Elemental Queen: Reign

Chapter Three

Mistral’s POV

Jared began pulling his clothes off. “Jared, you don’t know if you can change,” I said. “I’ll be fine.” He replied. He dropped everything except his boxer briefs. I turned quickly, averting my gaze when he reached for them. I watched Galen’s reaction as I heard the pops and snaps of Jared’s bones and body as he changed into Drios. When there was silence, I turned to look. Drios was sitting there where Jared had been standing. “Galen, this is Jared’s wolf Drios.” I introduced him. “Change back.” I commanded him. He did it quickly.

I had my back to Jared as he changed back. “Do you believe me now?” I asked. “Yes.” Galen replied with a look of astonishment. “What are you going to do if I release you?” I asked. “I don’t know.” He replied honestly. “Just know you won’t make it far if you decide to run. You either go with us, or have your memories altered. Those are your only options.” I commanded him and flicked my wrist to release him from my air bindings.

Several car doors closed as Galen continued to sit there in silence just looking at us. Lily and Alex came in with bags of what looked like baby stuff. “Jared, can you shrink this stuff before we go?” Lily called out before her eyes laid on Galen. Lily had a look of shock. “He knows,” I told her. She nodded. Galen watched us shrink the baby items adding them with Lily and Alex’s bags. “Moment of decision. Are you going with us or not?” I asked point blank. “Can I get my stuff from my car?” He asked. “Fine. You might as well pull your car into the driveway once Xan’s car is put in the garage. No one will mess with it while you’re gone,” I told him.

“How can you be so sure? How long will I be gone for?” He asked. “Well, that depends on you. However, Jared will return soon if that eases your mind,” I replied. He nodded. “Jared, will you help Galen get his belongings from his car and get it pulled into the driveway? Have Hayze help you to keep him in line if he tries to make a run.” I ordered him. Hayze nodded like she was going to join them regardless. I ran my hand through my hair as they went outside to take care of the cars and such. I’m not sure if Zariah is going to be happy about this or not. I was just hoping to have a great weekend and now we may have to babysit.

I pulled my phone for Zare out. Can you have an extra room made up? We have another guy joining us. We’ll be there soon. I texted Zariah. This is Caedan. Why do you have someone else coming? He sent me. I decided to just call him. The phone rang a few times. It usually takes a minute or so depending on many factors of weather, cosmic interference, and other things that can delay the connection to Zare. “Hello.” Caedan said. “Hey.” I responded. “Explain to me why someone else is coming?” He ordered me.

“Jared ran into a friend from school and to make a long story short. He was training with us this morning and in a comment, Lumina accidently mentioned how Earth’s alcohol wasn’t as strong as Gradia Ale. He kind of freaked and I trapped him with air bindings. I had Jared put him under a sleeping spell because he wasn’t cooperating with us. I had Jared awaken his blood. I gave him the choice to come or have his memories altered.” I explained.

“Do you want me to come and glamour him?” Caedan offered. “No, at least not now. Jared changed into Drios, and he seems to be reluctantly deciding to see things through for the moment. I don’t know if we can trust him fully yet, so we may have to keep an eye on him. Since it was my decision, I will take that responsibility.” I told Caedan.

“Nonsense. We can help watch him.” Caedan replied. “He somehow thinks he may be a wolf too, but we can’t tell. I think that is the only reason he is sort of cooperating with us right now.” I confided. I heard Zariah’s voice in the background. “Hold on.” Caedan said and I could hear him telling Zariah what I had told him. “Zariah wants to know his name.” Caedan said. “His name is Galen.” I responded. “Wow.” I could hear Zariah in the background. “Caedan, we are preparing to come. We’ll be there very soon just gathering things and need to make sure to check the security barriers around the property.” I said. “Okay, we’ll be waiting for you.” He replied. “Bye.” I said and he returned it and we ended the call.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were living in your car? We have room here. You can stay here.” Jared admonished Galen as they came back into the house. “I didn’t want to be a bother. I haven’t lived in my car. I have been staying in hotel or motel rooms. I haven’t had time to find a place yet. I’m still looking for work. It took a little bit to be discharged.” Galen was telling Jared. “Discharged?” I asked as they set a few bags full of items on the floor near the door. “Galen was a marine. He has just finished his time in service and has returned home.” Jared explained. “Is that a military thing?” I asked. Galen and Jared nodded.

“Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” I asked. “We can always use warriors, and if he trains with us, he will be stronger than he was in those marines.” I commented. Galen had a look like I had said something outlandish. “Are you really going to question me with that facial expression you just gave? If today’s training clued, you in trust me when I say that was like your expression of child’s play.” I told him. Jared nodded in agreement. Even Lily and Alex joined in nodding. “Let’s finish gathering and shrinking things. Caedan and Zariah are expecting us. I called them. We need to check the security barrier spells too before we go.” I said. “Gavin and I can do that,” Jared offered. I nodded.

“Hayze, keep a close eye on Galen just in case.” I ordered her in our minds. “He will not get out of my sight. If he does, I will exert my true strength. He is no match for me.” She replied in my mind. I nodded slightly. “Do you have a tux, Galen?” I asked. “No. Do I need one?” He asked. Hayze and I were shrinking his belongings and other things. “Well, we are going to host Gradia’s Halloween Dance in our castle and it’s, as humans refer to it, as a formal affair.” I explained. “I have my military dress uniform. Will that work?” He asked. I was confused, but he lifted a long bag that was resting on his other bag and unzipped the front. I looked at his uniform.

“Is this your dress uniform?” I asked. He nodded. “It is sufficient.” I approved. He zipped it back up and Hayze took it from him and shrunk it. “I wish I knew how to do that when I was on deployment and had to carry a lot of gear.” Galen commented. We nodded our understanding. “Let’s bring this stuff to the garage.” I said. Galen helped us pick up the bags. We carried them to the garage. We put them on one of the carts Jared uses to bring medical equipment in. It looks like he duplicated the cart a few times to accommodate everything.

“Are the barriers secure?” I asked Jared. “Yes. Are we ready?” He asked. “I think so we just need to lock up the house. Lily and Alex’s cat Mittens meowed from her carrier. Sadly, the elder cat they had named Socks died shortly after their return from Zare. There was nothing to be done. Socks was sicker than originally thought. Jared moved to the house and went in. He returned a moment later. “We’re good. Everything is locked up tight.” He said. “Then let’s open the portal.” I ordered him. He nodded and moved to the front of us. He pulled the portal crystal out of his pocket and spoke the spell to open it. I watched Galen as his eyes widened, looking at the portal.

Jared had the portal blocked so no one could go through until it was fully opened to just outside the main courtyard and gate to Zavaria Castle. Galen looked a little apprehensive, looking at the portal. Before I could do anything, Hayze stepped close to his side. She took his left hand in hers. “You’re going to be fine.” She said quietly to him. It seemed to break him out of his trance of apprehension. She squeezed his hand, and he returned the squeeze, but also held tight to her hand like his life depended on her. Lily and Alex went through first when Jared said it was okay too. They each pushed one of the carts. Gavin and Lumina held his parents’ hands to help support and guide them through the portal.

Hayze moved forward and only had to pull Galen a little to get him to move. She guided him through and then Jared stretched his hand to mine and took it before we made our way through the portal. They were all heading for the main gate to the courtyard once we stepped out of the portal. Jared paused to close the portal behind us. We made our way into the courtyard and Zariah and Caedan were waiting for us. They were greeting Gavin’s parents. Xander, Kalan, Avala, Luke and Stowne were waiting to welcome us as well. Lily and Alex set the example by bowing and referring to them as their official titles, or what is approved to call us.

Xander was standing to Zariah’s right staring Galen down as he approached her. “Do you believe my sister now?” She commanded a response more than asked it of him. Jared and Luke were moving the medical equipment inside the castle. Galen stammered. “I told him he hadn’t seen anything yet,” I commented. To prove a point, Zariah manifested Aelia and Ayella. I moved to stand beside Xander. I manifested Zephyelle. Stowne and Avala followed suit with Aradenna and Glacia. Hayze manifested Spyte and Lumina manifested Aurora. Kalan manifested Drift. “Are we going to have a problem, or are you going to cooperate?” Zariah demanded. “I’ll cooperate.” Galen replied.

Xander was sniffing the air and soon Kayne joined us. “This is Kayne.” Zariah introduced him as he approached. It looked as if Xander was speaking to Kayne telepathically. Kayne turned to Galen and approached him and sniffed deeply. “No, he is not a werewolf.” Kayne said, outloud. I think Galen’s shoulders sagged a little in disappointment. “He’s something else, but I don’t know and won’t until he changes.” Kayne replied. “What do you mean?” Zariah demanded.

“Xan could smell something in Galen’s scent, but he wasn’t quite sure if it was a wolf or not. It's definitely not a wolf, but he does have the scent of a shifter. The only way to know will be when he changes soon.” Kayne explained. “Change? When? I don’t want to change,” Galen said. “It won’t matter what you want. You will change during the full moon in a couple of days. You can’t avoid it.” Kayne told him. “Interesting,” Zariah remarked. “Get him settled please. I need to go. The twins are hungry.” Zariah said and teleported to the twins. Caedan followed her quickly after absorbing Aelia and Ayella. We reabsorbed our dragons as well.

“His room is near Jared’s,” Kalan stated. Kayne, Kalan, and Xander guided Galen to his room. I think they wanted to keep their eye on him. I made my way to the rooms that Jared had been setting up for practing medicine in. Luke and he were enlarging the medical equipment and putting it into place where they wanted it to go. I started to help enlarge things. “We’re good. We’ll be done soon.” Jared told me as he turned his back to me. I wandered out of the rooms. I haven’t gotten to spend much time alone with Jared since I went to get him yesterday. He fell asleep as soon as we returned from the club last night once his head hit the pillow.

I began wandering as I have nothing to do right now. I made my way outside. I was still wearing my workout clothes and sneakers. It’s still warmer here on Zare. I pulled my t-shirt off and dropped it by the door I exited. I began running to the border path of the castle grounds. I popped my earbuds in and chose music to listen to while I went for my run. I am not as fast as the wolves, but with Stowne’s help I have gotten better at running and for longer periods of time. My hair bounced and blew behind me with the wind as I ran.

I could feel a tug in my mind like someone was trying to contact me, but I have everyone blocked off. “Mistral, where are you?” Zariah’s voice came through my mind. F*ck. I thought. “I’m just running.” I replied. “Where?” She demanded. “I’m near the pond.” I responded. “Jared has been trying to find you for over an hour now.” She told me. “I’m fine. I just felt like getting a run in after the morning we had,” I explained. Zariah was instantly in front of me on the path. She was wearing black yoga pants with a rainbow tank similar to my outfit with her sneakers too. She popped her earbuds in her ears and selected her music and fell into step, running next to me.

Zariah has just recently started running now that the twins are older and eat soft food as well as br**stfeeding them. Stowne joined us after we cleared the east side of the castle grounds. I was surprised to see Jared, Luke, Xan, and Galen in the courtyard. Hayze was with them as well. I just continued running. Jared fell into step behind me. Xan was running behind Zariah, Luke was running behind Stowne, and Hayze was running beside Zariah, so Galen fell into step running behind her.

We ran like that for another hour. We weren’t racing, so it was at a nice, steady pace. I just needed to clear my mind. I was feeling stressed because of this morning, but if I am being honest, I think I was feeling neglected because of Jared’s slight dismissal of my help. I don’t know where I stand with him sometimes. I don’t know if I want to take that step behind him sometimes to let him shine. I immediately dismissed that line of thought. He always steps back to let me shine and I can do the same for him. He’s trying to help all of us and maybe I need to get that side of me that likes to be possessive of him and make her take a seat to calm down.

I grabbed my shirt that I had left by the door and made my way inside and to my room. I decided to wash up before dinner. There was a knock on my door before I could put my shirt in the dirty clothes basket. I opened my door and Jared was standing there. I opened the door and let him come in. He closed the door behind him. I moved to drop my shirt in the basket. “What’s wrong?” He asked me. “Nothing is wrong.” I replied. “That’s not true. You have barely spoken to me since we returned, and I couldn’t find you anywhere. I had to ask Zariah to contact you because you were blocking all of us.” He scolded me.

“Nothing is wrong. You were busy and I decided to go for a run. I had some extra energy and I figured I would get a run in. I like it when the wind caresses me. It's very refreshing and calming. I didn’t realize there was something wrong with that.” I commented. “Why are you keeping things from me?” Jared asked. “Really? Since when do you get to tell me what to do?” I raised my voice a little annoyed. “You know that is not what I meant.” He responded. “I know.” I replied. “I don’t want to fight with you. I just wanted to know what was wrong.” He said. “Nothing is wrong.” I repeated myself.

“I think there is,” he observed. He reached for my hand, and I moved out of his grasp and walked to my table to pour myself some water. “Why do you keep pushing me? I have given you an answer. What more do you want from me?” I demanded. He came up behind me and spun me around to face him. “I care about you, Mistral. I just want you to be happy.” He told me. “If you want me to be happy, then don’t dismiss me.” I blurted out. I slapped my hand over my mouth trying to act like I could pull my words back inside and keep them from escaping again.

“When did I dismiss you?” He asked. I stared at his chest. “Mistral?” He put his finger under my chin and lifted it to make me have to look into his eyes as best I could, as he is taller than I am. “Earlier. I just wanted to help you.” I confessed. “I wanted to be with you. I feel like I haven’t had any real time with you for so long. I just wanted to be with you, and you dismissed me.” I added. “I didn’t mean for you to take it as dismissing you. I just get in a one-track mind when I am handling medical situations. I know there was no emergency, but I was just excited to put the new equipment in place. I’m sorry.” He apologized.

He lowered his lips to mine and claimed my lips in a searing kiss. My whole body had small lightning bolts fire all over it. I reached up and thrust my hand into his hair, pulling him closer to me. He had me backed up to the table and I leaned back over it as his hands caressed my body. I love what his hands were doing to my body, making it tingle everywhere he touched me, especially when it was skin to skin. I slipped my tongue in his mouth. I moaned as he gripped my *ss and pulled it into his body and slightly up.

I felt like I was getting lightheaded, but in a good way. I moved my hands to his shirt and moved them underneath and placed my hands on his bare chest, feeling every bit of skin my fingers could touch. He leaned his head away from me, breaking our kiss. “Baby, if we…” He trailed off as I squeezed his left hip. “What do you want?” He asked with a husky tone to his voice. “You.” I replied with a rasp to my voice. He lifted his shirt, tearing it off his body, tossing it to the floor. My eyes were happy to get to feast on his body as my hands touched him.

He wasted no time in pulling at my sports bra and moving it up my body. I was reluctant to stop touching him, but I raised my arms over my head so he could pull it off. He groaned as his eyes feasted on my skin. “You’re so beautiful.” He said softly as he claimed my mouth. His hands moved over my body. He caressed my br***ts and n*ppl*s with his hands and fingers. He broke our kiss and lowered his mouth to suck my left n*pp*e into his mouth. I moaned. I had my hands in his dark brown hair holding me close to him as he moved his right hand back to my *ss gripping it while his left massaged my right br**st.

I moved my hands to his sweats and loosened the string in the front. I wanted to touch him. I pushed his sweats down his legs as best as I could without stopping what he was doing to me. I moved my hands back to his boxer briefs. Before I could start to slide them down his body, he gripped my hands and leaned away from me. “You have to slow down. I want to make this good for you. I can’t do that if you touch me. I may explode.” He said while breathing heavily and now with a rasp to his tone. He kicked his sneakers off and pulled his sweats and socks off completely.

I stood and started to pull my yoga pants down. He stopped me with his hands and took over, sliding them down my body. He sat me on the edge of the table and removed my sneakers, sliding my pants and socks off, letting them drop to the floor. He ran his hands up my legs, slowly caressing them. “Your skin is so soft.” He groaned as he squeezed my skin along my legs. I grinned and used my air magic to push his boxer briefs down his legs. “Cheater.” He accused with a laugh. I stood and pushed him back towards my couch. He kicked his boxers off as I shuffled him backwards. His legs hit the front of the couch and he sat as I pushed his shoulders down too. I grabbed my underwear and removed them, standing before him.

He reached forward and grabbed my legs on the back side of my thighs. I moved forward as he pulled me to him. I knelt with my left knee to the side of his right leg and my right knee to the side of his left. I hovered above him as I claimed his mouth. He reached between my legs and slid his finger along my folds. I shuddered from the sensations his touch evoked in my body. His finger dipped in between my folds at my entrance and slipped inside me. I’ll never tire of feeling him circle, flick, and rub me in and out, up and down.

I gasped and moaned as he added another finger. He gripped my right hip with his left hand to hold me in place. “Jared.” I pleaded against his mouth. He continued to deny me for another minute. My legs started to shake some. I couldn’t take it anymore and pulled his hand away from my core. I grasped him and lowered myself to his shaft. When I had him nudging my entrance, I dropped my body down onto him. I felt a burning pain and could only sit there on him for a moment. He stretched me and I felt full at the same time.

He was caressing me and kissing me. He murmured words of praise and encouragement. When the pain lessened, I slowly rocked my hips up and then back down. I moaned at how good he felt. I was questioning why I had waited so long to be with him this way. I chided myself to chastise myself later and just be present with him in this moment and enjoy everything that we were doing to each other right now. He leaned back on the couch as I increased the rocking motion of my hips. He bit his lower lip as he watched me move over him. He gripped my hips with his hands, using his grip to help raise his hips into me as I would rock back down him.

I gasped and had to grip his shoulder with my left hand as I had my right hand on his chest. “Baby, you feel so good.” He groaned out. My limbs were trembling, and I was beginning to feel weak. “I ca, I can’t. My legs and arms are shaking.” Was all I could get out. He gripped me around my waist and stood with me before lying me down on the couch. He was still buried inside my body as he maneuvered us. “Wrap your legs around me.” He commanded me and I did. He pushed further into my body before retreating. He kept repeating the motion. Pushing himself inside me to where there was no space between us where our bodies were joined.

I tried to stay in the moment with him, but I felt like my whole world was shifting and swirling like a storm of wind surrounding us. I couldn’t stop moaning and groaning even if I tried to control myself. I think I started saying his name over and over, but I don’t really know as I have no control of my body. Jared has the control. I felt a pressure building in my lower body. It scared me a little and snapped me back to some control. “Jared?” I said in gasps. He stopped. “What’s wrong?” He asked. “I don’t know. There is this pressure building. I can’t explain it,” I said.

He smiled down at me. “Good, let it build and when it becomes too much let go. Your body knows what to do.” He soothed me. “Are you sure?” I asked. “Yes, baby let go.” He whispered in my ear as he began to move again. I felt like my mind went blank a little and I couldn’t focus on anything, even the pressure, as it continued to build. My moans and calling his name got louder and louder. Then I felt as if my body exploded. I screamed his name. I was falling through air it felt like. I felt him moving still before he stilled and almost roared. It kind of sounded like in my hazy brain. I had never thought ecstasy was something that could truly be felt, but that was how my body was feeling. Like it was floating on a cloud made of ecstasy.

Jared kissed me and got off me, slowly sliding out of my body. He started to walk towards my washing room. “Where are you going?” I asked. “I’m going to get a cloth to clean you.” He said. “I need to wash up anyway.” I said as I moved to sit up. I could barely control my limbs. He came back to my side and lifted me in his arms. He carried me to the washing room inside and entered the tub with both of us. I grinned as I stared into his hazel and green eyes. “I love you.” I confessed as I leaned my mouth, to his kissing him.