#13 The Dragon King and his Werewolf Princess

“Just great, River, now we’re going to die a frozen werewolf popsicle.” Lavender snapped at me. 

“I needed to get away from him, Lavender, he’s too good for us.” I argued, my teeth chattering even through the mindlink.

“Now where are we supposed to go?” Lavender asked.

“There has to be a portal somewhere. This is where we came through for a reason. We have to be able to find something.” I said,

“And then what? Just return back to our realm and forget this ever happened? Forget about Calix, our mate?” She growled.

“Let him find happiness somewhere else.” I argued.

“He can’t! You heard them, dragons don’t take chosen mates. He’ll be alone forever. We were already his second chance and he didn’t even know second chance mates were possible! He’s been waiting hopelessly for all this time and now you’re just going to run away from him.” Lavender chastised me.

“We don’t deserve him.”

“We can if you stop acting like we’re prisoners and being punished, and start realizing that we’re being saved.” Lavender snarled.

She was royally pissed off at me.

“Damn straight I am.” Lavender huffed.

“Stop spying on me.” I grumbled.

“Fine, I’ll leave you alone then.” She said with an attitude, snapping the link shut.

I wandered aimlessly in Lavender’s form for what seemed like hours, pushing our body through the pounding wind and whipping snowflakes that stung our nose and eyes. Eventually, our legs became too frozen and stiff with snow, our nose too cold to take in breath, and our body too weak to carry on. We collapsed in the snow and sank into it, waiting for the falling snowflakes to bury us alive.

All around me was beauty and warmth. I blinked against the bright sun and stretched out my once frozen muscles. I carefully stood and noticed that the ground was no longer snow, in fact, it was no longer ground. It was white and fluffy, like the snow, but it felt like nothing below my feet. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was standing on a cloud.

“Close.” Lavender’s voice chuffed in my head.

“What?” It was the cold, it was making us all delusional.

I felt something soft rub against my legs and I looked down. A red wolf was standing beside me, her head coming up to my hips. I narrowed my eyes on the wolf, her black eyes connected with mine and I knew instantly who that wolf was.

“Lavender?” I squeaked.

The wolf’s ears perked up and her tail started wagging.

“How is this possible?” I asked her.

“Your mind is limited by what you believe is possible, River Storm.” A voice said from behind me, causing me to jump.

I spun around and saw two ethereal looking women gliding towards me. One had glowing blonde hair that cascaded down her pale skin, highlighting her heart shaped face and bright blue eyes. The other woman had pitch black hair that accentuated her olive colored skin and deep green eyes. They were a sharp contrast to each other while also complimenting the other perfectly.

“Who are you?” I asked sharply.

“I’m Selene and this is Tiamat.” The blonde replied casually.

“Se….like the Moon Goddess, Selene?” I realized I was gaping wide eyed at the two ladies, “And the Dragon Goddess?”

“Guilty as charged.” Tiamat shrugged.

“I’m dead, right?” My immediate go-to assumption.

Tiamat and Selene shared a laugh.

“No, young werewolf, you’re not dead.” Tiamat shook her head.

“We needed to speak with you.” Selene continued.

“You took me from my home.” I accused them.

Selene and Tiamat shared a look.

“There’s a reason for everything that we do, River,” Selene sighed, “You, as a Storm, should know this.”

“Don’t bring my family into this. What you’ve done is beyond anything else they’ve gone through.” I snapped.

“You’re right. We’ve taken your choice away without explanation, we’ve asked you to take us on faith, and maybe that wasn’t fair.” Selene said,

“You’re damn right it wasn’t fair!” I shouted.

“I told you this whiny little thing wasn’t ready for this. She’s not the one, Selene.” Tiamat scoffed, waving her hand dismissively.

“Excuse me?” I growled at her.

“Selene and I have been waiting for the right people to come along from both the dragon and werewolf royal bloodline for centuries. My people have been waiting in the dark for a millenium! Just so we could find the right destined pair to become mates and unite all of our species,

“Selene’s people were a mess with that damn council screwing everything up, so then we had to wait until her species was united. After that, all the royal families and realms had to be at peace. The world is finally stable, something that doesn’t happen often and doesn’t last long. We have a limited window of time here and all you can do is whine about being separated from your parents.” Tiamat’s gaze stared down at me like an angry teacher scolding me for a failed paper.

Selene blinked at Tiamat wide eyed and shook her head,

“Tasteful, Tiamat.” She sighed.

“We don’t have time for tasteful.” Tiamat scoffed.

“What exactly are you saying?” I asked, still confused.

Tiamat sighed and rolled her eyes in frustration,

“I hid my people from the world because no one was ready for them. The humans weren’t evolved enough, my dragons didn’t understand the benefit of peace, and there were no other species to ensure a balance. Darkness was taking over. A separate realm was never a permanent idea, it was just a bandaid to a problem I knew would eventually be fixed,

“I didn’t know who would come along and do what needed to be done. I had no idea it would be Selene and her band of witches, but everything worked out in the end how I foresaw it. Now, the only power in the world strong enough to rip down the walls of my realm is that of the matebond,

“Selene and I have been waiting for the right werewolf and the right dragon royalty to be born into existence; the correct pairing to unite all of the realms at last. I knew Calix was the dragon for the job from the moment he was born, Selene over here has been taking her good ’ole time deciding on his mate,”

Tiamat glared at Selene and she just shrugged innocently,

“Finally, you were born and she named you as his mate. I’ve had my doubts since the beginning. Your family was strong once, but it’s been riddled with privilege. I’m not sure you have what it takes anymore.”

“You haven’t even given her a chance, Tiamat.” Selene sighed.

“She hasn’t given Calix a chance, either.” Tiamat argued, neither of them looking at me now.

“I’m sorry. I don’t really understand what great plan you have for me, but I just want to go home. I’m a werewolf princess, I’m meant to be in our realm.” I argued, earning the attention of both of the Goddesses.

“You don’t understand the plan? I literally just told you.” Tiamat looked irritated.

“You and Calix, your matebond, it’s what will open the dragon realm to the rest of the realms.” Selene explained simply.

“Wait, the realm will open up? All the realms? I’ll be able to go back home?” I stared at her wide eyed.

“Of course, River. I would never permanently separate you from your family. I created your family, I love them. But, your destiny isn’t to be the werewolf Queen, it’s to be the Queen of the dragons. Under yours and Calix’s reign, the dragons will come out of hiding and all of the realms will finally be together.” Selene smiled softly at me.

“But, all she cares about is getting back to her precious realm. To hell with everything else, right?” Tiamat glared at me, earning a heavy sigh from Selene.

“She’s scared, Tiamat, cut her some slack.” Selene said,

“She should’ve had faith.” Tiamat argued.

“You’re right, I should have,” I interjected, “But, I was always told to question everything and accept nothing. I don’t follow anyone or anything blindly. I’m a princess and I was kidnapped from my realm, kept prisoner inside a foreign realm and a foreign monarch, that’s all I knew for sure.” My face hardened as I looked at the dragon Goddess.

Selene laughed shortly at my outburst and Tiamat cocked her head to the side, a curious expression on her face.

“Touche.” She finally said,

“Luna Harlow, a human mated to the triplet Alphas of the Emerald Forest, she’s part of a diluted bloodline of dark dragons who remained in the human realm after the dragon realm was sealed off. She has a dragon heart and dragon fire within her veins. She has the ability to blow this realm wide open from inside the human realm. She just needs a portal, any portal,” Selene explained, “I can have her do that right now and send you back home.”

I looked at Selene with a startled expression,

“If she can open the realm, then why did you send me here? Why do you need our matebond?” I asked.

“Harlow can open the realm, but you two can lead it. The dragons have been cut off for generations. The last time they saw the human realm, humans were vikings and they knew about the existence of dragons. Everything is different now. They won’t survive out there. The peace won’t survive,” Tiamat’s face grew serious, “So, yes, we can open the realm, we can send you back, but we can’t ensure peace. Only you and Calix can do that.”

I took a deep, shaky breath, holding it in before I released it with a heavy burst of air.

“Just to be clear, you’re saying that the fate of every single realm and species in existence falls on the shoulders of my matebond to Calix?” I clarified.

Tiamat and Selene looked at each other briefly before turning towards me,

“Basically.” Tiamat said,

“Yes.” Selene nodded.

“Awesome.” I grumbled.

“River,” Lavender nudged my leg to get my attention, “I want our mate.” She whined.

I looked at her for a long moment before returning my gaze to the Goddesses.

“How does this work? I know that dragons eventually commit to their shift permanently and they live for hundreds of years. Werewolves don’t.” I said,

“We have a solution for that.” Selene said,