Page 29 of Taming the Kraken

Alexa giggled and walked toward him, giving him a hug. “We’re closer than just shaking hands, right? We’ve been well. But look at you? You’ve really filled out. Looks like they put you through some intense training.”

Ryker chuckled and blushed in embarrassment. “Well, I may have matured a bit too.”

“Ryker, it’s good to have you back. How are you feeling? Does it feel good to be back?” Mikah asked, searching the man’s eyes.

“I wasn’t sure at first how it would feel coming back. But this is the closest place I have to a home. It feels good to be somewhere familiar. And even better seeing all of you again.” Ryker looked around, his brows furrowing. “Speaking of all of you, where is Raine?”

“She’s in Elysia. She should be coming back anytime.” Alexa watched him look between her and Brian.

“The word on the street is you two are taking each other as mates?” Ryker wiggled his brows. “I guess I missed a lot.”

Brian cleared his throat nervously and chuckled. “You have no idea how much you’ve missed.” He wanted to explain the situation to him, but not now. It would have to wait until they could come clean with their relationship. The more who knew, the more likely their secret would get out. For now, they were trying to keep it between the four dragon kingdoms and their close family.

“I’m happy for you two. Congratulations.” Ryker grinned widely at Brian.

The conversation quickly took off from there. Ryker told Brian about all the things he’d been doing. He explained how intense his training was and how hard they were on him at the academy. Ryker was a dragon of unknown origin and was commonly treated as a deserter or rogue. Being a powerful dragon didn’t seem to help one bit.

“Come on. Let’s go find my father. I want him to officially declare you as my captain.” Brian turned and looked at Alexa, who nodded her head for him to go ahead and go.

“I actually am feeling a bit run down. I think I really need that nap.” Alexa felt Mikah’s arm land on her shoulder. She glanced up at him to see him giving Brian some sort of male silent talk. Honestly, she was really tired. She thought the feeling would pass, but instead she felt more drained.

Brian walked up to Alexa and pulled her into his arms. He lowered his head down to her neck and inhaled her scent. It was important to keep up appearances. “I can come with you. Let me walk you back.”

“Don’t be silly, Brian. I have Mikah with me. I’m just going to go rest. I’m not going anywhere.” This was a bit strange for Alexa. Especially when her whole body screamed for Ken. But this was necessary. Dragons were possessive creatures and affectionate with their mates. They needed to put on a convincing show for everyone, since they had no way of knowing who worked for Erebus. There could very well be traitors among them.

“LEX!!”

Alexa smiled widely and turned toward the sound of her cousin. Raine was running toward her, her curly black hair bouncing around her as she ran up to them, excited.

“Raine! I’m so glad you’re back. We have a lot of girl chat we need to catch up on.” Alexa embraced her cousin tightly. She felt her cousin tense and jolt a bit in her arms. Alexa pulled back to see Raine looking at the ground in confusion. “Raine?”

Raine felt blanketed by a strange sensation, one that was pulling her and overwhelming her. She lifted her gaze up to Alexa and then looked around. What was this feeling? A smokey aroma invaded her senses, making her feel a deep sense of longing inside her. Then her eyes met his. And it was like the alarm finally sounded clearly. He was hers. He was her mate!

Alexa followed her cousin’s gaze, which was glued to Ryker’s. He was also staring at her possessively, almost greedily.

“MINE!” Ryker growled lowly and slowly walked up to Raine.

Alexa's mouth parted in shock. She then looked back at Brian, who looked to be equally surprised. Raine and Ryker were just standing there, inches apart from one another, neither one of them closing the gap between them.

“I understand if … you don’t. I don’t know anything about myself. And—” Ryker started but Raine raised her hand, placing her fingers on his lips. A smile spread over her face and his lips twitched upward slowly. No words needed to be spoken. The look in her eyes told him everything.

“Brian, I guess you have time to walk me to my room now.” Alexa bit her bottom lip and smiled. Raine and Ryker needed time alone now. They needed to talk and work on the next step for them, which was usually marking and several rounds of mating. So they were going to be busy for a bit. Unfortunately for Alexa, her meeting with her mate didn’t go that way.

As they walked away, Alexa noticed a peculiar smile on Mikah’s lips.

“What are you smiling about?” Brian asked, noticing it too.

“Oh, I was just thinking of how Brody is going to react when he finds out his baby girl has found her mate.” Mikah grinned and looked over at them.

“I think he should be thrilled. Especially because she has a mate that will keep her in the West Dragon Kingdom.” Alexa watched as Mikah shrugged slightly. “You forget that Mom and Aunt Chelsie are here to keep Brody in line.”

“Isn’t that the truth.” Brian chuckled.

Alexa glanced back once to see Raine and Ryker walking away together. She was happy for her cousin. She couldn’t wait until she could also have her fated mate by her side.

Hopefully, it would happen soon.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN