Discovery of a Queen by Elizabeth Brown
Chapter Five
My dragon surges to the surface, thrilled to be free and hunting her prey. When I’m in dragon form, my scales are an iridescent white, shining almost every color of the rainbow depending on the angle of the sun. I feel strong, free, and fierce. This is what I was made to do. This is my destiny. My dragon roars happily before heading toward the portals. The witches and berserkers have already gone through, and the healers and fighters are preparing to go next once they get the all clear from those on the other side. Kelly, it appears, stepped through with the first wave. A surge of pride and affection flares through me. She’ll take care of our people.
I circle once before gaining speed, tucking my wings close to my body as I slam my way through the portal. While I had seen the fighting through Jonas’s eyes, I’m still not prepared for the sight before me. Screams echo through the air. The scents of blood, magic, death, and demons assault my nose, causing me to shake my head. The mountain we’ve arrived at is littered with bodies, both councilmen and demons alike. It’s difficult to tell who’s winning at the moment since the battle is taking place mainly in the forested parts of the mountain. I pray it’s the Council. It looks like the summit has been left untouched. Odd. That’s the high ground, surely one party would want to claim it.
I instantly soar to a higher position in the sky, wanting to take everything in and find the archdemon as quickly as possible. A roar loud enough to shake the earth blasts through the sounds of battle. I turn my head to watch a massive, golden dragon take to the air, rising above the trees at lightning speed. Caleb, the alpha of all alphas. He’s massive, I don’t remember my father even being that large.
He roars again, fire streaming from his mouth, taking out a large group of demons. Impressive. Before I can stop her, my dragon releases a roar of her own. The battle below stills for a moment as everyone turns their gazes in my direction. While my roar lacks the physical depth needed to shake the earth, it’s high-pitched and haunting enough to shake the soul. Given the position of the sun right now, I’m also literally a shining beacon. Surprise, everyone. Caleb turns his massive head in my direction, and I watch as he inhales deeply. He’s trying to scent me. Surely he must know what I am…
The next roar he releases isn’t a battle challenge, it’s the sound of a turned on and very frustrated male. My dragon preens while I lose my shit. No. No, this can’t be happening. No!
Mate!my dragon purrs, clearly forgetting why this is a bad thing.
Nope, we’re taking a hard pass on that right now, possibly forever.
But he’s here! We’ve been waiting for him!
I mentally slap my palm to my face. I know that. But let’s also remember where we are and who he is. Now is not the time. My dragon mentally shakes herself, both of us fighting against the mating instinct that is surging through our body, causing lust to rage a scorching path through our veins. Caleb is heading right for us. Fantastic. This is just what I wanted to deal with today. I literally do not have time for this crap.
A blast of demonic energy flares from the summit, sending a shock wave rippling onto the battlefield below, and councilmen and demons are thrown off their feet. My crew remains standing thanks to the wards we’ve erected around the portals. The air grows thick, and my wings strain to keep me aloft. Archdemon. It’s been such a long time since I’ve come up against one, I’ve forgotten their aura feels like tar—thick, sticky, and dangerous. That’s where I need to—the gold dragon slams into me, sending us both careening out of the sky into a thick patch of trees. His limbs wrap protectively around my body, a low rumbling growl thrumming through his chest.
What the fuck is he doing?My dragon is just as confused. Great, so this doesn’t appear to be typical idiotic male behavior then. I hear the sounds of battle starting up again as we make it to the tree line, I’m worried that the blast of demonic energy from the archdemon gave the demons a boost. I wriggle in Caleb’s grasp, trying to get away from him to fight and save our people. He only holds me tighter.
We land in a tangled heap of dragon limbs, so I shift back to my human form and he follows suit moments later. He’s on top of me and we’re both naked, which, if he wasn’t who he is and we weren’t where we are, I’d totally be all about. But this is not acceptable. He buries his nose against my neck, inhaling deeply, a low rumble starting in his chest. Everything in me freezes, and before I can even think, I arch my neck to allow him better access.
The battle.
I slap my palms to his chest and push him back as much as I can. He has to be at least a foot taller than I am, and he probably has at least a hundred pounds of solid muscle on me too. While that normally wouldn’t be an issue, the urge to mate drives through every cell of my body, making it feel as though I’m fighting to get my arms to push him away. He rears his head back, his eyes flashing to his dragon’s before settling back to a normal green color. It’s different than my own, his eyes have more brown hues to them than mine do. I kind of like it. No. No, I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.
“You need to get off me.” My demand comes out stronger than I thought it would. I’m mildly proud of myself.
“You’re…” He takes another deep inhale, his eyes once again shifting to his dragon’s. “You’re a queen.”
“You got that right, big guy. Now I need you to get the fuck offme.” My tone is firm but patronizing as I slap on my best resting bitch face and just stare at him. But he doesn’t budge. I need him to get off me because my body is starting to notice all the things he has pressed against me while we’re both naked—one thing in particular, but I refuse to name it. If I name it then it’s real. It’s not real, therefore it has no name.
“Mine.” His voice rumbles with the sound of his dragon. I can feel my eyes flash. We’re both struggling, but we know now is not the time. Clearly, Caleb needs to be reminded of his status.
“Now is really not the time. In case it slipped your mind, your people are being slaughtered not too far from here.” My tone takes on the tenor I use when I’m talking to people who are just willfully stupid. “What do you say we go kill the bad demons? Hmm?”
His hand comes up and grabs my breast. I have to fight every instinct in my body to ensure that I don’t arch up into his touch. Instead, I drop one hand from his chest and push his hand away. He growls low in his throat, clearly not liking that his new toy doesn’t want to play. Trust me, pal, you couldn’t handle me.
“You don’t want to make me force you off of me. Now, I suggest you get the fuck off.” My dragon throws more force behind my words, adding extra oomph to my threat as well as a layer of dominance to really show him his place. Caleb blinks slowly, once, twice, before he shifts off of me. I stand in a flash, moving quickly away from him. My body aches to return to his, burning for his touch and missing his heat. I can’t let him get under my skin. I have an archdemon to kill. He’s also the alpha of all alphas, he is the Council. There is no way I will go with him no matter what my body wants. Just remember, Ayla, you are the baddest bitch in the room, don’t let this male make you his bitch. His chest is heaving as he holds himself back, his hands clenched at his sides.
I will not look.
Nope.
Not going to do it.
I look. He’s well over a foot taller than I am and muscular enough that it’s clear he’s a shifter. Like me, he has tattoos covering most of his body, and while I’d love to stare at them all day, I force my eyes to keep moving, and I avoid the lower half of his body. His shoulders are insanely broad. How the hell does he make it through doors with those things?His hair is shaved close on the sides of his head but is longer on top. It’s a deep black color that shines with hints of blue in the sunlight.
“You must be Alpha McInnes.” Now that he doesn’t seem like a sex crazed idiot, his timbre is deep and raspy, sexy as sin, and has my mouth watering. That accent may just be the death of me. He’s watching me warily, almost as though he expects me to just disappear into thin air. I wish.
“Correct.” I shoot him a strained smile. “Now, Alpha, I suggest we get back to business. We have demons to kill.” I stress the word “alpha” so he understands that he has no sway over me. I want him to understand I’ll respect his authority as Alpha of all alphas for as long as it suits me to do so, but ultimately, I’m the more dominant badass here. And yet I couldn’t push him away. I don’t want to think about that.
He takes a step closer to me and I tense. “You’re going to have a lot of explaining to do, McInnes.” His eyes run down my body, leaving burning lust raging in their wake. “And I am not leaving your side.”
I roll my eyes, pop my hip out, and plant my fisted hand on it. “I don’t have time to tell you just how wrong you are on both counts because people are dying.” Now I take a step toward him, my hand raised with a finger pointed at his chest. “You’re being a shitty alpha by being here with me and not fighting for them. Get your shit together.”
He reacts as if I just slapped him, and a tiny part of me wishes I had if only to cop a feel of that hella strong jawline. A guttural growl rolls out of his chest and his eyes flash to his dragon’s again. He’s got some control issues. Either that or I’m affecting him more than I realized. I’m surprised I can think straight. I’ve been told that the mating urge is really hard to resist.
It is,my dragon whispers to me. But because there are demons nearby, those instincts override everything else. Once we’re done here, it’s going to be a lot harder. Her voice takes on a wistful note.
Great.More problems. Does that mean you’re going to be a whiny bitch after this? I toss back at her. She snorts and doesn’t answer, which means that yes, she will, in fact, be a whiny bitch once this is all over.
“You’re right.” He doesn’t sound happy about it. “We need to head out. I assume you’re going to head for the archdemon.” When I nod, his eyes narrow. “Not without me. And before you argue, you know you need an alpha dragon to help you take him out.” I don’t like to admit that he’s right. My mother always went into battle with my father at her side, and she was stronger because of him.
“Fine, you can tag along. Don’t get in my way. Don’t get all macho on me. Don’t think that I need saving. Remember what I am while we’re up there with him.”
“You’re my mate.” He sounds stubborn and gruff.
“I am a queen.” My retort leaves no room for negotiation.
He moves so quickly I don’t have time to react. One of his hands snakes around my head, cupping my neck, while the other grasps my hip, pulling me flush against him. His mouth closes on mine. My body stiffens as he plunders my mouth, my brain screaming at me to push him away. But I just stand there, dumbstruck, letting him thrust his tongue into my mouth like he owns it. The feel of him hardening against my stomach snaps me out of my stupor, and I push him back, causing him to stumble slightly.
“You do not get to put your hands on me without my permission.” His eyes flash, and he snarls and takes a step toward me. I clap my hands together in front of me and pull them apart, an electric blue line of magic forming between them, sizzling and sparking. He stops moving. “You. Don’t. Touch. Me.” My dragon adds power to my command, hating to be manhandled just as much as I do.
I can see him fighting his dragon when he states, “You are mine.”
“No.” My response rings with power. “I am my own. If I want you to touch me, I will ask you to. Until that happens, you don’t lay a finger on me, am I clear?” I allow my magic to grow. His eyes narrow into dangerous slits, and I can feel the dominance radiating off of him. It’s too bad he isn’t more dominant than I am. But he’s close. Shockingly, disturbingly close.
“We have an archdemon to kill. Let’s go. We’ll deal with thisonce it’s dead,” I tell him. He shifts and takes to the air. I allow myself a second to breathe, reabsorbing the magic into my body before shifting and flying after him. I’ll let him think that we’ll deal with the mate issue once the archdemon is dead, but it’ll be a really cold day in hell before I let that man make me his.
* * *
The battlebelow us is still in full swing, and it appears the demons are winning, even with the added help of my community. Thankfully our wards are holding, and I can see my people getting the injured through the portals. Now I just need to take the head off the snake. How I wish I could do it in true Longbottom fashion, pulling a magical sword out of a magical hat. Alas, it’s not meant to be.
Caleb releases another earthshaking roar as he shoots for the summit. I silently follow in his wake. I need to figure out exactly how I want to attack the archdemon. I very much doubt he’ll be alone; they never are. So having Caleb around will actually be useful for something. I can’t let the archdemon get away. If he does, all of his little friends will know there’s a queen in America. I’ll be dead before I can blink. That means I need to stay in dragon form, since I’m a hell of a lot stronger and I can utilize my magic. Don’t die. That’s the plan.
The instant we fly over the summit, looking to land as close as possible, we hit a barrier. We’re able to make it through, but I feel my dragon go suddenly dormant. I panic, struggling to hold my dragon form as I plummet out of the sky. A quick glance confirms that Caleb is having the same issue. Shit. Our little interlude in the forest gave the archdemon time to pull up a strong barrier. He’s got a mage. That motherfucker.
Mages are witches who work with demons. In exchange, they get a power boost and typically get to live as long as the demon who owns their soul. They’re pains in the ass to deal with, but nothing I haven’t come across before. I have no idea why I didn’t realize there would be at least one mage here.
I slam into the ground, my body creating a large crater, which only widens a minute later when Caleb crashes into the ground inches from me. I can’t hold my dragon form anymore and am forced to shift back to human. I’m a bit battered, and from the looks of Caleb as he stands next to me, so is he. I take a moment to close my eyes, letting my magic flare around me. Thankfully, that’s still working. I’m able to pinpoint the group of demons on the summit. Fifty plus the archdemon, but I don’t sense a mage.
“How many?” Caleb rumbles.
“Fifty.”
“Total?”
“Plus the archdemon.”
“What about that damn mage?” Ah, so he is sufficiently intelligent when he isn’t thinking with his dick.
“I don’t sense him here on the summit, and the demons are starting to close in, so I don’t have time to look for him.”
“Ayla.” My name on his lips causes me to snap my eyes open. “You need to stay with me.”
“Caleb.” His eyes heat when I say his name, but I ignore it. “I’m a queen. This is what I’m made for. I need you to help me take out the lower-level demons. That’s the best way this will play out.”
“Well, certainly not the best way, my dear.” The voice has a familiar, strong British accent, but instead of bringing a sense of nostalgia with it, it sends ice racing through my veins. I know that voice.