The Spare Dragon

5. A King

***Vanessa***

My fingers grip my cup tightly as the rich scent of my mate fills my nostrils, Paloma howling with delight that Remus came after all.

I told you he would come! she cries with excitement.

Still, he is almost two hours too late and very likely only came to reject me once again, after he gets what he wants from me.

No, I shake my head. No, I’m done with him.

“Ah, my dear brother,” the mysterious dragon says with a sigh. “What are you doing so far from home?” he asks.

Did he say brother? I groan, scolding myself for once again falling into a sticky situation.

“I’m not your brother and I could ask you the same question,” Remus retorts, a threat in his voice. “What are you doing here, Lachlan?”

It’s only then that I realize I hadn’t even asked the dragon for his name.

“Just grabbing a drink with a new friend before a game of bingo,” Lachlan shrugs. “Care to join us?”

“No, he doesn’t,” I blurt out quickly as I start packing up my things. “We should go before the game starts.”

Lachlan looks at me and then at Remus, a smile curling on his lips.

“Do you two know each other?” he asks playfully, yet I refuse to look behind me.

“No, we don’t,” I say coldly. “But I’m not in the mood to meet any more strangers tonight, so we should really get going.”

I start to get up from my seat, feeling Remus’ eyes scan me from head to toe. I’m used to drawing attention from men and women alike, but tonight I feel hideous and unwanted. Refusing to let him know that though, I stand tall as I shake out my coat and continue to pretend he does not exist.

A gasp leaves my lips when Lachlan takes my coat from my hands and holds it out for me. For a moment, I don’t know what to do with myself, but I soon come to my senses and turn, putting each arm through the sleeves, as Lachlan slides the coat over my shoulders. Meanwhile, Remus glares daggers at his brother, his fists clenching at his sides. I find some consolation that he at least feels jealous. After everything he’s made me feel, he deserves it.

As I try to push past him, Remus grabs my wrist and pulls me into his overbearing figure, his face just a few inches from mine as he looks at me.

“Don’t go with him,” he says, his jaw setting as he waits for my answer.

“I can handle myself without your help,” I reply, looking down my nose at him.

“I need to talk to you,” He says, but I pull my hand free from his grasp.

“I think we both know there’s nothing more to say,” I retort. “You’ve made yourself abundantly clear to me.”

“Please, just give me a minute to explain,” he pleads, but I’m done giving second chances.

“I’ve given you plenty of time,” I say, attempting to walk away, only for him to grab me again. “Let go.”

“Just five minutes,” Remus insists. “Please.”

“She said she’s not interested,” Lachlan says, stepping between his brother and me. “So let her go.”

“I wasn’t speaking to you,” Remus snarls, attempting to step around Lachlan, only for him to block his path.

“Well, I am,” he snarls back, pushing Remus by the chest. “And I said she’s not interested.”

The two men get in each other’s faces and as I look around, I realize the conversations in the pub have stopped, several customers turning to watch. A few of the wolves look to make sure I’m okay, my cheeks burning from the embarrassment of the situation.

Overwhelmed by the many eyes staring at us, I storm out of the pub, leaving Remus and Lachlan to puff out their chests and fight amongst themselves.

Is it too late to join a convent and never speak to another man again? I wonder, picking up my pace as I fast walk down the road.

My wolf begs me to return to the pub, but I march onward, listening to the sound of my heels click against the pavement as I place one foot in front of the other. In desperate need of a run, I head into the forest, the scent of the damp earth easing my stress. As I walk farther into the woods, the unshakeable sensation that I’m suddenly being watched makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I discreetly scan the trees and the empty path, seeing no one nearby. Still, the scent of several dragons hits my nose all at once, and while I see nothing out of the ordinary, I know I’m surrounded. From behind a tree to my right, two men in dark clothing appear, an emotionless expression on their faces. I put on a brave front and carry on, but the men block my path.

“Excuse me,” I mutter, stepping off the trail to let them pass, but the men walk off with me.

I hear footsteps followed by a low rumble, my legs shaking when I turn to find three green-colored dragons towering over me.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” I ask, turning to look at the men.

They only stare back in silence, the three dragons inching towards me. I back away slowly until I find myself cornered by a tree, unable to escape in any direction. One of the dragons opens his mouth, revealing row after row of jagged, sharp teeth. Fear tenses up my muscles as I stare into its hellish yellow eyes, and my breaths come in quick pants as I try to come up with a plan. My thoughts and the sound of my heart thumping in my chest are quickly drowned out by the loud growl coming from the three dragons.

Now is not the time to panic, I scold myself, taking on a fighting stance.

“Make this quick,” one of the men snaps, the dragons never taking their eyes off me.

The moonlight just barely shines through the trees of the forest, so I concentrate on the shadows cast on the forest floor behind the men, creating finger-like tendrils that slither on the ground unnoticed.

Before I can do anything, however, a blue blur rushes in front of me, a pair of claws wrapping around my waist and dragging me away. I open my mouth to scream, but my entire body ripples with tingles as I look up and find myself staring at the underbelly of Remus’ dragon. Below me, hundreds of trees become nothing more than tiny dots and I realize we’re flying into the night, Remus’ body undulating from side to side like a snake slithering across the sky. A gray dragon flies beside us, and I recognize his scent as Lachlan’s.

The peacefulness of the flight quickly fades away as five dragons fly after us, rays of lightning hurtling towards us. Remus flies in an erratic pattern to avoid being hit, but I feel those club sodas churning in my stomach. The Scottish countryside disappears, morphing into a massive black sea.

Lachlan throws himself at two of the dragons and vanishes into the dark clouds. Meanwhile, Remus goes into a nosedive, a scream getting caught in my throat as I stare at the ocean and my inevitable death. Just as Remus is about to plummet into the water, he rotates his body at a ninety-degree angle, a spray of sea mist hitting my face as we fly just above the waves. More lightning rushes towards us, Remus breathing ice cold air to create a large piece of floating ice and tossing me on top of it before flying back in the direction of the dragons. I cling to the icy mass as waves crash over it, watching as Remus collides head first into the first dragon. They wrap the lengths of their bodies around each other, their jaws tearing into each other’s flesh as they fight for dominance. I watch helplessly as a second dragon attacks my mate, all three of them climbing to higher altitudes until they disappear into the dark clouds.

Bursts of lightning light up the sky, the silhouettes of the dragons the only thing visible. Pain bursts around my chest, shoulder, and sides as I feel Remus’ injuries through our bond, my wolf howling in agony, knowing her mate is hurt. As I sit and wait on the chunk of floating ice, a loud roar rings out, my body breaking out in goosebumps at the chilling shriek. Other dragons in the distance return the call, the once quiet night filling up with ungodly roars.

A green dragon descends from the sky and slithers towards me, my instincts screaming at me to jump into the water. I don’t question them and dive just beneath the ice to avoid being fished out of the water. It feels as though a thousand tiny daggers are piercing through my flesh as I cling to the bottom side of the ice, my lungs burning in pain. An annoyed roar sounds off above me and the dragon lands on the block of ice, shifting back into its human form. I place my hand on the ice to feel the tremors of his footsteps, sensing him move across the ice to the edge. I hurry to the other side, quietly taking a huge gulp of air as I emerge from the water. Clinging to the edge of the ice chunk, I concentrate on his shadow as he peers over the edge of the water— imagining long tendrils sprouting from his shadow. The shadow tendrils turn into long spikes and pierce through the man’s own shadow, large bleeding wounds appearing on the man’s chest and neck. He collapses into the water, his body floating away as I climb aboard the block of ice.

My muscles are rigid from the freezing temperatures, my teeth chattering as a gust of cold wind blows past me. A dragon body suddenly falls from the sky and I breathe a sigh of relief when I look closer and realize it’s not Remus. More waves crash against the floating chunk of ice, rocking it slightly from side to side until I’m sick.

A fleet of dragons fills the sky, the breath leaving my body as I panic.

How the f**k am I supposed to fight off twenty dragons? I scream internally, scrambling to the edge of the ice and staring at my likely watery grave.

A second body falls from the sky, and much to my relief, I still feel my mate bond burning across my chest. I breathe a sigh as my bloody mate descends from the dark heavens, tears filling my eyes at the state of his dragon. There’s no way to tell if all the blood is his or not, but he struggles to keep his body in flight as he hovers over me. Remus grabs me gently this time in his claws, carrying me off the ice and away from the sea. Pieces of torn flesh hang from his underbelly and chest, his teeth and snout dripping with blood. Though he flies with great difficulty, he does not stop for a second, even as we’re escorted by a team of dragons.

The never-ending sea below us finally gives way to a large island surrounded by steep cliffs where large waves crash against them. The land is lightly peppered in snow with a beautiful city sitting along the southeast portion. To the north, a grand castle stands tall and proud, a massive stone wall surrounding the grounds. The castle within is quite large with spacious and lush gardens and a lake to the east. We fly past what appears to be a runway platform for landing, Remus heading straight for the palace. He hovers over a balcony and, as gently as he can, drops me onto it. I land with a thud and scramble onto my feet as he shifts into his human form and crashes onto the balcony, nearly missing it and falling over the edge.

Large gaping wounds cover his chest and torso, and his shoulder is charred from an electric burn. My last memories of Derek, my former mate, come hurtling towards me, my heart clenching at the thought of losing another mate I didn’t even have the chance to love.

Why does this keep happening to me? I snap, growing furious with Moon Goddess for torturing me.

“R-Remus?” I whimper, running towards him and cupping his cheeks as he groans. His lips and his face are pale, and I know he’s running out of time. “I’ll go get help,” I say, attempting to get up, only for Remus to grab onto my wrist and pull me down to my knees beside him.

“Don’t leave me,” he murmurs through a strained whisper. “Please, stay with me.”

I look over at his wounds, some already healing but others seemingly growing worse. Blood normally makes me squeamish, but there’s no time for me to panic now, so I place both hands on a gash on his stomach to stop the bleeding.

“You need a doctor,” I insist, hearing a dragon roar in the distance.

The doors to the balcony suddenly burst open, a team of knights storming in and halting in their tracks when they see me.

“She’s trying to murder the king!” a knight shouts, a pair of knights pouncing on me while another leaves.

King? What king? I think as they each grab onto my wrists.

“No, he’s hurt!” I scream as they drag me off of him and pin me to the ground, Remus groaning between clenched teeth.

“L-Let her go,” he snarls, the knights looking at him in confusion.

“But Your Majesty—”

“Your king commands you to let her go. Do it!” Remus roars, throwing back his head in agony and pressing his hand on his side.

Your king? I gasp. He’s a king?

I don’t get much time to ponder this thought, the knights reluctantly letting me go and allowing me to crawl back towards my mate, so I can pull his head on my lap and cradle it. Scanning Remus’ body, I fight the overwhelming urge to just burst into tears and muster up whatever courage I have left to help my mate.

“Don’t just stand there!” I snarl at the knights. “Get me rags, water, anything to stop the bleeding! Do something!”

A few knights jump into action to gather supplies, but I know I’m in way over my head. Natalia was the paramedic — the one who knew what to do in case of an emergency — not me. My degree in sociology doesn’t cover first aid. To my relief, the knights seem to know what to do and begin adding pressure to the bleeding wounds while wrapping up his body in bandages.

Remus slips his hand into mine, murmuring something under his breath.

“What?” I ask, leaning in to hear him.

“I said you’re freezing,” he whispers, turning to a knight and ordering him to bring me a blanket.

A physician finally arrives, along with some knights, and a stretcher. A beautiful woman dressed in a gown trails behind them, a look of horror on her face when she sees all the blood.

“Remus?” she cries out as the knights begin to lift Remus onto the stretcher. “What in Sun God’s name happened?”

She, however, doesn't get an answer as the physician orders Remus for immediate transport. The knights begin to carry him away, but Remus holds onto my hand, tugging at me to follow. I run alongside the knights, the mystery woman chasing after us. I’m led down to an infirmary, the knights carefully setting down my mate onto an empty bed. Moments later, Lachlan is brought in and treated by a smaller team of nurses, his wounds equally as bad as Remus’.

A knight pulls me and the other woman away from the cot to let the team of nurses do their jobs and clean the wounds while the physician injects an amber-colored liquid into Remus’ burned arm.

“This should help reverse the damage to your nerves, Your Majesty,” the physician says as the other nurses prepare a suture kit and hang a few bags of blood.

The woman turns to Lachlan and snarls at him. “What did you get my son into, Lachlan? And don’t you dare try to pin this on him! I know you did this!”

“For once, it wasn’t me,” Lachlan chuckles under his breath, screaming as he too is injected with a serum.

“What the hell happened Remus?” the woman hisses, Remus glaring at the woman with annoyance.

My teeth chatter as I watch from the corner, tears springing to my eyes when Remus starts to writhe in agony as the serum takes effect.

“G-Get her out of here, Mother,” Remus snarls, the nurses and the knights turning to look at me.

His mother turns to me, her eyes widening in shock as if she had only just now noticed my presence. She marches up to me, placing both hands on my shoulders.

“Gods, you’re freezing,” she says, leading me to a cot and calling a nurse to bring me a thermal blanket. “Come, let’s get you out of these wet and bloody clothes, and into a bath,” the woman says, gently guiding me out of the infirmary.

“What about Remus?” I ask, the woman shaking her head at me.

“There’s not much else we can do here, so let's focus on you,” she reassures me, ushering me out into the corridor.

I look back at my mate as the physician injects him with another serum, Remus cursing under his breath before heaving a sigh of relief and relaxing.

“He’ll be okay,” his mother reassures. “Dragons heal moderately fast, and they’ve given him something to speed up the process.

A knight slams the door shut to the infirmary and I reluctantly follow Remus’ mother down the hall. I study the strange but beautiful palace; the walls are decorated with gilded panels, portraits, and fine china pieces in glass display cases and every few paces, there are handcrafted chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. As we walk down the hall, several doors open, beautiful young women stepping out in silk nightgowns and curlers in their hair to gawk at me. They begin to whisper amongst themselves, their judgemental eyes scanning me from head to toe as I walk past them. I don’t know who all these women are, but I don’t like the way they’re looking at me and instead hold my head high, clenching my teeth to keep them from chattering.

“Go back to bed ladies,” Remus’ mother commands, the other women exchanging curious looks with each other.

“But, Your Majesty…” they argue, the woman giving them all a death glare.

They fall silent and promptly go back into their rooms. I’m taken to a large empty room and told to wait in the bathroom while Remus’ mother calls for the maids to help me. It is only when I look in the mirror that I realize why everyone was staring at me. I look as though I came straight out of a horror movie, my black dress drenched in blood and sea water, and flakes of dried blood on my arms, neck, and wet hair.

Remus’ mother returns, her arrival startling me momentarily. She smiles warmly to ease the tension and begins to question me about the events that took place. I explain the best I can, but I understand very little of what just happened.

“So you’re the she-wolf,” she mutters to herself, and I can tell this fact displeases her. “And you don’t know your attackers or what they could have wanted you for?”

“Remus is the only dragon I know,” I shrug before remembering the other dragon. “And Lachlan, but I only just met him tonight.”

“What was Lachlan doing in the Earth Realm?” she mutters under her breath.

She thinks for a moment when we hear the maids arrive in the main room.

“Right, well, I’ll leave you to it,” the woman says as I hold out my hand to thank her.

“Thank you Missus...?”

She stares at my hand with mild amusement so I awkwardly retreat it back. Her cheeks turn a rosy pink and she takes my hand with such grace and elegance, it almost feels wrong to touch her.

“Evelyn,” she says with a small smile. “You can call me Evelyn— in private.”

“Private?” I ask, Evelyn raising an eyebrow at me.

“Remus hasn’t told you who he is, has he?” she says, sighing when I shake my head. “Of course he hasn’t. Why would he ever make anything easy?” she mutters with a shake of her head. “Well, he can figure it out all for himself. For now, please enjoy your bath. I’ll have something brought up for you to eat. Please don’t leave your room. Remus is in good hands. He’ll come when he’s ready.”

She doesn't let me respond as she turns on her heel and leaves. A small army of maids enter the bathroom and begin preparing a bath. One of them asks to help me out of my dress and shoes, and while at first, the gesture seems really weird to me, I’m too exhausted to make a scene and demand answers for the million questions swirling in my head right now.

The maids help me undress and hose me off in the shower, the tile floor turning red from all the blood I somehow managed to get all over me. They then help me into the bathtub, my cold muscles sighing with relief from the gentle warmth of the water and the beautiful aroma of the oils. They offer to help wash me, but I’ve already reached my limit of personal invasion, and ask to be left alone for a few minutes.

As I sit in the tub, Paloma finally calms down, the mate bond letting me know Remus is out of harm’s way. Several questions pop into my head once the storm in my mind calms down.

So he is king, I sigh to myself. Well, there go my chances with him. I’m sure he has a pretty princess waiting for him. So why am I here? Where is here? What did Evelyn mean by Earth Realm? Why was I attacked? Who were those dragons trying to kill me? Who were the other women in the hall?

Paloma is especially curious about the last question, snarling with jealousy at the thought of them being so close to Remus. I don’t give it much thought though, as it’s becoming exceedingly obvious I know nothing about my mate other than he is a dragon and clearly a royal. For all I knew, they were all his sisters.

I finish cleaning myself up and am given a clean silk nightgown; the maids setting a tray of hot tea and soup on the nightstand and asking if I need any more assistance before excusing themselves for the night. I wait impatiently in my room for Remus to come explain everything to me when suddenly I hear screaming in the hallway, followed by thundering footsteps. Evelyn told me to not leave my room, but curiosity gets the best of me and I venture out into the hall to see what all the fuss is about.

To my surprise, it’s just Naomi being chased by a knight and three maids as she sobs.

“I want to see Remus! I want to see Remus!” she screams, crawling in and around furniture and in between the knight’s legs to avoid being caught.

“We told you already, only royals can go to the infirmary right now. Please, go to bed!” the knight shouts back, obviously having lost his patience.

The little girl runs face-first into me and looks up at me with tear-filled eyes.

“Miss Vanessa!” she cries. “Why won’t the mean knight let me see Remus? He has to brush my hair before I go to sleep. He has to!”

Several of the doors along the corridor swing open, the beautiful women once again stepping out to see what all the commotion is all about.

“Will someone please make that brat stop screaming!” one of the women snaps. “She’s giving me a headache!”

“I’m not a brat, you ugly duck!” Naomi retorts, flaring her little nostrils angrily and stomping her tiny feet.

“Lady Naomi,” I scold, the little girl looking back at me. “I know you’re upset but that wasn’t very kind of you. Why don’t we take a few deep breaths to calm down?” I say gently, Naomi crossing her arms over her chest. At first Naomi protests, but with a little patience, she breathes in a gulp of air with me and releases it. I lift the girl into my arms, smoothing back her hair and wiping away her tears with my thumb. “Now that you’ve calmed down, perhaps the knight will let us go see Remus.”

“I’m afraid no one is allowed to see the king,” the knight reports. “You’ll have to wait for him to summon you in the morning.”

“But we just want to see if he’s alright,” I reply, the knight firm on his stance.

“I’m under strict orders. No one sees His Majesty except members of the royal family,” the knight replies.

“But I am his family,” Naomi whimpers, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

The knight offers no other reason, and the other women seem too annoyed to be bothered with questions.

“It’s okay, you can come and sit with me while we wait,” I say, the little girl nodding reluctantly.

I look to the maids and ask for warm milk and cookies to be brought to my room for Naomi, as I carry her inside to rest on my bed.

“Why can’t I see Remus?” She asks when we’re alone.

“I don’t know,” I say, sitting beside her. “But I know he’s okay. He was just a little hurt, but he’s okay.”

A sad look washes over Naomi’s face. “But he was supposed to brush my hair and pray with me. He always does it so I can go to sleep.”

It’s only then that I notice a cross hanging from her neck.

“You’re a Christian?” I ask, realizing Naomi is a human living among Dragons. “Well, I still remember some prayers. Would you like to pray together while I brush your hair tonight?” I ask, Naomi’s eyes lighting up like stars.

“You pray to God?” she asks in awe. “No one knows who I pray to here but Remus! I had to teach him how to pray with me.”

“I grew up Catholic,” I smile, her eyes as big as saucers.

“Me too!” she squeals.

Her excitement is contagious, and while I had not prayed to God since I joined the wolf world, it was nice to revisit an old part of myself. When the maid returns with milk and cookies, I ask her to bring me Naomi’s hair brush and her prayer beads from her room.

“Here you are, Lady Naomi, your things,” the maid says, handing the child a golden-handled hair brush with a dragon on it, her prayer beads, and a large, stuffed blue lizard, which Naomi hugs as she settles between my legs.

I brush her long dark hair and find myself humming Hosanna under my breath, Naomi nibbling on her cookies and milk as she listens. When I finish, we get on our knees at the foot of the bed and bow our heads.

“Is it alright if I pray in Spanish?” I whisper before we start. “I’m afraid I never learned to pray in English.”

Naomi nods and allows me to lead the prayer. She listens without interrupting, smiling in comfort as I bless her sleep, and when we finish, she asks to sleep beside me. I let her curl up on my side and before I know it, she’s snoring into oblivion.

I don’t know how long I sit there in silence waiting for news from Remus, but my exhaustion gets the best of me and I soon fall asleep.

.

.

.

The sound of the door handle turning wakes me up, and when I open my eyes, I find Remus standing in the doorway, a bit of sunlight peeking in through the window. He walks in without a word, his blue eyes locked with mine as he closes the door and walks up to my bedside.

“So, you’re a king?”