My instinct was to climb onto the larger one despite it being difficult to, I did it because I had a dream like this before. Did I think I was dreaming now? No, it was too real but the memory of a dream like this was comforting. My adoptive parents stared in horror as we took off. I wanted to leap off and try flying myself, but I couldn’t convince myself this was a dream. In the dream I would leap off and shift into a dragon. Dragon shifters were a well believed myth for so long especially in my town. So much so that we learned about them in school. Some people still believed in them, and now I was on the back of one. I was on the back of the dragon claiming to be my father for fucks sake. “Am I going to be able to go back?!” I yelled with a smile across my face. I did care about my siblings who I left behind. They were the only good thing I had in my past life. It felt like a past life already.
Cade shifted back into his human form midair and landed on Konn’s back next to me. It caused me to slightly jump. “Why would you want to?” he asked as he laid back. “I know you’re probably confused with a lot of questions but you’re one of us.” Confused with a lot of questions, that didn't begin to explain how I felt. “You don’t belong there.” If I didn’t belong there, then why did Konn leave me there?
Laughter escaped from my lips. “I can’t shift into a dragon so how could I be one of you?”
Cade rolled his eyes before he answered, “You will, Father had to seal your shifting abilities when he brought you to the outside world. He’ll explain everything when we get there. You’re going to need to know everything before you meet the royal family.” So, they lived under a king and queen. I found that interesting.
For the rest of the flight, I hurt my head over how much I thought. At one point we just kept flying upward as if they lived in the highest mountains. I felt a pop in my ears as we passed through a barrier that separated the two worlds. We flew for a little while longer and there were dragons of every size everywhere. Some flew in groups while others soared through the sky alone. We flew towards the giant castle. This was where my dream would end, and I would be back in a world that didn’t want me once I woke up.
I didn’t wake up and now that scared me. I didn’t know anything yet, and I was about to find out everything. I felt a final gust of wind as we landed. Cade helped me down and Konn shifted back into his human form. “So?” I started, “let me hear it, why’d you leave me and when are you going to unseal my shifting ability.” I was straightforward with everyone except men who I liked. I can never seem to find the right attitude with them.
“That’s not how this is going to work Aqua,” Konn looked at the castle. “I’m going to tell you this once, I’m only telling you what’s necessary, and everything else will come later. We work for the royal family.” He gestured to himself and Cade. “Which means you work for the royal family. I went to get you because it was the king and queen’s order. You might have inherited abilities that run in our family, so they need you here. They only manifest in one person every few generations,” he explained. “You’ll meet the king, queen, princess and prince in half an hour. It’s important that you make a good impression on the prince because he’ll be king soon and you’ll likely serve him most your life, If not all.” This didn’t sound as good anymore, but it doesn’t matter if I had nothing to lose. “Cade’s going to show you where you’ll be staying.”
I turned to Cade as Konn left through the castle entrance. “Sorry about him,” he apologized for his father. “You’ll get the hang of things quickly.” He led me down one of the paths. “To answer one of your questions, he’ll probably unseal your shifting abilities when he’s ordered to. I don’t think I can really answer your other question though...” He cleared his throat, “You’ll love the royal family, especially the princess and prince. They’re both my really good friends actually, we all grew up together.”
I followed Cade into the side of the castle. I wanted to ask about our mother, but I was afraid it was a sensitive subject. I wondered if my adoptive parents hated me now or if they were looking for me. I wondered if they’d tell my younger siblings that I was taken away by dragons. Would they want to come rescue me? “What exactly do we do here?”
Cade looked down at his phone. “Shit.” He looked back at me as we walked into a room. “Sorry, my girlfriend started up an old argument with me over text and it’s a mess.” He put his phone away. I wondered if dating here was anything like back at home. “We serve in any way we are asked. My- I mean our father,” he corrected himself, “is the advisor to the king and queen. Sorry I’m used to calling him my father. Anyways I grew up being taught to do the same for the prince.”
I looked around the large plain room. “That doesn’t sound too bad, but I guess I need to meet them first.” Then I’ll know if I’m better off here or not.
“We should go then, try to remember what room number yours is.” He gestured the number 202 above my room door when we left. We walked across the castle into a place Cade called, “The Great Hall.”
I looked at the royal family who were already there with Konn. My eyes first saw the king and queen then their young daughter. Lastly my eyes fixated on the prince. He looked more like a king than a prince. I felt a wave of romantic desire, infatuation, and lust wash over me while electricity coursed through my entire body. The only thing I could think was;
Mate
Prince Lexus' POV “You have to stop leaving marks all over my body,” Sadia said as she sat up in bed. “Unless you’re going to give me the mate mark,” She joked. My parents would kill me if we mated too early. “Seriously though Lexus you need to stop, it’s not classy.” I looked down her naked body as the blanket fell to her lap. “Wear long sleeves and turtlenecks, you’ll be fine. You’ll probably earn brownie points with my mom doing that shit anyways.” I used my lighter to light my blunt. Sadia got out of my bed and gathered her clothes. “That’s not funny because we need to be careful. I shouldn’t have even slept over.” She’s been worried about my parents’ approval ever since we became friends years ago. She cared about their approval more than I did, but it’s always been easy for me to get it. After all, they didn’t really know me. They thought they did and I was fine with that because if I wanted them to know me, I’d show my other sides. They hav
Aqua’s POV I knew little about mates and what I did know was something about the moon goddess. I also knew that shifters had mates, werewolves, and dragon shifters both. Was this what it was or was I being delusional? Was I a dragon prince’s mate? “Aqua,” Cade whispered to bring me back to reality. I snapped out of my delusion and walked with Cade to everyone else. “Your majesties,” he bowed after greeting them, “this is my long-lost sister Aqua.” I wouldn’t call myself long lost, considering I was abandoned and found easily. I attempted to curtsy. “Hi…” I kept glancing at the prince. My heart had nearly jumped out of my chest and I felt lightheaded. The King looked towards Konn. “You think she could be the holder?” Konn nodded in response. “She shows signs, one big sign is a sharp sense of intuition.” The King then addressed Cade. “You realized if she is the holder, we won’t require your services anymore, correct?” I didn’t’ consi
I took a few steps away from him. “I just got here… I don’t want to make any trouble for the sake of fun. Apparently, I might have to work for you for most of my life so let’s not make it weird…” I’d have to work for Sadia too when they get married so that’d make it even worse. Lexus walked back in front of me, and we were practically pressed against each other. “You’ll have to work for me for a long time, a part of that is doing whatever I say.” He seemed like the type to abuse his power and position which was disappointing. I was going to agree because it was the easier thing to do, but my ex’s words ran through my head. ‘You’re just too submissive and that’s not really what I’m looking for.’ “And what if I let the king and queen know?” I didn’t want Lexus viewing me the same way and getting bored of me. I also didn’t want to be the woman he cheated on his fiancée with. Lexus grabbed my face by my jaw but surprisingly gently. “Fair enough.” He let go of my
Last night Cade took my phone so it could have service here. I just finished getting ready for my tour of the kingdom. This morning he sent me a text saying they’d be waiting out front for me. When I found them, I noticed Stewart was with them. It was nice to see a second familiar face. With them were another girl I never met. “Stewart said you met last night, and this is Arma,” Cade introduced us. Arma shook my hand. “I work in the garden.” “That seems fun.” I was trying not to make it too obvious that I was nervous. All the friends I had back home made it difficult to socialize with. “We’re going into the city by flight, do you know how to fly?” Arma asked. Cade answered for me. “Don’t tell any of the other workers but her shifting abilities are sealed for now. She can ride on my back. I’m serious about secrecy.” He looked at me. “Everyone here is obsessed with gossiping, try to keep a low profile,” he warned me. “You don’t have
Cade looked in the direction of Lexus who we all had noticed walking this way. I didn’t expect to see him again so soon. “I doubt we’d see someone having a mate any time soon though,” He ended the conversation. He stood up once Lexus approached us. “Is something wrong? You never come into the city.” Lexus glanced at me then looked back at Cade. “You could’ve invited me.” His tone gave off that he was annoyed. “We usually hangout on Saturdays anyways, I don’t mind the city too much.” Cade chuckled. “You’re right about that. Sorry for not inviting you. We just wanted to show Aqua around, I thought you’d find it boring.” Lexus eyes were fixated on me since Cade shifted the attention my way. “Oh, that’s kind of a waste of time.” He looked me up and down. “What with the outfit?” I frowned. “I don’t have my own clothes yet and it’s not a waste of time.” I looked around. “I’ve never seen a place like this before.” The beauty alone was enoug
I pulled away after we kissed. He stared down at me. “What?” I asked. I stared at his engagement ring and my chest got heavier. All I could do was be mad at myself. Lexus looked at his ring when he noticed I was. “It’s not your job to worry about it.” “Did you tell that to the last girl?” My eyes were watering up which made me even more mad at myself. Lexus sighed of annoyance. “No, I told her I’d kill her if anyone found out.” He rubbed the back of his head. “It was a different situation that I regret Aqua. Are you guessing or did someone tell you?” Maybe I shouldn’t be repeating what Arma, Stewart or Cade tell me. I don’t want to get anyone in any trouble. “I…” “It wasn’t Cade right?” Lexus changed his question. I shook my head. “No, no.” It wasn’t a lie since Arma implied it and not Cade. Cade was the one convinced Arma was wrong. “It was mostly a guess; they didn’t say anything with detail. You’re not going to follow through
The week of adjusting went by and I hadn’t seen Lexus at all. Maybe this was going to continue, and I wouldn’t have to worry about running into him. If I stay away from him then we’ll have no problems. Arma and Stewart made some time in the past week to hang out with me. They showed me around more so now I was more familiar with the castle and the city. They’d argue a bit sometimes, but I could tell they were close friends.I made sure to take my meds today since I forgot to take them yesterday. I needed to be able to concentrate on my new work. I don’t want to make a bad impression on my first full week of work.Today was my first day on the job and I had to meet Konn in the castles lounge. I guess I spoke too soon because Lexus was there. I did work for him so of course I’d have to see him on a regular basis. I had to ignore the pull of the mate bond. Cade was there too. “Morning Aqua.” They greeted me.“Mo
We flew to the pack house on Lexus’ back. During the ride I told Sadia about my intuition and abilities to see things happening on the physical plane in the present time. She was excited and named all the things she’d want me to do for her with my abilities when she becomes queen. They consisted of spying on people, light revenge, and a few harmless things. Oddly, they had nothing to do will running the kingdom but maybe she was just excited and getting ahead of herself. When we got there, I had an odd feeling. Something didn’t seem right. The house was huge and in the forest. “This is where you live?” I’m not sure how I’d react from seeing a werewolf for the first time in real life. I had seen some on tv and when I was younger dreamed of them a lot. “For now, but thankfully when I marry Lexus I’ll move into the castle.” She said as if she was counting the days. I don’t blame her… I would too. Lexus looked annoyed and I could only assume it was because