Chapter 49

Aiden
He gestured to Lukas and Gregory to sit in the chairs in front of his desk. He dragged his hand down his face, before looking at Lukas.
“I apologize for that, Lukas.”
He sat back in his chair, smirking. “I do believe she asked for it. I also have to say that I have never had to use my ice breath. That shit was impressive.”
Gregory chuckled. “Remind me to never piss you off.”
“He threatened Sasha. He more than deserved it.”
The door was flung open and Kalani stormed into the room followed by Sherri, Ana, Melissa and Raven. Gregory grinned and leaned back in his chair.
“Where’s the popcorn when you need it?,” he joked.
Lukas raised an eyebrow, but was wise enough to remain silent. She stormed over to the desk and pushed everything off of it. His computer’s screen shattered when it hit the ground.
“What in the hell were you thinking saying that in front of everyone? I don’t want to be in charge of someone’s life.” She leaned down, angrily, her eyes shifting rapidly from green to the red orange hue of her dragon. “I want to be in charge of all of their lives.”
Aiden blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I want to decide what happens to all of Tursum.”
“What do you want to do with them?”
“I want the town burned to the ground. I want them all laying dead at our feet.” She paused. “Most of them.”
“Who wouldn’t you kill?”
“Well, I would save Melissa and Sherri’s parents along with Raven’s adopted parents. I would also save…” She cleared her throat and looked away. “I would ask for Ethan to be allowed to come here with the others.”
Aiden jumped to his feet and his chair was thrust back so hard it toppled. “Absofuckinglutely not!,” he growled.
She rolled her eyes. “You are being so sensitive.”
“Why would you want to save him?”
“Because he was kind to us. He would bring me and Sasha food. Some nights when my mother would throw us out, he would let us sneak into his room so we could sleep safely. He did so much for us and never asked for anything in return.”
“Except for your sister to sleep with him.”
Kalani groaned. “He didn’t just want to fuck her, Aiden. He was in love with her. He probably still is. She told me when she went back he was the one that found her. He helped her.”
“Yeah, he helped her so much that if I had been three seconds later, she wouldn’t be here.”
“DID YOU FORGET YOU ARE THE REASON SHE LEFT! ETHAN TRIED TO SAVE HER! HE ASKED HER TO RUN AWAY WITH HIM! SHE MEANT EVERYTHING TO HIM!”
“AND DON'T YOU THINK THAT IS REASON ENOUGH TO NOT SAVE HIM! IF I BROUGHT HIM HERE, HE WOULD CHALLENGE ME FOR HER!”
“DO YOU THINK SHE WOULD CHOOSE HIM OVER YOU?!”
Aiden sighed. “Maybe.”
“Goddess, you are so stupid.”
She exhaled and flames leapt from her mouth. Aiden’s sleeve caught fire and Gregory jumped to his feet as Aiden patted the flames out.
“Galina?”
She turned to him, panic clear on her face. “What’s hap-”
Her body spasmed and Gregory scooped her up. Aiden hurried behind them.
“Ana, go get Sasha and hurry. We’re going to need her. Lukas, come on.”
Kalani’s spine bent her backward and another stream of fire was spit from her mouth. Ana darted off as Gregory sprinted out of the still destroyed doors. He laid her on the ground and within seconds had shifted. Dayan laid down beside her, nuzzling her body. Sasha came out of the castle with Ana running and panting beside her. She wasted no time sinking to her knees beside her sister. Lukas mimicked her position. He held out his hand to her and Sasha took it. He smiled at her.
“Wanna see something cool?”
“Sure.”
He winked at her, earning a growl from Aiden.
“You may be the Mother, but I am still the King.”
He leaned down to murmur in Kalani’s ear. “Ocius, parve. Faster, little one.” He took a deep breath. “And SHIFT!”
He pulled on Sasha’s aura and it strengthened his. Their power erected a large, bold yellow energy sphere and it grew until he ordered her to shift. The energy was shoved towards her and was absorbed into her body, making her shake violently. Wings came out of Lukas’s back and knocked Sasha out of the way. She flew backwards in the air.
Aiden sped towards her, his own wings coming out to shoot them both up into the sky as he caught her. Lukas skyrocketed up with them as Kalani roared. Her bones cracked and snapped. Her body started growing until it became fuzzy to look at, wavering in and out of sight. She screamed once and Dayan expelled fire around her, before covering her fully with his wings, uttering sounds of comfort. Lukas met Aiden’s eyes and tilted his head back to the ground.
Sasha looked down and was happy to see Ana had shifted into her gorgeous burgundy red dragon with gold highlights. A row of shimmering silver scales went down the center of her back. Her violet eyes glowed in the dark and her leathery black wings were out, making her appear larger. She stood over the other three girls, protecting them from everything. They landed on the ground and Sasha immediately pulled away from Aiden to move back to her little sister. Lukas landed in front of her and grabbed her around her waist.
“Wait, she’s going to release a spout of fire-”
He was cut off by a stream of fire passing around them. He pulled her closer and made her press her face into his chest. The fire licked at their skin, before moving past them, leaving them unscathed. When it had dissipated, he let her go and she spun around. A large crimson dragon was standing in front of Ana with their wings out, shielding the other girls from the fire. He shook his head and turned to look at Sasha. She glanced at where Dayan lay nuzzling into a beautiful silver and seafoam dragon’s side. The glistening blue ring around her head made her really look like royalty. She shook her head and looked back towards the red dragon. She slowly crept forward with her hand out. Her hand trembled and the red dragon lowered his head until her hand was pressed directly between its nostrils, which flared when she breathed out. Tingles exploded on her skin and she shivered.
“Mi- Mikhail?”
His coal black eyes closed. She climbed up on his snout to lay her forehead against his. She ran her hands over his scales.
“You are so gorgeous,” she murmured.
He slowly raised his head and she cried out. She hugged his face, squeezing tight. His wings flapped and they were in the clouds in no time.
‘Do you trust me?,’ his voice in her head.
She screamed and let go, startled. Her body rolled and then she flailed, trying to grasp onto the clouds to stop her descent.
‘Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m sorry. Hold on! I’m coming.’
She screamed and the wind whipped it away from her. Mikhail had his nose aimed down, flapping his wings hard.
‘Roll.’
She took a deep breath and struggled to turn over. Mikhail dropped under her and his wing went under her body, steadying her. He tilted himself and she went rolling down his wing. He straightened out when she hit his back. She stopped rolling and clung to his neck, panting.
‘Sorry, baby. I forgot to tell you that when you mark your mate, it creates what’s called a mindlink. You can reach out to me via it and I can talk to you through it, too,’ Aiden whispered in her mind. ‘You picture my face and let your mind open. Then you just say whatever you want and I will hear it.’
‘Thank you for saving me.’
‘I always will. Do you think you can sit up? I promise to not let you fall again.’
She took a deep breath and pushed herself up until she straddled the base of his neck. Her eyes widened when mist hit her face and the air whipped sharply around her. She closed her eyes and stretched her arms out. She moaned softly.
‘Hold on.’
Her legs tightened and she wound her hands through the short black mane on his neck. He angled down again and excitement made her cry out in ecstasy. His body moved under hers like a snake slithering over rocks. She started to laugh, but it was cut off suddenly when she saw water rapidly approaching. He dove under the water until only she was above it. His wings propelled them through the water and she trailed her fingers along it. Fish darted away from them and frogs jumped into the water to escape from them.
She stood and climbed up on the top of his head. She pressed a kiss to his large ear before taking a running leap off of his snout. She sliced through the water quickly and he chased her. After ten minutes of chasing her, he sucked water into his mouth and she was pulled backwards. He wrapped his enormous arms around her and shot up into the sky again. He shifted back into his human form and let her go. She began to drop again.
She twisted in the air to angle herself towards the water. Aiden appeared under her, almost grinning. He wrapped his arms around her and flapped his wings. Their trajectory changed, aiming them towards a field full of flowers. His wings wrapped around them seconds before they hit the ground. His large wings took the entirety of the impact, protecting them until they rolled to a stop. He landed on top of her, smiling down at her.
“You are so beautiful in the moonlight, Ash.”
She looked up at him, her tongue too thick to reply. She reached up to touch his face.
“Aiden…”
“Yes, my queen?”
She pushed her hand under his shirt to walk her fingers up his chest. She wrapped her other arm around his neck and pulled him down to kiss her. She closed her eyes and moaned softly into his mouth.
“I’ve wanted you for years,” she whispered, before kissing him deeper. She wrapped her legs around his waist. “Make my dreams come true, Aiden.”