24. River
Iyawned, rubbing my eyes as I walked toward the kitchen, stopping in the hallway. Nat was singing and shaking her ass to the song the Bluetooth speaker was blasting. I giggled, leaning against the wall to watch my carefree friend.
No matter what was going on in our lives, she was always in the best mood. She was always chipper in the morning, and while I was not, I still enjoyed her joyful attitude. A smile spread on my face when she took the spatula she just flipped the pancakes with and started singing into it like a microphone.
Tate came up behind me, snaking his arms around my center and resting his chin on my shoulder.
“What are you doing, minx?” He whispered into my ear, placing a kiss on the side of my neck.
I turned my head, pecking him on the lips, before admiring his beautiful green eyes.
“I’m just admiring the view,” I whispered before returning my attention back to Natalia. She was in full-blown concert mode now, eyes closed and arms raised in the air.
Bellowing the chorus of Bad Omens, Just Pretend, at the top of her lungs. Bad Omens was by far our favorite artist and we could sing every song word for word. Natalia was killing it and I was enjoying sitting back and watching her one-woman concert.
Tate began clapping when the song ended, and Nat jumped five feet into the air screaming. Clearly, she did not know she had an audience.
“Encore, encore.” Tate hollered, cupping his hands around his mouth.
Her face turned deep cherry red, she was clearly embarrassed, but my bestie smiled and did the most dramatic bow. I laughed, clapping as I walked into the kitchen, hopping up onto the chair at the island.
Lainey walked out of Nat’s room, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
“I really don’t know how you always have so much energy this early in the morning,” she said, taking a seat beside me.
I turned to her, giggling, “Right, and she doesn’t even drink coffee. I can’t be considered a functioning adult until I’ve had at least one cup.”
Tate chose that moment to place a fresh cup of coffee in front of me as Natalia told the Bluetooth speaker to turn the volume down. I beamed at him, this man truly knew the way straight to my heart.
Just give me food, coffee, and a place to spread my wings, and I was a goner.
“So, what”s that?” Nat asked, pointing to the folder I dropped on the counter last night.
I shrugged, “Ryder gave it to me last night. I haven’t opened it yet.”
“What are you waiting for, bitch. Open that sucker up.” Nat all but screamed, throwing the folder my way.
It landed in front of me, and I stared down at it. My name was in bold black letters on the front. Call me crazy, but I was super nervous to see what was inside. The fact that a hunter had this made me wonder if all the hunters had one. What was so important about me that they had a whole file for it?
I pulled whatever strength I could muster together and flipped the file open. Front and center was a recent picture of me. Looking at it I noticed it was from the first day at Willow Hollow University, when me and Nat went to get our schedules.
There was a copy of my school schedule, birth certificate, dragon classification, and even copies of the deeds to all the land we bought, including our house. I flipped through it more, finding information on my lineage. It went back eight generations.
“What the fuck,” Nat breathed, looking at the information that was inside the crazy file about me.
“They have everything but your bathroom schedule. That”s some deep shit, girl,” Lainey said.
“You”re in here too, Nat,” I told her, holding up the section that had her name on it.
A nervous look crossed her face, “Let me see.” She ripped the pages out of my hand before I could read anything past her name.
I wondered why she looked nervous and was so quick to take the papers, but I quickly brushed it off. I would be nervous too if Moonbeam had a file on me…that”s right…they did. I returned my attention back to the file.
“What does that section say?” Tate asked, pointing to a section about galaxy dragons.
I began reading the paragraph out loud. “River Moonstone is the last known galaxy dragon in existence. So far, there are no signs showing us that she knows how to use her special gift, which goes along with the galaxy dragon lineage. The last galaxy dragon before her was Albus Moonstone, her great-grandfather. Albus was not only capable of creating black holes, but he could also portal jump, opening a special type of black hole that allowed him to travel across a great distance in the blink of an eye. There is still no record of where his black holes lead, but the portals he could open anywhere in the world.”
“Holy shit.”
My brain didn’t register who whispered the words, I was too focused on the file. Silence set in around us, no one daring to utter a word.
“There”s more,” I said, looking further down the paper. “Galaxy dragons recharge from the moon, much like wolf shifters. Unlike wolf shifters, every phase of the moon recharges them except for the new moon. The new moon weakens them, and this is the best time to capture a galaxy dragon as they cannot open any type of portal during a new moon.”
“That explains why you like flying at night so much, babes. It’s the best time for your dragon to recharge its strength,” Nat said, drawing my attention to her.
“I never knew,” I said, so low I wasn’t sure she heard me.
“Now we know why they are after you, but if you can’t open the black holes…what do they want with you?” Tate asked.
“You’ve never tried, though, right? I bet you can. If that”s a power all galaxy dragons are granted, then you just need to tap into it.” Lainey added.
My head spun thinking about it, this was crazy. They were hunting me down for something they didn’t even know I was actually capable of doing. I’ve never opened a black hole of any kind. So, why did they think I was capable of doing it? Just because my great-grandfather could didn’t mean I could. But, more importantly, what did they want with my ability?
“At least that gave us more to go on then what we had,” Tate said, a sad tone lacing his words.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I said, closing the file. I would look at it more later. I didn’t know how much more I wanted to know right now. There was a section on Albus and the test they performed on him, along with a death certificate for him and my parents.
Nat pushed a plate of pancakes in front of me, but I pushed them away. I was no longer in the mood for food. My stomach turned with unease.
No one said anything as I got up and headed to my room.
What happened, my star?
Kai’s voice flooded my mind, sending a rush of calm over my body. I needed to tell him what we found out, I know I did, but I didn’t want to repeat our findings.
Ryder gave me a file the hunters had…on me.
I told him, another wave of unease flooding my system. They knew where I lived. They had my fucking school schedule. I’ve never felt more unsafe in my own home. They knew exactly where to find me, the only safe space I thought I had.
I’m on my way.
I relaxed the smallest amount, knowing Kai was on the way. There was no way he would let the hunters get to me, him or Tate, even Jax. They were my mates, they would protect me when it felt like I couldn”t protect myself. Ryder popped into my head, and I knew deep down he is on the list too. He wouldn’t let anything happen to me either.
We may not be mates, but I felt a connection with him that I couldn’t explain. It felt like he could also be my mate, but until the mate bond was initiated, I couldn’t be sure.
A new determination settled within me, I wanted to destroy Moonbeam, now more than ever. That file showed me just how fucking crazy the corporation as a whole was. That was stalker level crazy, and I wondered how many other supernaturals they had entire files on. It couldn’t have just been me.
They needed to be taken down before they used me for whatever they had planned. The thought of creating a black hole for them turned my stomach sour. There was no way I would do that. I would rather die than create something capable of destroying everything.
I just finished getting dressed when Nikolai stormed into my room. He slammed my door open so hard it bounced off the wall and slammed closed. It only took him two strides to cross the room and I was wrapped in his arms.
Warmth surrounded me when he wrapped his arms around me. I jumped, and he grabbed my ass, hoisting me up his body as I buried my face in his neck, inhaling his musty scent of fresh fallen autumn leaves. I pulled him closer to me. I was wrapped in his arms, and yet he was still too far away.
“I got you, star. I got you,” Nikolai whispered in my ear as I silently sobbed into him.
The new information of why Moonbeam wanted me shook me to my core. I was afraid of what I could possibly do. Kai calmed my fear.
I would allow myself this moment to shatter, to get everything out of my system. Just this one moment to break because once I walked out that door, I needed to have my shit together. I need to put all the broken pieces back into place because a broken girl would be of no use to me.
I needed to be whole in order to destroy Moonbeam, to take whatever they threw at me and turn it back onto them. I would not allow them to use me as a weapon of destruction. I would be my own weapon in their destruction.
Kai sat on my bed, settling me on top of him to straddle his waist. He pulled me against him, rubbing his hand up and down my back. The lazy strokes comforted me in a way that I didn’t know I needed.
These guys were slowly crumbling the carefully crafted wall I had up around my heart. Breaking it down brick by brick and smashing their way through. I felt myself falling, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Natalia and Lainey left. I’ll wait for you, minx. Take as long as you need. I’ll be here.
Tate’s words were the sweetest caress in my mind, adding to my comfort. Once I got all my feelings out I pulled away from Kai.
“Tate is waiting for us, Nat and Lainey already left.”
Kai gave me a questioning look, “Did you complete your bond with him?”
My cheeks heated, completing the bond required sex, so admitting it would be admitting Tate and I had intercourse. Would he be jealous? They were both my mates, so it didn’t feel wrong, but maybe Kai thought differently.
I dipped my head, looking at the rise and fall of his chest as I whispered my answer.
“Yes.”
Kai lifted my chin with his finger, forcing me to meet his eyes. They were the deepest cerulean blue, no sign of his dragon in sight. Both his eyes and his dragons were blue, but Kai’s was a brilliant dark cerulean blue while his dragons were more of an aqua. It took me a long while to notice the difference, although subtle, I could tell now.
When I looked into his eyes now they were all cerulean. I could drown in the deep depths of them. Drowning in his eyes didn’t sound like a bad way to go.
“I’m not mad, star. You have every right to bond with your mates without interference from the others. Just remember, I was your first, and I plan on being your last.”
With that, he slammed his lips to mine. I automatically opened for him, moaning into his mouth. His words sent my arousal crazy, if he dipped his hand into my panties right now, he would see how wet I was. These men and their words were going to be the death of me.
If you start fucking, let that asshole know I’m joining in.
I giggled, pulling myself away from Kai and pressing my forehead to his.
“Tate said he’s coming in for a threesome if we start fucking,” I told him, repeating what Tate said in my head.
I saw the aqua swirl then, but when he blinked it was gone. Maybe Kai wasn’t as opposed to that idea as he made it seem. The thought of having both of them at the same time had me grinding down against his rapidly growing length.
Maybe Natalia was right, and I was becoming dickdicted, because I just couldn”t get enough. Now that I’ve had a taste of the real thing, not just toys, I was insatiable.
“River,” Kai growled. I didn’t know if it was a warning or a plea, but it did all the right things. I kissed across his jaw, grinding down on him faster.
He gripped my ass in both hands, squeezing painfully. The mixture of pain and pleasure had a whimper escape me, and I moved my hips faster against him. His completely hard cock was positioned perfectly to hit my sensitive bundle of nerves in the right spot.
The friction to my clit was amazing, I wasn’t even embarrassed I was relentlessly dry-humping him. My orgasm was so close.
He started moving me faster against him. “That”s right, my star. Use me for your pleasure. Make yourself come. Show me how good I make you feel without even needing to be inside you.”
His words did the job, my release exploded out of me, I closed my eyes and tipped my head back.
“Nikolai,” I moaned his name, riding out my orgasm. Once it passed and I stilled, I looked back to him. He had a wicked smirk on his face. His eyes flicked to something over my shoulder before coming back to mine.
“Enjoy the show?” He chuckled.
I turned around to see Tate leaning against the door. Heat burned in his eyes, and it looked like he was using all his self-control to stay put.
“I mean it next time, I’m joining in,” Tate said, looking straight into my eyes.
My cheeks flushed, I definitely wouldn’t tell him no, though.
“Are you ready to go to classes now?” Kai asked.
I nodded and climbed off his lap, heading out the door. My mates were following close behind, giving me the strength I needed to face whatever came my way.