Chapter 45
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Alexa woke up from the best night’s sleep of her life. Unfortunately, her stomach sank, knowing that Ken would be leaving her today. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but her internal clock was telling her it was morning. She moved slightly and felt Ken’s hand rubbing over her shoulders.
“Good morning, my love,” Ken crooned to her as his lips brushed over the top of her head. He felt her shiver against him and he smiled, loving how responsive she was to him.
“Morning? Are you sure? It all looks dark to me.” Alexa couldn’t see a thing with her sleep mask on. Maybe she could just pretend it was still night. She listened to his chuckle and the loud snort from Mikah.
“It’s way past morning. It’s almost afternoon, princess. Ken should have left hours ago, but he wouldn’t leave until you woke up.” Mikah clicked his tongue. “You do realize that if you keep spoiling her, you’ll create a monster.”
Ken smiled and brushed his fingers through Alexa’s hair.
“I fully intend to spoil her. Lex, I shouldn’t be gone long.
If Terra is waiting where I sent her, I should be able to be back by tonight.
” Leaning up on his elbow, he looked down at her longingly.
He wanted to press his lips to hers and explore her mouth with his tongue.
But there were just too many risks, too many unknowns when it came to the nembrant glass. He lifted her up and held her close.
“I’ll be back before you know it. Stay with Mikah and be good for him.” Ken listened to Mikah’s airy laugh and looked at him. Their eyes met and Mikah smiled at him, nodding his head.
“I’ve been keeping her safe all this time. Go do what you need to.”
“Ken,” Alexa whispered as she felt his chest move slightly. She couldn’t see him but could still feel his gaze on her. “Be safe.”
“You aren’t worried about me now, are you?” Ken’s low voice vibrated through his chest as he brought strands of her hair up to his lips. “Don’t worry, my love.” He felt Alexa’s fingers tug at his shirt, her hands clenching the fabric. “Nothing can keep me from you.”
“The same goes for me. Nothing will keep me from you. If you don’t return, I will come for you. I don’t care if I have to freeze hell in order to find you.” Alexa heard a low growl from Ken’s chest.
“Lex, no matter what happens, I want you to wait here for me. I don’t ever want you going into the demon realm.
Someone like you should never step foot in that place.
Just trust in me. I will come back to you.
If I’m late, don’t worry. It just means I still haven’t found Terra.
She’s a smart girl and would move around if she needed to.
” Ken turned and glared at Mikah. “Don’t you dare let her come looking for me either. ”
“As if I would.” Mikah scoffed.
“You see … you saying things like that makes me think you anticipate problems,” Alexa whispered. She wished she could go with him.
“I don’t. But at the same time, I don’t want you worrying. If I’m not back tonight, it doesn’t mean anything, okay my love?” Ken sighed and gave her one more longing embrace. “I love you. I’ll see you soon.”
“I love you too.” Alexa felt him disappear from around her. The moment his presence vanished, she flipped the sleep mask off her eyes. She looked around and her eyes landed on Mikah’s.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.” Mikah stood up and stretched. “I’m starving. Let’s go and rustle up some grub.”
Alexa nodded her head and stood up. She needed to try to keep herself busy so the day would go by faster.
“I wonder how things went with Brian and Bella.” Alexa suddenly felt energized thinking about it. She grabbed some clothes and beat Mikah to the door. “Get dressed and hurry up,” she teased.
Yes, it would be best for her to think about everything and anything and keep her mind occupied. She raced to the bathroom and quickly got ready. Soon, both she and Mikah were down the stairs and heading into the dining area.
Nicolai and Anna were sitting at the table, and across from them were Ryker and Raine. They all seemed to be busy eating the food that was spread out on the table. Alexa and Mikah walked up and took a seat, greedily eyeing the food.
“Where is everyone else?” Alexa asked as she reached for some food, placing it on her plate. Breakfast and lunch were a casual affair, and since everyone had different schedules, it was constantly ready throughout the day.
“Let’s see … Troy and Nia are with Misty and Cole. They were supposed to be chaperoning a children’s event. And we haven’t seen Brian yet,” Raine said thoughtfully.
A wry smile spread over Alexa’s face after hearing that. “So, we haven’t gotten to talk much, Raine. I know you were filled in about everything, but you haven’t talked to me about your news.” Alexa leaned her head down to look at Ryker.
Raine smiled and shrugged. “I marked him last night,” she stated boldly, and the silverware clanked onto plates around the table.
“You marked him? How?” Nick asked as he glanced up at Ryker. “I don’t see a mark.”
Ryker chuckled and pulled his shirt down. Right above his pec was a long red mark that resembled a sword. “It was a very nice night last night.” He winked at them.
“Yeah, Destiny was right. The urge just sort of takes over. I didn’t have to know what to do because my body already did.
It was like instinct. It seems like my mark is similar to how dragons mark.
It branded him.” Raine looked over at Alexa.
“But did you see the shape it made? Destiny said her mark on Harley is also in the shape of a sword.”
“Anna, you want to put a mark on me?” Nick wiggled his brows at her playfully.
Anna shoved his shoulder hard enough to rock him sideways, which only made his grin wider.
“So how are things with you two? Usually you two are always fighting. But now that you’re mates …” Mikah looked between the two as Anna’s cheeks flushed pink.
“I always liked Nick. His flirting with others infuriated me, though. Whenever I saw him, I felt aggravated thinking about how he was with other women …” Anna admitted quietly.
“I wanted Anna so much, so I tried to make her jealous by flirting with other women. I guess it backfired. In our case, we’re lucky we’re mates.
We were able to be with the person we really wanted and move past the misunderstandings.
” Nick smiled over at Anna and snaked an arm around her waist. “There is no one out there that’s a better fit for me than her. ”
“I’m, uh, finished eating …” Anna stood up and Nick immediately followed suit. There was fire in their eyes as they quickly left the room.
“They must have an upset stomach.” Mikah chuckled. Everyone knew exactly where they were going. The pull between mates was strong at the best of times, and for the newly mated, it was nearly impossible to resist. Suddenly, Ryker stood up, and Mikah arched his brow at him. “What, you too?”
“Brian needs to speak to Alexa.” Ryker turned toward her. “Alexa, will you meet Brian in his room?”
Mikah stood, groaning. “I just want to eat.” He pouted as he stacked a couple of pastries in his hand.
“Mikah, you can stay here.” Alexa smiled as she stood up.
“Ha! And let the squid berate me later? Not a chance.” Mikah snorted as he bit into his food. “Well? Let’s go,” he said, his tone muffled as crumbs fell from his mouth.
“Tell Brian if he needs me to let me know soon before I start second breakfast.” Ryker winked down at Raine, who covered her scarlet face.
Alexa laughed. “I’ll tell him.” She walked out of the room with Mikah, and she grinned up at him. “You know what this means …”
“Yeah, there’s about to be a surplus of babies running around.” Mikah chuckled as Alexa rolled her eyes. “I still think this complicates things.” He frowned and the teasing drained out of his face.
“Everything complicates things around here.” Alexa snorted, bumping her shoulder into his arm.
Alexa and Mikah walked down the long, restricted corridor. When they finally reached Brian’s room, Alexa knocked loudly. A moment later, Brian opened the door and quickly motioned for them to come in. Alexa saw Bella standing a few feet away with a fresh new mark on her neck.
“Oh, Bella! I’m so happy for you.” Alexa chirped, hugging her.
Bella smiled and reached up to rub her neck. “Thank you. It all just felt right. And I’m happy.”
“Lex, I’m sorry. I went ahead and marked her. I completely forgot—” Brian started but Alexa shot a wave of snow in his face, shutting him up.
“Don’t be silly, Brian. Of course it’s okay that you marked her.
It’s fine. We can still work around this, and now with Bella being marked, you won’t have to worry about unmated dragons.
” Alexa watched as he melted the snow off of him and smiled at her in appreciation.
“Can you temporarily move upstairs? That way you and Bella can share a room without suspicion. It’s that or Ken will have to play teleport switcheroo. ”
“Actually, I was thinking the same thing. That I could temporarily move upstairs until things are settled with Erebus.” Brian looked over at Bella. “That is, if it’s okay with you?”
Bella giggled and wrapped her arm around Brian’s. “Of course it’s okay with me. But what isn’t okay is I’m going to be late. I’m supposed to meet Grandpa Sage.”
Brian nodded his head. “Right, which is why we needed you two to come. We didn’t want to risk her being seen with just me and a fresh mark on her neck. Speaking of mark … how long will yours stay like that?” He nodded toward Alexa’s neck.
“I’m not sure. This is the first mark I ever gave myself.” Alexa giggled and shrugged her shoulders. “But I will check it every morning to make sure it doesn’t look faded. I’m purposely not healing it.”
Brian nodded and then looked a bit confused. “Where’s Ken? Did he go hunting for Erebus?”
Alexa shook her head. “No, he went to find Terra. Hopefully he won’t be gone too long. Anyway, let’s get you to Gramps. Otherwise, he’ll take his wrath out on Brian.” She giggled as Brian snorted in agreement.
“Gramps is always rough on me. But nothing is too good for Lex. Gramps favors the girls.” Brian pouted as he grabbed the door handle.
He stopped and turned around to place a soft kiss on Bella’s lips.
“While we’re out in the public eye, I’ll be keeping my distance from you.
More so now that you have a mark on your neck.
But know I’ll be thinking of you the entire time.
” She cupped his cheek, her eyes going soft, and pressed her forehead to his for a heartbeat before she let him go.
He raised his gaze to Alexa. “Alright, showtime.”
Alexa walked back down the corridor tucked into Brian’s side while Bella and Mikah followed behind them. Neither Alexa nor Brian were in the arms of who they wanted to be with, but it was a necessary evil.
Alexa couldn’t help but think about Ken.
She wondered if he was close to finding Terra.
Already, she was too used to his presence.
The world felt foreign without his heavy scent around her.
She missed the sweet tingles his closeness brought her too.
There was no way she would ever stand to be separated from him for long again.
She needed him more now. Almost as much as she needed air.
Alexa reached up and touched her necklace, feeling the warmth of the gem kiss her fingers and pretending it was Ken himself, kissing her and telling her he would be there soon.