Chapter Fourteen #2
His arms tightened around her. “I understand why you kept it from me.” He chuckled.
“I wouldn’t want anyone to know I had a blood relation to that man either.
But now many things make so much more sense.
” His fingers softly carded through her hair, mindful of her curls.
“It’s in the past now. I hope you will be more forthcoming with me in the future. ”
She nodded quickly, grateful for his forgiveness and mercy.
Weiyu turned his head toward the cliffside, where the red barrier started to flicker out, meaning that her father was either dead or unconscious. She felt somewhat guilty for the measure of relief it brought her.
“I can’t imagine he survived a polar bear attack,” he commented as if on the same thought trail. “What happens now?”
“My eldest sister is next in line,” she said into his shoulder.
The last thing she wanted was to speak of politics.
However, considering her position as Weiyu’s mate, they couldn’t avoid it.
“She is wary of the blue phoenix clan, but she’s not unreasonable.
” She released a shuddering breath, holding tight around Weiyu’s slim waist. “We may yet know peace under her reign.”
“We can think about that later,” her mate murmured against the top of her head. “Let’s get you on low ground.”
“I’m alright.” With a startling realization, she knew she meant it. All her life, she’d been terrified of heights. But now she understood there was something she feared more—losing Weiyu. The threat of the edge of the cliff paled in comparison to never witnessing Weiyu’s gentle smile again.
Something round and warm pulsed in her palm, and her heart jumped when she realized she still held Weiyu’s Aquatic Core. She pulled away just enough to open her palm between them to reveal a glass-like orb pulsing with a blue light like sunshine rippling across pristine azure waters.
“Weiyu,” she whispered, snapping her gaze up to meet his eye. “Does this...? Will you...”
He cupped his hands around hers so the Core lay nestled between them. The warmth only burned hotter, slivers of blue light peeking between their fingers. It was alive. It was a part of them.
His eyes emitted a sincere warmth as he gazed back at her. “It is the way of the phoenix. The one with the Core decides who will rule.” He brushed a thumb over her knuckles. “As it stands, you are in possession of the Aquatic Core. I will respect whatever you choose.”
Despite his words, she felt him tense against her as if worried what she might do with it.
However, she shook her head and tipped her palm over so the Core landed in Weiyu’s hand.
“I am content by your side. I think you are the best-suited to rule our people.” Because he was kind and generous.
He was daring and risked himself for others.
He was what a leader should be. And she should know, because she also knew what a leader shouldn’t be by watching her father rule her previous clan.
The skin around his eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Are you sure you don’t want it for yourself? To have all the powers of a phoenix king, including shifting whenever you wanted?”
She lifted her necklace in her hand and gazed down at the blue gemstone pulsing with light and blue fire. A piece of Weiyu’s Aquatic Core. “I have more than I could have ever thought possible. I am happy. Here. With you. I don’t need anything else.”
Weiyu pressed his forehead against hers, their mouths only a breath apart as they breathed the same air, as each inhale intertwined them as one.
But when he still didn’t act, she wrapped her hand around his and pressed the Aquatic Core to his chest. “Is this what you want?” He wouldn’t hesitate otherwise, especially as the sound of phoenix cries and rushing feet grew closer.
His eyes remained closed, and the corner of his mouth flickered up. “I always wanted to feel what it was like. To be normal. Mortal for once.”
“And?” she prompted.
His eyes opened, revealing the beautiful gold that had captured her attention from the first moment they’d laid eyes on each other, the very one that had smitten her senseless. Though, the color was muted when immortality no longer raced through his veins. “It’s...quiet. Peaceful.”
She bit her lip again, filled with uncertainty. “Then you don’t...”
A teasing glint entered his expression as one of his hands tightened its grip on her waist. “There’s time to become mortal later. Naturally, I’ll have to pass on the Core to one of our offspring.”
“Weiyu!” she gasped, smacking him playfully on the shoulder, her cheeks flaming.
He laughed, eyes full of mirth before he pushed the Core into his chest. His body accepted it easily, with only the faintest twitch of his eyebrows, as if it had been loath to part in the first place. “I mean, we can get started on that now if you wish.”
Her face burned even hotter, overly aware of the first phoenix who flapped down onto the edge of the platform. “Wei. Yu!”
Her mate only winked at her before falling into the image of a perfect gentleman.
He held her close as his subjects fussed over him.
Some even fell onto their knees and touched their foreheads to the ground in a display of fealty and regret.
As the king’s guards, they should have been better at protecting him, yes.
But no one had foreseen Mogwai’s ambush. What more could they have done?
Yinyu’s blue feathers blurred as he flew past before transforming into a human. He balled his hands into fists, his gaze shifting to anywhere but Weiyu like an omega unable to meet his alpha’s eye.
“Forgive me, Your Highness,” Yinyu rasped. “I was not able to... I could not...” He dropped to one knee and placed a hand over his heart. “If it pleases you, I will resign from my post. Someone stronger and more capable will take my place by your side.”
“It does not please me.” Weiyu frowned at his friend. “I will not make that decision for you, whether you stay or not. But I would prefer for you to stay.”
Yinyu hung his head and closed his eyes, a clear battle raging in his head.
“There was nothing you could have done,” Zahra murmured. “We were wary of Duneshard. None of us were looking to the skies.”
“That is my job. I should have thought to do so.”
She and Weiyu shared a concerned look. Yinyu was taking this hard. Although she had no idea how to console the blue phoenix guard, Weiyu appeared to know how to deal with the situation.
“Rise, Yinyu,” Weiyu ordered. “The threat may not be eradicated entirely. I need your head on straight.”
Yinyu stood straighter and thumped his fist against his chest in acquiescence. “I am your eyes, ears, and sword, Your Highness.”
Weiyu nodded as if satisfied.
Before anyone else could speak, a blur of white leaped over the side of the cliff and onto the plateau with them. Zahra released a sigh of relief at the sight of Shanmei as she transitioned from her polar bear form to her human form with a shake of her large, furry body.
Shanmei smirked at everyone’s stunned reactions. “I told you I could shift into a polar bear.”
Zahra laughed, several others joining in. It was carefree laughter. One filled with relief and exhaustion and happiness. Weiyu’s mouth twitched as he held back a laugh of his own.
“I never doubted you for a second,” Weiyu replied.
Kai gasped, out of breath as he climbed over the lip of the cliff and flopped onto his back, chest heaving. “Sorry I’m late. What did I miss?”
Zahra and Weiyu shared an amused look. She wasn’t the only non-shifter around, and she found that she fit in better than ever compared to her previous home. With her mate and her found family... There was nowhere else she’d rather belong.