Love’s Eternal Fire

Chapter 10: Panic

Solaris' POV

Flying back home, the thought of my time with Kesi on that blanket was all I could think about. The feeling of her skin against mine, the way she called out my name, all of it had me wanting to turn around and return to her. She was perfect in every way: beautiful, kind, caring, and sexy.

Landing just inside the line of trees that encircled our territory, I made my way out to see most people were probably at dinner in our main house. Heading in that direction, I was my father’s second-in-command, Eternus, looking at me from across the way. We locked eyes, and I nodded, signaling I saw him and kept walking. The look he gave me was questioning, as if he knew what I had been doing. It didn't matter; I would be out of here soon. Turning, I headed away from him because it looked like he was about to come my way. When I entered our dining hall, it was a buzz with chatter and laughter. I was my parents and brother eating at the head table at the front of the room. Before I had even sat down, a kitchen worker placed a plate at my spot.

“Thanks, Nadia,” I said with a smile.

“You’re welcome, Solaris,” she smiled before catching my dad’s eye and casting her gaze downward. My dad frowned upon fraternizing with the help; he thought it was beneath the leaders to do. Eternus walked in, catching my eye before looking at my father. I knew they were mind-linking, and it was most likely about me.

“So, son, where exactly were you today?” he asked, his posture stiffening. Then he cut aggressively into his steak.

“Just around,” I told him, stuffing a large piece of steak into my mouth.

“People said they hadn’t seen you since this morning,” Ryse commented sternly.

“Am I not allowed to take some time for myself? It’s Sunday, no one has to work in Sunday,” I told him coldly.

“After dinner, would you come to my office?” My dad asked, not even bothering to turn his head and look at me. “There’s something we need to discuss.”

“Alright,” I replied, continuing to stuff my face so I didn’t say anything incriminating.

“So, father,” Ryse said in his most proud voice. “When do you think you’ll be stepping down from your position?”

“I’m not sure right now, Ryse, and you’re not able to take over without a mate, which you refuse to do,” he told him.

“No one that has come has been up to my standards,” Ryse complained.

“If you keep that mentality, you’ll be alone forever. Several strong female phoenixes have come calling, and you completely dismissed them. Besides, your ability to jump to angry conclusions and impulsive decisions has led me to determine you may be unfit to lead this clan,” my dad told him. Ryse froze with his knife and fork, cutting into his steak. The air around us shifted, and I could hear my mom sigh, knowing this was not the time or place to have this conversation.

“What do you mean?” Ryse growled through his teeth.

“You know exactly what I mean,” my dad growled back. I could feel the temperature around us starting to rise. When Phoenixes became angry, their body gave off heat as their phoenix came to the surface and threatened to take over. "I believe Solaris is more fit for the job."

“That’s ridiculous! I’m older; it’s my birthright to take over this clan!” Ryse’s voice was rising, and so was the temperature. Red feathers sprouted up on his arms as he breathed hard through his nose, staring at my dad with a loathing glare.

“Ryse, Brim, we will not do this here!” my mom said, slamming her hand down and shaking the table. "This is a private matter that should be discussed in your office. After we speak with Solaris, Ryse, your father, and I will discuss this further with you."

"But..." Ryse began but closed his mouth tightly when my father gave him a death stare. I could only imagine what they wanted to talk with me about. It had to do with me taking over, which wouldn't happen now that Kesi and I planned to be together.

My parents left our table, leaving Ryse and me alone. I could feel his anger permeating the air. He was sitting stiff, finishing his food with a clenched jaw. I could tell he wanted to say something to me but was holding back. If only I could tell him not to worry and that he would lead this clan whether our father liked it or not.

"Ryse, look, I don't want to take over the clan; I never had," I said, trying to alleviate the rage-filled silence.

"I find that hard to believe," he spat, staring forward at all the people happily eating their meals. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything; you're the one who can't have a calm and rational discussion," I replied, pushing my chair back and standing up. When I walked past, Ryse caught my arm, and I could feel the heat terminating from my hand.

"I won't forget about this; this clan will be mine," he whispered, his golden eyes nearly all red. I bent low to make sure no one else heard me.

"Take it; I won't be around much longer." Ripping my arm out of his grip, I stalked away, taking deep breaths to avoid shifting in the middle of the dining hall. Ryse was staring after me, and when I looked over my shoulder, he looked more confused than angry, not understanding what I meant. I knew it was time to speak with my parents, and I prayed to the gods above that this wasn't anything but a quick chat. Knocking on the door, I pushed it open to find my parents in their familiar places. They both looked happier than at dinner but still severe, with my father in his high-back chair and my mother standing erect beside him. I sat in the hard chair, waiting for what they would dish out.

"An exciting dinner tonight," my dad said, folding his hands on his desk.

"I'll say," I replied.

"Your mother and I will talk with Ryse about you taking over and make sure he knows that he must respect your word as the clan leader," he told me.

"Okay," I said, trying to keep my answers short.

"Since you need to be mated and marked to take over as the clan leader, I had an idea about how to help with that," my dad said, a smile pulling on his lips, which scared me more than any other emotion I saw from him.

"You can't just wait until I find my fated mate?" I asked, my heart racing now.

"That could take years, and we don't have that kind of time. "I haven't told you this yet, and no one in the clan knows, but I'm sick. I don't have much time left." His words hit me like a boulder. We didn't have the best relationship, but he was still my father.

"They can't heal you?" I questioned.

"Unfortunately not," he replied. "They can't figure out what is afflicting me, but it's doing more damage than they can repair."

"I'm so sorry," I breathed, looking at my mother's unchanged expression.

"I've accepted it," he said without much emotion. "Now it's about finding you a mate and making you the leader of our clan. So, I had a thought. We'll have a mating ball. We'll invite all the unmated Phoenix people from the other clans in the realm. You'll pick someone that night, and we can announce the title change."

"When?" I asked, my voice breaking since my throat had gone dry.

"I say we can have things together in a couple of days," he smiled, a rare thing for my dad to do. Panic was beginning to set in; there was no way I would be paraded around like a prize-winning pig for all these women to fawn all over.

"This is a good thing, Solaris," my mother told me, noticing the change in the color of my face.

"Of course," I said, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Now, we need to speak with Ryse about all of this. Don't worry. He might be angry at first, but he'll come around, and I'll make sure he doesn't do anything to you in his anger," my dad told me. Still in a daze from his discussion of this mating ball, I got to my feet. I wasn't sure where I was going when I opened the door and exited silently. There was no chance I would wait for this ridiculous spectacle of a ball. Kesi and I had talked about running away, but we didn't have a time frame. It looked like that had been pushed up to now. We needed to leave for this to get more traction than what my parents had already decided. Did they know about her? They had to since this was all coming out of the blue and happening at the same time as our meeting again.

I would have to wait to leave until darkness fell. There would be patrol groups out, but being the son of the clan leader had its advantages; I was the one who made the patrol schedules and knew precisely where each one would be. Walking quickly, I went to my house. I needed to pack a bag to take with me. It was dangerous, but I would have to cross into the fairy lands and find where Kesi was.

Sprinting up the stairs, I went into my closet and pulled down a leather duffle bag. Grabbing clothes, I stuffed them inside, not paying much attention to what I was taking. I wouldn't need much; we could get things wherever we ended up. The werewolf realm was the closest, followed by the dragon realm. Maybe we could stop in the werewolf realm and ask for sanctuary for a little while. I had heard the Blood Night pack was led by a kind alpha and luna that accepted everyone. The hardest thing I was going to have to do was wait. I needed to wait until everyone went to sleep, and there were fewer prying eyes to see me leave. A knock on my door made me up, and my stomach dropped. Opening it, I saw the blue eyes of my friend Savion. Relief washed over me. It was only him and not my parents or, worse, Ryse.

"What the he**'s going on?" he asked, his long blonde hair tied in a bun on the top of his head.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as he came into my house without an invitation. Not that I would have refused him, but I didn't have time to entertain guests today.

"I overheard your dad talking with Eternus about you. They seem to think an old friend has come back into your life and that you've been sneaking off to see her," he told me. Fear took over. I had a feeling they knew about Kesi, but this confirmed it. They knew, they knew, and were trying to get me to pick a chosen mate and break our bond. "Sol, are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Listen, I can't tell you what's happening because if my dad finds out, you know, he'll kill you," I told him. "What I can tell you is I'm leaving tonight." His face fell, and his brow furrowed in confusion.

"What are you talking about? Leaving for where?" he asked.

"I can't tell you that, but I can't be the leader of this clan, and seeing as my dad knows about my mate, I have to leave to keep us both safe," I explained.

"Your mate? You found your mate?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes, and it's who I always knew it would be, but we can't be together unless we leave. My dad is planning to make me take a chosen mate, and I'm not doing that," I said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you're leaving, I'm coming to," he told me.

"What?" I asked, surprised by his willingness to up and leave like this. "No, you're not coming with me."

"Look, I've been in this clan for a while, ever since my parents died, and they sent me to live with my aunt. Now she's gone, and I have no ties to this place apart from you. If you're leaving, I'm coming with you. Besides, with me, you'll have a little more firepower when they come after you because they're going to come looking for you once they realize you're gone, or I can tell them you're running away," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"Are you threatening to tell on me like when we were kids?" I asked, annoyed and impressed that he wanted to come with me this badly.

"Yes, yes I am," he laughed.

"Alright, fine. I guess if you're coming with me, I'll have to explain exactly what's going on," I replied.