Robbin's POV
I hate having sex. Constant sex. Different positions in a matter of seconds sex. The kind that after we finish, we start over again sex. But who am I to complain? Things with Xander have been neutral for a while. Ever since our compromise, he's been better, and so have I. Vision and I take long flies in the morning and at night, Xander and I...have sex. A lot. It's every day and usually tends to dwell throughout the night. At first, I embraced it. I knew what Xander wanted to do in our free time and honestly, I liked it. Liked. But now I think I've had my fair share of the concept altogether. He did give me some space, however. Whenever I was fed up with his clinginess, I'd shove him away and Xander would somewhat obey, only to return hours later, sometimes waking me up during the night.
It's been two weeks of this same pattern and I'm glad to finally get away. Last night, we received word of rogue activity in the Easterlie kingdom and decided to head over right away. It's a half days fly to their capital which means I'll be spending it with Vision. Luckily for me, we left in the afternoon and will arrive in the morning. The Easterlie king, Orion Weldon, wanted to meet with us as soon as we landed. Hopefully, the meeting will take all day and Xander would give me a break.
I looked down beneath the clouds. We arrived. The Easterlie kingdom was a paradise. Crystal clear oceans and high mountains were something everyone admired, even though it was the smallest kingdom of us all. Sirens tended to lurk in the waters but swore an oath hundreds of years ago to never prey within a certain radius of the land. It was common to see humans there as well. After the war, many humans who lived in the broken kingdom fled before any fighting began, and took refuge here. Living in the Northerner kingdom was dangerous and uncommon since they didn't belong to a pack and would've been cast out. The Westerlie kingdom won't allow it since they didn't contain dragon DNA in their blood. Some fled to the Southerner kingdom overtime and became mages, but most of them stayed here and equal ground. The Easterlies were known for bringing in strays. I'm not surprised that rogues would hide here. It's better to cover.
I landed Vision near the docks and climbed off of him, helping Lilliana down and we waited for everyone else. Grey did the same with Sereion and Xander along with Augustus and Alec got off of his dragon. They seemed more at ease with riding dragons, but outsiders never really get used it. I could feel Lilliana still shaking slightly from the fly. We finally made it. It was summer over here and the weather only illuminated the place even more. Boats sailed the Gulf of Weldon and Sirens swam in their pods while the commoners went along with their day. No conflict. No war. It was truly the most peaceful country.
"Have you been before," I asked Lilliana.
"No, never. I never traveled this much before." Lilliana took in the sight before her, her eyes filled with awe. "Werewolves don't leave their pack often, so we usually don't leave the Northerner kingdom."
I wouldn't dare imagine what that would be like. Stuck in the same place for your entire life. Even before my imprisonment, I never stood still. I couldn't. It wasn't in my blood. Growing up, I needed to touch the sky, the ocean, I had to reach them or I'd go crazy. I guess that was my true punishment; never being able to do just that. But since then, I've learned my lesson. Never let anyone frame you for murder.
The six of us were dressed in Northerner palace attire; red and black. Xander and Alec wore their matching royal suits, which I found adorable. Alec had a simple black advisor jacket with the pin attached, and Lilliana wore her new armor. It was hard to tell she had it on, though. The material was thin but hard to get through. Unfortunately for me, I was forced to wear my royal outfit. It was a sleeveless black vest with matching trousers with a deep red dragon scaled shoulder cloak. The Xander and the rest of them walked over to us, him glaring me down and I subconsciously divert my eyes. Recently, anytime he looked at me I felt the urge to flee. I'm not scared of him. Anyone could see he wasn't much of a frightening man if they looked close enough. It was his possessiveness that bothered me. Dragons don't care about anyone but their own. I knew that. I grew up with that mindset. So why in the hell don't I believe it now? A lustful part of me wants Xander. But the emotional one?
Easterlie kingdom guards quickly surrounded us once we were all settled on the ground. Their palace was visible from the docks and towered along with the mountains. We were placed in a car and drove the way there, all the while I couldn't help but think of the last time I was here. It was a perfect day, just like this, and Lilac was with me. She grew up in these waters and would always try to race Vision and I. Water against fire. Not the most ideal duo, but we always made it work. Hell, we embraced it. I wonder if she's here right now? Maybe after the briefing, I'll look for her. I think she'd be happy to know that I'm alive.
We arrived at the castle. The creamy white stone it was made of was illuminated by the sun. Flowers of various types grew along the pathway. It was a nice change from the Northerner kingdom. The weather there is always cold and wet. The fresh mountain air was the only good thing about living there. Growing up in the Westerlie kingdom, I was used to bright, sunny days.
When I roamed the skies a century ago, it was the human, king Jasper Weldon, who ruled the Easterlies. Since my time away, he's now passed and his son, Orion has taken the throne. From what I hear, he's kept the same ideals as his father. Good. a country wanting to wage war is something none of us want to deal with, not with everything that's currently going on. The palace guards escorted us through the palace. It was just as bright on the inside as the outside. Light flushed through walls of windows as we made our way to their war room. I'm surprised they even have one of those.
When we arrived, there at the end of the circular table stood King Orion Weldon. On his right was his wife and their queen, Dawn Weldon. They were both in their fifties and aging, something no other kingdom was used to. Dragons and werewolves don't age normally, but the Easterlies were humans. They have shorter lifespans than us. Maybe that's why they wage less war. They aren't around long enough for it to go on for lifetimes. Standing with them was a younger man with an advisor pin attached to his jacket.
We stood at the opposite end of the table and Alec announced us. "King Orion and Queen Dawn of the Easterlie kingdom, you stand in the presence of Alpha King Xander and the Dragon Queen Robbin of the Northerner kingdom. We've come at your request for assistance with the rogues in your kingdom."
The king smiled as he looked us over. He had a peaceful aura looming around him. I wish werewolves would carry themselves like that. "Welcome to the Easterlie kingdom. We're grateful for your help. Please, take a seat." Xander and I sat directly across from him while Grey and Lilliana took their seats on my left, and Agustus and Alec sat on Xander's right. "Now," King Orian continued, "As you know, rogue werewolves have been causing mayhem in the capital. There've been robberies, vandalism, and some arson cases. We've dealt with their petty crimes, but have failed to capture them. We thought that was the extent of their criminal activity, but two days ago, a body was found dead in the street." Black envelopes were passed to the six of us. We opened them and inside were photographs of the crimes. Cars were burned to a crisp. Stores were destroyed and empty, and the last image was of a young girl. Her clothes were gone and large claw marks clashed at her body. This angered me. Killing a child is a line they shouldn't have crossed, but they did.
I closed the folder and slid it away from me. I couldn't look at that anymore. "Where were they last seen," Xander asked. He closed his folder as well.
"Most of their attacks have been in the north part of the kingdom, but the murder was committed here in the capitol."
"Looks like they aren't backing down after the battle we all went through a few days ago," Alec states, "I guess this is their way of telling us they aren't done." How foolish of them. Instead of laying low and rebuilding, they're continuing to create chaos.
"Ryker Arden is their leader," Xander announced in a dark tone, " Was he seen at any of these crime scenes?"
"No," the Easterlie royal advisor replied back. He opened another folder and slid it over to Xander who opened it instantly. "They all seem to wear masks, but there is one who looks to be another leader. Security cameras captured images of them." I looked at the contents in the folder. It was a combination of werewolves and masked people. Many of them weren't the same, except one who was in every picture.
From the build, it was a man, but definitely not Ryker. This man was shorter but seemed just as strong and had long black hair. His mask only covered the bottom half of his face. I look up at Xander who's silent, but sure enough, his mind is racing. "Do you know him," I asked. Xander leaned back into the leather seat, not replying, so I took it as a yes. Was it someone who rebelled against his parents? If this person supported Ryker back then, it's possible they're doing it now.
"Yes, I do," he finally said. All eyes were drawn to him as he continued to talk. "His name is Jaxon Hinge, and he left with Ryker all those years ago." Xander slid the photograph over to Augustus for him to see. I felt his anger radiating off of his skin, making my own skin crawl. His pain always felt raw when his parents were mentioned, so much I could almost feel it myself. Could he feel mine? My pain from losing my mother and Vision? If that was so, then he wouldn't have spoken so lowly of him.
"They battle us on Westerlie territory a two weeks ago, and now they're committing crimes in the Easterlie kingdom? They're a large pack. There's no telling how many of them there are or where they're hiding right now." Augustus grabbed the other pictures and scanned them thoroughly. "If Ryker and Jaxon are alive, do you think she's with them," He asked Xander. She?
"I doubt it. The poison should've killed her by now." Xander and Gus looked away from their side conversation, now aware of how confused we all were, mostly me. "Ryker Arden had a mate," Xander announced. "But during the Rogue war, she was infected with Wolfsbane, a dangerous plant that doesn't grow in the kingdom. When they fled, it would've been too late to remove it from her system."
"So his sister and lover died. Is that the reason for this quest of revenge," I asked.
"Most likely. Pain is felt on a different scale for werewolves. I guess the grief he felt for his loved ones was overpowering. Then again, Ryker wanted to overthrow my family long before they died."
"So it's for power," King Orion questioned.
"We shouldn't focus on the why," I say. "Right now, we need to deal with the rogues who just killed an innocent child. You said this happened in the capitol? Is it possible this was for show or to draw us out here?"
Lilliana sighed into her seat and said, "Well if that's true, then we're sitting ducks."
"Maybe, but that means they'll be coming to us instead."