Chapter 6:

Flying through the day I sighed as I took a seat in the break room. Having the guys around is such a big help. It's nice to having to do all the lifting and restocking, while everybody does their lessons or in Beck's case watches the register and checks people out.

Taking a sip of water I leaned back as I felt Caighlen's arms wrap around me. Looking up at him we gazed into each others eyes until he leaned down and gave me a peck on the lips. Snuggling closer I let him hold me for a while longer.

"Why is it that everytime I see you, you seem to get more and more beautiful?" Caighlen asked as he brushed his fingers over my cheek and I closed my eyes leaning closer.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I've stayed the same, if anything you're the one go keeps getting more handsome, I mean come on." I teased smiling as he chuckled.

"Let us agree to disagree then?" Caighlen replied as he leaned down and nipped my neck with a smile on his face making me shudder.

"Ugh, come on you guys. Can't you at least wait until you're alone?" Malcom whined coming into the break room.

"They were alone until we entered." Rina teased nudging him in the side.

Pulling away I started blushing as I released a chuckle and glanced over at everybody as they stood by the doorway watching us with smirks.

"You know this is the first time I have ever seen you like this, and I like it. You seem a lot happier." Becky said as she walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee leaning against the counter while sneaking glances at Remus.

"I agree." Rina commented as she grabbed a water bottle and sat down at one of the tables with Nolan and Malcom.

"What time is it?" I asked switching the conversation as I looked at Becky.

"Closing time!" Rina shouted as she did a fist pump and I looked at her shocked.

"Already? Whoa, I never even noticed." I said surprised.

"Yeah, well that might have to do with the fact you were preoccupied with your new beau." Becky said winking at me being sassy.

"Oh shush!" I shot back with a grin then narrowed my eyes playfully. "So tell me Beck's does Remus have something on him or is he just that good looking?" I teased watching her turn beat red, while Remus's eyes lit up as he gazed at her.

"RAIHL!" Becky shouted at me embarrassed as I laughed.

"It's fine Becky. Besides in case you are wondering he likes you too, he had to ask me about you earlier today." I said with a smirk watching Remus's eyes widen as he looked me.

'You really are a Little Devil Mate.' Caighlen chuckled through our bond as I tilted my head back to look at him.

'Well, of course I am. It's a good thing you are learning it all right now in the beginning.' I replied cheekily feeling his amusement.

'You are a little brat.' Nolan shot through our link amused.

'Hey someone has to give them a little push.' I shot back smiling as I saw him shake his head at me.

'See I bet even Nolan is commenting on it.' Caighlen said pulling me closer to his chest watching our interaction missing nothing.

'Oh he is but like I told him, someone needed to give them a little push.' I replied caressing his mind feeling him shiver.

'I love you Little Devil Mate.' He replied as he put his chin on top of my head.

Feeling butterflies in my stomach I smiled. I love this, I have all my closest friends who are like family and now I have a mate and two more new friends. My friends are all finding their mates too, it makes me unbelievably happy. I thought.

'I agree, it makes me happy too being able to see this all. Makes everything all worth it.' Caighlen thought back in contentment.

'How long has it been? Like since you all were born?' I asked curious.

'Water Dragons age a lot differently than humans. We can live up too six times or more than an average human lifespan. It is a blessing and yet a curse at the same time. Virtually we are immortal in a sense. But not quite because we can still die, though it is quite difficult to kill us unless we were already weakened...' Caighlen explained when I cut him off.

'How did my parents die?' I asked softly feeling a pain in my chest.

'If we choose to live on land gradually we will all lose the ability to regenerate our health and slowly over time we become human because we are choosing to give up the shifter part of us.' He replied comforting me.

'Oh, you can continue. By the way you never really told me how old you guys are. Are you avoiding the question, old man?' I teased to lighten the atmosphere hearing him chuckle.

'Impatient little thing. Too answer your question all three of us are about 150 years old. We all grew up together, our parents were best friends and eventually we all because best friends well I became best friends with them, they are brothers so technically they aren't just best friends they are siblings.' He said.

'Who is older?' I asked curious.

'Fendall. He loves to baby Remus. If you watch him he totally mother hens him. Remus hates it, he always says he doesn't understand why Fendall does it because he is just a few minutes older than him.' Caighlen chuckled.

'Hey focus, Becky keeps giving you weird looks because of those secret smiles you keep throwing back and forth.' Nolan teased as I turned and flipped him off with a smile.

"Whoa, what the hell?" Becky asked with wide eyes as I laughed.

"Oh nothing, I just thought that Nolan could use the finger." I said with a big smile as she shook her head and laughed and Rina covered her laugh with a cough as Nolan glared down at her playfully.

"Oh, thought that was funny did you?" Nolan said playfully as Rina shook her head fast in denial.

"She totally did." Malcom said siding with Nolan.

"I thought so." Nolan replied as he started tickling her sides and she screamed in protest, going into their own little world.

"So when did those two finally get together?" Becky questioned pointing at them.

"Yesterday, when we were out hiking." I replied shrugging laying my head on Caighlen's chest feeling it vibrate.

"Yeah, totally came out of nowhere. One minute it was normal and then the next they were kissing and I was losing a bet. I had to pay her $375 because of it, it was totally unfair because she already had an advantage." Malcom whined jerking his finger in my direction.

"Not my fault you decided to bet against me." I said laughing like a maniac, as I clutched my stomach and Becky shook her head.

"Malcom if it is one thing you don't do, it's make a bet with Raihl. Not once in all the time I have known her has she gotten something wrong. It's like she has a gift for perfection, she just knows." Becky said pouting and I raised my hands in the air.

"Hey it's not my fault. It just comes naturally." I protested with a pout.

'If you keep pouting I might have to kiss that pout right off your face.' Caighlen remarked.

'Now that is a very tempting offer.' I teased hearing him groan through our bond as my words affected him.

'WIN!' I joked as his amusement flashed back through our bond.

"Alright I'm going to go turn everything off, we still have to meet up at MariLee's Cafe, I am pretty sure your mom is already there waiting for us." I teased Nolan.

"Oh crap! I totally forgot about that." He said with wide eyes while looking sheepish as we laughed.

"Your mom is in town again?" Becky asked confused raising her eyebrow suspiciously.

"Yeah, we asked her to come down. I wanted to see if she still had some of my parents stuff but I wanted to ask her in person. So much easier, she has never really adapted to using a phone." I replied smiling as Becky made an O face.

"Well, Let's get going. We shouldn't keep her waiting after all she came all this way for you." Rina said as she stood up and grabbed Nolan's hand.

Moving out of Caighlen's arms I grabbed my things and went out front and shut everything off then locked and shut the door after everyone exited the building.

"See you guys tomorrow." Becky called as she walked across the street heading home.

"SEE YOU BECKY!" Rina and I called after her as we also headed across the streets to MariLee's Cafe. Walking in we spotted Mrs. L. right away and walked over.

"Hey mama L." I greeted as I gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek as Nolan and Malcom followed suit.

"Hello, my lovely babies." Mrs. L. Cooed happily then glanced at Caighlen, Remus and Fendall and tensed up. Putting a hand on her she looked at me.

"This is Caighlen, Remus and Fendall. Caighlen's my life mate." I said softly watching as she relaxed and started nodding in understanding.

"Hello, nice to meet you all. Sorry, for my reaction. It has been a really long time since I've seen another one of our kind..." She replied watching them.

"It's fine, we understand." Caighlen said giving her a smile as he slide into the booth after me and looped his arm over my shoulders. "They are my closest friends, Remus has actually just discovered his mate also."

"Oh, has he? It's lovely isn't it." She said with a big smile on her face.

"Yeah, a little overwhelming though to be honest." Remus said rubbing his neck as Mrs. L. Nodded.

"It always is but just wait it gets better." She said cheerfully then turned to Rina, raising an eyebrow with a slight smirk on her face. "And who is this?"

"Mom, this is Rina." He said blushing.

"I already figured. Hello Rina, I'm Nolan's mother, welcome to the family, Nolan has told me a lot about you." She said and pulled Rina into a hug.

"Thank you." Rina said softly blushing.

"Mom!" Nolan whined as they all sat down at the table.

"What? I am doing nothing wrong." Mrs. L. teased.

Ordering our food and drinks we talked about random things until everything arrived. Digging in we started talking.

"So what did you want to talk about? Was is about mates?" Mrs. L. questioned looking back and forth between us all.

"Sort of," Nolan said then looked at me.

"What is it sweetie?" Mrs. L. asked as she turned to look at me.

"I want to know about my family." I said looking at her hearing her draw in a breath and nod her head.

"I knew one day you would ask. What do you want to know?" Mrs. L. questioned.

"I need to know, what am I?" I asked.

"You're a water dragon of course." She said with a smile and I shook my head.

"No, like what am I really. I keep having weird things happen." I said looking at her face.

"What kind of weird things?" She asked worried.

"Well, I keep getting pulled towards the ocean, like really pulled. Like something is missing? And yesterday when we met Caighlen, Remus and Fendall, and when Fendall and Remus gave me attitude I....I made them kneel." I spoke softly and she reach across the table to hold my hand and sighed.

"I had really hoped that she would stay dormant, I know your parents planned on telling you but then they were..." She said trailing off getting tears in her eyes then shaking her head.

"What's happening?" I asked desperately as she looked at me.

"Sweetheart. You are really unique, when you were conceived we were forced to leave the ocean. It wasn't safe for any of us. You see..." She said then looked at the guys then back to me. "People felt threatened by you, and your parents. In the ocean there is one ruling family."

"Yes, the king and queen of the water dragons, but there hasn't been one in years. After the last royals disappeared..." Caighlen said trailing off as his eyes got wide, and Mrs. L. nodded her head.

"Yes, you see Galadraihl is the last living royal heir to the throne of Water Dragon Kingdom. When she was conceived her parents the king and queen, my best friends, were threatened. In order to ensure that their baby girl could live they left the ocean and we went with them to protect them, but in the end we couldn't even do that. They eventually found us but as far as they know she died when she was a baby." Mrs. L. explained as I looked at her with wide eyes feeling tears sprout up.

"So they killed my parents because they wanted to make sure our whole line was dead?" I choked out feeling Caighlen wrap me tightly in his arms as Mrs. L. nodded her head looking down.

"We never wanted you to know, we didn't want you to feel guilty. I mean you were a baby! You didn't choose to be born." She said softly with pain in her voice.

"Do you know who killed them and wants her dead?" Caighlen demanded as I felt a strong energy current radiating from his voice.

"No, we never got to figure it out. We were trying to get a lead when they were murdered." She said shaking her head as she lowered it.

"So, if she ever goes back to the ocean she will have an unknown attacker that wants her dead?" Caighlen said with a hard voice.

"Yes. We tried though, we tried so hard but know matter what they were always a step or two ahead of us." She said looking up into his eyes then looking away.

Glancing up I saw Caighlen nod his head then look at the guys with a face I've never seen him make before. It worried me. Feeling my worry he looked down into my eyes while lifting his hand and caressing my face as I closed my eyes and leaned closer needing the physical contact.

"I can see that your bond is already strong, and I assume you have completed the mating process?" Mrs. L. noted as we nodded out heads and she sighed. "I should warn you. Now that you have fully mated the call for the ocean is going to be much more stronger. When a royal mates they eventually feel the need to...um...how should I put this? Mate in the water..." She said looking at me worried.

"What's so wrong about that?" I asked confused then looked at Caighlen as he put his finger under my chin and lifted my gaze to his.

"Honey, when we mate in the water, it's in our water dragon form." He said as I nodded then continued, "And when that happens it is almost guaranteed that you will become pregnant."

"What?!" I exclaimed feeling my eyes widen in shock and his face fall. "I mean not that I against having children but ugh..."

"I know love. What about our babies? What about you? What will happen with the killers?" He said reading my mind. "All I can tell you is that I would give my life protecting you and our family."

"It won't work like that." Mrs. L. said softly as we looked over at her.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked as she looked at all of us and sighed.

"When a royal mates, they mate for life..." She said and Fendall cut her off.

"Yes, as is the way of our people." Fendall said frowning as she shook her head.

"No, as in for life. As in if one dies, so does the other. A royals life mate bond is 5 times more potent than the average mating bond. One virtually can not survive without the other. It's impossible." She replied as we looked shocked. "Your mother was in the their bedroom room when your father was killed, according to police reports she had died of a massive heart attack that they said was more than likely caused by witnessing his death, they said she must have watched it then ran and hid hoping to wait it out."

"But that wasn't the case. She died because he did." I replied feeling grief take root in my body.

"Yes. Royal mating is very different from a normal mating. Your emotions are heightened to the point you'll almost always know how each other are feeling. You will also start to feel more possessive, and aggressive having unmated dragons within a 15 foot radius until after you have your first child. It is a completely uncontrollable urge. Your parents never had to deal with that because they left the ocean, and we were already mated. But your mother used to tell me her parents used to tell her stories about how it was for them." Mrs. L explained.

"So I get my royal side from my mother?" I questioned as she nodded.

"Yes, all first born royals are always females. Nobody knows why that is but it has always been like that since the beginning. But after you have a female it changes you can have a male or female afterwards though most royals never have anymore than one child." She said enlightening us.

"Why is that?" I asked leaning forward.

"I'm not sure, my only guess is that if they go to try and have a second something like what happens to your parents occurs. We noticed a pattern over the last 500 years. We were trying to find out more but..." She said trailing off and we nodded.

"So we can have one child who will be targeted, and if we chose to have more they will also be targeted...it is like a never ending circle." Caighlen replied confused. Feeling his frustration I grabbed his other arm and pulled it around me, running my hands up and down feeling him relax as sparks shot through his arm and my hands at the contact.

"Yes, but you might have a better chance than we did." She said nodding her head. "There are more of you then what we had. It was only them, and then my mate and I and two children. But you have an advantage there is you two, then my son and his mate, Malcom and his mate and then your friends and their mates. So ten instead of four."

"Rina, Becky, and Malcom are human and plus Fendall and Malcom are single." I replied shaking my head.

"That's where you are wrong my dear." She said softly smiling as we looked confused. "Even though they are human they can convert, and as for Malcom and Fendall they will meet their mates soon, I just know it. Almost everyone around a royal is more likely to find their mates."

"How?" I said shocked feeling Caighlen's, and Nolan's shock as well, yet excitement.

"There is this jewel called the heart of the ocean. It can only be used by a royal." She explained.

"Where is it?" Nolan asked excited as his mother shook her head.

"That is what I don't know. The jewel was lost centuries ago. We searched for it but to no avail." She said sadly. "But if we were to find that jewel we could turn the tides. In the hands of a royal, in your hands, you could bestow the gift of the water dragon on to any human you desire, though it works best for mates because of the bond."

"We need to try and find the jewel!" I said determined then with more force. "We need too."

"Yes, your majesty." She said bowing her head, and I gasped covering my mouth.

"Sorry, Mama L." I apologized feeling sheepish.

"Oh deary don't worry your pretty little head. It is a completely involuntary act." She said smiling.

Nodding my head I relaxed and finished eating my meal while mauling over everything that we had just learned. I can't believe that I am actually royalty, I wish mom and dad would have talked to me about everything, even just a little bit. I have been in the dark this whole time, what would have happened if someone had found out that I was still alive? Would I be dead? Would people that I care about have died?

'Sweetheart, don't think on it to hard, you're going to give yourself lines on that beautiful face of yours if you keep frowning.' Caighlen said as I felt him caressing my forehead through our bond.

'I just don't know what to think.' I told him.

'I know. I know better than anybody else. All you have to know is they did everything to protect you.' He replied.

'But what about....' I started but he cut me off.

'Don't. Nobody was hurt, don't dwell on the past. You're here alive, and so is everybody else. If you had known things would have changed, who knows where you would be. Who knows if we would have met? If you hadn't moved here when do you think we would have met? It could have been many more years...and I don't know about you but I didn't want to be alone. I was searching for you. I wanted to find my mate and fate brought us together. I don't regret meeting you and I don't blame your parents for hiding things from you.'

'I didn't want to be alone either, I am unbelievably happy that I met you, and that you accepted me. I don't want to blame my parents for what they did, I know they were trying to protect me but still I wish they would have talked to me and told me a little bit. I hate being out of the loop, especially since it is my life.' I replied.

'They just didn't want their little girl to get sucked into a chaotic life. Under the sea things are different, the rules are different. It can be a violent place. I should know I have lived there for 150 years, Love. We have all seen our fair share of war, and that is what happens in certain areas. Some areas are nothing but a battlefield. Most Water Dragons are asked to volunteer to fight on the battlefield. There are different factions, some are friendly others aren't. There is an area called the sacred circle, if you live within the walls of the sacred circle you are safe from war but the minute you cross over, you are fair game. As kids we used to get a thrill off of it, the excitement of battle, being able to prove ourselves.' He replied as I felt his conflicting emotions.

'Did you fight?' I asked.

'Yes, I had an older brother once. He wanted to prove himself so he volunteered, he was so excited to finally get a call to the front lines. I wanted to be just like him, so I volunteered a few years later and joined him. Remus and Fendall refused to let me go alone, we all volunteered and then we all got sent to the front lines. On the first day out there I was horrified. I seen dragons ripping other dragons apart with grins on their face. They were happy to rip each other apart. I was so focused on all the battling I left myself open to an attack, another dragon latched onto my neck. Remus and Fendall were already engaged in battle, I thought I was a goner and then there he came, seemingly out of nowhere. My hero, he attacked the dragon latched onto me. He eventually killed him but in the process my brother fell too. I watched my own brother die protecting me, and his last words to me were, Get out while you still can, this battle field is no place for you or your friends. Live. That was the last time I ever heard his voice and it haunts me. He died because of me. Because I was reckless and wanted to prove myself; to have him notice how much I looked up to him.' He said and I wrapped my arms around him feeling his pain and sadness as I sent him love and comfort.

'It wasn't...' I started to say but he cut me off.

'No, it was my fault. If I hadn't been careless he could still be alive today. Happy with his mate, but he never got to experience that because he died protecting me. So do not tell me it wasn't my fault.' He said leaning his head onto me.

'I'm sorry.." I replied feeling guilty.

'Do not be sorry. You were only trying to help me but this is one thing that you can't help me with. It was my mistake. One I will not make again.' He said and kissed my forehead.

"Ugh, guys. You alright?" Rina asked looking at us as everybody turned to look at us.

"Yeah, just talking." I said looking at them with a smile.