CHAPTER 14: Stuck Together

Monday came around sooner than I expected which meant I couldn’t avoid Lexus anymore, even though I was only successful avoiding him Sunday last weekend. I waited by his room so I could assist him. He might have been sleeping in since his first class didn’t start for another two hours. 

“Hey get back here!” A little girl yelled at another child who was running and slighting flying in his dragon form. Children were a lot smaller in their dragon forms but still a lot bigger than in their human forms. They were small enough to fit in the castle in their dragon forms unlike adults. “You can’t shift in here!” They still weren’t allowed to.

Another girl came running from around the corner out of breath. “You guys wait!” She put her hands on her knees and panted. “You know I’m not as fast.”

The first girl turned to her. “If I slow down for you, he’ll get away!” She continued chasing the boy. 

I watched the boy as he tripped and tumbled. He shifted back into his human form mid fall. “Ow…”

I walked to him and helped him up. “Are you okay?”

He hid behind me. “Don’t let Kaya tag me.”

I chuckled as she started chasing him because they were running circles around me until she tagged him. Now all three of them were out of breath. “Isn’t it a bit early for tag?” I asked.

The boy shrugged. “I guess but we won’t be able to play games later because we’ll be in school. Do you want to join?” I didn’t mind joining but I was waiting for Lexus and it’d be a bad look for me to be playing tag with kids in castle as an adult.

Kaya scoffed. “She’s probably working Gray.” I looked at the boy and I should have realized he was Konn’s son because of how much he looked like Konn, Cade, and Lynn. He resembled Lynn the most honestly. We both lived in the castle, it was only a matter of time until I bumped into Gray. Konn had to have realized that too.

I looked at Lexus’ door, maybe I had enough time. “I can play one round of tag.” I wanted to make a good impression on Gray before he knew who I was. 

The other girl sat down on a bench. “I’m going to sit this one out, I’ll be here.”

“Okay but Gray you can’t shift, or you’ll get us all in trouble.” Kaya repeated.

“It was an impulse I’m sorry.” He turned to me. “You should be it.” He suggested. I closed my eyes and started counting. I heard their footsteps getting more and more distant. Once I was done counting and looked around the castle for them. I ran after Gray when I saw him, and he nearly knocked into several things. I wasn’t running at full speed because I didn’t want the game to end too soon. I could tell he was enjoying himself by the laughter which made me laugh a bit too. Soon we came across Kaya and I chased both of them until they turned a corner and ran into Konn. I stopped as soon as they fell.

Konn glared at them. “Again? You two should take your games of tag outside, it’s safer that way and you won’t get in the way of worke-” He stopped his sentence when he saw me. 

I rubbed my arm sheepishly. “He asked him if I wanted to join…”

Gray and Kaya quickly walked off when they noticed I had Konn’s attention now. “Aqua-”

I cut him off, “I didn’t tell him who I was or anything, I just didn’t want to say no. I’m sorry I won’t talk to your son again.” I was just happy I got to spend a little time with my younger brother even if he didn’t know who I was.

Konn sighed and rubbed his forehead, “Just wait until I properly introduce you. I also don’t want to see you playing tag again, even after I introduce you.” I’m not sure how serious that statement was. I think he was just teasing me.

My face was red from embarrassment at that point. “Okay, I won’t, I promise.” 

“Get back to work Aqua.” The scolding made him feel a little bit more like a father. I nodded and left for Lexus’ room. 

He was standing outside of it. “I’ve been waiting.”

I rolled my eyes. “For two minutes? Anyways sorry, I’m ready.” 

We walked towards his first class. We didn’t talk the whole time I accompanied him to class. He didn’t try talking to me at all, surprisingly. Things between us felt different since he spent the night in my room. Not different because he wasn’t talking to me, but different like it was harder for me to not want him. When we left his last class all he did was wave to dismiss my service. 

I was called into Konn’s office through a text an hour later. “Yes?” Lexus was already in the office. I was hoping Konn wanted to spend time together, but this was obviously work related since Lexus was here.

“The closest village is having some concerns and since the king and queen want to give Lexus more responsibilities, we’re sending him to meet with the village’s representative. As his possible future adviser, you need to go with him.” Konn instructed. “I gave him all the details already, you two can be on your way. Report back to me when you return.”

I followed Lexus out the room and he still didn’t speak to me. “Are you mad at me or something?” I was fine with us not talking so I’m not as tempted but this assignment seemed like something we should talk for. 

He looked at me in the corner of his eyes. “No, Saturday night fucked me up.” The night we spend together. “The mate bond is getting to me, it’s better if we have as little interaction as possible before the full moon.” I wonder what he meant by that, was the mate bond getting to me? I felt it strongly, even more since that night, but I’m used to ignoring my feelings… It gets easy to ignore when you’ve been rejected so many times. Lexus probably never had to ignore his desire for someone.

We walked until we got out of the castle. He didn’t shift into his dragon form, instead we walked. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the sky because the dragons were so incredible. I wanted to fly so badly. I felt Lexus pull me to the right. “Wh-what?” I said as I saw a dragon kid fly right past me.

“You have to pay attention; kids fly low a lot and can barely control their direction.” Lexus looked up to see what I was looking at. Then he looked back at me. “Do you want me to fly us?”

I shook my head and blushed. “No, it’s fine.” I kept walking and he took the lead. We didn’t talk for the rest of the walk. 

When we got to the village we were immediately greeted. The village was small, but it had a warm feeling. I loved places where the community was friendly. Everyone seemed close and I’m sure they all knew each other. We were taken to a private area to talk about the problem. “Werewolves.” The representative for the village said. “The local pack have been threatening us and stealing our resources. They’re an annoyance and they’ve been everywhere.”

“I’ll deal with them myself.” Lexus felt responsible for the werewolves. She gave Lexus more details than we left to find them. 

“Are we going to the pack house?” I asked. It would be a nice excuse to see Calvin I guess. He had been texting a little over the weekend.

“No, we’re going to find the exact wolves causing problems,” He answered. It was the more direct approach. “I smell that they’re around. They probably won’t go back to the pack house if Ruben put them up to this. They probably have to be out here causing trouble for a specific amount of time or something.” After looking around we spotted one and Lexus shifted into his dragon form. He took off and I obviously couldn’t keep up with him. 

I sat down on a large rock and waited. The forest was full of a variety of plants which was a lot different than in the forests back in my home town. When he came back, he shifted into his human form and looked mad. “Fuck, there were a few of them but they good at evading even when the one chasing them is faster.” He sat down next to the rock and ran his hands through his long hair in frustration. “Ugh.”

I know we weren't talking but I hated seeing him so defeated. “We haven’t been out here for long, so you still have time to catch them as long as they don’t go back to the pack house.” 

Lexus stared at me for a while then looked away. “I wouldn’t have to catch them if I didn’t piss off Ruben.”

“You sound doubtful but weren’t you defending Sadia?” I asked.

“I’ve been having many doubts about a lot of things lately Aqua. Ruben only hates me because he sees me as competition. I never gave him a reason to act on his issues with me until I decided to marry a member of his pack. My parents thought I could handle this one task but I’m the one who caused it.” He opened up to me and I craved more of that. “When I first met the pack, I hid who I was because it was an escape for me. Me and Ruben were friends until they all found out. He was the only one to know at first. I couldn’t hide it for too long because it’s not like my family's faces weren't all over the news. His pack started to look up to me the way they looked up to him. As a leader and he resented that.” They might have been good friends by know if Ruben didn’t let jealously and insecurity get in the way. I kind of understood Ruben in a way. I knew Sadia saw me as her friend but I’m jealous that she gets to have my mate. I don’t want to resent her. Lexus is kind of a jerk so maybe it’s better that she has him. Lexus stood up. “I’ll be back, I have to try again because I can’t report back with nothing.” He shifted and left.

I sighed and stared up at the sky as I waited. I didn’t doubt that Lexus could figure all of this out. As his possible future adviser maybe, I was supposed to do more. How could I if I can’t even shift? I never advised anyone. I’m not great at telling someone what they should do, and I never have been. If Lexus came back empty handed, I’m not sure what he should try to do. The only other thing I could think of is confronting Ruben. That might not do anything either. Cade would be better suited in advising Lexus and he’d probably know exactly how to help him. I jumped when I saw a wolf leap out of some bushes. “Uh…” I wasn’t sure what to do or how I’d protect myself if I needed to. The wolf before me had to be one of the ones giving the village trouble.