Prologue Part 1
Elisa’s POV
After Dad got the radio call from King Drago, he barked orders to get the men and a truck ready with the help of Uncle Quinn and Uncle Charles. Mum and Dad had agreed to let me come with them, but they wanted me to have a good long sleep. So, after we had lasagne together as a family, I headed for an early night's sleep, but I wanted to get my homework done quickly and pack a backpack with some spare sets of clothing. If I shift quickly, I could destroy my clothing.
I got my Lycan last year. She was so beautiful. Her name is Storm. She is brave and fearless, and completely white, just like my mother’s Lycan. Storm was literally like a storm at the best of times. She had an overwhelming, powerful fascination with fire, it was hard to control my fire powers at times because of her. I still loved her though, she made me more powerful.
Besides my brother Elijah and Hunter, Quinn’s son, my brother’s future Beta and his best friend, I am the only other Lycan that had shifted at the age of nine. It was great that we could, no one would pick on us, they were too afraid that we would shift and rip their heads off.
Yes, our royal status didn’t stop some bullies, well, at least towards me. Everyone wanted to be Elijah’s friend because he was the future King.
I, however, was not so lucky. Don’t get me wrong, I had friends, but I still had a few girls who thought that they were worthy of being a Queen at my brother’s side, which meant they thought they were better than me.
A little thing I learnt from my mother: the Queen does not think she is worthy, she proves it to everyone around her. That is what my mother did when she became Queen, she had to prove she was worthy so that people would trust her as their Queen. That is where those girls would fall, they would never be the right Queen for our pack, and Elijah knew it too.
“I think we would make a good Queen,” Storm interrupted my thoughts, as I packed our backpack for tomorrow.
“Well, Storm, we won’t ever be a Queen for our pack. We will always be a Princess, and that I am happy with,” I replied.
“I don’t think we will always be a Princess, we have both heard our parents talking about who our mate is,” Storm continued.
I smiled at the thought of my mate, “I know, but I would rather that they did not know that I know who our mate is.”
“We haven’t seen him in years. I wonder how delicious he looks. Do you think he will show us what his dragon looks like,” she asked.
“I am sure he will. I also think he will look quite different; he is fourteen now. His voice has deepened over the years, so I am sure he has changed, just like I have,” I shook my head.
“You think he will look delicious, don’t you?”
“What no!!”
“Yes, you do. I am in your head, so I know exactly what you are thinking.”
“Alright, fine. Now, we need to get to bed, get some sleep, we need to be well rested for this mission tomorrow.”
“Yes, we need some sleep. I want us to look our best for him,” she yawned.
I changed into my pyjamas, before brushing my teeth and climbing into bed.
I wondered how much he could have changed in the last few years. Last time I saw him, he was building up quite a bit of muscle, he looked incredible. What if he has more muscle, and is getting body or facial hair? It is not like I don’t look different. My hair was longer, but I had it cut to shoulder-length with layered natural waves. My breasts have been developing for the past year, so I need to wear a bra now. I was also starting to develop muscles as well, not heavily toned but still.
When he gets here, he will be a King, every girl in the pack will be all over him, and I am not going to be letting that happen, he is mine.
Yes, I know that Drake is my mate. I kind of figured that out after he slipped into that comatose state, and I had to talk him out of it. Along with the fact that he is always so protective over me, and growls anytime another male talks to me, made it completely obvious that he was my mate.
I knew my parents knew. I also read all those books Queen Adalinda gave me about dragons, so I know that dragons find their mates the moment they see them, which means that right now Drake can feel the full force of the mate bond between him and me. I only get snippets of the mate bond. My thoughts of Drake lulled me to sleep.
I woke late the next morning, with Elijah knocking on my bedroom door. He didn’t even wait for me to say come in, he just walked in. The number of times I yelled at him because of that was unbelievable.
I sat up in bed, groaning, “What do you want? I am meant to be getting as much sleep as I can.”
“I know you are, I just wanted to talk to you privately,” he smiled, closing the door behind him.
He came and sat on my bed; brothers can be so annoying. I stared at him waiting for him to speak, but he sat looking at his hands, in silence.
I shoved him, “Well, what do you want to talk about?”
“Yes, sorry. Elisa, you’re my little sister. I know you are strong, powerful, and can take care of yourself, but I want you to be careful, and bring back that mate of yours,” he smirked.
“You know about Drake,” I gasped.
“It was sort of obvious, given the fact that he didn’t pay a single bit of attention to anyone but you when he was there, and that you get this look in your eye when you hear his name or dragons being mentioned. It is that girly excitement look you had when we were kids, even now, as puberty hits us both, you still get it,” he smiled.
“I must learn to control that,” I chuckled.
“Yes, you will, considering that you are going to be Queen of the dragons one day,” he replied.
“But they have different laws for that sort of thing, so I doubt I would be,” I smiled, jumping up out of bed.
“I suspect you will, and that being said, Drake will become a Prince of all beasts, but only by the King of all beasts’ decision,” Elijah smiled.
I headed to the clothing pile of gym clothes that I had left on my desk, ready for me to change into when I woke up in the morning. I picked up the pile of clothes, and turned back to him, and said, “As for your earlier comment of me being careful, when have I ever been careful?”
“I know that is why I asked you to be careful. You are my only sister, and I would be damned if I didn’t keep you safe. Just promise me if you are going to be careful,” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I promise, now leave I need to get ready,” I said, waving him out of my room.
He nodded, and left the room. I quickly got dressed and grabbed my backpack, before heading to my parents’ offices.
I have to admit there was a skip in my step. I was excited about seeing Drake.
I entered Dad’s office, as he was giving out details of the plan for this afternoon, with several of the leading warriors and Quinn. We were going to get there early, from a protective area around the tunnel exit, while we loaded the truck up with the crates just inside the tunnel. Once that was done, we were to form three lines of troops stretching from the tunnel up to our territory, to protect the dragons as they marched towards our land. I had to stay with my mother at all times, while we watched the treelines. Dad was going to be helping the dragons out of the tunnel while he talks with Drake. Charles wanted to come with us, but Dad was going to make him stay to man the fort here at the palace, basically watching out for the rest of the royal family, my brothers.
“Are you ready?” Mum asked.
I nodded, “I am ready, let’s go save the dragons.”
“Well, you heard your Princess, move your arses to the cars, and drive to the border. We walk on foot from there, apart from the truck,” Dad called out, to the men.
Everyone that was in the room, began to filter out and move to the cars to get the rest of the men in the cars, while Dad and Mum both looked at each other, they were mindlinking something. But what, I didn’t know? They turned to me, which meant that they had been talking about me.
Mum asked, “Are you sure you want to come, Elisa? It could be dangerous and people could get hurt, and we will have to hurt some people.”
“I know, Mum. I am not a little girl anymore. You have seen me fight in training. You tell me, am I ready,” I responded.
“Yes, you are an excellent fighter. I just want you to be sure, Drake could get hurt,” Dad smiled.
“He won’t if I go with you. I won’t let him. Now, can we go get in the car, we have a long journey ahead of us,” I smirked.
I was ready to go and save the dragons. I hadn’t told my parents because they would have demanded to lead the fight to save the dragons themselves, but for years, I have had nightmares about the things the dragons are going through, the things the vampires have done to them. So, I used it to train myself harder. That way, when the time came for us to become involved, I would be ready.
My parents led me outside, to where all my brothers were waiting. We said our goodbyes. I gave each one of them a hug. Seven brothers can be a handful. But they were great, all protective in their own ways.
Alexander always felt so guilty, after the war against the dark witches, because it was fought over him. They all clung to someone, and I overheard my parents say once that when a pup clings to another, even if they haven’t been born yet, they would undoubtedly be fated mates. So, I kind of reckon I know who their mates will be, and I was excited for them to find out one day.
I got into the car first, and sat in the window seat. I was eager to get going. Everyone that was going piled into the cars within seconds of me climbing in. My parents got in the same car as me. Quinn was driving the car with my dad riding a shotgun. Mum sat next to me. I could feel the excitement of what was to come, of seeing Drake again, feeling his hand in mine and his arms around me.
It was getting close to lunch time, by the time we reached the border. We got out of the cars, and travelled on foot from there, with the truck bringing up the rear. The closer we got to the escape tunnel, the more restless Storm became. She was snarling to herself, pacing back and forth in my mind.
“What is wrong with you?” I asked her in my head.
“Something doesn’t feel right. Keep your eyes peeled,” Storm grumbled, continuing her pacing.
Could she sense something was coming?
Either way, it didn’t matter. I was ready for anything.
I did exactly as Storm instructed, and kept my eyes peeled. We arrived at the escape tunnel exit, and the warriors got to work, loading the truck up with the crates that King Drago had put at the end of the tunnel so that we could take them and keep them safe for Drake.
The sun was beginning to set by the time the truck was loaded, and that meant we didn’t have long before they arrived, so we could get them to safety. So, Dad and Quinn ran around sorting out the warriors, getting them in order, in the three rows with one row already shifted ready to attack, just in case.
Mum leaned over and said, “We need to go get some cover so we can shift. We are going to be ready in case of attack.”
I nodded, and followed my mother behind a couple of trees. We undressed and shifted into our beasts. Snow, my mother’s Lycan, rubbed against Storm, before leading us back to the men. Snow bumped into Dad, and he smiled. The smile said it all, the amount of love between my parents was so obvious.
Storm sat in front of our dad wagging her tail, panting with her tongue hanging out. Dad smiled at the sight, he scratched her ears and pressed his head against Storm, before saying, “Stay with your mother, she is going to check on the men, and will return in a moment.”
Storm nodded, and Snow bumped into us, before taking off at a slow run, with us following her. I kept looking behind, hoping to see Drake come out of the tunnel. We ran the length of the line that stretched all the way to the Lycan territory, before turning and running back.
By then, the dragons were beginning to move down the line and head towards our territory. Storm took over complete control and began to search for Drake.