Page 31

Chapter Thirty-One

Colbie

W e let ourselves into the council building and climb the stairs to the second floor. The familiar scents of my mates reach my nose, and we track them to a closed door. Hunter doesn’t bother to knock, instead pushing it open and letting us in. We find my other mates sitting around, drinking coffee, and they turn their attention to us. Each of them is in a state of undress, wearing only a pair of sweatpants they must have had in their backpacks. I swallow deeply at seeing all their delicious shifter flesh on display. Liam smirks and gives me a wink when I wipe the corner of my mouth to make sure I’m not drooling.

“You’re finally here!” Brodie jumps to his feet and comes over, pulling me to his chest. I drop Hunter’s hand, who growls, but Brodie just shushes him before giving me a scorching kiss.

“Easy, you big lizard. We’re all going to feel a little needy until the mating drive settles. You know it can take a while,” he scolds the dragon when he pulls away. Suddenly, we are surrounded by the others, and I’m passed from Brodie to Liam, then Gryffin and Gem. They smother me with affection, telling me how much they missed me before I finally end up in Micah’s arms.

I’m a little unsure about us. I barely know the guy, but my creatures don’t care. They know our mate, and they pulse with the unsealed bond, pushing me to take care of what nature intended. I grit my teeth and squeeze my hands into fists to stop myself from mauling the mer. I can see by the lines around his lips and eyes and the tension in his body that he is also having trouble restraining himself.

“Hi,” I murmur, and I hear him take a deep breath and blow it out again before he grimaces.

“Wow, fighting the need is a lot harder than I thought it would be,” he admits, “but unless we want to run the bath and have a very awkward mating, it’s going to have to wait,” he explains, knowing exactly what I’m feeling.

“Okay, but as soon as we find a body of water big enough, we are taking care of this unbearable need,” I tell him, and he nods.

“Even if it’s frozen solid, we will get fire starters to melt it for us,” he agrees before leaning in and pressing a gentle kiss to my lips, then he pulls away and stalks to the other side of the room.

I clear my throat and take a couple of breaths, centering myself so I don’t chase him. “Okay, we need to speak to Lena and her mates. We have to ask her about Nox. I didn’t see him anywhere yesterday, and I’m worried about what that means. His truck was definitely in that parking lot, and if he isn’t here, then where is he?” My worry returns with a vengeance, my mind conjuring all kinds of scenarios. Did the lion kill him like he attempted to do to us? Did they already succeed in blocking me from the crown? Or is Nox out there somewhere in the world, doing his darn best to avoid me?

“Yes, let’s get them working on the location of the children, and then we can focus on finding your last two mates. Maybe they know where Nox might have gone since he isn’t here.” Gem tips his coffee mug back, finishing it before going to the kitchen and placing it in the dishwasher.

He grabs the pot of coffee and two cups and pours both Hunter and me a mug before adding milk and sugar to mine and leaving his black. Gem passes them to us, giving me a kiss on the cheek before walking in what I assume is the direction of the bedrooms. The rest of them follow suit.

“There’s cereal in the cupboard and milk and fruit in the fridge if you’re hungry,” Gryffin tells me before following the others.

I sink down on one of the chairs and take a sip of my coffee, sighing with relief as it hits my taste buds while Hunter pulls out a couple of bowls and holds up a box of cereal.

“Yeah, I guess I should eat, though my stomach is in knots at the thought of this meeting. I assumed unicorns were supposed to be all gentle and serene, but Lena is more like a freaking dragon,” I grumble as he pours us bowls and adds milk before bringing them over to the table.

He chuckles. “Yeah, she certainly doesn’t fit the stereotype, but years of needing to put your walls up to avoid being hurt probably did that to her, not to mention resentment at how her children had to suffer is enough to make any parent defensive.”

He slides the bowl over, and I waste no time inhaling it. We certainly worked up an appetite last night, but I still wasn’t tempted when Hunter suggested we shift and go find a deer or something for our dragons to snack on. Gross.

It doesn’t take long for the others to return dressed in their watch outfits with backpacks over their shoulders. Mine was left behind at the cabin, so it’s lucky that Hunter had this dress and a spare uniform for me.

We finish our breakfast and clean up, leaving the suite as neat as it must have been prior to the guys’ visit. There are a few personal items lying around, and I assume they belong to one of the dudes we killed, but they won’t be needing them now.

“Let’s go. I’d like to knock on the door of their house. I’m hoping having us in their home might keep them a little off-balance.” Hunter opens the door and leads the way outside, and we cross a clearing, heading in the direction they told us they lived before they left last night.

“Good thinking. She might not be so aggressive in her own space,” Gem suggests, and Liam scoffs.

“Or even more aggressive.”

We knock on their door. It doesn’t take long before a bleary-eyed Johan opens the door and does a double take when he sees us.

“Sorry to wake you,” I say, realizing just how early it is, or maybe they are still recovering from the last couple of weeks. “We need to get moving, and I wanted to iron out a few things with you.”

He rubs his eyes but gestures for us to enter. “I apologize. We planned to meet with you this morning, but I guess we were more tired than we realized.”

He shows us into a comfortable but stylish living area and gestures for us to take a seat. “Just give us a moment, and we will be right with you,” he tells us before hurrying to retrieve the rest of his family and get dressed. I can’t stop myself from eyeing his muscular back as he leaves. Nox’s dads are hot, but then so are Hunter’s and Gryffin’s dads. The slow aging of a shifter makes them look like they are only in their late thirties.

“Are you creeping on your mates’ dads?” Brodie laughs as I wince, feeling my cheeks heat.

“Not really, I was just marveling at how good shifter genes are. I wonder how old they are. Hell, Gryff’s moms and dad are in their sixties but barely look old enough to have kids, let alone ones as old as him and the girls,” I point out, scowling at them when they continue to find amusement in my observations.

Before anyone can make another comment, a gray and white streak of fur flies at me from somewhere. “Agh!” I scream, holding my arms up as it launches itself at me, its claws catching me across the back of one hand.

It doesn’t get any farther, because Liam snatches it out of the air and holds it in front of him with two hands. It instantly relaxes and starts purring, so he tucks it under his arm and strokes its head. I glare at them, not hiding my feelings for the insufferable animal.

“Damn, love, that cat really doesn’t like you,” Gem comments with wide eyes.

I glare at Stormheart with loathing. “The feeling is fucking mutual. Stormheart is a fucking menace to society,” I mutter when a clearing throat has us turning our attention to the newcomers in the room.

Nox’s dads look bemused, but Lena narrows her eyes on me much like the stupid animal. “How do you know my son’s cat?”

“Stormheart and I are familiar with one another,” I reply vaguely.

“And it doesn’t like you? Why is that?” Before I can answer her, Santos chuckles.

“Don’t be like that, Lena. You know that cat doesn’t like any female around Nox. It’s just as aggressive toward you.”

She scowls at her mate before reluctantly nodding her head. “Despite me giving him to Nox, he has an aversion to me. Nox must have stopped in some time recently, and when he didn’t find us, he left a note asking us to watch the damn thing for him while he went to Chaos Kingdom for a job interview. Would you care to explain just how you know my son?”

I decide to give her a half-truth, not quite ready to reveal everything. “Nox and I are recent acquaintances. He lives in the same town my grandparents are from, and we ran into each other one day when I was out walking on the beach.”

“How didn’t he notice something was wrong in this village?” Hunter asks, sounding suspicious. I can’t blame him. Even if his parents weren’t here, he should have noticed things weren’t quite right with everything else.

“I’m guessing he dropped by at night. He would have assumed we were asleep, and he knew that everyone would be inside due to the curfew,” Christos replies.

“And he wouldn’t have had to use the pass to get to the kingdom if he shifted and flew, so he wouldn’t have needed to worry about ferals,” Santos reasons.

I guess that all makes sense.

There’s an awkward pause and I guess it probably time to approach the subject of Nox

Lena hasn’t torn her gaze away from me, and I can see her eyeing my new mate mark on my neck. I don’t think there is much this woman misses, and I really don’t want to be an enemy to her.

“Do you recognize this mark?” I ask her, waving a hand at the guys, and Gem lifts his shirt, showing Nox’s parents their bond group mark.

The three males let out noises of surprise, but Lena hisses at me. “You stupid girl. What have you done? Nox doesn’t want anything to do with a bond group.”

“Lena, enough,” Johan snaps. “We have been telling him he’s wrong since day one. His bond group would not reject him, just like ours didn’t reject you or me.” I guess that means Johan is the pegasus in the family.

Tears well in her eyes. “You don’t know that. He’s suffered enough,” she argues, but Gryff shakes his head. Before he can open his mouth and say something, though, Christos gestures to the furniture.

“Take a seat. Let’s be comfortable for this discussion.”

We do as he suggests, and Gryffin continues. “We don’t care what he is, only that he is missing. We were told by a seer a few years ago that we would have another bond mate. I have been searching for him ever since. In fact, I was here, in this village, a few days ago, looking for him. The alpha I saw denied knowing a shifter with the same mark, but I now know he wasn’t the rightful alpha.”

“He wouldn’t have known anyway. Even though equines are welcome here—or were—Nox is gun-shy from his treatment in the village we lived in previously, so he kept it to himself. Not all of them were bad, but a good portion of his friends turned on him once they realized he was going to be a pegasus or a unicorn,” Santos explains.

“Yes, they hadn’t understood there wasn’t a chance he would be a dragon until they learned about dragon mating in high school shifter biology, and then it all went downhill from there,” Johan adds.

I nod, remembering my brief lesson on dragon matings.

“And then not only was he a pegasus, but when he first shifted, he was pink because of my genetics. They never let him hear the end of their torment,” Lena admits, tears streaking freely down her face.

“He’s a pink pegasus?” I ask carefully, grabbing Gem’s hand while trying to control my excitement. He gives me a small squeeze.

“Yes,” Christos confirms warily, a frown between his eyebrows.

“What color was my pegasus?” I ask the guys with excitement. I don’t think anyone mentioned it, and I can’t remember.

“She was a beautiful white with a gorgeous pink mane and tail,” Brodie says cheerfully, and Nox’s parents gape at me.

“You’re a pegasus too?” Johan asks carefully.

“Amongst other things,” I confirm, and they look confused. I sigh. It’s probably time to come clean, and maybe they will trust me a little more. “I have multiple forms. In fact, I have one for each of my mates as well as a hydra,” I explain.

Santos stammers, “A hydra? Holy crap. And a multi shifter as well? You really are impressive, Queen Colbie.”

My cheeks heat with embarrassment.

“How many mates do you have?” Lena asks, her eyes calculating as they move from me to each of the guys.

“Eight in total, and Nox is one of them,” I tell her, and she shakes her head adamantly.

“No, bond groups are never eligible to be mated to the queen.”

“Well, this time I can tell you that isn’t the case. I have their mate mark on my back, otherwise I would show you,” I state firmly.

“We can confirm she’s telling the truth. We would never have gone against the goddess and mated her if it wasn’t there,” Liam growls, sounding just as annoyed with her as I’m starting to feel.

“Eight mates,” Johan murmurs. “I don’t think there has ever been a royal with quite so many.”

“And there won’t be again.” Gem puts an arm around my shoulders and tucks me in next to him. “The goddess told Colbie that she will be the last chosen human, and that the title will be hereditary now.” Gem takes the time to remind them of the long conversation we had the night before.

“So essentially you need to finish gathering your mates so you can be crowned and take on the human and shifter factions that are plotting against you?” Johan crosses his arms and slumps in his chair. “And you need our son to do that.”

“Yes. Challenge day is coming soon, and although she’s powerful, she can’t be crowned if they kill one of her mates before they are mated, and then the power will be free to grab,” Micah replies, and Lena looks at him.

“How many mates does she have left to bond with?”

“Me and two others,” he answers. “We need a body of water for us to use, otherwise I would have already sealed the deal,” he says boldly, and I feel my cheeks heat at his declaration. His confidence is sexy, and he isn’t wrong. I want to go swimming with him so badly.

“So Nox and one other…” Christos looks at me. “Do you know who it is?”

“We assume it’s a fairy because of some choices the queen made, mainly to include the three outcast breeds on the council,” Gryffin replies, “but we were hoping once you track down who has the children, you could track her final mate.”

“You don’t want us to track the mate first?” Lena raises an eyebrow in surprise, and I shake my head vehemently.

“No. Those children and their parents need your attention first.” I think I surprise her, but she looks pleased.

“But some might say the future of the shifter race lies with you, so it’s important that you find your final mate,” Santos counters, playing devil’s advocate, and I grimace.

“Yes, you may be right, but I can’t stand the thought of those children being scared and alone and forced to bite others.”

The four of them seem to have a silent conversation between them. They are probably using bond telepathy, but they don’t leave us hanging long.

“Very well. We will start the search for the children while you go to Chaos Kingdom and find my son. You can use the rift access point easily enough,” Lena announces, standing up and plucking Stormheart from Liam’s arms. He yowls and tries to scratch her, and she screws up her nose and thrusts him at Johan who takes him. The cat settles down once again, and I can’t help the burst of laughter that barrels out of my chest.

“I’m sorry,” I say when they all look at me, “but it’s a relief to know I’m not the only one he hates.”

She grins wryly. “Yes, it really is.”

“What did you mean about rift access? I thought we would have to cross the desert,” Gem asks, and she winces.

“Zalfari isn’t just the access point to the vampire nation through the rift. There is a secret underground passage that leads directly to Chaos Kingdom.” She looks at her mates and nods like she’s decided. “Actually, all the kingdoms, if I’m honest. It makes it easier than traveling through the desert for days. It’s at the midway point between here and Eryx, and it allows you to pass through to any of them without going through official routes.”

Hunter grunts and tilts his head to the side. “That’s how you make your money, isn’t it? Smuggling things back and forth?”

She has the grace to look sheepish. “We do what we have to for our people,” she says unapologetically.

“How?” Gryffin asks, and it’s Santos who answers.

“The Chaos king commissioned it when he took the throne from his grandfather and approached us.”

“The Chaos Kingdom comes up in every conversation. For an unofficial kingdom, they seem to have their fingers in every pie,” I point out, and I can tell by the looks on my mates’ faces that they are as suspicious as I am.

“You need to be cautious when you go there. King Loki isn’t above manipulating people to get what he wants, and having one of the ruling royals in his kingdom may be too much for him to pass up,” Johan cautions.

“You think he’s a danger to us?” Gem sits up, letting his arm drop from my shoulders, on full alert.

“I don’t know, just be careful. Get in, find our son, and get out. You don’t have time to spend catering to the man’s every whim. He’s kind of batshit crazy. You need to find your last mate and get that crown on your head. Then, we can focus on who is causing all the trouble.” Lena is adamant, and it appears she’s dropped the rest of her hostility and is going to work with us for now. “Once we find the children, we will contact you and let you know what we find, then we can work on that final mate for you.”

“Thank you, I appreciate your help,” I tell her, and she stands up and strides over to me, taking my hands in hers.

“Just look after my son. He needs all the love you can give him. I wasn’t able to protect him from the abuse he suffered, and I’m hoping you can fix all that.” She moves her gaze to the rest of my mates who all murmur solemn promises.

“He will have so much love, he won’t know what to do with it,” I promise her, and her eyes shine with unshed tears as she gives me a nod of gratitude.

A yowl breaks the tension, and Johan curses, dropping the cat to the floor. Stormheart streaks away and up a cat tree situated in the corner of the room.

“That cat may be another story though,” I grumble, and Lena chuckles but gives me a knowing look.

“You will just have to learn to avoid him like I do, because Nox won’t leave Stormheart behind,” she warns, and my stomach sinks. How did I know she was going to say that?