Page 60 of Taming the Kraken

Alexa looked up at Ken as her lips parted slightly. “Do you think we blame you? No one in my family blames you.”

“She’s right. Erebus isn’t your fault, Ken.” Levi gave Ken a slight smile, showing him he didn’t bear him any ill will. And he didn’t. Erebus had all but separated himself from the other deities. It was now a massive headhunt for him. Erebus would either be imprisoned by the council or he would be killed. It just depended on who caught him first.

Brian looked over at Bella and motioned for her to come to him. She walked cautiously past everyone until she reached his side. “Dad. Mom. This is Bella, my mate.” He smiled as he looked down at his mate’s gray eyes, which were focused on his parents.

“Nice to meet you. I don’t feel the mate pull yet. I just wanted to make sure you knew that.” Bella’s voice was timid as she glanced nervously at the king and queen.

Lila took Bella’s hand. “It’s okay, my dear. I met my mate so many times. We saw each other at least once a year. And it wasn’t until I was twenty that I recognized him as my mate. Just because you don’t feel the mate pull now doesn’t mean anything.”

“Really? You never felt the attraction to your mate?” Bella asked innocently, and Mikah snorted in laughter. She looked up to see the small wince on Brian’s face and her eyes widened in shock at the realization of what she’d just said.

“Oh gosh. I don’t mean that. I meant I don’t feel the pull. I don’t mean … It’s not that I’m not attracted to you. You’re very good looking—” Bella stopped as her face heated up. She quickly looked down at the floor and bit her bottom lip. She was completely embarrassed. A warm hand cupped her chin, and she looked up into hazel eyes. Under his loving stare, she felt herself blushing even more, if that was possible.

“It’s okay, Bella. I know what you meant. I haven’t told you yet, but I find you incredibly beautiful.” Brian smiled down at her innocent face. Her silver hair only made the crimson stains on her cheeks look darker. Before he even felt the mate pull, he’d found her attractive. But now with it, she was irresistible to him. And her innocence made his beast stir in overprotectiveness.

“Goodness, Brian!” Lila reached out and pulled Bella to her side. “You’re embarrassing her. Yes, sweetheart. I used to fight with Xander or ignore him. All that changed once my dragon claimed him as my mate.”

“How about we have a small dinner together, the four of us, so we can all get to know each other better?” Xander looked over at Lila, who nodded in agreement. Then he smirked. “Besides, it looks like the rest of the family has finally emerged, so they’ll need their own family bonding time.” Xander nodded toward Brody and Chelsie, who had just emerged from their bedroom. He chuckled and motioned for his family to follow him down the stairs. It was clear from Brody’s tussled hair that he was having a late snack.

“So … what did we miss?” Brody tried to walk in nonchalantly. His gaze landed on Ken and he raised his brow at him. “So … I see your mate has finally shown himself.”

“Uncle Brody … officially … this is my Ken.” Alexa smiled, biting her bottom lip. She felt Ken squeeze her lightly.

“Hmm. Ken, huh?” Brody studied the man and then looked over at Levi. “It’s kind of funny, isn’t it?”

“What’s funny?” Levi asked, knitting his brows.

“Well, Reiya has a water deity; I have a kelpie, and the Kraken is also associated with water.” Brody shrugged his shoulders. “Seems like more than a coincidence, don’t you think? All this water power in a dragon fire kingdom.”

Levi looked at Brody in shock and then glanced at Ken. Both men had their brows furrowed as they mulled over what Brody had said. Alexa had ice powers too.

“That seems like more than a coincidence,” Mikah snorted and walked over to plop on the couch. “Though it doesn’t make sense unless the whole world is going to burn or something …” He turned his head and studied Alexa. “Does it? Is that what you saw?”

“Saw what? Lex?” Reiya turned her gaze to her daughter. “Did you have a premonition?”

“Yeah …” Alexa whispered as the chilling images flashed through her mind. The man with the red eye now terrified her on a level she couldn’t understand. As his face flitted through her mind, she shuddered. Ken pulled her in tighter against him, holding her protectively.

“How far in the future have you seen?” Reiya asked as Alexa turned to look at her mother. “Far?” She hesitated for a moment. “Did the world look like it was in ruins?” Her daughter’s eyes widened as she slowly nodded her head. “So, you’ve seen him too?”

“You’ve also seen him? The man with the red eye?” Alexa watched her mother nod her head.

“We all have. I have, as well as Lucie and my mother and grandmother. There are different versions and variations from what we can tell. We don’t know yet if they’re different times or just different perspectives of the same time. But we’ve all seen this.” Reiya looked at her daughter’s troubled blue eyes.

“But for something like that to happen …” Alexa whispered.

“A war the gods cannot fight in. And if this vision comes to pass, Elysia will have been sealed.” Reiya watched as Alexa shook her head.

“But not everyone went behind the seal in Elysia. I saw sword wielders like Raine. And I saw a lycan. Did we all just leave them to their fate? Because I would never—” Alexa started but her mother quickly interrupted her.

“You would. Because staying here would cause you pain. It would cause me pain. Our mates wouldn’t be able to stand by seeing us hurting like that. In order to protect them, we would enter Elysia.” Reiya smiled at her daughter. “We don’t know anything about this future other than our visions. But this future isn’t going to be our fight.”

Alexa leaned into Ken and turned her head into his chest. She felt his hand soothing her back as she inhaled his scent. Her mother was right. As much as she would want to stay and fight, she would need to protect Ken. If it was a problem for him to get involved, she would have to remove him from the situation. And his next words proved that this was exactly what she had to do.

“Lex, don’t think about it,” Ken cooed to her. “I’ll do whatever you want me to. You know I don’t give a damn about the deity council.”

“No,” Alexa whispered into his chest. “I won’t risk losing you. You already made me wait so long for you. I’m not going without you now.” She tilted her head up and gave him a soft smile, followed by a yawn.

“You’re tired. You haven’t slept since you left.” Ken reached down and brushed his thumb over her cheek. He then looked back up at her family. “Family pow wow will have to wait. Alexa needs to rest.”