Chapter Thirty-One #2
“Lena, enough,” Johan snaps. “We have been telling him he’s wrong since day one. His bond group would not reject him, just like ours didn’t reject you or me.” I guess that means Johan is the pegasus in the family.
Tears well in her eyes. “You don’t know that. He’s suffered enough,” she argues, but Gryff shakes his head. Before he can open his mouth and say something, though, Christos gestures to the furniture.
“Take a seat. Let’s be comfortable for this discussion.”
We do as he suggests, and Gryffin continues.
“We don’t care what he is, only that he is missing.
We were told by a seer a few years ago that we would have another bond mate.
I have been searching for him ever since.
In fact, I was here, in this village, a few days ago, looking for him.
The alpha I saw denied knowing a shifter with the same mark, but I now know he wasn’t the rightful alpha. ”
“He wouldn’t have known anyway. Even though equines are welcome here—or were—Nox is gun-shy from his treatment in the village we lived in previously, so he kept it to himself.
Not all of them were bad, but a good portion of his friends turned on him once they realized he was going to be a pegasus or a unicorn,” Santos explains.
“Yes, they hadn’t understood there wasn’t a chance he would be a dragon until they learned about dragon mating in high school shifter biology, and then it all went downhill from there,” Johan adds.
I nod, remembering my brief lesson on dragon matings.
“And then not only was he a pegasus, but when he first shifted, he was pink because of my genetics. They never let him hear the end of their torment,” Lena admits, tears streaking freely down her face.
“He’s a pink pegasus?” I ask carefully, grabbing Gem’s hand while trying to control my excitement. He gives me a small squeeze.
“Yes,” Christos confirms warily, a frown between his eyebrows.
“What color was my pegasus?” I ask the guys with excitement. I don’t think anyone mentioned it, and I can’t remember.
“She was a beautiful white with a gorgeous pink mane and tail,” Brodie says cheerfully, and Nox’s parents gape at me.
“You’re a pegasus too?” Johan asks carefully.
“Amongst other things,” I confirm, and they look confused. I sigh. It’s probably time to come clean, and maybe they will trust me a little more. “I have multiple forms. In fact, I have one for each of my mates as well as a hydra,” I explain.
Santos stammers, “A hydra? Holy crap. And a multi shifter as well? You really are impressive, Queen Colbie.”
My cheeks heat with embarrassment.
“How many mates do you have?” Lena asks, her eyes calculating as they move from me to each of the guys.
“Eight in total, and Nox is one of them,” I tell her, and she shakes her head adamantly.
“No, bond groups are never eligible to be mated to the queen.”
“Well, this time I can tell you that isn’t the case. I have their mate mark on my back, otherwise I would show you,” I state firmly.
“We can confirm she’s telling the truth. We would never have gone against the goddess and mated her if it wasn’t there,” Liam growls, sounding just as annoyed with her as I’m starting to feel.
“Eight mates,” Johan murmurs. “I don’t think there has ever been a royal with quite so many.”
“And there won’t be again.” Gem puts an arm around my shoulders and tucks me in next to him. “The goddess told Colbie that she will be the last chosen human, and that the title will be hereditary now.” Gem takes the time to remind them of the long conversation we had the night before.
“So essentially you need to finish gathering your mates so you can be crowned and take on the human and shifter factions that are plotting against you?” Johan crosses his arms and slumps in his chair. “And you need our son to do that.”
“Yes. Challenge day is coming soon, and although she’s powerful, she can’t be crowned if they kill one of her mates before they are mated, and then the power will be free to grab,” Micah replies, and Lena looks at him.
“How many mates does she have left to bond with?”
“Me and two others,” he answers. “We need a body of water for us to use, otherwise I would have already sealed the deal,” he says boldly, and I feel my cheeks heat at his declaration. His confidence is sexy, and he isn’t wrong. I want to go swimming with him so badly.
“So Nox and one other…” Christos looks at me. “Do you know who it is?”
“We assume it’s a fairy because of some choices the queen made, mainly to include the three outcast breeds on the council,” Gryffin replies, “but we were hoping once you track down who has the children, you could track her final mate.”
“You don’t want us to track the mate first?” Lena raises an eyebrow in surprise, and I shake my head vehemently.
“No. Those children and their parents need your attention first.” I think I surprise her, but she looks pleased.
“But some might say the future of the shifter race lies with you, so it’s important that you find your final mate,” Santos counters, playing devil’s advocate, and I grimace.
“Yes, you may be right, but I can’t stand the thought of those children being scared and alone and forced to bite others.”
The four of them seem to have a silent conversation between them. They are probably using bond telepathy, but they don’t leave us hanging long.
“Very well. We will start the search for the children while you go to Chaos Kingdom and find my son. You can use the rift access point easily enough,” Lena announces, standing up and plucking Stormheart from Liam’s arms. He yowls and tries to scratch her, and she screws up her nose and thrusts him at Johan who takes him.
The cat settles down once again, and I can’t help the burst of laughter that barrels out of my chest.
“I’m sorry,” I say when they all look at me, “but it’s a relief to know I’m not the only one he hates.”
She grins wryly. “Yes, it really is.”
“What did you mean about rift access? I thought we would have to cross the desert,” Gem asks, and she winces.
“Zalfari isn’t just the access point to the vampire nation through the rift.
There is a secret underground passage that leads directly to Chaos Kingdom.
” She looks at her mates and nods like she’s decided.
“Actually, all the kingdoms, if I’m honest. It makes it easier than traveling through the desert for days.
It’s at the midway point between here and Eryx, and it allows you to pass through to any of them without going through official routes. ”
Hunter grunts and tilts his head to the side. “That’s how you make your money, isn’t it? Smuggling things back and forth?”
She has the grace to look sheepish. “We do what we have to for our people,” she says unapologetically.
“How?” Gryffin asks, and it’s Santos who answers.
“The Chaos king commissioned it when he took the throne from his grandfather and approached us.”
“The Chaos Kingdom comes up in every conversation. For an unofficial kingdom, they seem to have their fingers in every pie,” I point out, and I can tell by the looks on my mates’ faces that they are as suspicious as I am.
“You need to be cautious when you go there. King Loki isn’t above manipulating people to get what he wants, and having one of the ruling royals in his kingdom may be too much for him to pass up,” Johan cautions.
“You think he’s a danger to us?” Gem sits up, letting his arm drop from my shoulders, on full alert.
“I don’t know, just be careful. Get in, find our son, and get out.
You don’t have time to spend catering to the man’s every whim.
He’s kind of batshit crazy. You need to find your last mate and get that crown on your head.
Then, we can focus on who is causing all the trouble.
” Lena is adamant, and it appears she’s dropped the rest of her hostility and is going to work with us for now.
“Once we find the children, we will contact you and let you know what we find, then we can work on that final mate for you.”
“Thank you, I appreciate your help,” I tell her, and she stands up and strides over to me, taking my hands in hers.
“Just look after my son. He needs all the love you can give him. I wasn’t able to protect him from the abuse he suffered, and I’m hoping you can fix all that.” She moves her gaze to the rest of my mates who all murmur solemn promises.
“He will have so much love, he won’t know what to do with it,” I promise her, and her eyes shine with unshed tears as she gives me a nod of gratitude.
A yowl breaks the tension, and Johan curses, dropping the cat to the floor. Stormheart streaks away and up a cat tree situated in the corner of the room.
“That cat may be another story though,” I grumble, and Lena chuckles but gives me a knowing look.
“You will just have to learn to avoid him like I do, because Nox won’t leave Stormheart behind,” she warns, and my stomach sinks. How did I know she was going to say that?