it back, letting him know she was about to throw it, too.
"I know why she was made to lie to you guys. I know that she didn't want to. I also know that she could have completed her task more than once since we have been here, but she hasn't. I know that he has her questioning her entire life. I know that he had almost won her over. Now, on the off chance that we do find her, he has no chance with her."
"What makes you think he would even want her?"
She threw the lamp at him. "THEN THE KING WOULD BE A FUCKING FOOL IF HE DIDN'T."
"So what do you want to do, then, Annie? WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?!," he roared back.
She sat on the edge of the bed with her hands clasped between her knees.
"I want to help them fix this," she whispered sadly. "He's the love of her life, even before she knew he was real."
He came over to stand in front of her. He brushed her hair back and tilted her face up.
"I guess we better go find her then, huh, because she's his, too." She sniffled and he wiped her tears away, before pulling her forward to rest her face against his stomach "I love you, Annie," he murmured to her softly, as he stroked his hand through her hair.
She wound her arms around his waist. "Do you really?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I do."
She sighed. “Don’t be mean to Aja. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”
He rubbed her back. “Ok. I’m sorry.”
She squeezed his waist. “It’s not me you need to apologize for. Now, we should go look for her.”
“You’re gonna let me come?”
She pulled back to smile up at him. “Who better to accompany me than the king’s right hand man who has spent his whole life being a naughty little boy and hiding from his parents? I bet you know where all the best hiding spots are.”
He picked her up to kiss her softly. “And who better to protect the fairest of maidens than a big bad mean dragon?”
She giggled. “Exactly.”
He set her down and took her hand. Kalani looked down at their joined hands.
“What are you doing?”
He lifted their hands to kiss the back of hers. “I’m letting everyone know you are mine.”
“But the king-”
He put his forehead against hers. “Fuck the king, right?”
She giggled. “Fuck the king,” she shouted as she wrapped her arm around his neck to kiss him again.
He spanked her ass. “But let’s not scream that too loud, okay?”
“Alright.”
He led her outside, before stepping away from her.
“Don’t move.”
He jogged a few dozen yards away and shifted. Her eyes widened as she took in his majestic dragon. What had appeared to be green scales the night before were actually a shimmery sea blue green color with silver highlights. His huge midnight black wings lay folded against his body. His orange eyes glistened at her as he slowly approached her. He stopped a few feet away watching her, with his taloned feet digging nervously into the ground. He lowered his head to the ground, almost as if he was bowing to her. She slowly crept over to him, taking in his body. She put her hand on his side, before moving it down his ribs. He trembled as she continued to move her hands over his body. Where she had expected him to be slimy and cold, he was warm to the touch and his scales were a soft hardness. After a few minutes of exploring him, she walked to the front of him to lay her body on his large snout. She pressed her cheek into the area between his eyes.
“You are so beautiful, Dayan,” she whispered.
He let out a little growl, before slowly and gently lifting his head. She slid down his long neck until she had hit his back and lay between his shoulder blades. She giggled and positioned herself, so that she was sitting upright on him. He turned his neck to stare at her. He took a mouthful of his glorious black mane and nudged her with it slightly. She took it from him and wound her hands through it, before leaning closer to his body. His wings unfurled and she gasped at just how wide they were able to spread. He flapped them and in no time they were flying a little over 100 feet in the air, covering distances that would have taken her hours to search. He took her through the forest, over the many gardens, past countless fields and over rivers, streams and creeks, before taking her back to the castle. The other girls waited out front for her and when they landed, the girls gawked at her. Dayan leaned to the right, setting his wing on the ground for her to slide down to the ground. He lifted it a little, helping her stand upright, before shifting back. Kalani stared at him in shock.
“How are you still dressed?”
He laughed as he draped his arm over her shoulder. “All our clothes are charmed. They basically melt into our human bodies so that when we shift, our dragons don’t shred them.” He kissed her forehead. “So, what now?”
“Now, we go tell the king what an asshole he is.”
“Annie, we can’t just go cuss the king out.”
She tapped his cheek. “You can’t, but I don’t care. I am not afraid of death.” She pushed invisible sleeves up. “Now, where is the fucker?”
Gregory stared at her in awe. “It’s lunch time. My bet is, he is in the dining hall.”