34. Enzo

Enzo kept his head buried in Kaida’s neck for as long as he could. Breathing in her scent again was more relieving than feeling the bond open back up. Since he had left her on that beach, this was all he’d thought about: how she felt in his arms and the feeling of being complete at last.

Enzo opened his eyes and looked at the other three. He was surprised to see them relaxed and talking to each other while he had Kaida wrapped tightly against him. Knowing that they all accepted having to share Kaida, even with him, would make this easier than he expected. Though, seeing Beckett touching Kaida earlier had his dragon outraged.

It does not matter now. She is ours. If we have to share, I will learn how to share. Anything is better than not having her, his dragon told him.

I agree.

But Enzo had not explained himself fully yet. He was keeping something from them all. Enzo knew he needed to have the bond between him and Kaida fixed before revealing this information. Everything had clouded his memory until now. He didn’t want to talk about this with anyone other than Kaida.

That isn’t an option anymore.

But they need to know. They have to hear why the rejection happened and why we are here.

Enzo sighed and gently pushed Kaida from his embrace. He knew that his face shared his solemn mood. This information could change a lot of things. These three princes wanted Kaida to reject him so that she could remain safe.

A risk I needed to take.

"I know I mentioned that there was a reason why I rejected Kaida, and I think now is the time to explain it."

The three princes all narrowed their eyes at him while Kaida’s widened. Enzo was no fool, and he paid attention to all his surroundings at any given time. He noticed when their dragons came to the surface. He knew that this meant, if they didn’t like this, it could cause a brawl.

"What? What is it?" Kaida asked as she plopped herself back down on the couch.

Beckett put his arm around her shoulders, and for once, his dragon did not protest. Enzo was relieved that his dragon had accepted that he had to share Kaida quickly, so no more issues would arise.

"I was not in control of myself when I rejected you. I had always heard that my father had an ability that had allowed him to hold his reign over Dragaal. I am not stupid. I pay attention to everything anyone has to say. I’ve taken much time away from the castle and talked to my people. This suggestion always seemed far-fetched, but apparently, it holds some truth."

Enzo paused for a moment to allow anyone to say what they wanted. He was surprised to be met with silence. Kaida motioned for him to continue as she leaned in to listen.

"There was a rumor that my father had the ability to control other dragons. I’m sure you know that we fight for dominance more through power and magic than other species. Hearing that there is an ability where one could control the other seemed blasphemous. I did not believe it—until I came back from leaving Kaida here. That’s when I realized that there could be truth to that rumor."

Kaida gasped and put her hands over her mouth. The others still did not speak a word. Enzo took their continued silence as a sign for him to continue explaining.

"I never intended to reject Kaida. I didn’t give a damn if she had a dragon or not. I’ve heard of late-bloomers. There was always a chance for her to gain her dragon if it had not emerged yet. I had a feeling that was what she was hiding from me during our courtship, which is why I said nothing. But during the party, I lost time; it was like I’d blacked out. I heard her being dragonless but I remembered nothing from that moment until I returned home. Now. I have a good memory. I have never lost time before and gotten enraged enough to shift. There are many dragons that, when they lose control, cannot recount their actions while being in their dragon form. I have never experienced that because my dragon and I are one. So, when I noticed I lost time, I knew something was wrong. I had asked my mother and father a hundred times, and they led me to believe that, for the first time, I did lose time because I shifted out of rage."

"You believed them?" Beckett asked.

"Not really. I let them believe that I trusted their words. However, I started watching my father more closely after that. I went about my days as normal. I acted as though I was courting those girls, but they were too insufferable. Eventually, I caught my father in a lie. He told me, after I stated that I would not court any of them further, that I agreed to choose one of them after I returned from leaving Kaida here. I know that was a lie because that is where my memory returned. I had control of myself then. I shifted back to my human form and stormed into my room. I could recall rejecting Kaida, but none of the memories felt right to me. My father came into my room and said that I rejected her and then gave me time to heal. So, when he said that I also said I would choose one of those girls as my bride, I knew my memory was not lining up with his statement, especially after I told him, I did not want to reject Kaida. He said once I found out the news, I was outraged with her lies that she had a dragon. My father wouldn’t know that. I never told him anything that we discussed during our courting."

"He altered your memory?" Kaida asked.

"No. He lied to me, and I, then, put two and two together. I did not want to reject you. If I did not want to do that, regardless of you keeping something from me, no one could tell me to do so. I am my own person. He used his power over me."

Kaida looked as though she was thinking hard about something. The others shook their heads and looked like they were trying to form words.

"Wait a minute. His eyes flashed green before you rejected me. I remember that. Is that what that was? He was controlling you when his eyes flashed green?"

Enzo widened his eyes at her. "You saw that?"

"Yeah! It frightened me. It was not a usual green, either. It looked brighter than that. I had a feeling that it wasn’t his dragon that caused that either, but then you grabbed me in your dragon form, and I forgot all about it."

"So, it is a real thing, then? Your father can control other dragons?" Beckett’s voice held concern.

Enzo knew that Beckett had a reason to be concerned. This was not a good thing his father could do. Even if Enzo took over the throne, his father could control him to do things that Enzo was not okay with. If anything, that meant Enzo could be a puppet for his father even though he no longer reigned over Dragaal.

"This makes so much sense! It was so weird to have you telling me for days that you accepted me as I am and then for you to change your mind at the party. I was so damn confused, but it wasn’t you."

"No, it wasn’t me."

"Damn. Here I was, thinking that I was able to swoop in and steal this girl’s heart because you were a dick. Now I find out that it wasn’t even you who broke her heart," Beckett joked.

Esen chuckled. "Blows the wind out of your sail when you find out that someone you want to hate isn’t actually an asshole."

"Thanks guys," Enzo deadpanned.

He answered with smiles from all three of them, and Enzo shook his head. He wanted to say that this wasn’t the time for jokes, but feeling like part of the group felt good.

"Unfortunately, that’s not all."

The four of them stared. This part was more difficult to discuss since it involved them and this island. This was where things could go sideways. Enzo had to trust that they would appreciate being warned and not want to kill the messenger.

"Go on," Kaida urged.

"I pushed for me to be able to bring you home for a reason. I overheard my father as he was conducting a council meeting. He has plans that I do not agree with, but since he is king, I have no way to overthrow the decision."

"This doesn’t sound good," Beckett interjected.

"I feel like we will need something to keep us calm with that kind of news," Arlo added.

"Doesn’t Adrien have elixirs or something in the house,"

"Yes!" Adrien bellowed from behind the window.

Kaida giggled and waved for everyone to follow her. Enzo was not sure about involving the others in the conversation. However, with each of them having the power they held, it might be good to have them on their side. So, Enzo walked behind the others and accepted that this was probably for the better.

Once inside, Enzo noticed that the four girls were inside the room that was behind the window. He rolled his eyes but wasn’t exactly surprised. How the guys talked about these girls gave him enough information to know this is exactly what they would do to keep their friend safe. They could break that window or make it disappear to defend her if something went wrong.

Adrien was in a cabinet that had all sorts of bottles inside. Azulia was next to her, holding up bottles and then shaking her head. The Lycan named Remy seemed to be watching Enzo’s every move. Sundrei, the Vampyre, was doing the same, but at least she would look away and make it seem like she was reading when Enzo looked at her.

Enzo was thankful that the guys also gave him the rundown of each of Kaida’s friends. They were not wrong about them. They all showed up the moment he stepped onto the porch. They even listened in on the conversation. If they weren’t friends, the kind that would most likely attack him if he wronged her, he didn’t know who was.

Kaida led them to a large table and sat at the head of it. Beckett sat to her right, and Arlo sat to her left. Esen sat next to Arlo, and they all looked at Enzo, who noticed that the girls started filtering in but stuck toward the walls. Enzo was on the opposite side of Kaida but chose to stand. Remy and Adrien were more toward Kaida’s end while Sundrei made her way to sit next to Beckett. Azulia then sat in the chair that Enzo was standing behind. Adrien started handing out cups of a liquid that smelled of lavender. Enzo picked it up and smelled the bitterness of the tea leaves and the sweetness of honey to accompany the lavender. He took a sip and felt himself relaxing a little.

"Go on, Enzo. I think it’s time we knew everything," Beckett urged with Kaida nodding.

"I overheard my father’s plans to gather his army together and lead them here to destroy this place. This was after we caught wind of Kaida being a Plasma dragon. There was a rumor that she was bonded to you, Beckett, as well, and that sent my father on a downward spiral, it seems. He thinks that, because Kaida is a Plasma, she would want the throne."

"That’s ridiculous. Kaida doesn’t want the throne. She was just trying to settle herself here," Adrien interjected.

"Yeah, she could have started planning that after her dragon emerged, but she has been just trying to figure things out here," Azulia added.

"Not to mention finding out that I had multiple mates. I was too busy to plot to take the throne.

Beckett, Arlo, and Esen frowned. Enzo lifted his eyebrows at them, giving them a look that told them to speak their mind.

Beckett was the first to answer, "Well, I’m not gonna lie. We wanted Kaida’s dragon to emerge and were helping her so she could give us intel on how to get into the kingdom."

"Yeah, someone could have overheard that, and that’s how your father caught wind of it," Arlo finished.

"Wonderful. I hoped this was all just rumors, and I could go back to tell my father that Kaida would only take the throne when I did."

Esen shrugged. "Still could. Throw him off our trail."

Enzo growled. "That is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. You think that you could take on the entire Dragaal army?"

"No. That’s why we wanted to get Kaida to give us the ins and outs of the kingdom," Beckett answered.

"Why did you even want to overthrow the throne? What could that possibly do other than put our people more to each other’s throats?"

"We were tired of being the outcasts. Whether your father believes so or not, we have our place in the kingdom. We were not meant to be cut off from everything," Arlo argued.

"If it weren’t for Azulia and Adrien, this island would not be as good of a place as it is," Esen backed him up."

"That’s why I begged him to allow me to bring Kaida home. I stated that I would not allow my fated mate to lose her life while he did this. He thought that, if I regained my bond with her, he would have her on his side of things. I wanted her home so I could save her from downfall. I didn’t think she would have built what she has here already."

"Now what?" Kaida asked.

Enzo wasn’t sure how to answer that. There was more to consider than he thought now that he also had to worry about the others. If Kaida did not want to return, Enzo could not tell his father that things would work out how he wanted.

Shit.