Dragon Baby!!!
Lukas We were all crowded inside of my dad’s office. And when I say all, I mean ALL — Finn, Chloe, Drew, Everly, Damien, Veronica, Simon, Sofia, Myles, my dad and mom, and June and me. It was cramped, but most of us males had our mate sitting or standing close to us or on our lap, not bothering with formalities since we were all basically family. June wore one of my button-up shirts and some leggings from Everly’s old room since she didn’t want to portal home to change, her hair up in a messy bun on the top of her head that was almost right in my line of sight with her in my lap. My hand was resting casually yet possessively on her hip, and she was stiff, obviously a little shy to be sitting like this with me in front of her parents, but I was trying to ease her discomfort with my touch. I wished I could mindlink her already, or that I could use the mate bond to calm her, but that wasn’t the case for us yet. The tension and aura radiating from my father and mother had me nervous. H
Juniper I left Eric’s office as quickly as I could. My anxiety had been on the rise since we entered the room, and it was even higher now that I knew Lukas would leave for the next few days and only return a day or two before his ceremony. I burst into Lukas’s room, and immediately began pacing the space, my thumb between my teeth. I couldn’t pinpoint what had me so on edge. All I knew was that I needed to find some way to channel this chaotic energy inside of me, otherwise I might end up combusting. I stopped at the foot of Lukas’s bed, my arms wrapping around the post to help keep me upright. “Pull it together, June,” I muttered to myself, closing my eyes. “You’re being ridiculous. It’s just a few days. Nothing will happen. He will be fine.” I continued to repeat the words over and over to myself until they became a mantra. He would be fine. We would be fine. I didn’t want to think about that. I needed to get out of my head, to find something else to focus on so I wasn’t obse
Lukas I slept terribly. It was the worst night of sleep I’ve ever had. Even worse than the night I was way too drunk at Alpha Phil’s academy. Or the night after my 19th birthday. After June had walked out of my room and I knew she had made it down the stairs to the main floor, I let out all of my anger and frustration. I slashed through the curtains with my half-shifted hands, tore the bedding from my bed, and threw whatever I could get my hands on. It was the worst feeling ever. To have her pulling herself away from me because of my mate, when she was my mate. Every fear and insecurity she had about me leaving, about me meeting someone who would replace her, was completely unfounded, because she was already the only one for me. But I couldn’t even tell her that. I could say absolutely nothing to assuage her fears. And then, foolishly, I had offered to mark her. I pretended I didn’t notice the way she flinched away from me when I said that, but it hurt. My wolf had whimpered and h
Lukas “Well, that was all a bunch of bullshit.” Dave closed the door to the guest suite behind him, and I chuckled to myself. I made my way to the minibar in the far corner of the clean, mostly white room. I poured myself a drink and one for Dave as well. He wasn’t wrong. The entire “ceremony” to welcome us to the Royal Pack was really just a bunch of posturing from Tobias, Leonidas, and Malcolm. There was truly no point to the procedure — it wasn’t even the event in which we were being asked to swear our loyalty. It was just them showing off their positions of power and trying to intimidate us with their wealth and prestige. Even the supposedly casual dinner we attended afterwards was anything but casual. I dreaded what the formal luncheon tomorrow after the actual ceremony would be like if that was their definition of casual. “It’s all just misdirection,” I told him. “All the glitter and gold and ceremony is to keep the focus off of the fact that he stole the throne away from t
Drew I pressed my nose to the ground as I walked through the pack grounds in my wolf form, the slight breeze rustling over my fur and tickling my sensitive ears. The incline of the foothills on the edge of the territory could be a deterrent to lesser wolves. But with my beta blood and my magic and newfound fairy protector powers, it was easy peasy lemon squeezy for me. Except for the fact that I couldn’t fucking find June. We were supposed to be training together, but she had disappeared. She portaled herself away from us as soon as her dad had turned his back to talk to Myles for one second. Fucking fairies, I thought to myself as I tried to catch her scent. Ever since Luke left yesterday, she’d been sulking and moping, and all of our attempts to cheer her up had fallen flat. Not even Thor had provided an adequate distraction. I felt her through the bond, felt her slight melancholy and worry, and then I finally found her scent. My wolf’s tail wagged, and I bounded off into the
Lukas The library in the palace was a beautiful room, although clearly neglected. There was one lonely werewolf manning the extensive collection of books, and dust covered nearly every surface. The rows of shelves extended back as far as I could see, and up three levels as well. So many books, left to time and inattention. The werewolf paid us no mind when we entered. He didn’t even look up from his newspaper when we walked in, and Dave and I waited to be acknowledged, but after a moment, we realized that would not happen, so we just went on our way. At least the space wasn’t locked up or inaccessible. Just completely disregarded. The king clearly needed to have access to some of the books here, which is why he kept it open, but he didn’t really want anyone to use it, which is why we had a hard time finding it at first, and why it looked the way it did. Not only was there dust on every surface, but most of the lightbulbs were burnt out or well on their way, some of them occasional
Juniper Lukas’s ceremony was in two days, and the packhouse was looking like a warehouse for party decorations. The linens and centerpieces — minus the flowers — had been delivered, and we were spending the morning in the dining room, going through it all to make sure everything was there, and nothing was forgotten. The next day, we would start setting everything up outside in the courtyard, and the day after, the flowers would be delivered and set up as well for the ceremony that evening. To say I was a little stressed would be an understatement. I was EXCEEDINGLY stressed. I did not understand how Luna Claire could look so calm and composed about everything that needed to get done in time, when I was wound up on the inside. I felt as though even the tiniest bit of added stress would cause me to snap. As excited as I was about Lukas’s ceremony, I also couldn’t wait for it to all be over. Although, that also meant I would become luna soon, which meant I would do things like this by
Lukas Once the door to my dad’s office shut, all I wanted to do was sigh in relief and shake off the heebie-jeebies that I had ever since Bianca walked through the dining hall doors at the palace. Everything about her was grating. Her voice, her personality, her over-the-top sweetness. My wolf was constantly growling at me in my head, baring and gnashing his teeth. I had questionable control over him. All he wanted to do was shift and run out of the packhouse to go kill a rabbit or a deer and bring it to June’s cottage as an apology and to show her our strength and prove to her we could take care of her. Her reaction had broken me and had almost ruined everything I had been plotting since the moment Bianca uttered that awful word at the banquet. Mate. I had waited so long to hear that word said to me, and now it had been, but not by the female who should have said it. When Bianca had sidled up to me and called me “Lukie,” all I wanted to do was shove her to the side and pull Jun
A LITTLE OVER 1 YEAR AFTER THE EPILOGUEJUNIPER I paced back and forth in our bedroom as I waited for Lukas to come back from morning training with Drew and Finn. He’d left me sleeping. Or, at least, he thought I was sleeping. I was half awake when he brushed a soft kiss on my cheek and tucked the blankets around my naked body before he walked out of the room. I had been too antsy and on edge to sleep, too ready to enact my little surprise for him. The double doors to our room opened just as a wave of nausea rolled through me. “Oh goddess,” I whimpered, and then ran into the bathroom before Lukas could see me. I turned the faucet on so he wouldn’t hear me retching, but it was pointless. The bathroom door slammed open and his worried gaze scanned over my body right before I hurled my guts out into the toilet. But instead of turning and leaving me, Lukas walked straight to me, kneeling down next to me and rubbing my back underneath my pink and blue plaid shirt, the skin to skin co
Note: This chapter was written as a special holiday chapter during Christmas, right after the chapter where Eric and Claire passed away. It gives a little bit of insight into their lives before they were in hiding. I hope you enjoy it!EricAnother Winter Solstice. Another birthday, come and gone. Another year without a mate.Growing up, having my birthday on the Winter Solstice was always fun. I got extra presents, and it was as if everyone was celebrating my birthday, even though they were really just celebrating that the days would get longer again. But in my innocence as a child, it seemed, of course, that it was mainly about me.Now, at 25, and still mateless, it was less exciting. Now, I dreaded the holiday, and dreaded my birthday.It didn’t help that this year, my best friend, my future beta, Damien, had found his mate only weeks ago — a witch named Veronica — and they were joined at the hip now.I had no ill feelings towards him — truly; I was ecstatic for him. Finding your m
JuniperI breathed out a sigh as I slipped away from the party to get some fresh air on the balcony. My heavy sparkly green skirt swished against the marble flooring, and I smoothed my hands over the velvet belt as I inhaled the fresh honeysuckle scent from the planters. The silver and diamond crown on my head felt heavy, but a good heavy. It was a reminder of everything we’d achieved, everything that had led us to this exact moment.Our coronation after party was in full swing — all of our closest friends and family were celebrating just on the other side of the double doors. The elders had officially crowned us king and queen of Volkor earlier that evening, had a huge fancy ball where anyone who wished to could attend, and now it was just our inner circle having our own celebration.It had been a few months since our victory over Tobias and his regime. The time passed quickly, but the work was difficult, and far from over. This coronation, and ball, and party, was a much needed repr
LUKAS POVThe evening was warm, the sun setting behind the foothills, leaving behind streaks of red and purple and orange in the otherwise clear blue sky. My hands were in my pockets, and I breathed deeply, my face upturned towards the disappearing sun.I lowered my gaze back to my surroundings, taking it all in so I would never forget this day, the day my June and I claimed each other in front of the realm.It was just a formality, really, since we were already marked and mated, but it was tradition to have a ceremony, especially since we would be the rulers of both the werewolf and the fairy kingdoms. And June wanted a Fae ceremony, and what my June wanted, my June got.Not that I wasn’t excited. I was over the moon. I had been waiting for this day since my 19th birthday. Longer, really. Probably my whole life, if I was being honest.I bounced on my toes, a grin spreading across my face as I counted down the seconds until Juniper would start walking towards me, her dad and her fathe
Lukas I woke up to an empty bed, the space next to me cold. I jerked upright, my heart racing in my chest as I scanned the unfamiliar darkened room, trying to remember where I was, trying to find my mate. I knew she had been next to me, remembered falling asleep with her held in my arms, our legs tangled together, her head resting on my chest as we talked late into the night, talked of our past and our future, of what we felt for each other and what we wanted to accomplish as both mates and rulers of two kingdoms. But, she was no longer next to me, no longer in my arms, or even in my bed. I was about to jump out of the bed and sprint out into the hallway when my eyes finally landed on her. She stood in front of one of the large floor-to-ceiling windows; the drapes pulled open, so the moonlight framed her body, casting an otherworldly glow around her. Exquisite. She was just… exquisite, standing there, in a floor length golden robe, her hair loose and tumbling down her back. I
JuniperA deep, loud, rhythmic rumbling broke me from my slumber. I squeezed my eyes tighter, praying to Gaia that maybe it would help block out the sound, but of course, it didn’t, since ears couldn’t be turned off by shutting your eyes.I peeked out through one squinted eyelid to find Drew sitting in a chair, his chin resting on his left hand, his eyes closed and his mouth wide open. And he was snoring. Loudly.I covered my mouth so my laugh wouldn’t wake him, then turned my attention to the surrounding room.The last thing I remembered was Lukas holding me, kneeling in the grass of the ceremony grounds outside.Now, I found myself in an opulent bedroom, laying in a white four-poster bed with gauzy drapes, fluffy gold and white pillows and bedding. Ornate furniture was placed throughout the room, and there were two large doors leading out of the room, and a single door leading into what I can only assume was the bathroom.As soon as I had that thought, I realized my bladder felt lik
LukasI scratched my beard and then scrubbed my hand over my face to hide my yawn. I had lost count of how many times I had done the same move in order to hide how exhausted I was.All I wanted to do was find whatever room and bed they had put my mate in, and wrap myself around her and sleep until next week.But we had all agreed that there were some things that needed to be discussed before we all turned in for the night, things that just couldn’t wait until morning.So, with reluctance, I had relinquished my hold on June, handing her over to Drew, who had followed his mom through the palace to find a room to put her in while she slept. Finn offered to stay on the battlegrounds to help with cleaning up the area and interrogating some of Tobias’s men. Leo then led us to one of the conference rooms on the ground floor of the palace, and we each collapsed into our chairs in exhaustion.When Veronica returned, she was alone. Drew remained with Juniper, both for my sake and his own, to wa
LukasThe next few moments were a blur. One second I was standing over Tobias’s body in triumph, and the next, I was in front of Drew, trying to get to my mate, who he had clutched against his chest.But I couldn’t get closer than a foot away from him. He had a force-field raised around them, keeping everyone out of his space.I pressed my palms against it, trying to push my way through, but it was pointless.“Drew!” I shouted, but he didn’t even react to my voice, either too caught up in his grief to pay attention to his surroundings or unable to hear me over his sobs.“Drew, drop your shield!” I roared, pushing my alpha tone into my voice.He didn’t even flinch, didn’t even budge an inch or drop the protective barrier he had raised around himself.My heart was racing in my chest, and my hands were trembling, and everything was growing blurry. I growled and screamed out, “DREW!” one more time, but his own screaming and sobbing didn’t let up in the slightest.“He’s in a complete prote
WARNING GRAPHIC DETAILS IN THIS CHAPTERLukas“I love you, Lukas,” June’s voice murmured in my head.And then everything went black.Only, it wasn’t black for long. There was a split second of darkness, and then a bright golden light blazed beneath my eyelids. On my chest, just above my heart, there was a warmth and a tingling sensation.Power and strength surged through me, originating from that spot on my chest. The weakness I felt from the poisoned silver on the dagger dissipated, leaving behind a renewed vigor.A pulse of magic jolted my body, and my eyes sprang open. I stared at the empty space where Juniper had been only moments before.I knew she had been there, but I didn’t have time for confusion. I had a challenge to win, a usurper to overthrow, and a kingdom to save.I turned back to Tobias, who was still crouching over me in his wolf form, stretching out his supposed victory over me. I could see it in his eyes. He’d thought he’d won, thought there was no way I would come b