Chapter 51

Ethan
Preston sighed and stood up. He tossed his cards on the table.
“Well, I guess I’ll do this patrol.”
Ethan hurried to his feet. “I’ll do it.”
“What are you looking for on these patrols, brother?”
“Nothing,” he denied.
Preston shrugged and sat back down. “Have fun, then.” He waited for Ethan to step through the door to speak again. “You won’t find her again. The king has made it clear that she was his.”
“Shut up,” Ethan hissed, before slamming the door on his brother's laughter.
He jogged away from the guard shack quickly. He went towards the east, making a clear decision to leave the west territory for his way back. The closer he got to the end of his patrol, the slower he moved. He stuck his hands angrily in his pocket as he approached the last place he had seen Sasha. He stopped across the road from the trees she had hid in. He leaned back against the wall, sighing. He would have never taken her to her mother if he had known the outcome.
He had never wanted to give her over to her murderous mother. He had thought she had just come home for a visit, but her mother had ordered her to be executed and that man saved her. That man claimed her and he hated him. She was his. He was going to save her from that life. She didn’t deserve that. He knew men like that. Men who thought they owned women. Men who slept with a different woman every night. Men who would bring another woman to bed and fully expected his women to get along. He hated them all.
He growled, making birds fly off under the threat he posed. Artyom, his dragon, shifted his hand as he flew across the dirt road to tear into a tree with his talons. He roared and a blast of fire flattened all the trees in front of him. He sank to his knees, once again regretting that he hadn’t gone to her execution. He hated that he hadn’t tried to save her.
He would have rather died beside her than live with the knowledge that she was probably under that asshole as he thought about it. Hushed voices neared him and he rolled behind some bushes when he recognized Anastasia’s voice. He peered out and saw her walking with a strange man. His skin was so dark that if it hadn’t been for the white’s of his eyes he would have blended in fully with the darkness. Artyom growled when they saw his mother hanging off his arm. What in the hell was going on?
“Corbius, how are things at the castle?”
“Well, the king has chosen Sasha. From what I hear, he killed the beta to prevent him from taking her for the week. He has had Tiffany thrown into the dungeons.”
“For what?!,” Anastasia yelled.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t been down to talk to her yet. My cousin doesn’t trust me and has been watching me closely, but I have figured out how to get down there and will be going later today.”
“Do it tonight! Do not fail me! Before you go, come to see me and I will give you what she needs to escape. I want my daughter home!” She stopped to study Corbius. “You say Sasha has not mated with the king yet?”
“That’s what is being said.”
“If she mates with the king she will come for us. All of us. We need to stop her before she realizes what she is.”
“And what exactly is she, Madame Anastasia?”
Anastasia glared at his mother. “Have you never wondered why your son was so enamored with her?” She smirked and tilted her head. “That little unwanted parasite I was cursed with has a very powerful father. Have you heard the name Sterling Lincoln?”
“The dragon’s king of kings?,” Corbius asked, shocked.
“The very same. Her brother just took the throne.”
“That makes her the Mother of Dragons.” Corbius narrowed his eyes on her. “And that would make Kalani-”
“The Secunda Regina.”
‘We do not love her, because she is the Mother of Dragons. We didn’t know!,’ Artyom said.
Ethan glared at the three people currently plotting against his woman. ‘I know, Art. Now, shush. We need to listen.’
“What have you got us into, Anastasia?,” Corbius hissed. “Do you have any idea how bad this is for us?”
“I am not afraid of the three of them. They will never meet, so their combined power will never be a problem.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Both King Lukas and former King Sterling are at the palace with them.”
“They’re what?”
“You heard me.”
“Tell Tiffany that before she comes home, she is to kill both the king and that little traitor, Sasha.” She turned to walk away. “Oh, and tell her that I will give her both Ethan and Preston if she kills the other tramp, too.”
“My sons are not a bargaining tool,” his mother growled.
Anastasia laughed. “Your sons are whatever I need them to be and right now, they are a bribe. Go fuck your mate, Corbius. Enjoy it as it might be the last time you get the chance to. If you fail me, I will kill her. I am going to get a potion ready and pack some ice crystals for her. Come see me before you leave. Your sons will be home in less than an hour, so I would hurry.”
Power came from Anastasia and in seconds she was in the air, zipping in the direction of her house. Corbius lifted his mother, squeezing her ass.
“What do you say, baby? Want to go party with me?”
“You aren’t worried that she is going to kill me?,” she asked.
He grinned at her. “Not at all. I will not fail.”
She kissed him and nodded. “Let’s go.”
They disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving behind nothing, but a wisp of smoke. Ethan got up and wiped his clothes off. He had to warn her. He would not fail her again. Maybe he could finally get her to agree to come away with him. He sprinted back to the shack. Preston raised an eyebrow at him.
“You ok?”
“Yeah. Do you mind if I take off early? I am not feeling good.”
Preston waved his hand. “Go on.”
Ethan jogged out of the shack, before letting his wings come out. He felt Artyom stretch excitedly.
‘Calm down. We need to go get the pixie dust from the armory. We can’t be seen leaving or returning.’
Artyom groaned, but agreed. They rapidly completed the first part of their task, before covering themselves in the glitter like powder.
‘Go, Art. Make it fast.’
He took a running leap into the air and Artyom caught him, swiftly flapping their wings. Clouds sped past them and mist made his skin damp. He sighed. He would have to reapply the pixie dust when he landed, which he did so a little over 3 hours later. He re- coated himself in the dust and began to creep through the courtyards. He was still searching for a way in when he saw Corbius walking through the gates, smiling and greeting everyone. He looked so at home, so sure of himself here.
‘Let’s just kill him,’ Artyom growled.
‘We can’t. If we do, mom dies.’
‘She is plotting against Sasha, too.’
“But she is still my mother,’ Ethan snapped back.
Artyom shut up and let Ethan focus on following Corbius into the castle. He walked around for a bit, before casually strolling down a set of stairs. Ethan tensed when he saw Tiffany lying on a cot, with her legs crossed at the ankle and her arms crossed behind her head, appearing to not have a care in the world. He looked over her body as Corbius repeated her mother’s instructions to her. Goddess, how he had hated pretending that he wanted her when all he had wanted to do was walk around with Sasha hanging off of his arm, letting everyone know she belonged with him. Tiffany was never his type. She was too cold hearted for a dragon. They liked warmth and Sasha had that constantly radiating from her very soul.
“I don’t want Ethan! I heard he was with that whore Sasha!” She tapped her chin. “On second thought, I will mate him and have his babies. I will make him regret that he ever touched her.” She tucked the small vials under her pillow. “Tell my mother I look forward to coming home. I will not fail her again.”
Corbius snorted. “See that you don’t or it won’t be your mother you have to run from.”
He didn’t wait for her response, before walking off. Ethan followed him again, except this time he veered off, slowly searching through the rooms, looking for a safe spot to leave Sasha a warning. He hated that he hadn’t seen her. He wanted to ask her to leave with him again. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her lips. He wanted to hear her finally say that she loved him, too. He opened a door to the office and the power that still lingered in the air, made him instantly know that this was the king’s office. He entered and went to the desk. He picked up a pen and grabbed a paper.
‘Tiffany is planning to escape and has orders to kill Sasha, Kalani and you. Please, protect her. She is everything to a lot of people.’
He taped it to the computer screen, praying that the king would see it, before it was too late. He prayed that the king would heed his warning without questioning it too much.
‘We have to go or people will get suspicious,’ Artyom murmured to him.
He added more pixie dust to his body before racing out of the castle. A shriek of laughter stopped him as it washed over him. He closed his eyes. Sasha. He turned around and saw two figures about a hundred feet in the air. A large crimson dragon was doing spins and loops in the sky as it torpedoed down towards the ground, before leveling out. She climbed up on his head, before taking a running leap off of his snot. He shifted back in the air, diving after her. She put her arms out and his heart started pounding painfully as he watched her near the ground.
The king grabbed her wrist and swung her around on his back as his wings came out to shoot them towards a balcony on the fourth floor. She landed on the ground, still laughing. She looked so beautiful and happy. What he wouldn’t give to have her look at him like that. The wind blew and her head snapped around to stare in his direction. He took a step towards them. She leaned over the balcony and inhaled deeply. The king watched her curiously, before taking a sniff, too.
“Ethan,” she called out.
He grabbed her arm and spun her back around. He glared down at her and said something to her. She jerked away from him as she responded. He could feel her anger from there. He raised his hand and Ethan took off across the yard. King or no king, if he hit her he was dead. He cupped her cheek and Ethan stopped. His thumb stroked her cheek as he spoke softly to her. She smiled, nodding. She raised her face to him and Ethan's heart shattered at the tender way he kissed her.
Sasha closed her eyes, leaning against his chest. He scooped her up and kissed her forehead. Well, fuck. The king was actually in love with her. The feeling of losing her started choking him for the third time in a month. It devastated Artyom, too, to see that his Sasha might not be his Sasha any more, but it didn’t matter. He would still do everything he could to protect her, even if it meant saving his competitor's life, too. Things had just gotten really interesting, to say the least.