The Incredible Queen Luna

Chapter 15 The Dragon

Though it was already early spring, the night was still freaking cold, especially on the motorbike.

Leona didn’t feel it much as she had a lower body temperature. But she sensed her little wolf shiver at her back.

She slowed down speed, watching the empty road in front of her which was paved by the silver moonlight.

She asked loudly along with the wind, “Are you alright?”

The wolf nodded his head stubbornly, pressing his jaw on her shoulder.

Leona then knew her little wolf didn’t want to be afraid of cold. She stepped on the gas again and dashed straight towards the dragon’s capital at the end of the road.

It was an ancient oriental city built with complicated wooden buildings with a thick city wall surrounding it. Leona visited it once, about 12 years ago, when her mother was still alive. She remembered it was a city crowded with people and the dragon Alpha was an extremely beautiful woman.

Words said that the dragons didn’t like to socialize with other shifter kingdoms, but Leona would find a way to get that dragon scale for Eric. And to get Eric to transform into a supreme wolf, she would need the dragon’s help too.

As she got closer, the outline of the ancient city gradually appeared. Leona noticed countless tiny orange light spots floating above the city, slowly rising upwards to the universe from among those wooden buildings until they disappeared.

When she got even closer, she noticed that those light spots were countless sky lanterns that came from inside the city. She knew those lanterns were specially used for the dragon’s royal celebration. It seemed that there was some kind of activity carrying on in the dragon’s capital tonight.

Leona got interested. She knew those Chinese dragons had a very different culture from others.

She accelerated the speed and got even closer. After passing several turns, the road gradually got crowded.

Cars, motorbikes, even carriages were racing on the road hurriedly. When Leona finally got to the gate of the thick stone city wall, the traffic was totally jammed.

Passengers and vehicles were shouting and honking, trying to squeeze in the gate, but the line just refused to move. Leona noticed most of them were from other shifter kingdoms just like her. She saw bears, birds, serpents, even mermaids.

It looked like what was happening inside the dragon’s capital tonight was very attractive.

She stopped her motorbike beside a bicycle and asked the young lad who was listening to music while waiting.

He didn’t carry any luggage with him and he didn’t look as agitated as others. Leona assumed he was a local citizen.

“Excuse me, may I ask what is going on here tonight?” she asked him after removing her helmet.

The young man turned his head and removed his headset. His eyes were crystal blue-a color that only appeared among dragons occasionally. Leona then knew she asked the right person.

“It’s the princess’s 21st birthday,” he said with a grin, “Tonight she will pick out her future husband. They are all here to have a shot.” He explained while glancing over those yelling crowds.

Leona followed his gaze and then finally noticed that all those outcomers even drivers inside the vehicles within her eyeshot were male, not a single woman.

She was the only female here.

She widened her eyes. “What do you mean by picking up her husband?” she asked curiously, but had already figured out the answer, “Are you saying the princess will pick up her husband from those strangers?”

The dragon nodded his head.

“It’s your first time at dragons, are you?” he asked with a smile, and then explained in a hospitable tone, “It’s the dragon’s tradition. When the princess turns 21, she will have a tour around the capital city to find the candidates for her future husband. Whenever she sees a suitable candidate, she will throw a branch of peach blossom to him. Whoever gets the blossom will be selected to enter the contest to compete to be the princess’s husband. And if the princess sees a man and feels like he doesn’t need to compete with others, she will throw him a golden ball and take him as her husband right away. Only it rarely happens. Most of the time, those candidates have to compete for the princess.”

That’s a rather interesting tradition. Leona widened her eyes again.

“And anyone could be the candidate regardless of species, rank, and age?” she asked, noticing some of those yelling outcomers were definitely over 50.

The dragon nodded his head. “Theoretically,” he said, “That’s why so many people here, but,” he paused before he continued, “Eventually, it all depends on the princess herself. I mean, it’s her husband.”

Leona nodded her head and said “Thanks” to the dragon. All of a sudden, she got an interesting idea.

To have Eric accepted as the Wolf’s new king, not only the Queen’s husband, he would have to take a series of tests in the end. If Eric got enrolled as the princess’s candidate and earned some reputation during the contest, it would be great. She was sure the dragon princess would figure out Eric wasn’t a deadly criminal at all and exonerate him.

It would crush Felix’s little trick and piss him off. Leona got excited because of it.

She drove the bike a little away from the crowds, and then turned her head and asked Eric, “What do you think, little wolf? Any interest in being the princess’s husband? I bet she will love to have you compete for her. You are such a cute wolf!”

The wolf widened his eyes in shock. He had never thought Leona would push him to another woman.

He stared at her with disbelief in his eyes. Leona even saw tears sparking on his corneas. She instantly realized she had just said the wrong thing and quickly explained, “I am not really asking you to marry her, just thought it would be fun to have you in the contest. I mean, we get to meet the dragon princess!”

The wolf growled angrily. Tears streamed down from the corners of his cute puppy eyes.

He jumped off the back seat and growled at her with anger again and then turned and disappeared into the jammed traffic line.

Leona was kind of stunned. It took her a while to realize that Eric was seriously mad at her.

She would have rolled her eyes and dumped whoever was so sensitive, but it was Eric.

He literally waited 11 years to be with her and Leona knew she had done it wrong this time.

She was Eric’s first love, and first everything. This relationship meant much more to him than to her. She shouldn’t have been so … careless about it.

“Guess you let them have you anyway, don’t you?” she scoffed to herself, knowing the reason why she acted so recklessly, even cruelly.

Austin and Felix’s betrayals crushed her faith in people. She just couldn’t let her guard down and fully trust another man again. Though she loved Eric, she truly did, she just couldn’t entrust all herself with him.

Deep inside, she still feared Eric might get bored someday and betray her as Austin and Felix did, so she tried to push him to another woman.

If Eric somehow ended up with the dragon princess here, then she could still get away before it was too late and avoid another heartbreak.

She knew she shouldn’t have thought of it in that way. She should have more faith in her little wolf. But…she just couldn’t help it…

“f**k! f**k you! Austin! f**k!” she growled, hating those two traitors and hating herself for letting them hurt her.

She took a few deep breaths to help herself calm down, and then got off the motorbike and put her mask on.

With this kind of traffic jam, there was no way she could get the motorbike inside the city in a short time. She decided to go on foot to track her little wolf.

Eric was such a cute but defenseless puppy in his wolf form. Someone could kidnap him from the street and keep him as a pet. If he shifted, things could get worse. Those dragon guards may actually catch him.

She sighed, and then started to march towards the capital city.

Due to the dysfunction of Eric’s wolf, she couldn’t even locate where he had gone by his smell. Leona cursed herself again, making up her mind to fix that problem as soon as she got Eric back.

She walked past those jammed cars and carriages, and literally squeezed herself into the stream of mass of people to get inside the city.

The entrance under the ancient city wall was about 10 feet long. It cost Leona almost half an hour to get through it while being pushed around by those excited audiences or participants.

Once inside the city, the first thing Leona saw was the magnificent wooden palace located at the end of this broad street which was paved by green slab stones and led straight to the gate without a slight curve or turn.

Countless red lanterns and long red ribbons were hung all over those wooden buildings on both sides of the streets, illuminating the whole city with the joyfulness of the festival.

Leona saw no vehicles inside the city, but still, the street was jammed with a mass of people.

Most of them were males from different shifter kingdoms, and they were shouting excitedly at each other.

“I will definitely marry the princess and get the dragon’s treasure!!”

Leona heard someone say. But the street was way too crowded, she couldn’t see who it was. She walked along the street and looked around, searching the crowd as best as she could, but there was no sign of Eric.

Gradually, Leona started to get agitated. If Eric chose not to be with her anymore, or enrolled as the princess’s candidate out of anger…

Her heart ached at the simple thought of it. Only then did she realize how reluctant she was to let go of her little wolf.

She raised her volume and shouted on the street among the mass of people, regardless of her Queen’s bearing, “Eric! Where are you?! Come back! Eric!”

But no one answered her, no one even paid attention to her, as they were all way too excited about the upcoming dragon princess.

Leona bit her bottom lip and swirled in the middle of the mass of people like an agitated but clueless fly.

She felt so regretful for making that stupid proposal.

All of a sudden, a very strong and sonorous male voice came from the direction of the palace, shouting: BEARING.

The crowded city instantly shut down as if someone turned off the volume switch. Leona raised her head in the direction of the central palace, and then saw the closed red gate under it slowly open. People on the street automatically stepped to both sides to make way for what was about to come out of the gate as if they had received some kind of order while Leona wasn’t paying attention.

Leona had no choice but to follow them and stepped aside too, and then heard heavy drum sounds coming from the gate first.

The sound was so deep and affective that even the ground under her feet vibrated with it.

As the sound got closer and louder, Leona saw a moving wooden platform the size of a compact car decorated with the same red ribbons coming out of the door.

On the platform was this kind of huge drum she had never seen before. It must be more than 10 feet high, and was placed vertically in front of the shirtless drummer who had two huge drumsticks as thick as his arms in his hands.

As the drum sound went on, two rows of teenage girls in these ancient Chinese dresses came out. Each one of them had a delicately designed cane basket full of flower petals in their hands, and was scattering those flower petals in the air as they walked.

Following them was the mysterious dragon princess. She was inside this glorious red carriage which only had a roof with no walls. Pink sheer curtains draped around her and shielded her appearance. But her figure could still be vaguely seen. Leona noticed she was in a gorgeous ancient Chinese wedding dress which was red like flames. Judging from her stature, she was a great beauty.

Under the carriage weren't horses, but two of the strangest animals Leona had ever seen. They were tall, about 10 feet, and had ferocious appearances and glittering golden scales covered their bodies, kind of like the combination of horse, wolf, lion, and dragon.

When the princess finally appeared, the air became quieter, and everyone held their breaths. They stood still beside the street, watching the princess’s carriage slowly move by, waiting for her to pick out her future husband.

But inside the carriage, the princess never moved. As her carriage got into the crowded street which was filled with excited participants, she didn’t even turn her head and looked at them.

Only when she and her strange ride walked past Leona did she turn her gaze and look at this masked woman.

A gush of cold night wind blew through at that moment, lifting up the sheer curtain. The princess locked her gaze on this snow-haired woman who hid her appearance, but Leona didn’t notice it. She was still looking around, searching for her little wolf.

The princess’s honor guard then passed soundlessly. The crowd started to riot again.

Leona heard them shouting.

“Come on! Follow up! We still have chances!”

“Did you see that? The princess had just looked at me!!!”

“Oh, gosh! She is so beautiful and wealthy!!! I wish she could marry me!!!”

“I’ve told you! We shouldn’t have stayed here! What girl would pick the first man she sees?!”

Most of the crowd dismissed after the princess passed, some of them ran after the princess, trying to surpass the princess’s carriage and get another shot.

Leona walked back to the middle of the street, anxiously looking around, persistently searching for her little wolf.

She was so going to have a talk with him, but before that, she needed to find him first.

“Eric! Where are you?! Eric?!”

She shouted again, looking around this strange city, feeling distraught.

Those passersby who had lost their interest in the dragon princess started to eye her with weird looks. Leona didn’t care. She just wanted to find Eric.

“Eric! Where are you?! Eric!!!” she shouted again.

This time, she finally got some response.

A tiny but familiar wolf grunt came from behind her. She turned around and then saw her little wolf hiding in an alley between those wooden houses with its head lowered.

Leona let out a relieved sigh and quickly walked towards it.

“Where have you been?! You can’t just walk away like that! Don’t you know that?!” She held the wolf in front of her chest and chided.

The wolf let out a string of aggrieved syllables, still with its head lowered, but spat something glittering out of its mouth.

Leona took it in her hand, and then saw it was a piece of rectangular golden plate with complicated patterns on it, like an amulet. And it was carved with a few English words: Yours.

Leona’s heart instantly went soft. Her wolf was trying so hard to prove himself to her.

She patted his neck and sighed, “I know. I know. You are mine, and I am yours. I am not going to give you to anyone. I swear,” she said, clutching the golden plate in her palm.

The wolf let out a string of grieved noises, and then pressed its head against her shoulder to hide his face.

Leona let out another heavy sigh.

She knew she needed to talk with Eric now, and she needed to find a place for him to shift.

She then went back to the street and searched for the hotel. But every one of the hotels she checked was fully booked. She looked around the city for almost an hour, there wasn’t even a single room available.

She thought for a while, and then decided to stay outside the city in the forest for tonight. She was a wolf. She could handle that.

Just when she started to walk towards the gate. Those suffocating crowds came back and pushed her to the opposite direction like an irresistible wave.

She heard someone say, “The princess will make the decision at the palace.” The other said, “She hasn’t chosen one candidate tonight. It’s strange.”

She tried to get away but there was no way she could walk against all those people without drawing unnecessary attention, so she let them take her back to the square in front of the central palace.

Thousands of people were already there, lifting up their heads with expectation and excitement, looking towards the thick stone wall above the palace’s gate, waiting for something to appear.

Leona waited along with those people with Eric in front of her chest.

After about ten minutes, she saw two rows of teenage girls in the same ancient Chinese dress walking up to the wall. Only this time they had delicate paper-made portable lanterns in their hands instead of cane baskets.

And then the gorgeous Princess herself appeared behind them, in her glorious flaming wedding dress and all kinds of beautiful golden accessories on her head.

She stopped on top of the thick stone, standing really close to the parapet wall. Then two other teenage girls appeared and stood at the princess's two sides.

Each one of them had a varnished crimson wooden tray in their hands. Leona saw there were five branches of blooming peach blossoms on the left tray and a hollowed golden ball decorated with yellow tassels on the right.

She realized the princess was finally going to make her decision about her future husband. She held Eric closer to her chest and waited.

The wolf didn’t even look at the princess, just kept burying his head on her shoulder.

The next moment, when the princess raised her hand, the whole place dropped into dead silence.

Leona looked at the princess as attentively as the others. She saw the princess slowly raise her left hand first and then turn right elegantly and pick up the hollowed golden ball.

The crowd let out a string of amazed and envious exclamations as they knew it was a sign that there would be no contest for whoever that lucky bastard was.

The next moment, when the princess raised her arm, preparing to drop the ball, the crowd dropped dead silence again. Everyone held their breath and waited to see what would happen.

Just before the Princess was about to throw out the ball, weirdly, Leona saw the Princess look at her and curl up her lips.

The next second, the ball was thrown into the air with the princess’s graceful motion and then fell, stretching a dazzling but beautiful golden arc behind it. Leona watched it fly across the crowd right underneath the wall and then come straight to her.

She widened her eyes as she was now in the middle of the suffocating mass crowd. She couldn’t even turn around without knocking anyone’s shoulders, let alone dodge the ball.

But the ball went straight towards her chest, it would hit either her or Eric.

Before she could even think it through, she had already reached out her arm and caught the ball.

The crowd dropped dead silence again and then let out a huge noise of unsatisfied grunts and disbelief.

The Dragon Princess had just chosen a weird masked woman as her spouse!