20 Chapter Twenty

Robbin's POV

This is a bad idea. This is a bad idea. The plan itself looks good...from afar. But up close, it's a pandora's box waiting to be opened. Xander doesn't understand that. He's not familiar with dragons. But that's not the reason I'm against this mission. No, it's Xander.

He's blinded by hate and revenge, the worst pairing since, well us. I'm okay with capturing Ryker's pack, but not slaughtering people because of their leader. The moral code has to apply here. Hell, I'm sure it does, but Xander will see over it to get what he wants. He's been doing that since I've met him and it's led to unreasonable ends.

Unfortunately, it's far too late to halt this plan, even for a moment. We arrived on the Westerlie territory only hours ago and are currently waiting for the tracker dragons to finish mind-linking their riders.

Everything is set in stone. Will we succeed in finding the rogues, if they haven't escaped the land already, most definitely. A tracker dragon's reputation precedes them. Is Xander plotting something that will bring a violent end? No doubt, especially from the way he's been acting all morning. But the question I'm dreading on asking myself is neither of the pair.

Can I stop Xander from getting is a twisted version of justice? That is yet to be seen.

I won't confront him about is unprincipled plans anymore. The most I can do is be there when Ryker is captured and somehow convince Xander not to do anything he'll regret in the future.

The same can be said for me at this point. Watching him across the dimly lit room talk to Sage makes me want to tear her smug face apart.

Why she was needed here continues to baffle me when we have a full army at our disposal. Even the dragons sound better at this point. But having Xander's ex-mistress here for this expedition makes me uncomfortable.

They've unnecessarily been discussing battle plans for ten minutes already. What more needs to be gone over since the briefing earlier?

Sage must have felt the burn of my stare when her high ponytail of blonde hair suddenly whipped around; our gazes clashing. Her complacent expression made me calm and collected one almost break. Almost. Fortunately, I have spent one hundred years learning to contain my rage. It, however, did not stop the fire brewing inside of me. Her presence is not needed. That is simply a fact.

It seems Xander has noticed the lure of my glower as well, instantly noticing the effect Sage has on me. He quickly dismisses her, not interested in the shocked look on her face as he didn't bother sparing her one last glance, and made his way over to me. So now he remembers I'm here.

The heated look in my eyes cooled slightly as he approached me, still wanting to burn holes through him. Part of me debated on walking away from him, but he reached me before I could act.

"Did that make you jealous?" He asked, his arrogance peaking once again. Answering honestly would only make his egotistical mindset further increase, so I just respond with a question of my own.

"When are we leaving?"

"Soon," Xander answered. The air between us was quiet for some time as we stood there. I didn't want to do it. Every sane voice in my head fought against the words that threatened to slip through my teeth but failed to catch them in time.

"Are you sure you want to do this Xander?" Dammit.

Xander gave me a look of disbelief as if I had betrayed his trust. "How many times do I have to tell you not to question this mission?" He asked with a tone of defensiveness. "You are my queen and will obey any action I take under our rule."

Great, here we go again with the submissive bullshit. I never agreed to be his docile partner. Every part of me will fight against that until the poison that coarse through my veins take my last breath.

I want to argue with him, maybe even threaten him a little, to fight back, because as long as I'm his queen, I will forever fight back, but Alec's sudden appearance in the room caught both of our attention.

"We're ready." Dammit. The words I've been dreading all day.

"I won't hear about this again, Robbin," Xander spoke lowly to me, his alpha voice almost slipping through the cracks. "Let's go." He demanded as he turned away from me and heads for the door.

I reluctantly do as I'm told, following Xander out of the small building that led directly to the tracker dragons pit. When I asked my brother if we could borrow them for the expedition, he said to use as many as we wanted but sent them in various directions to cover more ground.

The pit held fifty tracker dragons accompanied with their riders, and two hundred Bloommoon pack members already in their second state. Above us flew Phoebion and Serion with Grey alongside them. Our fleet may be small, but together we have become one of the deadliest alliances in centuries.

Maybe that's what Xander wanted, what he saw when we first met all those months ago. A powerful army on his back as his disposal, to exact his revenge on the people who murdered his family. He has to know that there's another way. There is always a better choice than revenge. No one understands this better than I do than my family does.

I walk along the line of dragons. They're of the earth variety, one of the four elements, and prefer the ground than the sky. Each standing two meters tall with their long, slender legs, they're our best chance at finding Ryker and his pack.

"Remember," Xander's voice slid down my neck as he was now behind me, "You aren't fighting today. If I see you on the ground I'm going to punish you later." I'm sure the emphasis on my 'punishment' is going to be laced with something pleasurable, but I'm can't focus on Xander's bipolar needs at the moment, and neither should he.

I move away from him and turn around to face him. "If I'm not going to fight, why can't I just stay here?" I tried to keep my words nonchalant, but of course, Xander heard the sly tone that came with them.

"Your people need to see their queen. With everything that's happening in the world, we've become so fragile. Standing together will show a powerful front."

"But on the inside, we're just as weak as they think?" I ask.

"The Northerner kingdom is not weak. Maybe individually, but not as a whole. And with our joined forces, our army has never been stronger."

The winds above us grew stronger, directing both of our gazes upward as Phoebion made her way down from the sky. She landed a few meters away from Xander and me, lowering one wing for me to climb on.

I look back at Xander who already was focused on me. He puts up a dominant appearance, but I'm sure his mind and heart are fighting their own battle. "Hey," I move closer to him, "Just be careful."

"Are you worried about him?" He asked in an almost taunting way, almost making me regret my concern.

"Yes," I respond plainly. I am worried about him, but expressing that concern would only lead to another argument, and we can't concentrate on that right now. We don't know what we're walking into.

I rise on my toes and give him a small kiss on his cheek. I don't want Xander to fight this battle alone when he doesn't have to. Turning on my heels, I took a step in Phoebion's direction, but Xander's sudden hold on my waist spun me around again.

He pulled me into him and smashed our lips together. They were hungry, almost desperate as they conquered mine. I kissed him back with a gentler force, but with the same need.

Unwillingly, Xander released his hold on me altogether and turned to join his brother on the front line, leaving me confused and aching for one final touch. When he shifted into his wolf, I walked over to Phoebion and climbed on top of her. I gave Xander a final look before we took off into the sky. The winds felt cold, which was natural since we're by the ocean. The sky was filled with dark storm clouds as heavy rainfall would soon be approaching.

Seconds after I met with Grey and Sereion almost four hundred meters high, the signal siren blared, and the mission began. The large metal gates in the dragon pit opened and tracker dragons fled quickly with Xander running alongside them, and his packmates following after them.

Ryker's pack was last seen near the sea about one thousand meters from us. How foolish of my motherland, to let the enemy hide under our noses. That alone angered me and will be dealt with once we have them in our custody.

Phoebion and Sereion follow in suit, keeping a lookout from a higher angle. Not being able to fight, if it came to that, will be challenging for me. We're in my homeland after all. It's my primal instincts to protect my home, but I'm sure Grey will be making sure that I don't.

As we flew over to Ryker's hideout, I felt a shift in the air, or perhaps in myself. Something touched my sixth sense, making me abruptly become completely self-aware of the sky. I had been scanning the field below us that I hadn't thought of someone attacking from the sky.

I looked over to Grey who flew alongside me, and he gave me the same look. Something was out there, but it wasn't just on the ground. It was up here with us too.

Scanning through the fog, I pulled on Phoebion to go higher to get a better view. When she flew up a few meters, hers, as well as Sereion's demeanor, changed as well. They can sense it too. The threat that lurked in the mist. Could it be that Ryker has his mixed alliances too?

A threatening roar from a distance answered that question. Grey and I let our dragons hover as we scan the sky for it. For something no one on the ground or sky ever thought of. For a dragon.

I'm sure the tracker dragons heard the roar of the enemy, and are as confused as we are. Dealing with only a pack of werewolves would have been easier than a dragon, and from the sound of it, an intimidating one. This will surely end in a battle now.

Without any warning, a fire began filling the sky, and it didn't come from mine or Grey's dragon. Along with it passed a dragon larger than I had ever seen. I became so infatuated with it that my focus was thrown off, and it struck again, spreading its fire between Grey and I. I moved Phoebion away from the roasting, hoping Grey acting as quickly as I did.

Phoebion let out a challenging roar as I guided her in a semi-circle, facing the direction of the threat. Now I'm furious. What traitor is aiding the enemy with one of our own?

I looked around for Grey who was nowhere to be seen. He was gone, leaving me to challenge this dragon alone. When nothing came for the third time, I push down on Phoebion to make her fly down and warn Xander, although he might already know from the dragon riders who have the same sense as I do, and probably saw us get attacked.

When we flew enough to get a clear view of the ground, I spotted Grey and Sereion lingering a few meters down, instantly easing my worry for him. We were above the ocean at this point, but the ground was visible from where we were. I spotted our tracker dragons already merged in a battle with I assume are the rogues. I can't tell where Xander is, but I already know who he's looking for. Despite his wishes, I have to get to him.

But that relief was short live when I caught what he was facing. It was a dragon so large, it could eat my father's and still not feel full. With dark red scales cascading its enormous body and blood lusted eyes, it left me wondering where this beast was hiding. Surely the Westerlie kingdom would have captured it already.

I was high enough to get a view of its rider. Unfortunately, he wore a full head mask, leaving his piercing green eyes on full display, and they were just as angry as his dragons. I don't care who he is. At the moment, he's a traitor and will be taken down.

I gripped the spikes on Phoebion's back, ready to charge down when I heard Xander's voice echo through my mind. You aren't fighting today.

I'm sorry Xander. I don't look for him on the ground. Instead, I motion for Phoebion to attack our enemy. We go down at full speed, the fire deep in her throat heating through her skin as she heated her flames.

The red dragon shot its fire first, spewing it out for hundreds of yards. Luckily Phoebion evaded it, using the smoke as cover before firing her own. When no roar in pain was heard, I realized we had missed. The smoke was clearing and the dragon was gone. Grey was above me searching for it as well.

No. Was this a diversion? Were we buying Ryker time by being distracting? Phoebion and I fly closer to the land at our same height looking for Xander, but he was still out of sight.

"Robbin!" I heard Grey shout behind me. My senses kicked in again and I could feel the heat running down my neck, making me pull upwards, dodging another fire attack.

We did a complete 360 before facing the red dragon once again. There you are, defector. This ends now.

It might've been a mistake, but I charged Phoebion up to the dragon at full speed. The feeling of my blood boiling kept me going, nearly blinding me from any possible reasoning. The thought of someone taking our dragons and using them like this pisses me off. It's not theirs to take, to corrupt. And whoever is riding that dragon has a lot to answer for.

Instead of letting me come straight there, the red dragon and its rider approached me as well, clashing us into each other. Phoebion let out a painful roar and I immediately felt guilty for causing her any pain.

The rough encounter sent us both spiraling down. I held onto Phoebion as tight as I could as the forceful winds threatened to tear us apart. She finally manages to stable herself and looks around for the red dragon. To our luck, it still couldn't regain its balance. Grey took this advantage and guided Sereion down, releasing its deadly fire. Soon the two dragons began to claw and gnaw at each other, hoping to gain any kind of lead.

I urged Phoebion over to help, but something reflective caught my eye. I felt it creep over at an alarming speed, barely carving off my skin as it flew past me. Was that...a spear?

No, it couldn't be. Phoebion flies higher as we survey the area for another attacker. Possibly the same one who landed me in the Northerner kingdom in the first place. Only this time, I'll be landing into an icy ocean which will certainly be the end for me.

Before either of us can get a view of the shooter, two more spears hit us, one from where I can see, struck Phoebion in her neck. She let out a desperate cry and fell straight down. My hold on her loosened from the sudden attack, sending me flying off of her.

I wanted to reach out to her, but she was falling faster than I was and made contact with the water first, creating a huge wave. My eyes widened as the ocean's surface was closing in. I wasn't surviving this. Not from that height. My body failed to gain any control making me it the nearly frozen sheet of water face first.

There was no pain. The numbness spread through my veins like wildfire, followed by what I assume is another blackout, one I won't wake up from. I'm sorry Xander. I guess I should've listened to you.

Dammit. I knew this was a bad idea.