Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
As soon as I thought it, it happened. The pressure inside of me exploded outwards, some type of invisible force that was so strong, it knocked Wayne and Zeke away from me.
As soon as the pressure was gone, I felt a strange new sensation. No … four sensations. Four presences.
Opening my eyes, I gasped at the four strands of golden light stretching from my chest out to each of the princes.
“No!” Vicky shouted. “No! This can’t be! I opened it! I activated it! They should be mine! Mine!”
Zeke ran back to me and picked me up. “Medic!” he shouted and a tall, thin male Dragonkin ran over.
“This way, Zeke,” the medic said and shoved people out of the way as Zeke carried me after him.
“The Exostalons?” I asked Zeke.
“Dead,” he answered.
“All of them?”
He nodded.
I brushed my finger down the strand that connected Zeke to me. “Is this—”
“Yes, we’re fully bound now,” he answered.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“We’ll discuss it later,” he snapped. “First, we need to get your wound treated.”
“It doesn’t hurt, strangely enough,” I said as I looked at the still open, bleeding wound.
“That’s because we’re taking your pain,” he said and winced as he jumped over a dead Exostalon’s body.
“You’re … what?” I asked.
The medic finally led us to an open cot in the medic ward and Zeke set me on it.
“Step back,” the medic ordered Zeke.
Zeke growled, “No.”
The medic sighed. “Bro, I’ve got to heal her. If you don’t step back, you’re going to hinder my process. Do you want her to scar?”
Zeke growled again, but released my hand to step back and lean against the wall.
The medic smiled and said, “Hi, Xoe. I’m Caelen, Gage’s brother.”
“N-Nice to meet you,” I stammered as my body grew suddenly cold.
“After we get your wound cleaned up, we’ll get you some nice, warm blankets,” he promised.
Gage and Wayne ran inside and before they could reach me, Caelen stepped into their path and pointed at the wall by Zeke. “Stand there until I finish.”
“Xoe, it’s going to be okay,” Wayne promised.
“Don’t worry, my brother may be a brat, but he’s a great medic,” Gage said and smiled at me.
Tears bubbled in my eyes as I stared at the golden strands and before I could stop them, they fell down my cheeks.
The three princes ran forward, shoving Caelen out of the way.
“What’s wrong?” Gage asked.
“Is the pain still too much?” Wayne asked.
“I thought … I lost you … to her,” I said between sobs. “I thought you were bound to her … by the magic. I thought—”
Zeke pressed his forehead to mine while Gage and Wayne held my hands.
“We weren’t certain what had happened either,” Wayne admitted. “When the bond finally snapped into place with you … it was such a relief.”
“Why’d you stop me from killing her?” I asked Zeke.
“Because you didn’t want to kill her publicly and I figured it was just an automatic reaction,” he answered.
Fresh tears spilled down my face, but Caelen growled and shoved them all back towards the wall. “She’s bleeding more now! Get back and let me do my job. You can make up after I’m done.” He put something in the IV he’d inserted into my hand and before I could say anything, I was asleep.
I woke up to an itchy chest wound and a large Dragonkin draped over my lap.
Reaching down, I threaded my fingers through Zeke’s hair and whispered, “You make a great lap blanket.”
His eyes fluttered open and after a breath, he asked, “Are you in pain?”
“The wound itches,” I admitted. “That’s a bad sign, right? An infection?”
He jumped to his feet, darted out of the room, and bellowed for a medic. Two seconds later, Caelen walked in to examine me.
“Good morning, Xoe.”
“Morning, Caelen.” My throat was dry, but at least I could speak.
“I’m going to remove the bandages so I can check on the wound,” he advised as he cut the bandage and slowly peeled it back. His eyes widened. “Whoa, I’ve never seen this before.”
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Zeke demanded and hovered behind Caelen.
“Her wound has healed significantly overnight. Way more than it should have.” His eyes narrowed and he looked over at Zeke. “She’s tied to you, right? With the magic that was in that locket?”
Zeke nodded. “The four of us. By the locket and as fated mates.”
Caelen hummed. “I wonder if she’s somehow using your healing, all four of you, to speed up her healing. I’ve not heard of that happening before, but that could be the only explanation.” He paused, then his eyes widened. “Fated mates?!”
“Her using our powers to heal, that’s a good thing, right?” Zeke asked.
Caelen laughed and applied a new bandage. “Yes, it’s a good thing.”
“Where’s Preston?” I asked. He hadn’t come to the room before I’d been knocked out.
“He’s been dealing with the Exostalons,” Zeke answered.
“What? I thought they were all killed?” Had they sent more forces? Or had some snuck in that we hadn’t known about?
“He’s pushing them for violating international space law and trying to get sanctions placed on them or take the planet since the royal family is all dead now,” he explained as he sat back down on the chair by my bed.
“They don’t have much ground to stand on since they had given you a pardon, but still came after you. ”
“Can …” I hesitated. Was he not coming to see me because he was upset that the bond was activated? They’d all said they wanted the bond before, but maybe that wasn’t the case anymore. Maybe he’d changed his mind.
“Why are you sad?” Zeke asked and grabbed my hand in his large, warm one.
“It’s nothing,” I lied and looked up at Caelen. “Can I leave soon?”
He nodded. “You’re free to leave, but Zeke will have to carry you.”
“What? Why?”
“Wayne has your right leg. He’s repairing the damage that happened to it,” Zeke explained as he lifted a bag from the floor by the bed and pulled out a change of clothes. He looked at Caelen, narrowed his eyes, and growled. “Out.”
Caelen rolled his eyes, but left so I could get dressed.
“Are you hungry?” he asked as he helped me put my clothes on without stretching my wound too much.
“Starving,” I replied and realized it was definitely true. My stomach even growled to agree.
“We’ll go to your room and I’ll have food delivered for us. Is there anything specific that you would like to eat?” He picked me up in a bridal carry.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my cheek against his shoulder. “No, just something tasty.”
Wayne and Gage were already waiting when we made it to my room.
Wayne held my leg in his hand and said, “Don’t worry, the damage was minimal and it’s all repaired.”
“Thank you.” I tried to smile, but it felt forced.
“What’s wrong?” Gage asked. “Are you in pain? No, it’s not pain. Sad? Why are you sad?”
My brows furrowed. “What?”
“We can sense your emotions through the bond,” Zeke explained.
Oh, right. I’d forgotten about that part of the bond.
“It’s nothing,” I lied and patted Zeke’s shoulder. “You can set me down in the chair.”
Zeke set me on a couch and sat beside me on it, taking up two-thirds of it with his massive size.
“Stop lying and saying it’s nothing. What’s wrong?” Wayne squatted down and reconnected my leg, nodding when it clicked right into place.
“Did you order the food?” Zeke asked before I could respond, not that I wanted to.
Wayne nodded. “Yes, it should be here any …”
Someone knocked on the door.
“… minute,” Wayne finished with a laugh.
Gage went to the door and pulled it open. A female Dragonkin I didn’t recognize entered, pushing a cart with several covered plates. She smiled and chatted with Gage about something, but the scent of the food had me so distracted that all I could hear was my growling stomach.
Wayne pushed a coffee table until it was right in front of me and set one of the plates before me. “Eat everything,” he ordered as he removed the lid.
I scoffed. “You’re starting to sound like Zeke.”
“Good,” Zeke grumbled and set a glass of water next to my plate. “Drink all the water, too.”
I silently mocked him, but he just pressed a kiss to my temple and sat on the couch to start eating his own food.
The plate was full of delicious looking food, even if I didn’t know what all of the items were. Instead of asking, I just dug in and scarfed down all of it.
The female Dragonkin stared at us silently.
“Uh, did you need something?” I asked her.
She snapped out of her stare and said, “Prince Preston asked that I ensure you eat everything on your plate, so I was simply waiting to provide him proper reconnaissance.”
A surge of jealousy and bitterness rolled through me. “If Prince Preston wants to find out if I finished eating or not, he can come find out for himself.”
Her eyes widened.
“Tell Preston he should finish up what he’s working on since Xoe is out of the medic ward now,” Gage said and opened the door for her to leave.
“He gave me explicit instructions to wait and—”
“Go,” Zeke ordered her and she scurried out the door.
Leaning back on the couch, I asked, “What’s happening to me?”
“You’re upset about something, which seems like it’s related to Preston,” Gage said. “Is it because he didn’t come see you out of the medic ward?”
Was that it? Was I upset because he wasn’t here? As I ruminated on my emotions, I realized that I was jealous of the woman and that he’d sent her to watch me instead of coming himself.
I wasn’t used to jealousy. There was also sadness and worry about Preston. Was he not here because he hadn’t wanted the bond? Was he upset about what had happened?
“I’m sorry the bond was forced on you,” I whispered.
All three of their heads snapped to face me.
“What?” Zeke asked.
Tears started falling down my face and great sobs shook my body.
“I-I was going to talk to you about activating the bond after the ceremony. To ask if you still wanted it, but then she opened it and … I thought she’d bound you to her.
That I’d lost you to her. But now, now it’s been forced on you without your consent and you must be upset. Preston’s obviously upset and—”
“Stop!” Zeke shouted.
My mouth snapped closed.
He moved to kneel before me and took my hands in his. “We’re not angry about the bond, Xoe. We’re happy. We wanted the bond, want the bond.”
“B-But—”
The door opened and Preston froze when he saw my face. After a breath of hesitation, he shut the door and hurried over to sit beside me, taking my face between his hands. “What’s wrong?”
“I … didn’t mean for the bonding to happen like this. If I’d known she was going to try to use the necklace, I would have hidden it,” I blurted while hiccupping as I tried not to cry.
His brows furrowed a moment and then he exhaled and lowered his head until our foreheads touched. “I’m not upset that we’re bonded, Xoe.”
What? “You’re not?”
“No.”
“Then, why were you avoiding me?”
He kissed the tip of my nose and leaned back to meet my eyes. “I’m not avoiding you, pet. I’ve been dealing with the Exostalons and other annoying princely duties.”
“So, I’m overreacting?” I whispered.
He hugged me tightly, pulling my head until it rested on his shoulder.
“You’re not overreacting, you just misunderstood what was going on, and that’s okay.
I’m sorry that I wasn’t there when you were discharged and that I wasn’t able to visit you while you were in the medic ward.
I should have made time for both of those things. ”
“I understand that you’re busy as prince,” I said and felt my face heating in embarrassment. I knew that the heir always has a lot on their plate. Even as a child, I was constantly busy with training and attending meetings to learn about ruling.
“There’s no reason to be embarrassed,” he said and chuckled.
“How are things going with Exostalon?” Wayne asked.
Preston smiled at me and said, “Well, they just delivered Tarkar’s head to me as an apology gift.”
My mouth dropped. “They did what?”
He nodded. “I incinerated it already, but they were apparently the ones who had sent Tarkar after you and gave him coordinates to find us and gave him the advanced weapon to destroy our ship. I accepted his head as payment for them entering our airspace, but warned them if they came within our solar system again, we would destroy their entire planet.”
“Can you destroy their planet?”
Preston gave me his famous, smug smirk. “You saw us destroy that ship with just three of us. Imagine what a dozen or more of us could do to a planet.”
Holy starships! I hadn’t even considered it! No wonder they were left alone. They had a truly frightening power.
“Now that we’ve got that cleared up, I think we should let Xoe rest,” Gage said as he cleaned up our empty plates.
“Yes, let’s get you showered and in bed,” Preston said.
“It’s lunchtime,” I argued. “It’s not bed time.”
“We didn’t say sleep, pet. We said in bed. You need rest to fully recuperate.”
Arguing was pointless, so I let the four of them fawn over me.
My four princes.
My mates.