Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Reiya watched Lee fly in through the large opening made for dragons with Alexa.
Lee had told her he sensed something odd and went out to check it.
Reiya had gone to check on her daughter, who wasn’t in her room.
She was just about to head downstairs to look for her when she saw Lee coming back with her.
“What happened? Is everything alright?” Reiya ran up to them as they shifted back into their human forms. She could see the mental strain on Lee’s face. His eyes looked darker, and his jaw was clenched.
“NO!” Lee bellowed. His hands trembled slightly as he tried to contain the emotions inside him.
“Mom, I’m fine. I’m great. He was here. I met Ken.
He came for me, and he told me he loved me.
” Alexa felt giddy. She didn’t even care that Erebus knew about her at this moment.
Not only did she get to see Ken, but she was in his arms. She felt his heat and smelled his scent.
The mate bond came crashing through her, and she felt the amazing connection.
And … he said he loved her. She still planned to give him a piece of her mind.
But right now, she just wanted to be happy.
She’d been dreaming of meeting him, and he was everything she’d imagined him to be.
No, he was more than she’d ever imagined.
“Ken was here because Erebus was here! He knows about her. Erebus knows about her! He was here, Reiya! Alexa, did he touch you? I want answers. What did he say to you?” Lee couldn’t help his raging emotions.
Reiya stepped forward, and he felt her small hand land on his arm, her body pressing into his.
She was trying to help calm him down, which he was thankful for because he was ready to go on a rampage.
He could have lost his baby girl when he was so close.
“Daddy, please calm down. Look at me. There isn’t a scratch on me.” Alexa held her arms out to prove her point. “He doesn’t want to kill me anymore. He’s decided he wants me by his side instead.” She listened to the low, murderous growl that came from her father’s throat.
Lee’s eyes flickered as his nostrils flared.
The despicable deity wanted HIS daughter?
! Who the hell did that damn psycho think he was?
He wanted to kill Erebus himself, but he didn’t want to risk leaving Alexa.
He would let Ken handle it. That deity had experience with things like this.
And even though he hated to admit it, Ken edged him out in strength.
“This feels like a case of deja vu. Why is there always someone after the fairy princess?” Reiya’s lips curved downward as she let out an irritated sigh.
“There were also these weird creatures that I think were the voidless Lucie was talking about. I’m not sure what that means, but we should probably keep our guard up. I’m sure Erebus brought them as a decoy?”
“Alexa, he didn’t hurt you at all?” Reiya asked in a soothing voice.
“No, he grabbed me, but even his touch wasn’t rough.
I didn’t feel like he ever intended to harm me.
Then Ken showed up and knocked him away from me.
He came and protected me.” Her lips tugged upward slightly as she remembered the tingles and the feeling of seeing her mate.
But then she remembered what Erebus promised if she chose Ken.
“Erebus threatened to kill my family if I take Ken as my mate. Even though I hate it, I need to continue to pretend to be Brian’s mate.
Ken suggested it too.” Alexa glanced back and forth between her parents as she tried to figure out what they were thinking.
Her mother did this once too. She had to pretend to be Xander's mate. Maybe history really did repeat itself.
“We will have to discuss this with Xander and Brian, of course. But I think it will take more than that to convince Erebus. How does he even know who you are?” Lee’s brows scrunched up as he steadied his breath.
He was angry. He wasn’t there for his daughter when she needed him.
If Ken hadn’t been there, it might have gone very differently. He was indebted to him.
“I don’t know. He didn’t say. But Ken mentioned he was working with an original demon.”
“Of course he is.” Lee growled, closing his eyes. He’d fought against an original demon before. Mephisto. They were not easy to defeat and were on par with a deity’s powers. It seemed Erebus didn’t care what lines he crossed in order to make Ken’s life a living hell.
Mikah walked up from downstairs and his eyes immediately darted to Alexa.
“What happened?” Mikah stomped over to Alexa, the exhaustion he felt vanishing as he went into full protection mode.
Alexa started slowly from the start, filling him in on everything that had happened.
She watched as his eyebrow began to twitch in sync with the vein throbbing on his forehead at the mention of Erebus.
His chest was rising and falling erratically.
His face was tense, jaw clenched and lips pursed.
To say he was angry was an understatement.
“So now what?” Mikah turned and looked at Levi, the veins in his biceps bulging angrily as he clenched his hands into fists.
“Ken is going after Erebus. For now, we let him, and we stay here to watch over Alexa.” Levi listened to the disapproving growl from Mikah.
“Ken has been hunting Erebus all this time. Who knows how long this will take.” Mikah shook his head and clenched his fists tighter. He turned his head sharply to look at Alexa. “You’re sleeping with me from now on.”
“Mikah—” Alexa started to object, but her mother immediately agreed with Mikah.
“I think that’s a good idea. We know Erebus is unhinged. He may risk coming for you during the night. We’ll bring in another bed for Mikah and he can share the room with you.” Reiya watched her daughter roll her eyes, not happy with this plan.
“First thing tomorrow, I’ll have a discussion with Xander.
I know he’ll be a bit disappointed about not having a mate for Brian, but we’ll keep searching for a solution.
I’m sure we can find someone suitable that can endure his heat.
” Reiya intertwined her fingers with Lee’s and smiled up at him.
“We have a lot of resources we can still tap into.”
“Or we can try to hunt down Shiva and see if she will show herself.” Alexa snorted while her parents glared at her.
“One thing at a time. You are under full lockdown until Erebus is taken care of. Then we’ll worry about how to help Brian.” Levi set his blue eyes on her, staring a hole through her. “Understand?”
“What does full lockdown mean? I need to understand the prison rules.” Alexa snorted.
“Why, so you can break them?” Mikah quipped back at her with an eye roll.
“Alexa, this is serious. We’re just trying to protect you.
This isn’t forever. For now, you aren’t to go anywhere without someone with you.
You should have Mikah, Brody, or me with you at all times.
Xander and Brian will work too.” Lee felt Reiya nudge him gently, letting him know she would take over from here.
“Why don’t you get the extra bed and put it in Alexa’s room?
Mikah, go and gather the things you’ll need.
Lex, come with me.” Reiya nodded her head toward her bedroom and walked in that direction.
She could hear the quiet steps of her daughter behind her.
She knew what it was like to be overprotected.
It was smothering. But now, as a mother, she realized how necessary it was.
She wanted to take a private moment with Alexa and talk to her about everything.
She sat down on a light blue sofa in her bedroom and patted the cushion next to her for her daughter to sit.
Alexa smiled and laid down on the sofa, placing her head on her mother’s lap. Her mother played with her hair. It was something she used to do all the time when she was a child. Especially during their deep conversations.
“So … how was it? What was it like meeting Ken?” Reiya asked, smiling.
“Amazing. I still have so much to say to him. But I could finally feel him. I could see myself in his eyes. There was so much tenderness there when he looked at me. And when he told me he loved me …” Alexa reached up and touched her chest. “My whole body felt it. In his eyes and his touch. I worry about him going after Erebus alone, though. Especially if he is working with an original demon.”
“Ken is very powerful and smart. Don’t worry about him.
He’ll be fine. Lex, there are some things you’ll need to really discuss with him at some point.
One is you being the fairy princess and what that would mean for him.
It isn’t a role he has to take upon himself.
If he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t have to be the fairy king.
But he can still be your mate and be by your side.
Just keep that in mind. Your father said Ken has always been spirited, and being tied down to a role may not be his thing.
But you should be understanding of this.
Being the future queen is your burden after all. ”
“Well, you are immortal, so it can stay your burden, right?” They both laughed.
“It isn’t something I want to be in charge of forever. My mother will need a break soon, and I will also. But your father and I can hold that position for a while. Maybe enough time for you to tame your mate down some.”
“You got to know dad for several years before you two became mates. I barely know Ken. I only know what I’ve been told. But when I saw him, I felt like I was seeing my long lost best friend. It was like I knew him.” Alexa tilted her head up to look at her mother’s smiling eyes.