Taming Her Beastly Mate
Chapter 18

It had been a couple of days since Aken had visited her. She couldn’t help but think about him. Was he alright? Her fingers unconsciously brushed over the warm gem resting on her neck. What if he needed her? She had no way to go to him. She wasn’t a deity but she was a demi-god and still strong. She wanted to be with him. She didn’t care if she was fighting by his side or curled up on a couch. As long as she was near him, she would be happy.

Alexis sat on the couch with her feet tucked under Brian and her head on Micah’s shoulders. Nick and Misty sat on bean bags in front of them as the movie played. Nia and Troy sat cuddled up together on the single chair. Their arms were wrapped around each other and they could care less about the movie. Jared had left to go get snacks for everyone mid-movie. Which meant he couldn’t take the upcoming scenes. Jared was always squeamish when it came to ghost movies.

She hadn’t seen Raine and Ryker since they found out they were mates. Her Aunt Kelsie was happy for her but her Uncle Cody was pouting about his baby girl replaceing her mate. Though he was happy she would be remaining in the West Dragon Kingdom.

“Lex, your feet are ice cold,” Brian grunted and squirmed his body trying to edge away from her feet.

“Hey, do your job and keep my feet warm. Or I’ll show you what cold really feels like.” Alexis gave him a devilish smile and listened to him chuckle.

Brian grabbed her ankle with his hand and sent a warm sensation over towards her feet. He winked at her as a c**k.y smirk spread across his lips.

Misty and Nick both suddenly tensed in front of them. They both looked around in confusion as they lifted their noses up taking in small whiffs.

“What is it?” Brian asked, straightening up to look around. He turned his head to see his cousins from the North Dragon Kingdom walk in, Anna and Cole (Dex and Ciana’s children). They both halted strangely and stared into the room with an intense look upon their faces.

Nick and Misty both turned around and their eyes met with Anna and Cole.

“Mate.” This was the simultaneous word heard by all four of them.

Alexis watched in shock as Misty ended up in Cole’s arms. And then there were Nick and Anna. The two who used to always pick on each other. They stood apart just staring at the other before Nick walked slowly towards her. He reached her and took her into his arms.

“So you are the reason I exist.” Nick smiled as he leaned his forehead against hers.

“Okay, that is some wicked voodoo right there.” Micah teased and reached up to stop the movie. “This is some weird crazy coincidence though.” He turned to look back at the new mates. All royal mates from different kingdoms.

“I’ll go and let the parents know.” Troy got up pulling Nia along with him, leaving.

Alexis watched the two new couples each leave to get acquainted as mates. It was shocking but in a good way. They were all so close and now would be even closer. She turned her head to look over at Brian and that is when her heart broke. He sat there staring off into space. There was an emptiness on his face that she had never seen before. Everyone was replaceing their mates around them. But even if Brian found his mate, he may not be able to have her.

She bit her inner l*p and glanced over to Micah. Her eyes were filled with concern for Brian. No matter what he said, this would be a painful moment for him. The realization of the weight of his reality would be hitting him full force.

Brian turned his head to look over at Alexis and Micah. A forced smile pulled up on his lips as he cleared his throat. “Well, that was unexpected. I guess we won’t be hanging out as much as I thought. We will be lucky to see them now.” He let out a dry chuckle.

Alexis didn’t know what to say. It was obvious he was hurting but he was trying to hide it. What could she say to him? There wasn’t anything that she hadn’t already said. They won’t give up. They will keep trying. There had to be a solution out there. He knew them all. But nothing was guaranteed. The only thing she could guarantee is that she would never give up. She would hunt Shiva down herself. She hated seeing Brian get put through something like this. He didn’t deserve it.

“Hey, where did everyone go?” Jared asked as he walked back in with a tray of food.

“We won’t be seeing everyone… they all found their mates.” Brian said with almost a dry tone.

“Really?! That’s crazy. Who?” Jared asked as he sat his tray down. He grabbed one of the empty bean bags and plopped onto it shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth.

“Anna and Nick are mates. And Cole and Misty are mates.” Alexis said as she continued to watch Brian.

“That’s amazing. So Anna will be the South’s new queen? That’s wonderful. What a freakish way for everything to work out. I mean what are the odds of them all being mates?” Jared went on enthusiastically.

Alexis wanted to kick him in the head. Could he quit talking about mates right now? Brian still was adjusting to the whole mate shock. He had been hit with everything at once and it was a tough blow to him.

“Lex.”

The sound of Brian’s voice interrupted her thoughts and she lifted her eyes up to meet with his.

“I’m fine Lex. Don’t.”

She could see a bit of agitation on his face as he stared at her. It was a look she had never seen from him before. He looked like he was annoyed with her. His eyes suddenly softened and a faint smile rested on his lips. She searched his hazel eyes as his hand reached out to grab onto hers.

“I’m not going to break Alexis. You don’t have to worry. I’m not glass.” He tilted his head to her and raised his eyes up.

Alexis scooted over and wrapped her arms around him. She didn’t need to say anything. There was nothing to be said. But she wanted to show him she was here for him. There was something that was concerning her though.

“Brian.” Alexis looked up into his eyes as she shook her head slightly in confusion. “Dragon mates are different than wolves. The moon goddess has a hand in manipulating werewolves and their mates. And my father doesn’t mess with setting up mates. He lets the natural mate pull happen for those who are compatible. But this…”

“I agree. Too much coincidence.” Brian glanced up at Micah then down to Jared.

“You don’t think they are real mates?” Jared asked in confusion.

“They are real mates. That isn’t what they are saying.” Micah spoke up and then rose to his feet. He reached his hand down to Alexis. “And I think right now your fathers are probably discussing this very thing.” He lifted his eyes to Brian who also rose to his feet.

“Right we need to be there for this conversation. Jared, go have some fun at the party. We will catch up with you later.” Brian could see Jared didn’t quite grasp the situation but he nodded his head.

“Alright. I’ll catch you guys later.” Jared said as they parted ways.

__

“A coincidence?” Grandpa Sage said as he shook his head. “None of this is just a coincidence.” He looked at Titus. “You were mated to the princess of the North. Weston, the southern king is mated to your half sister and a demi-god.”

“And I, the Dragon King of the North have a rare light dragon as my mate.” Dex said and turned his head to Grayson.

“And my mate was a princess from the Southern Dragon Kingdom.” Grayson, the King of the East, said as he pulled Ruby closer to his side.

“And now most of your children are mated to the next generation of royals. This is…” Grandpa Sage looked down in deep thought.

“It’s unheard of.” Levi said in a terse voice. His lips were pursed tight and his forehead was scrunched up slightly with worry.

“Why would this be? You don’t practice pairing up mates.” Alexis said as she walked into the room followed by Brian and Micah.

Levi looked up at his daughter and shook his head. “I don’t pair dragons together.”

“But you were paired and Aken was paired…” Titus watched Lee nod his head.

“Selene can use the wolves to manipulate the mate senses. But with Aken, it was a soul mate bond. She didn’t do that on her own.” Rhea pressed herself into Lee’s side and he wrapped his arm around her.

“She must be using all the resources she can to pull off something like this. Of course with Endymion back she has a lot of means to do what she thinks is needed.” Lee held on to Rhea tightly. What future did Selene see? She is creating powerful soldiers once again for something but what?

“Lucy mentioned seeing a premonition of a strange future before where the world looked to be in ruins. Is this maybe what she is trying to prevent?” Alexis asked and noticed her mother’s eyes twitched slightly.

“The future is always changing. But there are some futures that can’t be avoided only adjusted. This must be some adjustment. Just like her pairing you with Aken while I was pregnant in order to guide me from the black hole. We can only guess what Selene’s reasonings are. Her power of seeing the future is far greater than ours.” Rhea spoke in a calm breath and smiled up at Lee. “These pairings are not a bad thing. We shouldn’t act like they are. Let’s embrace this as a strong moment for dragons. It looks like you’ll be busy with a lot of mate blessings.”

“You know they’ll be expecting Brian to mark his mate too.” Dex glanced over at Levi and Titus. The four kings discussed Brian and his aura before. And Lila, being his sister, kept him informed on everything that was going on. Including the fake chosen mate setup with Brian and Alexis.

“They will, but there are ways around that for now. And hopefully, before the dragon party is over, Aken will be able to be here to claim Alexis. What Brian is doing now is just like a level of protection. Just like what Titus did for Rhea and me before.” Levi looked over at Titus and smiled at him.

“Tonight kicks off the first official day of the party. We will make an announcement of all the new mates and prepare for the acceptance k**s for each mated pair. And we can say that, since this is Brian’s home, he will be the last acceptance k**s performed.” The Great Sage nodded his head as he wobbled through the room. “Now back to my studies. I need to learn how to suppress a powerful aura.” He winked at Brian as he passed him and walked out of the room.

Alexis listened as everyone chatted amongst themselves. They were all great friends and family. Her mother looked so happy to see everyone again. But there was a look in her mother’s eye. What vision had she seen? What future would ultimately come to pass?