The Rise of the Phoenix

Do you still want me?

Chapter 6

As soon as we were alone in my room, I put the brakes on wherever this was going and quickly before I got too wrapped up and influenced by the mate bond. Ember groaned her protests, but she knew as much as I did that this needed to be discussed first.

“I need to talk to you about something important” I say seriously, shaking off the lust that is clinging to me heavily as he looks scared about what I might say.

“Is everything ok, my little fire bird” he asks, concerned. It’s funny how either of us don’t know how true those words are.

“I hope so, but you need to listen to me and keep this to yourself even if you decide that you no longer want to be mated to me” I tell him trying to not worry about his reaction.

“You can tell me anything, and I will take it to my grave if that is what is needed” he replies seriously.

“You may have heard that I haven’t gotten my dragon yet?” I say somewhat like a statement but also as a question that I am curious to hear what has been said and how far it has spread.

“I have, my sort of sister Casandra told me when she arrived back home” he says unconcerned as I scrunch up my face at the mention of her. “I also know that what she said isn’t entirely true, Storm and I can both feel her inside you” he continues, ignoring how I looked at her name.

“Yes you are right, and she also should have felt her, Ember doesn’t hide her power from anyone” I say as I hear his dragon doing a growling purr at the mention of his mate, which satisfies Ember no end.

“So is it true that you have not shifted yet?” He asks curiously with no hint of it bothering him in the slightest.

“That is correct. It is about the only thing they have said that is true. Calista, the witch elder, spoke to me not long after my 17th birthday. She had said that Ember would be special and that I would not shift on my birthday, but certain events would bring about my shift. Ember has been with me since I turned 17, Elder Calista also said that I was destined to rule away from this kingdom, so I am not too surprised that we are mates although there are still other species who I could have been mated to as their rulers or heirs are not mated yet” I explain as he growls at the thought of another being my mate, male shifter are so damn possessive.

“Mine” he growls, hugging me and sniffing my neck to calm down Storm with the thought we are his and no others.

“Sorry about that, neither of us like to even think about you belonging to another. Did she say what had to happen to bring out Ember? He asks now that he is a bit calmer.

“No unfortunately she didn’t know or couldn’t tell me in case it changed things that needed to happen. Ember is positive that being claimed by my mate is the first step though, we just don’t know what else is needed, and I may be without her for some time, so I can understand that you may not want to be stuck with someone who you don’t know will shift or when” I say without judgement, letting him know that I will respect whatever decision he makes. I mean it could be his rejection that triggers her shift for all we know, Ember quickly shuts down that train of thought as she is already taken with his strong, powerful dragon who by all accounts is a little bit of a charmer if her giggling is anything to go by.

“I won’t lie” he says making us panic a bit “ I am a bit upset that I will not be able to wear your mark for an unknown time as I want everyone to know that I am mated to this amazing woman, but it does calm Storm down to know that we can still claim you so everyone knows you are mine and that they have no chance in hell with you” he says with a smile making me feel so much relief.

“Now my little fire bird are you fine with us claiming you as I am not going to lie you were my first crush and I feel immensely proud that the little girl I was so enamoured with has grown into an even stronger and more beautiful woman, who I can not wait to make mine. Storm knows he has to wait to meet Ember, and he is fine with it. He says she is more than worth the wait” he says with a glint in his eyes.

“He can meet her in my human form and bond with her that way” I say, knowing I am blushing like a school girl, as he chuckles.

“That makes him very happy, but he can’t have her until I have had my gorgeous, sexy girl” he says with a wink, making me blush more.

“We can also wait if you are not ready yet. This goes at your pace, and I am happy if you want to take a bit of time before we complete the mating and bonding. Ember is nudging me like hell to make sure I don’t pass this up, she wants her hands on her mate and she knows Tybolt and I have to complete it first before she takes my body for a ride.

“Emm well, fu.ck, you see the thing is that I have never done anything before I always waited for my mate, so it’s not like I don’t want to its just that I don’t know what the hell I am doing” I stumble out the words embarrassingly, as his eyes flash with lust.

“My love, that is nothing to be embarrassed about. It makes both Storm and I extremely happy that we can explore all of that together and learn from each other” he says, shocking me.

“You are a virgin” I shout bluntly, grimacing at my abruptness as his eyes flashed with guilt.

“I am sorry, my love, I wish I could say that I was. I did keep myself for my mate, but there was an unfortunate incident a few years ago and I was drugged alongside a girl, a male was obsessed with her and tried to drug her to get his own way. Unfortunately for him, he drugged me by accident before having to try again with her. Before the drugs could kick in with her fully, she helped me to my room as I was unable to walk. The first thing I knew about it was when I woke up in the morning. We caught the man, but he denied it to his last breath. So although I have done something before, neither of us can remember it” he explains sadly to me.

“It is not your fault, I am glad he was caught, and we can still discover each other as if it was the first, as its not like you can remember what you did anyway” I say calmly letting him know that I understand, Ember is just pleased he waited for us, as far as she is concerned that time doesn’t count as he was not able to consent to sh.it.

“Sh.it I was so scared that you would feel betrayed” he says with so much relief.

“Is this girl going to be a problem at all, or has she moved on now” I say as he flinched obviously, not wanting to discuss the other girl.

“She will not cause any problems, Cassie is more like my sister than anything else, and that is the way we have always been. It was a bit uncomfortable at first as we have never seen each other in that way, but we managed to get over it and become like siblings once again, now we just want nothing more that for each other to meet the other halves of our soul and to live our lives happy” he tells me and I can not detect a hint of a lie in it, so either she acts completely differently around him or the guy is delusional.

“Hmm well that’s not the experience I have had with her. She definitely didn’t look like she was waiting for anyone while here and causing trouble for everyone” I grumble out, irritated. Why the hell did it have to be her it literally could have been anyone, but her, I am under no illusions that she didn’t have something to do with him getting drugged. It is just too convenient for the rank chasing sl.ut.

“She is honestly not like that. You just don’t know her like I do she will be happy for us, I promise” he says sincerely.

“She has done nothing but cause problems for me since she arrived. Making up rumours about Katya and I as she was jealous of the fact we are so close to our brothers and Sirius. So I am not as convinced that she won't continue to cause me problems” I say bluntly. Well, he needs to know that little miss sweet and innocent is not who she claims to be.

“I am genuinely shocked, but I can promise you that I will never let her do anything that will hurt you. All I can say is that the incident must have caused her to lash out at others. I am sure now she has herself sorted and is back to her old self” he says perturbed.

“I certainly hope so, or she will cause no end of trouble, especially with her Aunts backing as that woman definitely doesn’t like me at all.

“She is just upset at Sirius for banishing Cassie, although by the sounds of it, he had no option. She will warm up to you. She has always been a loving mother who wanted nothing more than my happiness” he says as I nod too, afraid of what my mouth will say if I open it. They have him pretty well fooled and I am starting to worry that our mate is a bit of an i***t, Ember growls at me not liking me mentally insulting her mate even if she does think he is somewhat naive.