Page 11 of Taming the Kraken

“Where’s papa’s baby bear at? She eating her porridge?” Brody walked over to the table with a cheesy grin on his face.

“Dad, you are so lame.” Raine shook her head, trying to avoid contact with him. Brody’s hand landed on top of her head, and he jostled it around.

Brody grabbed a pancake off the table and took a seat next to his daughter. A moment later, his mate Chelsie walked in carrying a plate of fruit.

“You kids better be eating healthy foods too. Here, I want you each to take some fruit.” Chelsie sat the tray down in front of them and walked up to Raine, giving her a kiss on the head. “You guys have a good training session?”

“We sure did. It was intense.” Brian grinned and then cleared his throat when he noticed the glares from Alexa and Raine. “Lex and I destroyed another training ground. We’re going to have to come up with a better solution soon.”

“You need to show more restraint. Mikah here does a good job holding back enough so he doesn’t destroy the training grounds.” Brody grabbed an apple and smiled at Chelsie as he waved it at her, showing he was also eating the fruits.

“That’s because he takes it easy when he fights against an old-timer like you.” Brian chuckled as he looked at the fairy queen’s guardian.

“Well, this old timer has fought against several hellhounds in his lifetime and was also part of the big demon war. I may be older, but I am also wiser.”

Alexa smiled. This was how it always was here. There was playful banter and jokes. They were all close, and she loved it. Brody was her mother’s guardian, and it was odd not to see them together.

“Where are my parents at? It’s rare not to see you with them.” Alexa watched Brody tense ever so slightly.

“After they came back from healing the young dragon boy, they were summoned by the Great Sage.”

“Why aren’t you in there with them?” Brian asked. It wasn’t like anything would have been private from him.

“Well, I didn’t want to interrupt the meeting. And I was having breakfast.” He cleared his throat and finished his drink in front of him.

“You could have taken your breakfast in there with you.” Mikah shrugged and looked up as Brody let out a dry chuckle.

“It wasn’t the type of breakfast you have in public,” Brody smirked at the two men as Chelsie buried her head in her hands.

“Eeewww.” Raine pushed her plate away, shaking her head. “Gross, Dad!” She buried her head in her hands as well.

“Well, how do you know where they’re at?” Mikah asked, not embarrassed at all by the conversation.

“Reese told us where they were. When they left to take care of the dragon boy, I thought I would have a little more time for … other activities.” Brody shrugged, unbothered by the situation.

“DAD!” Raine groaned out.

“I could use some cold water.” Alexa smiled as she bit her bottom lip.

“Gerty, could you bring us some water?” Raine yelled out for the dragon in the adjoining kitchen.

A woman walked over with a pitcher in her hands. As she approached the table, she began to tremble. The pitcher dropped as she took quick, retreating steps backward.

“Gerty?” Raine rushed to the woman’s side. Her forehead was covered in perspiration, and there were red blotches on her skin. “She’s burning.”

Chelsie and Brody grabbed the woman and quickly took her away, back into the kitchen.

“It’s my aura. She was fine around me yesterday. Gerty has always been able to be around my dad,” Brian said sadly as he stared at the kitchen door.

Alexa reached over and grabbed his hand. “Everything is going to be fine. I’ll go and cool her skin, okay?” Alexa headed for the kitchen so she could check on the dragon’s condition. The woman already looked much better. She wasn’t a weak dragon after all and already was healed. It was surprising because Gerty came from upper-tiered dragons, which was why she could always be around Xander, so it was shocking to see Brian was now affecting her. “Gerty, how are you feeling?”

“I’m okay. I don’t know what happened. One minute everything was fine, and the next I felt like I was getting consumed,” Gerty said, her hands trembling. She was clearly shaken up from the experience. Raine held her hand while Brody brought her a glass of water.

Alexa could see the worry not only in the woman’s eyes but also in her aunt and uncle. For the first time, she felt concerned. She hoped Grandpa Sage had found a solution to Brian’s aura, because it was getting stronger and stronger. It was happening suddenly too. One day his aura just started increasing, and it was now getting to a level where even stronger dragons were being affected by it.

She walked back out to see Brian resting his head in his hands, looking down at the table. He was clearly shaken by this as well. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him, sending an icy layer over him where her arms rested.

“I don’t know what the problem is. You’re not that hot to me. In all aspects.” She giggled and rested her head on top of his, messing his hair up slightly. She smiled as she listened to his quiet laugh. He was someone important to her, and she hated to see him down. Luckily, she knew what to do to cheer him up.