Xander's POV
What the hell just happened? Did she just-
I...don't have the words for this. This can't be possible. She shouldn't be able to flash her eyes at me. She shouldn't be able to do anything like that!
My mate is normal. Maybe delusional, but normal. Her voice, her scent, she was fine the way she was.
"Xander." Alec's voice rang from behind me.
I didn't look at him. Hell, I hadn't even moved from where I was standing.
"Xander." His voice was more serious so I snapped myself out of my daze and looked up at him.
His gaze wasn't on me, but on my passed out mate. I couldn't help but look back down at her. My mark hadn't been licked off and I felt the sudden urge to do so. I knelt to brush the strands of hair away from the blood that was slowly drying up, but once our skin connected, fire-scorched my hand.
I pulled it back quickly. What the hell was that? Her body is on fire. The urge to touch her grew the longer I stood there.
"Xander, we should get her inside. Also, we should prepare for some visitors."
I only caught the beginning of what he said. My mate is my priority. I prepare myself to dive back into the fire.
I carry her back to the treatment room, fighting ever nerve in my body to put her down. Her body temperature was through the roof. I thought my clothes were going to melt off.
Once I set her down, doctors swarmed her, all careful not to burn themselves. They checked me as well, making sure I didn't get burned. You can say we were all surprised when I was alright, even though the entire time I held her, I felt the burning sensation.
The doctors finally managed to insert an IV bag into her arm. That was the most we could do for her. One of them suggested she overheated when her dragon eyes returned. Her body was too vulnerable and collapsed. They told me that heat, ironically, would be the solution.
So there I sat, with my mate in an oven baking treatment room, trying to understand what just happened.
My thoughts didn't travel far because soon after we arrived, Alec comes into the room.
"How is she?"
"She'll be fine. It was just an overheating."
He didn't say anything. Honestly, I don't know what to say.
"I don't know how to feel about this." That was all that came to mind, mostly because I didn't. It was so easy to believe she was making up this story.
My eyes stayed on my mate until another figure entered the room.
"Xander-what the hell?" Gus cuts himself off as he came through the door, grabbing the collar of his shirt and tugging it.
"Fuck, it's burning up in here. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"The doctor said the heat would help cool her down."
Gus gave me the 'do you hear yourself' look but d\quickly got rid of it.
"What's going on Gus?"
"Right. Um, we have a problem. One of the guards down at the border just spotted a small fleet of dragons making their way into the Northerner kingdom."
"A fleet? How many?" asked Alec.
"Maybe ten."
"One dragon is enough to burn our palace."
"Do you think it's," I turn back to my mate.
"I told you to get ready for visitors. Gus, go tell the royal guard to evacuate all civilians from the palace and tell them to wait at the front gate. If they just passed the border, they'll be arriving soon."
Gus glanced at me before leaving to follow his orders. Alec stood up and face me. Great, time for my orders, now.
"Let's go. We have to prepare ourselves." his hand motioned towards my clothes. I looked down at them and silently agreed.
When I chased after my mate, I was wearing only sweatpants, but they got torn when I transformed. After I carried her to the treatment room, one of the nurses gave me grey pants and a white t-shirt.
I couldn't greet anyone formally dressed like this. I nodded my head and made my way out of the room, giving my mate one last glance before heading to change.
------------------------------------------------------
It's been almost half an hour since dragons were sighted at the border. For a werewolf, it'd take a few hours of running to cross it, but dragons are faster. The minutes are counting down as we wait for their arrival.
Gus and Alec stand on both of my sides at the front gate. Along with us are four hundred of our top royal guard members. Adding the remaining six thousand, six hundred members would make it seem like we were trying to hide something. But one thing was sure for all of us. We were nervous. Dragons don't come to the north, not after the war.
I can't remember the last time the Royal Westerlie family visited the Northerner kingdom. Maybe before my time. My father told me once they came to make a truce on the people inhabiting the Broken kingdom far up north. They decided it best not to claim the land, and that was the last time they were here.
Time seemed to slow down as we continued to wait, each second slipping away, each moment I could be spending with my mate.
That's when I heard it. Hell, I'm pretty sure we all did. The roar of dragons.
Our heads flew up and searched the sky until finally, our eyes landed on them.
I counted twelve of them. All fully grown and flying in unison side by side. In the center of them, all flew the largest one. It was pitch black and flew with confidence and dominance. The alpha dragon.
They circled twice before landing in front of us. The Alpha dragon let out a roar and held down its wing. A few moments later it's master climbed down and it was no other than the king of the Alpha, Stefon Drakon.
He was a rather tall man. His hair shared two shades of color one, dark brown, and the other grey. Along with him came two others who shared the same facial looks. His son Phineas Drakon who I know is the current king of the Westerlie kingdom, and his daughter, Olympia Drakon, second princess to the crown.
The three approach me as their dragons take off, and their royal guards follow steadily behind them. The way they walked and held themselves, I couldn't help but be reminded of my mate.
When they were a few yards away, Stefon Drakon stopped and his children followed in suit. They all looked at me with anger and confusion and I could understand why. I have their daughter and never made it known.
"Where is she?" Stefon asked, his face not hiding any emotions. The anger and fury that filled his eyes reminded me of a certain someone. His head was held high insight of intimidation.
"She's safe. She's resting." I held my head as well. This is my kingdom and I'll be damned if a foreign leader thought he could intimidate me.
"That's not what I asked. Where is she?"
"Inside."
"She's coming with us," Stefon said while trying to walk past me. I can't let this happen.
"No, she isn't." I grabbed his arm, our eyes locking with a glare.
"My mate isn't going anywhere."
This caused him to take a step back. He knows what this means.
"Has she been marked?"
"Yes."
Stefon lets out a deep sigh and looks back at his kids who stood behind him. They look just as disappointed as their father.
"Maybe we take this conversation somewhere more private."
I let go of his arm and nod, leading them inside. I decide to take them to a meeting room near my mate's treatment room. So there we sat. Drakons verses Nightwalkers. Let's just hope this doesn't end up causing another war.
"Last time I was here, I was facing your father. I don't believe we've offered our condolences formally. They were good people. Good rulers."
"Yes, they were, but let's not talk about them."
"Right." Stefon leans in with a more serious face, but sadness looms underneath it. "My daughter. How did she end up here?"
I stiffen my jaw and don't respond right away. What am suppose to tell him? That my pack members found his daughter injured and thought she was a rogue so we brought her back here to question her, but she turned out to be my mate and I refused to let her leave?
That will surely cause a war. But it doesn't matter if I sugar coat her arrival. When my mate wakes up, she'll have them burn this place to the ground.
I decide to tell him the truth. Lying will prove to be no good in the long run. After explaining what happened, the three of them just sit there staring at me.
Great. My wolf sarcastically spoke.
Suddenly, Phineas Drakon rose from his seat. "Have you lost your mind? Did you throw her in a cooler cell? Don't you realize the long term effects that can have on a dragon?"
"As I told you, there was no evidence of her story being true. It was only until today that we discovered her identity."
"But still," Olympia stood as well, "that's not how you should treat your mate."
Stefon was the last to rise. "We are taking her home. She belongs with the dragons, not wolves."
"I understand you've lived a long life, Stefon Drakon, so I understand if you've forgotten the laws of the Northerner kingdom."
Now it was my turn. I stood up abruptly with calmness dripping off my words. "Once someone of any kingdom has been mated by a werewolf in the Northerner kingdom, they are legally bound to one another. If certain forces, such as a foreign ruler, try to take one of them away, imprisonment or even death may come into effect."
"Is that what you want? A war with dragons?"
"If it comes to that, then the Northerners won't hesitate to protect their own."
"Robbin isn't one of you. She's a dragon, not a mutt." Olympia sneered out.
"She is my mate and our future luna and queen. She has been marked. It can't be undone. If you decide to take her, then war will be certain. I know our family has had differences in the past, but if we're to avoid another war, we need to be on the same page."
"What do you propose?" This time it was king Phineas who spoke.
"She will stay here and be our queen and luna. Only the Alpha's mate can do that, and she is the only one. If she leaves, then our kingdom will slowly fall apart. However, in exchange for her presence, I'll allow your daughter to return home whenever she wants, for two weeks at a time. Also, her coronation will be soon, and the merge of our two kingdoms again will give us both new ally's."
They all stood there considering my offer. Were they willing to give up their long lost daughter and sister for a marriage agreement? I suppose they won't have a choice, not unless they want to wage a war. But a war with the Drakons is different. Our two kingdoms have had similar problems in the past, and it led to the downfall of another kingdom. What would happen this time?
It wasn't until Olympia stoke when the silence was broken.
"He's playing us." Our heads snapped in her direction. "Let's just take Robbin and leave. If it comes to war then so be it. It'll pass just like the last one."
"The last war caused a kingdom to collapse. Who's going to be next? The Easterlies? Southerners? Both the Northerner and Westerlie kingdom are fighting our wars with enemies. If we keep this up, every last kingdom will fall."
It wasn't me or the Drakons that spoke. It was someone standing patiently behind them. We all turned to face the man. He was dressed in standard westerlie colors;black and red but had a silver dagger pin on his jacket. He must be their royal advisor.
"Grey is right. There is no need for war," Phineas agrees with him. "But we can't make this decision with Robbin present."
"You're right," Stefon said, looking toward his only son, "But Robbin isn't in a safe mental state at the moment. If she just got her dragon eyes back, she's going to be very unreasonable. Only we can make this decision. She'll just have to deal with it."
"So, what's it going to be?" I asked. Right now, I have to be prepared for anything.
------------------------------------------------------
After the deal was made, the six of us, including Gus and Alec, made our way to my mate's treatment room. She was still passed out on the bed being fed IV medicine.
Stefon asked about her condition when she collapsed and I told him it might be an overheating, hence why she's still sleeping.
He walked towards her bed and put his hand on her head. His dragon eyes appeared and a small, gentle sonic wave wooshed through the air.
After a few moments of silence, a tired voice spoke.
"Dad?"