Chapter 19

Nineteen

Beckett

It was the look on Kaida’s face that alerted Beckett to knowing he’d said the right thing. The look was one of shock at first, but then it morphed into satisfaction. Beckett knew Kaida had followed the line of thought he’d wanted her to when he mentioned a deal. The opportunity of getting revenge on the twat that rejected her. It is always something that Beckett heard those who ended up here say they wanted. Males and females alike, it didn’t matter. When someone is dropped off here, it changes them. He had watched many become something different while they spent time here, something darker, stronger, fiercer.

And that is exactly what I want her to be. What Dragaal needs for her to become. The fiercest Queen that has ever ruled.

Beckett and his brothers had talked about building up the Elemental Dragons as an army and taking the thrones for themselves since they were young. Once they were told the history of how the Storm Dragons forced their ancestors here and called them inferior, it became a personal project between the four of them. It was their destiny to rule. They rose through the ranks quickly as their parents watched with pride. Here in the Outcast Lands, titles and positions didn’t get handed down to the children of those who held them. It was earned. They fought tooth and nail to get where they were, and they’ve kept their place for five years now.

But they craved more.

Kaida could be the key to getting them where they wanted to be. She knew Dragaal better than they did. She could give us insight on how to navigate the lands to coordinate a surprise attack.No one would see it coming.

It was easy to see what he needed to do. He grabbed Kaida’s hand, ignoring with all his might how the heat from her palm touching his made it feel like steam was rolling off them. Beckett glanced down to see if it was true, giving some idea on what kind of dragon she could be. There was nothing he could see that gave him any kind of indication. It made him want to growl at the mystery.

I can feel it inside of her. Why won’t her dragon show herself? Beckett asked himself as he gently pulled her in the direction of their house. Doesn’t matter. We will make her show herself.

“Come with me. We need to bring this up to them before we can get started.”

He felt Kaida trembling through her hand. A small part of him loved the fact that the thought of being in the presence of all four of them struck even a small amount of fear into her. It told Beckett that Kaida already recognized the power he and his brothers possessed. Everyone on the island knew who ruled this place and what they would do if they were crossed. It was a good thing she already knew who she was dealing with and the caliber of people they were.

Then the other part of him started to talk. It was louder than the thoughts he had before. The dragon inside of him stirred. With Beckett being a Tidal dragon, he could manage to stay calm until someone truly upset him. His dragon was infuriated that Kaida was afraid of him. The last thing he wanted was for Kaida to tremble in fear at the thought of being around him. Beckett tried to calm the dragon down without alerting Kaida that he was having an internal battle.

Calm your ass down. As soon as her own dragon emerges, she will no longer fear anything. She will have more power than she knows what to do with and not be afraid of a damn thing.

Do not revel in the fact that our mate is afraid of us. That is not how we will treat her.

Again, things will be different soon enough.

I will make our lives very difficult if you find her afraid of us to be a good thing.

Beckett already knew there was no point in going further with this conversation. When his dragon laid out demands, Beckett’s chances to sway it to go his way were little to nothing.

“Where are we going?” Kaida’s usual strong and steady voice was shaky.

Beckett’s dragon growled inside of his head as a warning. “We are going to our house.”

“Your house?” Kaida squeaked. “They are already pissed that I am on this island. I think going to their domain will push more buttons, Beckett.”

He loved the way his name sounded as it rolled off her tongue. The thought of her screaming it while he rammed his cock inside of her made him hard.

“No harm will come to you. I’ll see to it.”

Kaida ripped her hand out of his, causing him to growl at her rejection to keep touching him.  Her eyes flashed purple for just a second before he felt a wave of power rolling off her.

Is this her dragon? What dragon is purple?

“The problem isn’t having a bodyguard or not. The problem is making those three hate me even more than they already do. If you four are the damn kings of the island, I’d rather not be on your radar. I already have the king, queen, and prince of Dragaal hating me. I don’t need that here!”

There it is again, Beckett thought as her eyes glowed purple and power rolled off her. I was right. There is a powerful dragon inside of her. I need to bring it out.

“It’s not going to matter if they despise you or want to fuck you after I talk to them.”

Kaida narrowed her eyes at him as she scowled at him, and Beckett thought it was adorable. Until Kaida’s dragon emerged, she wasn’t a threat to anyone on the island. He could feel her wanting to do something to intimidate him through their bond, but there was nothing she could do. Yet.

“I will be talking to them regardless of whether or not you come with me. What I have in mind will change their perspective of you. So, either stay here and bitch into the void of how my brothers hate you, or come with me. I don’t care. You are on our island, and it’s not as if I won’t be able to easily find you.” Beck tapped on his chest to show her that he could use their mate bond to find her.

Kaida rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. His dragon let out a rumble. Beckett noticed Kaida’s lips twitch into a smile for a brief second before returning to a scowl. It brought him a moment of joy knowing that hearing his dragon’s approval could bring a smile to her face. Nothing made a dragon happier than seeing the female he treasured happy.

Beckett returned to his mission. The path he was taking Kaida on was one he grew up creating. He and his brothers would play in these woods for hours. After a few years of walking or running the same area, it was practically carved out as a path. When Arlo came into his Terrain magick, he formally made the path easier to walk on by making it clear of any roots or stones that protruded from the earth. The path itself was still a hard one to travel if the person wasn’t familiar with it. It broke off into smaller ones that looked similar to the main one to throw people off on where to go. They were even able to use their magic to create a few ways to stump people like traps. Once, a rival dragon tried to sneak up on the house to get a surprise attack, and it didn’t end well for them. The guy got lost from not knowing what the main trail was in comparison to the false trails. Their rival ended up taking a path that had one of the traps in it and fell into a hole.

He heard Kaida make a “huh” sound or a groan every now and again as she looked around. Beckett glanced at her a few times to understand why she was making those sounds. The look on her face gave it away. She was observing everything as they passed it to try to learn the path. Beckett knew it would take Kaida a few times before she would remember exactly how to travel through the path, so he wasn’t worried about it. Even if she was the ticket to their success at getting the four of them on the throne, his brothers would not be happy if she learned this quickly. It was theirs, something they took the time, energy, and magick to keep their home safe from those who traveled on foot. It was sacred to them.

When they arrived at the house, Beckett pointed at a bench that was outside the door under the porch. Kaida let out a huff as she plopped down on the wood of the bench. Beckett hid the smile he had on his face so she didn’t see how amused he made her. Until she was fully ready to accept the bond between them, he didn’t want her to know that she already had him in the palm of her hand. It didn’t matter to him that they had spent very little time together. He could feel it. She was everything he needed.

As he walked into the house, he heard a commotion from the kitchen. Arlo and himself were usually the cooks, given that they were more patient than Esen and Blaze. However, judging from the number of things dropping and metal clanging, Beckett assumed Blaze was in there and failing every step of the way. Beckett rolled his eyes knowing that he would have to clean everything up because Blaze would be too pissed off that nothing went his way because he didn’t know how to actually cook. No matter how many times he tried and how many times Arlo and he taught him how, Blaze managed to burn, under season, make things too dry, or overcook everything he touched. Beckett made his way in there, and his assumptions were correct.

The kitchen was a disaster.

Splashes of red sauce covered the walls, the sink was piled high with every dish in the room, noodles and boiled-over water covered the stove and counters. There were even remnants of whatever he was cooking all over the floor and Blaze as he stood over a plate on the counter. Beckett stared at his friend for a good solid minute as he noticed pieces of noodles in his hair. He didn’t understand how this level of a mess was created.

“The fuck did you do, man?” Beckett asked as he scanned the kitchen once more to try to comprehend what had happened in there.

“What’s it look like I did? I cooked for myself.”

As he opened his mouth to respond, Beckett felt something drop on his shoulder. He slowly leaned his head back and examined the ceiling. It was painted red from the sauce with very few spots of white visible. Another drop dripped onto his forehead, nearly into his eye. Beckett slowly lowered his head back down and narrowed his eyes at Blaze. When Blaze returned Beckett’s glare with a smirk, Beckett damn near blasted him with water.

“H-how? How did you make this big of a damn mess?”

Blaze took a look around and shoved another fork full into his mouth. “I’m not even sure. I just know that the blender needs that cover thing on it before you hit the power button.”

Beckett shook his head as he waved hands over in the direction of the floors, walls, and ceiling. With his Tidal magick, Beckett was able to clean everything off. He made sure to leave the stove, counters, and sink untouched. Blaze took another look around before he growled.

“What the fuck, bro? Couldn’t clean everything?”

“Nope. You can clean that shit up. You made the mess, you clean it. Where are Esen and Arlo?”

Blaze snarled before answering, “Upstairs.”

After a few shouts, Esen and Arlo begrudgingly stomped down the stairs. Arlo took a look at the mess that remained, chuckled, and then sat down on a stool on the other side of the counter from Blaze. Esen sat down next to Arlo, not saying a word.

“Seriously? Did you have to dirty every damn pot and pan in the house for this?”

“I kept messing it up.”

“Next time, just wake my ass up, and I’ll cook for you.”

“Guys. I found an answer to the question we’ve been asking ourselves for years.” Beckett said to them.

All three of them looked at him. He knew it would get their attention. Hell, he knew what he had to offer was not something they would ever just pass up. Kaida was the hidden key that they never expected. And Beckett would be damned to let it slip through all of their fingers.