Page 33 of Taming the Kraken

“It’s unheard of,” Levi said, his lips pursed tight and his forehead creased with worry.

“Why would this be? You don’t practice pairing up mates,” Alexa said as she walked into the room, followed by Brian and Mikah.

Levi looked up at his daughter and shook his head. “I don’t pair dragons together.”

“But you were paired, and Ken was paired.” Xander watched Lee nod his head.

“Selene can use the wolves to manipulate the mate senses. But with Ken, it was a soulmate bond. She didn’t do that on her own.” Reiya pressed herself into Lee’s side and he wrapped his arm around her.

“She must be using all the resources she can to pull off something like this. Of course, with Endymion back, she has a lot of means to do what she thinks is needed.” Lee held on to Reiya tightly. What future did Selene see? She was creating powerful soldiers once again for something, but what?

“Lucie mentioned seeing a premonition of a strange future, where the world looked to be in ruins. Is this maybe what she’s trying to prevent?” Alexa asked, and her mother’s eyes twitched slightly.

“The future is always changing. But there are some futures that can’t be avoided, only adjusted. This must be some adjustment. Just like her pairing you with Ken while I was pregnant in order to guide me from the black hole. We can only guess what Selene’s reasons are. Her power of seeing the future is far greater than ours.” Reiya spoke in a calm voice and smiled up at Lee. “These pairings are not a bad thing. We shouldn’t act like they are. Let’s embrace this as a strong moment for dragons. It looks like you’ll be busy with a lot of mate blessings.”

“You know they’ll be expecting Brian to mark his mate too.” Dex glanced over at Levi and Xander. The four kings had discussed Brian and his aura before. And Lila, being his sister, kept him informed on everything that was going on. Including the fake chosen mate setup with Brian and Alexa.

“They will, but there are ways around that for now. And hopefully, before the dragon party is over, Ken will be able to be here to claim Alexa. What Brian is doing now is just like a level of protection. Just like what Xander did for Reiya and me before.” Levi looked up at Xander and smiled at him.

“Tonight kicks off the first official day of the party. We’ll make an announcement of all the new mates and prepare for the acceptance kiss for each mated pair. And we can say that since this is Brian’s home, he will be the last acceptance kiss performed.” The Great Sage nodded his head as he wobbled through the room. “Now back to my studies. I need to learn how to suppress a powerful aura.” He winked at Brian as he passed him and walked out of the room.

Alexa listened as everyone chatted amongst themselves. They were all great friends and family. Her mother looked so happy to see everyone again. But there was a look in her mother’s eye. What vision had she seen? What future would ultimately come to pass?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Brian had his arm wrapped around Alexa's waist as they walked outside and toward the large white tents that were put up for the dinner parties. It was customary for the dragons to come together for dinner in the evenings. This was when the acceptance kisses usually took place—under the very public eye of all the dragons from around the kingdom. Mikah suddenly reached out and gripped Alexa's arm tightly, causing Brian to also stop abruptly.

Mikah stood frozen as he stared off into the distance. His eyes flickered toward the dark woods.

“Mikah, what is it?” Brian asked as he searched for the hidden danger.

“Something’s out there. Can’t you sense it? Can you not smell the blood in the air?” Mikah didn’t take his eyes off of the tree line.

Alexa furrowed her brows as she tried to concentrate. Unfortunately, her dragon and wolf were still recovering, so her senses weren’t as sharp as they usually were. But why couldn’t Brian sense anything? No one else around seemed to notice it either.

“I don’t sense anything.” Brian glanced down at Alexa and squeezed her waist tighter. “Maybe I should take you inside.”

“Yes.”

“No!”

Alexa turned and stared at Mikah. She pulled herself away from Brian and Mikah’s grip. “Let’s go see what it is. All three of us.”

“That isn’t a good idea.” Mikah shook his head, completely against it.

“Well, if you’re afraid to go, I’ll check it out on my own.” Alexa grinned, biting her bottom lip. She received two unamused glances from the men in front of her, both shaking their heads. “Well, what exactly can you two do about it? It isn’t like you can stop me. Unless you want to run and get my daddy.”

“Alexa, quit acting like a child and stay here!” Mikah growled angrily.

Alexa let out a dry laugh and nodded her head as she clicked her tongue. “I see. I’m acting like a child.” An idea popped into her head as she met their gazes with confidence. “Well, I wasn’t acting like a child, but if I’m going to get accused of it …” She shrugged slightly as her lips twitched upward.

Alexa suddenly shot out a blast of ice toward Brian and Mikah, creating a thick, solid barrier around them, momentarily holding them in place. Then she sprinted, using her ice to ski away. She heard ice sizzling behind her, but she didn’t dare stop. A thudding sound let her know that Mikah had shifted. A dark shadow soared above her as Brian’s dragon took to the skies. She smirked and rolled her eyes. Even without shifting, she could still evade them for a short time, and that was all she needed.

She created a blinding thick mist, using it as cover as she finally reached the woods. She heard Brian’s dragon crash into the trees. He would now continue to follow her on foot. The sounds of Mikah’s bear were getting closer, though. He was the hardest to escape because he was naturally drawn to her.

The wind swirled around her, bringing the scent of iron with it. There was also the smell of rotting flesh burning. Grunting and the sounds of fighting pricked at her ears as she ran deeper into the woods. What was going on?

Alexa abruptly stopped. Brian and Mikah were at her side instantly, staring at the sight in front of them. There were dozens of voidless lying dead on the ground. A young woman with dark brown hair, caramel skin, and hazel eyes shot a red streak from her hand, killing three more voidless instantly. The young woman looked up in shock, seeing the three people standing there.