chapter 17

Aug 11, part 2

POV UNKNOWN

For as long as time began, we have been here to walk the earth

I woke with sweat in this frost-bitten room. The sun had yet to rise and the others who dwelled here felt calm, I sighed out a shallowed breath. "Just a dream." I palmed the midnight sweat from my brows as I made my way out of bed. Seeing how I didn't think I could peacefully sleep after that. I ventured downstairs with a few guards who thought they were shadows, I paused "You know, I'm just going down to the kitchen. Do you still have you follow me?" As usual, I was met with silence. "Fine." I sighed continuing down when I ran into Elijah, "Oh, I see you're up." He didn't sound oh too surprised "yeah, what of it?" I cocked an eyebrow at him. He shook his head and I walked past him and finally into the kitchen. Where I found Sabastian and Emrys, "What are yall doing? Having a slumber party?" I chuckled walking towards the cupboards "it's Richard." Emrys said, I froze with the mug in hand "what did he do now?" I continued my movement as I went to get myself a pot of coffee. Geeze I hope he hadn't done anything that we'll have to clean up afterward "He sent Berserkers to the human realm. To find his son."

The car came to a stop after we were in the clear of the portal. I looked through the windows of the van to see the trees that stood as tall as mountains back home and the field full of wildflowers that stretched farther than the eyes could see. "Are we-?" I began to ask, "yes princess. We are in Ashira, home of the immortals." Mason whispered in my ear, I turned to smile at him. Drew and Daimen looked around expecting something to jump out "What's wrong with you two?" Rayne asked, "It's quiet." Drew said "Yeah?" I said "Quiet isn't good when you're being chased," "Or hunted." Daimen finished.

"This is your fault." Mason said after a moment of silence, we all turned to see what he was going on about and his gaze was solely focused on Clayton. "What are you talking about?" He asked him "You know what I'm talking about. You did this by showing up. Anna and the rest of us were all okay and safe from the Elders until you came into her life." "Why would I-" "Because your kind are nothing but pushovers." He chuckled coldly "Like how else could you explain how as soon as you show up they find us? Within a WEEK!" This was another version of Mason that I didn't know, or could even believe lived inside of him. I looked around and everyone was just sitting there without saying a word. Even Daimen and I knew he felt something towards what was happening in the back of the van because he wouldn't even look at me from the rearview mirror. "Mason." Daimen's voice sounded distant "Knock it off." "No, Like how can you sit here and tell me that this isn't true. Even if his kind doesn't have a contract with the Elders how else can you explain how after three months of you being with her nothing has happened. Or how after two months with me, nothing has happened. But he shows up and not even two weeks later they have sent masses to try and get her." He fully turns around to face Clayton, "Unless, you have something better to say?"

Clayton looks around the van looking at each of us without holding any of our gazes, he sighed as he landed back on Mason "Just understand, I don't have to explain anything to you or any of you for that matter. But how can you say I did this to put Anna in danger on purpose. I have and will never do such a thing no matter who they are to me. And two, when have any of us traveled to the mortal realm to find our mate? Until that night I never knew of Anna's existence and like every fucking one of us I left to get away from all these fucking proposals that our advisors shove down our Goddamned throats. And listen here asshole, before you go after someone because you don't like them look in the fucking mirror, you don't even like your fucking Dragon." He leaned back in his seat while Mason looked like he was about to say something "Oh, and another fucking thing." Clayton said, "Berserkers are controlled and work for the Dark class Elders, and before I left there were whispers from the King's court about a particular Elder who was looking for the Dragon King who ran away to the mortal realm." And with that he looked out the window, leaving Mason taken aback by the realization.

It was Amber you leaned up front and turned on the radio, "I think we should get going, who knows how long it'll take for them to come back." We all nodded, "Who is closer? while also allowing us coverage for however possible?" Rayne asked, it was Mason that spoke. "We can go to the Bear Kingdom," He looked back at Clayton, "They're good at evading The Elder's gaze." Clayton chuckled as Drew put the car in gear. The van rocked as it drove over the stones and grass, "I bet you feel stupid." Ben whispered to Mason which resulted in Rayne hitting him in the arm "What? It's just a question." He said, both Mason and I chuckled at the pare's silliness. "Wolf Mason?" I asked, Mason looked down in embarrassment "Yeah, I know, not an excuse but my Dragon and I have different views in manners." He turned around and Clayton nodded as he held up his hand which made Mason nod in return. "Still getting you in trouble." Said The Doctor "And one day if you're not careful it's gonna get you killed."

The drive was long and awkward after that. I think it took us all night just to even get to the portal because Clayton woke me up just as we came upon it "Hey, you might wanna wake up for this." As I woke up I saw this beautiful arch with light blues, whites, and colorful purple lights, and the arch itself was made out of stone that seemed to have intricate details and a giant letter S at the top of the structure. "Is that the gate to the Kingdom?" I asked still half asleep, he chuckled "No, little Star, that is the South Gate Portal. A bridge that will take us to the first southern Island, which. Lucky for us will be a couple of hour drive to my Kingdom. And after we've gotten some much-needed rest and gathered what we need, then we will head south to Daimen's Dominion." He reached over from the backseat to brush my shoulder before leaning back and I drifted off back to sleep.

As I opened my eyes, I found I was no longer in the car and no one was around me. I looked around but nothing seemed or looked familiar, but it did feel like it. "Marcel!" A voice cried out from somewhere deep within the house. I quietly pushed myself out of the soft and plush mattress to find I wasn't even wearing my normal clothes. I was covered in this cotton-like creme dress that somehow felt more revealing than my usual pair of bra and panties. Luckily there was a soft baby blue robe hanging at the end of one of the bed posts, after much careful consideration I crept to what I hoped was the bedroom door and cracked it open. "Where is she?!" Spoke the voice from before, "She is resting Sire, she said she was exhausted from this morning's ride to the Gallo's." It truly was Marcel, but. He looked different, younger even. He had his head down, only looking at the floor and he looked much paler than the caramel complexion I have come to know. His hair was longer as well, as for the other man, he seemed to know the exact blindspot of the bedroom door. Leaving me only with his voice to go off on. "I do not care if she does not feel well, I expect her at dinner. And If this ever so happens again I will personally see to the end of your employment contract. Am I understood?" Marcel nodded and suddenly I couldn't see him anymore, I looked up at-

"Ann." I was startled awake by Rayne and Amber sitting on either side of me on the bed. I looked around and found stone and wood as the founding elements that made up my current room. "What?" I asked, Amber chuckled as Rayne just smiled and seemed to find my confusion amusing as well. "When did we?" I went to sit up and found the jacket Clayton was wearing draped over me "A couple of hours ago." Amber said, "And Rayne and I decided that we should have one of our old slumber parties while we're all still together." I looked at her, "What makes you think we wouldn't be?" "Well, for you, all of your mates are Kings so spending time with us is gonna be difficult. And for me, well I'll be able to see you more often because of Daimen but unless you choose Mason, seeing Rayne isn't gonna be as easy."

"And now I have even more questions than what was just answered. What the fuck is going on and what the hell are you talking about?" I said in a somewhat uproar, the girls looked at each other before Rayne sighed and turned back to me. "We had a couple of guests tonight." "Guests that were already here and Guests who somehow knew we were here." Amber chimed in, "The first was Mason's brother, one of his brothers. He came here to tell Mason he was needed in his Kingdom." I looked at my sister "And the other?" She sighed before continuing, "The other was another Dragon King. Apparently Ben's brother, and my mate as well." My eyebrows shot to the back of my head. Not by the surprise of it all, but by my sister's reaction to it all "But?" She dropped my gaze and it was a simple look that wouldn't alarm most but to me, "What happened?" I turned to Amber, and she had the same look in her eyes. "OK." I made my way to the door and Rayne materialized in front of me, blocking the door. Both of us were shocked by her sudden show of magick, "What are you doing?" "Protecting you."

"Anna, you need to stay in here with us for the night." I turned back to Amber, who was still on the bed. "And why the fuck should I?!" I yelled back at her, causing a slight tremor in the room. "Because all three of them asked us to, even Ben." Rayne said, I wanted to scream, and protest, but I knew my sister better than anyone. So, I held my tongue and crossed my arms. "Fine, but only this once. Mainly because I know we'll be having ice cream and booze while we watch movies and shows," We all smiled at each other as we raced for the remote for the first pick.

At some point during the night, we were all a bit tipsy and full of ice cream as we sang at the top of our lungs to whatever movie was playing on the screen. There was a knock at the door and I went to answer it, and it wasn't any of our boys, He was tall, with short black curly hair that seemed to just be long enough to run my fingers through. I unconsciously reached out and touched his faded jaw as if had a few wisps of coils, the pure electricity that coursed through my fingers was enough to pull me out of my half-drunken state, I went to pull my hand away but he grabbed my wrist and held my hand there. His eyes were to the only sure thing I could see on him in the poorly lit hallway, Electric blue. He began rubbing his thumb over my palm as he looked me up and down, and he landed right on one of my marks that laid bare on my shoulder. As he went to reach for it Amber called out to me which was the distraction I needed to pull from him and close the door again. "Wolf" Rose said, and it was all that I needed to know to figure out who that man was. Mason's brother.

I was woken up by Rayne again and this time it was morning. She and Amber were already dressed and said breakfast was ready and that I should start getting up. I begrudgingly got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Surprisingly everything in here looked more modern than what I've seen thus far, I got ready as I would normally, shower, wash, brush and I decided I needed to brush my hair, so I put it into a ponytail and went to get dressed and headed out with the girls. We were greeted by a rather large man who wore an armor plate and leather pants and boots, "Good morning ladies." He bowed, "My name is Killian and I will escort you to the Dining Hall this morning. Please, right this way." He ushered us to follow him which helped since this will be the first I get to see what the layout of Clayton's home looked like. Upon entering the Hall We found the two strange men somewhat yelling at their brothers. "You do understand that this was majorly caused because you wanted to be a selfish prick who can't think of anyone but yourself." Said the man from last night, "Ben, please, I know you and father don't get along on the best of days but just hear him out." "Hear him out? Are you serious? The last time I talked to that man the threw me out of our own home because I don't have a Dragon and couldn't possibly be his son in any way shape or form. So no." This was the first time I have ever seen Ben mad. As the girls walked over to their mates, I walked over to Daimen and Clayton, who were at the head of the table.

"Good morning." I gave them each a kiss, and when I went to kiss Clayton, he seem genuinely dazed and confused. "What was that for?" I smiled at him, "Nothing really, just because." I kissed him again and went to sit in between them. we all waited for the bantering brothers to get done talking so that we could get breakfast started. "The answer is no, Cain." Mason said, So his name is Cain. I looked at the spread and it seemed that we were all at the same end of the table as the other members of the house and Kingdom were at the other and they all had already made their plates and were waiting on us too. I turned to Clayton and he leaned in so I didn't have to raise my voice, "Are they waiting on us?" I pointed to the others, and he nodded. "It's customary to wait for the command of the King or Alpha. And since there are several Alpha Kings they are waiting on all of us. I don't know what came over me but I threw down my napkin and went over to them and grabbed both Mason and Ben's ears, "Hey what are you-?" Ben was about to say something but stopped as he looked at me. "Now, I may not know all of the details, but what I do know Is the cooks have worked too hard and long for all their food to go to waste and cold because you four don't know how to shut up long enough to sit down and eat a simple meal." I'll admit, the spread looked extremely delicious.

It was Ben's brother who broke the sudden silence by laughing, "Well I'll be damned, you boys never told us you marked a human girl from the other world." both boys pulled from my hold, giving him a death glare that would forever haunt him, Rayne jumped up and we both held back our respective men. And just like them we also looked at this man like he was about to meet his final days. "Is this him?" I asked, I didn't turn fully but I could see the slight nod from my sister. and again, without thinking I walked up to this poor excuse of a Dragon, and with all my strength and all the bubbling anger over this whole ordeal I punch him, and to my surprise, he went flying across the room and into a stone pillar that stood as an arch to the entrance of the dining hall. "Oh shit."

Ben chuckled from behind me, "Remind me to never piss you off," "Or better, Remind me not to get on your bad side." Mason came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing the top of my head, "He didn't make my sister all too happy last night." Was all I said before I went back to my seat. I didn't say anything else that morning until we all alter reconvened in the parlor. Whatshisface was already sitting in one of the chairs when we all strolled in, "I simply don't understand why we have to discuss this in front of them, you need to come home." Cain said, "And I said I will return when I deem it necessary, and right now is not it." Mason responded, Cain huffed and sat on the arm of Whatshisface's chair. "Why do you need him to return?" Daimen stepped in, Cain looked up at him with disdane and Clayton grabbed my wrist, pulling me into his lap as he wrapped his arms around my waist and laid them on my lap. "Really?" I turned to him and he just kissed me, "You've already done enough little star, let them figure this out, It will all come full circle in the end." I leaned into him as we all were witnesses to the conversations. "Other than by our Father's request, I need him to come home, for our mother's sake." Cain's voice and head dropped and it strange broke my heart to see him like this, Mason also seemed to notice "You know as well as I do that what he wants, what both of our Fathers want. Is to control how and who we choose for a bride. And I am not some child who has no control over my own life to allow such a thing to happen. whoever she may be can be sent back home. and that's final."

"And you, Ben?" His brother asked, Ben looked up while Rayne plainly rested on his lap. "I have a mate. and I don't want any other. So, to answer your question. I too do not want whoever father has tried to pair me up with. And from both our mate and her sister's reaction I'd advise you possibly take who he chose for you Bryan." The one called Bryan looked around the room confused, "Her sister? Who is that?" "Are you fucking serious?" Rayne said, "My sister is the one who gave you that concussion and black eye." It was then he looked at me, and I let Rose come up front since she also wanted to say hi. "Hi Bryan, would you like to try that again?" I chuckled as he quickly averted eye contact "Pussy." "Baby, you know that's not nice." Clayton tried to scold me, "But look at him, compared to Mason he is so much smaller, and better yet I was able to send him flying from one simple punch, I think calling him a pussy at the point isn't as bad as you try to make it out to be." He still gave me a warning squeeze while Cain just stared at me from across the room. "And both you and Daimen decided to choose this one." "She's our mate." Mason told him. "And I'd appreciate it if you kept her out of your mouth before you meet the same fate she gave to that one."

"But after careful consideration, I guess I can join you in escorting you back to our mother like the scared little pup you are." He looked down at his brother with such empty eyes that held every emotion that could break my heart. Pain. Ben also nodded "And one thing I want to make perfectly clear Bry, try that again with Rayne and it will be me who decks you. you are not to touch her without her consent and without her permission. mainly because I don't think I wanna see what Ann will do to you once she gets word. Which I am not ashamed to say that I will be the one to tell her. Got it." He chuckled "Oh what's the worse that little pipsqueak's gonna do to me?" A bolt of lightning landed mear inches from his crotch leaving only a small spark to ignite on his pant leg. He jumped up from the heat and tried to extinguish the flame. "Still think I'm just a little pipsqueak?" Rayne rolled her eyes, "Guys," Ben quit his laughing, "Anna." I rolled my eyes and the flame vanished like it never was there to begin with. "As you can see Bryan, I have quite the protectors. And yes she is my little sister, but you will respect her for her outlook towards you is all that really matters to me."

"Does the same apply to us?" Mason asked suddenly, I giggled, and both she and Amber turned to him. "After the stunt in the car you are on probation, but at the moment you are okay." Amber said. All three turned to me in shock, "What? They were here first." Daimen chuckled while Mason had the cutest look of disbelief on his face. "It's not nice to pick fights you know." I said to him, he relaxed as Clayton whispered into my ear, "Well as fun as all of this is, I will have to stay here as a few things have happened and I wasn't able to complete the original task in the mortal realm so I'll be sending one of my guards with you in my stead until I can join you all again in your journey." He kissed my cheek and moved me off of his lap as he excused himself from the parlor where I was now one mate shy of being complete. And where the beginning of my next path began.