Chapter 60
CHAPTER SIXTY
Two large bears, a titan of a red dragon, and the biggest werewolf alive all lay sprawled on the ground.
The loud sounding of heavy breathing filled the air, followed by the creaking of slow movement as they lifted themselves to their feet.
In front of them stood a colossal blue dragon, his tail swaying slowly from side to side as he calmly looked at them all.
A proud smirk rose on his face and he cleared his throat.
“You did good. I’m serious, I’m impressed.
You guys held your own better than I thought you would have.
Honestly. You guys should be proud. I even had to go up to half my strength to fight against you all.
” Levi listened to the low snarls in front of him as they shifted back to their human selves.
He took this time and shifted back as well.
“He was freaking patronizing us right there. Did you hear him?” Xander said as he huffed, catching his breath.
“I never realized how strong a tier-one deity actually is.” Chasen looked over at Hunter.
“What’s scary is that I don’t think we even made him break a sweat,” Hunter groaned in disappointment. No matter how strong they were, there was a night and day difference in their power. He had hoped that, as the Werewolf King, he would have been able to cause more havoc against him.
“Well, deities are just dirty cheaters, and that’s all there is to it.” Brody walked up to Xander and bumped his shoulder. “Not to mention Little Red here was hardly any help.”
Xander chuckled. “I would argue that we weren’t giving it our full effort, but neither was that pompous one over there.”
Levi chuckled. “You’re the ones who wanted this. It was a nice little warm-up for me. Helped get me loose.” He smirked as he strolled up to them.
“I always thought when Reiya found her mate, we would instill fear in him. He would be so afraid of us that I would know he would treat her right.” Hunter said in disappointment.
“I would never treat her badly,” Levi said with a small smile.
“UNBELIEVABLE!”
They all shifted their glances over to Reiya, who was fuming. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot angrily. “Here I am, coming to fetch you guys for dinner, and you all snuck over here and sparred anyway.” Her blue eyes pierced Lee’s.
Xander smirked. “Now you see that right there, Hunter? That is the look of fear in a deity’s eyes. That’s the power your sister has.”
Lee growled lowly at Xander and flashed him an irritated look. He walked up to Reiya, who had her brows raised, staring him down.
“It wasn’t my idea, Reiya,” Lee said as he studied her face. Soon, a small smile spread over her lips.
Reiya giggled. “I don’t care, but next time, let me know. Don’t leave me out of the sparring. I’m sure Freja would have loved to get in on it, too.”
Xander tilted his head to the side and looked at Brody. “With Reiya on our side, we would achieve victory for sure.”
“A win is a win, right?” Brody chuckled with a shrug.
“Where’s Freja?” Hunter looked behind Reiya to see if Freja had followed her.
“She went to get Jin. And like I said, the food is ready, so you better get over there before Sam, Adam, and Winston eat it all.” Reiya giggled.
“Say no more. I am starving,” Brody said as they all began to make their way behind the pack house.
“So …” Reiya whispered quietly, tugging on Lee’s arm. “You beat them good?” She grinned up at him.
“Real good.” Lee winked at her and chuckled. Xander was right. There was only one thing that truly scared him, and it was anything having to do with Reiya. She was his only weakness.
Xander ventured away from the pavilion as everyone chatted away among themselves.
This was his first time in werewolf territory, and he was curious to see what it looked like.
He was surprised to see there was no barrier of any sort around the place.
Nothing that could keep unwanted demons from walking in freely.
He felt a bit apprehensive about having Reiya here.
Demons could just charge right in if they wanted to.
It felt peaceful here, though. The atmosphere was very happy.
You could hear laughter and see children playing.
Family houses spread across the territory, half-hidden among the trees or sitting in wide, sunlit clearings.
He could see how well-kept and organized the training facility was.
It looked like it was a nice place to grow up.
He imagined that Reiya had a warm childhood here with her family.
Completely different from what he’d had.
Most people couldn’t be near him because of his burning aura.
And then his own father had left him. He was never able to get over the loss of his mate, who had died from carrying Xander, his aura having burned her up during childbirth.
He was practically raised by Levi and Grandpa Sage.
Reiya ran up to him. “Where do you think you’re running off to?
” She had noticed him sneaking away and wanted to check on him.
Lee was busy having a ‘man-to-man’ chat with Hunter and Chasen, who were basically doing the brotherly check on him.
So while he was being interrogated, she managed to escape.
“I’m not the one who’ll get in trouble for sneaking off.” Xander gave her a side grin and she giggled back at him.
“I just followed you. So we both know how this will go down.”
“Yeah, with me getting blamed for your disappearing act.” Xander shook his head, chuckling.
“Well the damage has been done. Let me show you around.” Reiya wrapped her arm around Xander’s as she began to pull him through pack territory.
“No way! That is not my sweet little Reiya girl, is it?” Kristen gushed as she ran up to Reiya. She wrapped her arms around her. “I’ve missed you so much. Look at you. You look even more grown up now.” She then took a few steps backward as sweat beads began to form on her forehead.
“Oh, sorry, Kristen. This is my soul twin, Xander. He is the Dragon King of the West. I’m afraid he has a strong aura, and it burns some people who get too close.”
Kristen wiped her forehead and finally landed at a comfortable distance away from Xander. “It isn’t bad as long as I’m not right up on top of him. Nice to meet you. I’d shake your hand, but I prefer not getting burned.” Kristen giggled.
“Sorry about that. I can’t control it.” Xander frowned, feeling bad.
“Nonsense. It’s just who you are. You better be taking good care of her. She is my favorite of Asher’s daughters,” Kristen scolded playfully.
“You mean I’m his only daughter.” Reiya giggled.
“Have you seen Adam and Susan? They were supposed to come over for dinner, but I haven’t heard from them. I guess I can understand why now.” Kristen smiled.
“They’re both at the pack house. Brody is here, too. You should go say hi to him. Also, my Lee is here. He’s in the middle of being interrogated.” Reiya bit her bottom lip and smiled.
“Oh! And you just left him there to be eaten alive? Don’t worry, I’ll save him.” Kristen looked toward the pack house and stomped off determinedly before Reiya could say anything.
“Well, I guess my cover is about to be blown.” Reiya stuck her tongue out and winked at Xander.
“You have a nice family here, Reiya. This looks like it was a great place to grow up.” Xander looked around and breathed in the refreshing air. It wasn’t as pure as his mountain air, but it was still nice.
“It was a great place to grow up. But now, it’s WE have a nice family here.
You’re part of my family now, Xander. You know that, right?
We aren’t just being nice. We really feel that way.
” Reiya watched as Xander stared off in the distance, nodding his head, a small smile on his face.
“Besides, we’re rocking the dragon kingdom now. ”
Freja suddenly tensed up. She scanned over everyone, looking for the one person she was concerned about.
She wasn’t here. She watched as Kristen walked up to Hunter, who was talking with Levi.
An intense feeling of dread spread over her, her senses tingling with a familiar presence, one that had her on full alert.
She closed her eyes and focused quickly, needing to concentrate.
Something was about to happen. She breathed in the scent she was looking for and began to hunt. This time, she was hunting for Reiya.
Reiya dropped to her knees as a heavy existence pushed itself into her mind. Xander’s arms were around her immediately. He kept calling out to her, but her eyes went dark. She was deep in her subconscious.
In a swift blur, another presence was at Reiya’s side. Xander looked up to see Freja kneeling in front of her, panting heavily.
“Damn it, he’s already gotten to her.” Freja clenched her teeth. She looked at Xander. “You have to reach her.”
“What’s going on?” Xander listened as more mad scrambles made it to them. Levi sat behind Reiya, pulling her into his chest, and Hunter knelt down next to Freja. Brody and Chasen were also there, all of them focused on Reiya.
“It’s Mephisto. I felt his presence for a moment, but it’s cloaked again.” Freja looked at Hunter, worried. “Maybe Xander can reach her? She must be communicating with him.”
Lee snarled loudly. “Mephisto? One of the original demons? Well, that’s just perfect.” He knew Mephisto would be a strong opponent. Things were not going to be easy if he was involved.
“I can try to pull her out,” Xander said, intently focused on their connection and how he could bring her back.
Meanwhile …
Reiya scanned the darkness. A thick presence hung in the air, making it hard to breathe. She looked out defiantly into the blackness. “What do you want?”
“Where is your fear?” a deep voice hissed.
His voice resounded with power, and there was an evil air that shot chills down her spine. Still, this jerk had invaded her mind. “No place you can find it,” she spat back angrily.