Chapter 26 Honeymoon's Over, Babe

Alexander

Thank Goddess he was supernatural or his dick --which his queen had thoroughly enjoyed-- would have fallen off from none stop fucking for twelve mind-blowing days. He smirked. Not a chance.

Instead of the initial seven days of mating bliss -- the usual time given to newly mated couples--, they had to stay five more days in solitary because his mate was in heat. His wolf would have killed anyone intruding upon them.

And with a damn good reason, it seemed.

His Anna made him the happiest lycan in the world. At first, he couldn't believe it. Supernatural beings took decades to conceive. What he scented coming from her right now, belied that fact. He was one lucky bastard. Everyone will hear the heartbeat or heartbeats in a few days.

The wolf inside of him was calm. Content. A rare occurrence. He was usually pestering him.

-I will have pups soon, human. You should buy FAO Schwarz.

So much for being calm. He was plotting.

Hmmm, not a bad idea. His wolf sometimes made sense.

Only if Anna agreed. She was still hesitant to spend their money.

His concentration was interrupted by the ladies' giggles. That smelled trouble.

Last night, Sofia gave birth to healthy twins.

Alexandria also announced her pregnancy which he knew a week ago. He was waiting for them to announce the news officially.

All of them were in a celebratory mood. Anna Marie was planning a family dinner later. That was promising.

The mansion was filled with family and friends once more. Baxter was in alt, moving around busy and happy. The butler made sure not to comment on the broken antique pieces and some ruined furniture.

Alexander suppressed his besotted smile. What can he say? His mate was wild. For him. He couldn't be smugger if he tried.

His eyes narrowed at Xavier approaching his beloved, bowed to her, took her hand gently to kiss her knuckles. Mish blushed deeply. He bent to whisper something, the girl smiled at him.

Her health has improved tremendously. She ate and slept well, under the Vampire King's watchful eyes.

The ladies gave them beaming smiles. Alexander surmised all was perfect in their little world.

Except...

His eyes hardened, noticing Xavier beckoning him. Face impassive. There must be news from the fellow kings.

Everything was supposed to be perfect except that their presence was requested by the High Council in three days.

They were at the mating ceremony. He wondered if there was a development.

-Babygirl, the men, and I will be in a meeting. Do you need anything before we go?

-No, darling. We might need to go to the supermarket though.

-Ok. I will assign warriors. You have your cards right?

-Yup. All here, Xander.

-Use them. I love you, baby girl.

-Love you, soulmate.

He retreated to his study, knowing the men were following him. The foreboding in his gut couldn't be ignored.

***

It was worse than he thought. Fuck! His hands were clenched from watching Lucifer read a scroll through the monitor.

"I found another ancient scripture. It says that each Queen who has ascended the throne, mated and marked, and has received the power of transition from the goddesses will be drained of her blood to bring back the dark angel. An ancient druid will be summoned by a master to perform the ceremony." The Demon King interpreted the writings, face grim, and uncompromising.

"So my mate is ripe for the picking, so to speak," Alexander muttered. His voice too controlled was a warning to everyone, more so it came from an enraged king.

Lucifer inclined his head. "The Queens will be more powerful if they had merged their souls with ours. However, mated or not, they shouldn't fall into enemies' hands. They could experiment on them or worse. Your Queens and our future ones were fated by the Gods and Goddesses for a reason. The purity of heart, body, and soul is one of them. All of this information came from this scripture. So heed them."

"Motherfucker! No one will put his hands on my mate. I will die first." His lycan wanted to shift. Not yet.

"No matter what you do, do not leave your queen alone." The grave words came from Lucifer. He has dealt with the dark angel before, to awaken him was to trigger the Apocalypse.

"You can bet on that." Alexander mind-linked his mate to not go out without him. Thank Goddess, she has not.

"What about my beloved?" Xavier asked. He was tense. Mish has yet to fully recover from her sickness.

"She is safe for the moment. As soon as she comes of age, you must claim her right away Xavier. That will protect her from this evil." The vampire nodded at the demon king. His face graven, eyes colder.

"That's my plan. But we still have to make sure that the Queens does not leave our sights. What about you two?" Xavier answered. Lucas and Lucifer both have harsh faces.

"I guess that will curb our enemies' plans. We aren't as lucky as you both." Lucas retorted. Agitated.

"By the way, have you received the invitation from the High Council?" They all nodded. Alexander guessed they were all summoned.

"We need to gather all the evidence before the meeting. At least we cut off one important branch of the enemy." He has the reports. Emails and electronic transactions were linked to one name only.

"Yes. We have all that we need. Xavier?" Lucifer turned to the vampire king.

"I will kill him myself as soon as we are sure it's him." They nodded at their friend. A high-ranking official can't be brought down easily. They had to follow rules to avoid internal conflict amongst the alliance.

He most definitely does not want civil war brewing especially with the threat of the dark angel.

"The scroll mentions a Druid? There was the only one left and we don't know what has become of him. For all we know he has died and reborn into a different species." From their puzzled expression, they were also wondering.

"Kings will recognize the signs on his body. We will know if he is a druid when we find him." Lucifer said. He was right.

"Or we send out our people discreetly to look for him," Lucas suggested.

"That's a good idea, Lucas. I will mobilize scouts all over the world." Alexander answered. Face determined.

Werewolf scouts were the best for searching and sniffing. No one escaped them.

"And the master the scroll referred to?" Xavier asked.

"It can be any leader from the alliance or the rebels, as long as they dribble in evil and have the dark side's blessing they can summon the druid. It's better for us to do that instead of them. We are Kings. We are powerful than any master." Lucifer's black eyes gleamed. Promising dire repercussions to their enemies.

The demon king was right. They had to find the druid fast.

______________

Alexie

This type of scene usually only happened on Hallmark channels but damn, this was what a family built on unconditional love looked like.

Chaotic and entertaining to watch.

And more to come.

Anna and her sisters were setting the dining table while Baxter hovered nervously, the servants scurrying to get the dishes prepared by Rie.

Mom and dad at the corner, sipping wine --Anna forbade them to do anything else -- while she was busy devouring blueberry cheesecake cups Rie made for her. Goddess! Talked about craving.

She wondered what the meeting was all about? Michael has kept her in the dark about what was going on. Her brows knitted. No more. He will spill it later or else.

"You ok there, Alexie?" Mish's gentle and sweet voice made her focus on her. The young beauty was coming out of her shell, her body has filled out a bit, her cheeks were rosy and she looked radiant. Kinda reminded Alexandria of a delicate china doll.

"I'm fine. And you?" She arched her brow, noticing her wring her hands. She glanced at her sisters, they were too busy to notice them.

"I need to ask you something." Anna Michelle whispered.

"Okay? Let's go to the gardens." Alexie squeezed her hand reassuringly. Mish will not look so nervous if this was not important. "Girls, Mish needs fresh air before dinner. We'll be in the garden."

"Ok!" Satisfied with their chorus answer, she led the girl to the manicured gardens at the back of the mansion.

"Alright, Michelle. Spill." She slumped on the concrete basin that circles the fountain. Dejected.

"IwanttokissXavier."

Say what now? She didn't get that.

"I didn't know you speak Russian, doll." Intrigued by Mish's antics, she arched her brows again. Waiting.

"I want to kiss Xavier." Ah. The young queen doesn't want Anna to know, --with good reason, she was just sixteen-- and of course, telling Rie would be a disaster, that girl was horribly tactless. Goddess, she adored that girl. And this one too.

"And? So kiss him." Her own queen will have her head for this, encouraging their minor sister. They were fated mates. Anna will understand. And she knew Xavier will keep it PG until the right time.

"I'm afraid he would not like it. I mean look at him, he is gorgeous." She slumped further, pouting.

Alexandria shook her head. Men were idiots, especially kings. Xavier had been sending out mixed signals so it seemed.

"Doll, you could fart on his face and he will still love it." What she pictured made her grin.

"Alexie, you are not helping." Goddess, when did she get to be a relationship guru? She sighed heavily, observing the girl's troubled features.

"He likes you a lot, Mish. Any blind person can see that. What does he call you by the way?"

"His beloved." Anna Michelle shivered before her. Yeah. The connection.

"And it's true. You are fated with each other. Just go with your feelings, Mish. I guarantee you, he will never reject you." She smiled --brushing Mish's long blondish light brown hair fondly.

"I...I should try it. Tonight, while he is sleeping."

"Vampires don't sleep at night, doll."

"Oh. In the morning then. Why doesn't he drink my blood?" The beautiful vampire queen to be was innocent.

"He will when you come of age. When you and he mated."

Her eyes widen but not in fear.

"What does it mean?"

"You will know in time, doll."

"In two years."

"Uh-huh."

"Ok. I can live with that." There was a dreamy look on Mish's doll-like face that bespoke of mischief.

From the determination radiating off of Anna Michelle. She pitied the Vampire King.

______________

Alexander

"What is it, darling?" His body's reaction to her unexpected question made her look up to search his eyes.

Tonight, the way he had made love to his mate bordered on desperation. Notions of how to keep her safe ran through his mind. All the scenarios and what-ifs.

What if? He had never doubted himself before. But now? One grave miscalculation will cost him his mate's precious life. That he cannot afford.

Fuck! There was no use dwelling on what has not come to pass. What he needed was a solid plan to keep her safe at all times.

He glanced down at her upturned face. This was how he always wanted her. Sated and happy. "We will be leaving for Romania in a few days, mia anima."

"And that worries you, why?" she arranged her position so she could scrutinize him better. "Please never lie to me."

She said it so softly yet it impacted him so strongly.

Fuck! Never.

Tilting her chin, he kissed her softly. A brushed of lips. A promise. She breathed on his parted lips, giving him life.

It made sense to tell her. If she understood the danger that could befall her, she will cooperate without question.

So he did. All the business trips he went without her. The start of the conspiracy to harm the alliance. Rogue attacks. Dangerous vampires joining the rebels, an ice dragon that attacked the draconian kingdom and creature eluded the dragon king, the ruthless demons creating havoc, and the rebel's grand plan to awaken the dark angel. And if they succeeded, the Alliance and the human world will be no more.

Through all of this, his mate listened, never interrupted him. She held his hand with trust in her eyes. Shit! He couldn't fail her.

"Now you know why you have to stay by my side at all times. This threat is very real, I can't afford to make a mistake. Your wolf is getting stronger. When you were in heat, my wolf felt her. Soon, you will hear her. She will help you shift and when that happens, our enemies will do anything to get you. Your blood will be precious to them. They will use it to awaken the dark death angel." Saying it out loud filled him with rage. Every muscle in his body grew taut.

"Hey, darling. Breathe. I am here. You will not lose me." She hugged him tightly. He felt her warmth, her scent invaded his senses. It did nothing to calm his wolf. His instinct was to protect his mate and pups.

"Fuck! I cant, Anna. My wolf..." Sweat was dripping from his forehead --he fought for control. Christ!

"Shhh...baby...don't fight it. Let your wolf out. He will not hurt me." Anna moved away from him to give him room to shift. He trembled and losing control he let his lycan reigned in to shift in his beast.

Fuck! Not in full lycan!

Too late, human. Protect mate. Protect pups.

Alexander roared. The powerful and massive lycan took control of his body.

"Hello, mate."

______________