Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ama
"I fucking concede!" Jace screamed with the anger of the world infused in his tone, his dark hair plastered to his forehead by the sweat dripping on his brow.
Adrien stood behind him in his Wraith form with what appeared to be a shadow blade to Jace's throat. Somehow, he'd caught him out of his Wraith and Hellhound hybrid form while I’d been watching Damien's battle come to an end.
His opponent had been a fiercely powerful blend of Dark Elf and Hellhound, but Damien's Hellhound had shown no fear and had tactfully figured his opponent out. At the end, when the burst of magic had shot towards Damien, I’d thought the fight was going to be over.
In my mind, there had been no way he could have avoided it.
However, the damned Hellhound had simply tensed his muscles, lowered himself to the ground, and run directly towards the magic, jumping over the wall of raw energy.
He had to have gotten damn near ten feet into the air.
It had been impressive, and also clear his opponent was woefully unprepared for his actions.
Damien had landed a foot in front of him and knocked him to the ground, placing his mouth around the soft flesh of his opponent’s throat and growling.
His opponent had let out a whine and rolled over, showing submission. I had briefly feared for his life, seeing that Damien's Hellhound seemed in full control, his eyes blazing with fire as he’d stood over his opponent for many more seconds.
Damien’s Hellhound had eventually relented, though, making Safiya and I both heave sighs of relief as we had found each other's hands and squeezed.
Dropping Safiya’s hand, I jumped up and down and squealed, clapping my hands in excitement.
We’d won. We'd actually fucking won.
A part of me had known, deep down, that we would, but it had really come down to the wire at the end, which had me on the edge of my seat, a small trickle of doubt creeping in.
But my men had come through, and we had proven to the king and queen that we weren’t beneath them and were a force to be reckoned with.
We had earned their army, fair and square.
Glancing over at Cyrus with a smirk, I asked, "Is your army prepared to leave tomorrow?"
His thick eyebrows scrunched together as he grumbled, "I will tell my general to prepare them to march out soon."
I replied in a sing-song voice, "Soon better be tomorrow."
Safiya gripped my hand, bringing my attention back to her, the serious expression on her face causing my smile to falter.
Her eyes implored me as she asked, "Please tell me you will come back here after the war to have your wedding here.
Nothing would make me happier than to be a part of this moment in your life with Jace. "
I sighed and patted her hand, knowing she truly did mean well. I could feel the honesty in her words, but I knew that she still hadn't accepted my other mates, despite Pelia's warning.
It was understandable that it would be hard to change your mindset with a snap of Pelia's fingers. After all, this kingdom seemed to have been built on showing they were fierce opponents who would never fall to the Kingdom of Pura again.
It had never once crossed their minds to coexist.
"Safiya..." I started, but I struggled to find the words that would help her understand.
Her eyes widened, shining with hope. "I would love to have your help with planning a wedding," her smile took up half of her face before I added on, "but, it would be a wedding to all of my mates, if and when we are all ready for such a big step. "
Her gaze dropped to the floor, and her smile fell for a moment. I saw her mind whirling as she processed my request. She squeezed my hand before looking at me again with a tentative smile, "Whenever you are all ready, I'd be honored to help."
I hadn't realized how much I wanted her to approve of all of my mates. I guess I could blame it on my mommy issues, but the weight that melted off me with her acceptance was immense.
Trying to not overthink it, I dropped her hand, pulled her into a tight hug, and breathed out, "Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me."
It took her a moment to get over her shock, but then she hugged me back just as tightly, "You're a part of our family now, Ama. All of you are."
Her words made my eyes burn with unshed tears, and I took a deep breath, trying to keep them back. I pulled away and nodded, a smile pulling at my quivering lips.
"Oh, sweet girl, why are you crying?" she asked as she reached out and wiped a bastard tear that leaked from the corner of my eye without my permission.
I decided to be honest with her, "My mother isn't in the picture, and I haven't known much kindness in my life, let alone maternal kindness."
Her eyes widened, and understanding pooled within them as she moved her fingers to grip my chin lightly and used that mom tone on me, "Halt your tears and pull your shoulders back. You are a future queen, and you have the backing and love of an entire kingdom now. You will never be alone."
Somehow, she’d known I needed a bit of tough love, infused in a loving statement, and it snapped me out of my weepy emotional moment. I nodded and took a deep breath, doing as she said and feeling a new strength imbue me—one that was rooted in confidence for possibly the first time in my life.
She was right—I was the future queen of a kingdom. Whether it be my territory in Pura or here in Impurus, I had a lot of work to get done to ensure my people's safety.
"Ama! We need you, quickly!" I heard Finias call out, and within moments I sprinted onto the field where my men had created a circle around my Hellhound.
His front half lowered to the ground like he was tensed to pounce on anyone who made a move towards him. His ears were flattened, and his lips curled back in a snarl, displaying his sharp rows of teeth.
I was out of breath when I came skidding to a stop between Finias and Drayven, assessing the situation.
Drayven growled out, "The fucker seems to have completely lost himself to his beast. We can't get through to him.
I would never want to put you at risk, but I think you're the only one who can get through to him. "
"Agreed," Finias said. "We've seen his Hellhound around you, and he's like a tame pup in your presence."
They were right. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, but I had never been around him at a point where I couldn't sense Damien anymore.
Shaking my head, I cleared all hesitation from my mind as I began to walk towards him slowly with my hands up. "Hi, my little Hellhound. Who is the most handsome boy in all the realm?"
Why the fuck was I baby talking him? I was off my rocker. Baby talking a vicious Hellhound, who was hellbent on ripping everyone's throats out at the moment, it would seem.
His ears perked up at the sound of my voice, and his head whipped to me. "Oh, fuck," I whispered as he launched himself at me. All of my mates yelled, but there was no way they could do anything in time.
Before I knew it, I was on my back, looking up at the crystal-clear sky with a Hellhound standing over me. His snout dropped down, and he seemed to be inspecting me. His eyes darted around my face, then dropped down as he sniffed around my breasts and down my stomach to my pussy.
This felt so odd while Damien was in his Hellhound form, but I knew this was the primal side of my mate, and I couldn't make any sudden moves.
I saw Colt and Jace take a step forward, as if to do something, but it caused my Hellhound to growl at them, his hackles raised.
In a soothing tone, I said, "It's okay. I'm okay."
A tense few moments passed, but as soon as the others stepped back, my Hellhound’s attention came back to me. He licked a long path from my neck to my forehead, and I had to stifle a giggle at the rough sensation tickling my neck.
Then, he shocked the hell out of me by curling up and lying down next to me.
What the fuck?
I didn't want to move and startle him, since he seemed to be calming down, so I announced in a gentle voice, "Can you all back away? I'm going to try to get him to go with me to my rooms so he can settle down. Hopefully, that will allow Damien to mentally connect."
"Ama, I don't know about that," Nico hedged, concern clear in his voice.
"It's our only option," Adrien answered.
"It's clear he won't hurt her. He knows she is his mate.
Hellhounds are fiercely protective of the one they consider theirs.
It's likely the fight riled the bloodlust within him to the point that his mind is too clouded with aggression to understand we mean her no harm. "
"Wouldn't his bloodlust have been high when he killed her attacker in her rooms at the Summit, though?" Finias asked, trying to connect the dots.
"Yes, absolutely. But they had alone time before we arrived.
He protected her and took care of her until we showed up.
He likely had enough time to calm down and rationalize that she was okay," Adrien explained to the guys before addressing me.
"Okay, beauty. We're gonna back away and walk to the edge of the training yard.
We will let you guys exit before following behind at a good distance until you get to your room. "
I lifted my hands with a thumbs up to acknowledge and counted two minutes in my head to give them enough time to distance themselves.
When the time ran out, I lifted a hand, ran it over my Hellhound, and cooed, "Damien, we're going to go back to my room now, okay? Just the two of us."
His head lifted as I slowly sat up, and his eyes tracked my every move. As I got to my feet, so did he, but he let out a whine. "It's okay. It's just us. I'm not leaving you," I reassured, and I put my hand on his head as we had done back in the capital when he’d led me to his room.