Chapter 87
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
Mikah’s lips curled upward as he made his declaration. His blue eyes held Brandy’s green gaze. He didn’t understand it, but somehow, she was his mate. Hell, he didn’t care to make sense of it. She was his, and that was all that mattered.
“That is impossible.” One of the elders took a step in front of Brandy as he stared at Mikah.
“But he is …” Brandy admitted quietly as the elder in front of her scoffed.
“Not possible. This is obviously a clever scheme to prevent the mating ceremony from taking place. We will carry on—” The village elder was interrupted by a murderous growl.
“Carry on? You’ll be carrying body parts if you don’t step away from my mate.” Mikah glared at the elder, who continued to stare back at him, unmoving.
The entire altar fell silent, and everyone stood motionless. Brandy’s heart was pounding against her chest. She was afraid it was going to burst out of her.
“What is going on?” Noah said. His voice was low and dangerous. His eyes were menacing as they flickered between Mikah and Brandy. He knew he didn’t like the way the werebear looked at Brandy before. He could see the possessive look in his eyes. But calling her his mate was too much.
“I don’t know why you were trying to force her to be your mate, but she is mine.” Mikah watched as the elder peered at him and then at Alexa.
“With all due respect …” The elder swallowed his words as he licked his lips. “You’re not supposed to interfere. This is not part of the fairy princess’ jurisdiction.”
Alexa pointed a finger at herself, gaping. She smiled as she listened to the irritated sound that reverberated in Ken’s throat. She softly rested her hand on his forearm.
“I haven’t interfered with anything. It is this naughty guardian.
Bad guardian. That’s a bad, bad guardian.
” Alexa shrugged as Mikah smirked at her.
“You see? I can’t do a thing with him.” She then looked at the elder and narrowed her eyes at him.
“However, you said this isn’t within my jurisdiction.
Do you believe that there is a place in this world where you do not fall under fairy law?
I’m pretty sure there is something in there about forcing mates. ”
The air became colder as Alexa’s icy glare traveled over the men in the front. “That woman is my guardian’s mate. We are taking her, and—”
Ken sighed loudly, making Alexa look up at him questioningly. “Can’t I just kill them all? It would be much faster. In one second, this would all be over.”
Alexa shook her head. “We’re not going to punish everyone because of some bad leaders—”
“Excuse me?!” The elder in the front snorted.
“Oh, we will be. We will be excusing all of the elders from their positions.” Alexa turned to him, an angelic smile spreading across her face.
“You don’t have the authority for that!” another elder growled out.
“The fairy queen does.” Alexa looked at Ken and nodded to him. “Please bring the fairy queen here.”
“Alright, my love. But if they try anything, I will flatten them all.” Ken snorted and roughly kissed her forehead before he teleported away.
Mikah glared at the hand that was still restraining Brandy. He scoffed and then proceeded to walk toward her. “Remove your hand from my mate.”
Noah stepped out in front of Brandy and glared at Mikah. “She is MINE! I have been waiting for her. I have been planning this moment for years now. You aren’t taking her.”
Mikah chuckled lowly, his murderous eyes boring into Noah as he continued to walk toward him slowly. “Did he hurt you?” He never took his eyes off Noah, but it was clear who he was speaking to.
“No, I’m fine.” Brandy felt her heart beating against her chest. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but somehow Mikah was her mate, and it seemed like he wanted her as well. It was too soon to get excited, but she couldn’t help but feel hopeful.
“But he was forcing you to be his mate.” Mikah glanced at Brandy and watched her nod her head. This was enough for him. He turned and slammed his fist into Noah’s face. The hit sent Noah flying into one of the elders, and they both tumbled across the ground.
A moment later, Ken returned, and he groaned with a slight pout. “Damn it! I was gone for a minute and I missed it. Who knew Mikah was so violent?” He chuckled as two more bodies manifested beside him. It was Reiya and Levi.
“Mom? Dad?” Alexa looked at them, confused. She was expecting to see her grandma Lita.
“One of the things I wanted to talk to you about. We have taken over as King and Queen. I will explain more after this situation is settled.” Reiya turned her head to see Mikah walking toward a beautiful woman with red hair.
Mikah smiled as he walked up to Brandy. The guard released her and stepped away nervously. The moment he did, Brandy took a step toward Mikah, and he pulled her into his arms. He cupped her face and kissed her softly, losing himself in her scent as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“How dare you? She is MINE!” Noah roared as he struggled to his feet. Ice instantly formed around him and held him firmly in place.
Mikah growled and looked over at Noah. Another man claiming his mate made the primal beast in him want to attack.
“Bring her over here, Mikah,” Alexa commanded. “Let Mom handle it from here.”
Mikah looked down at Brandy, whose beautiful emerald eyes glowed up at him. Her eyes were glossy, and he lowered his head to kiss her eyelids. He wrapped his arm around her and slowly led her toward Ken and Alexa.
The feeling was so intense. It was as if lightning had struck him and the fog within him vanished.
The moment he saw her, he knew she was his.
He didn’t understand why he didn’t know it before, but he did now, and she seemed to feel the same way.
He tingled where he touched her, and a warmth flowed through him. Why didn’t he feel this before?
“You came for me,” Brandy whispered against his chest. Moments ago, she was desperately trying to figure out how she could escape.
She was being forced into a mating ceremony, and she felt hopeless.
Now, the man she couldn’t stop thinking about was here, and suddenly he was her mate.
Was it a trick? Was it some sort of spell?
Because she never felt the strong pull before.
But it was there. And he was warm and comforting, and his arms felt like home.
The sweet sparks heightened her senses, making her body seek out her mate’s touch.
She unconsciously leaned closer as she gazed up at him.
“I’m sorry it took me so long. We have a lot to talk about.” Mikah gave her a small smile and searched her eyes.
“That we do.” Brandy let out a quiet chuckle.
“Your majesty, the druids have always been private. All fairies are allowed to govern their own kind. This is a direct interference—” the elder in the front began.
“I will not allow anyone to be forced into taking a mate. This is not how the druids work. It is not how any of the species work. The druids have always been one with nature. They respect the mate bond. Though yours is a bit different, because you can shapeshift. You have three to four animals you each choose to shapeshift into. Usually, your mate comes from another druid who has chosen similar creatures. Of course, you know it doesn’t always work that way.
The mate bond forms with people whose souls recognize one another.
I understand you took a step away from this in order to preserve the druid line.
All druids were ASKED to take a druid mate.
” Reiya looked over the four elders in front of her.
“This was allowed because they were asked and not forced. But today, this is not the case. You were about to force a bond on someone.” Reiya looked over at Mikah and the woman wrapped in his arms. “This is wrong. These are not the druids I know of.”
“We aren’t all like that!” A man spoke out from the seated crowd.
“We were forced to go along with this!” a woman shouted.
“It’s Noah’s family’s fault. They threatened to cut off our supplies if we didn’t comply.” An old man stood up and pointed toward the front. “The elders are being blackmailed in order to keep our people safe.”
“Quiet, you old fool!” Noah hissed as he struggled against the ice holding him in place.
One of the elders in the front sighed and shook his head.
“We were wrong, but we didn’t know what to do.
This is our way of life. This little village of ours here …
it is all we have. Our people have little encampments all over the world.
We blend in and try to stay out of the way.
But everything changed for our encampment.
” The old man frowned and looked at the couple sitting in the front.
“Noah and his family took over the businesses. At first, they were just offering to run them for us. But as they grew the companies, they also grew in control. They supplied the money to take care of our village, and it was up to them how money was distributed. They became our beneficiaries before we knew it. When they started pressuring us about Brandy, we didn’t know what to do.
We wanted Brandy to choose him for herself and were giving her time to get used to the idea.
But after her last fertility checkup, we couldn’t wait anymore.
She was losing her window, and druid babies are too important to miss out on.
” The elder watched the fairy queen look over at Brandy curiously.
“She still feels awful young. There is a newness to her powers. Isn’t it too early for her to miss her window?”
The elder nodded. “Usually the window is always there, and there are moments when it peaks. But—” He shook his head and looked over at Brandy.
Brandy looked away and bit her bottom lip. She knew why it looked like she’d missed her window. The elders never once even suspected she was pregnant. Mikah rubbed her shoulder soothingly. She wondered how he would react when he heard she was pregnant with his child.