Chapter 16

Sixteen

Afew people gasped as we teleported near them in front of the restaurant, but thankfully, we hadn't teleported on top of someone. I had done that once and it had hurt to hit the ground right after.

"Ew," Lily whispered.

We all chuckled, understanding that gross feeling when someone else teleported you.

Triston pulled open the door for us, bowing and waving us in with a smile.

Caleb walked in first, whispering to Lily too quiet for me to hear.

I followed behind. In the back of the restaurant, off to the side, was a room where you could hold private parties and that was where Caleb headed.

Inside, I smiled as we were greeted with not only Caleb's parents, but Leona and her mates, as well as Dan and Ezio.

"Hello," I greeted.

Leona stood and hugged me. "Hello, sirenling. How are you?"

"I'm good," I said with a smile and walked to hug Jolie.

Jolie hugged me tight and said, "If it's okay with you, I'll come over tomorrow to help with Lily?"

I nodded. "I would appreciate it."

Dan gasped when he saw Lily. "Aren't you the cutest little cub ever?"

She tucked her head down against Caleb's shoulder and used her hair as a curtain to look at Dan through.

"That's my grandfather," Caleb whispered to her. "He's the wolf alpha. A very, very, very old wolf."

Dan frowned. "That's two too many very's, Grandson."

Lily looked over Caleb's shoulder at me and reached out. "Em."

Caleb frowned, but handed her over to me.

I put her on my hip, a leg on each side. "Let's go sit down," I said. "Do you want to sit next to me or in my lap?"

"Lap," she whispered, tucking her head down when Ezio looked at her.

Fox and Silverowl were zeroed in on her more so than the others.

"Yes," I said to them. "She's part elf."

"Do you know her form?" Silverowl asked.

"No," Caleb said at the same time I said, "Yes."

Caleb and everyone looked at me.

Sitting down, I positioned her in my lap, took the tablet from Branson, and set it on the table so she could watch her show.

"She's a snake," I informed them. Lily looked up at me. "A beautiful, white python with red eyes."

When I looked back at everyone, their eyes were incredibly wide.

"She's a rew, like you," Silverowl whispered. He looked at Fox. "That can't be random."

Fox shook his head. "No, it's definitely not."

"Water?" Lily whispered.

I started to reach for a water glass, but Jolie pulled a small, plastic child's cup from her purse, one with an animated character I didn't know, and set it on the table.

Lily took it and greedily sucked on the straw.

"Thanks," I said.

Jolie winked. "I kept a few things from Caleb's childhood in the hopes of having grandchildren in the future."

Silverowl and Fox whispered to each other, obviously discussing Lily.

"So, what called for this occasion?" I asked. "I was kept in the dark about this dinner until we arrived."

"First, we're going to eat and enjoy each other's company," Nico said. "After that, we can discuss the matters that brought us together."

Sighing, I pet Lily's head. "Fine. Be cryptic like always."

She giggled at something from the show, and I adored the cute sound.

"Are you hungry?" I asked Lily.

She nodded. "Nuggets?"

I glanced at Jolie, confused.

"I'm sure we can ask for some chicken nuggets," she said with a smile.

Lily looked at her and canted her head. "You … different?"

Leona snickered and Jolie gave her a glare.

"Yes, a little," Jolie admitted, smiling softly at Lily. "I'm your alpha's mom. Your grandmother."

Lily thought about it a moment, her eyes widened, and she asked, "You give presents?"

Caleb coughed as he drank his water.

Jolie smiled, the obvious joy showing. "Yes, I will give you lots and lots and lots of presents."

Lily looked up at me. "I like her."

I smiled. "Yes, I like her, too."

Lily returned to her show.

I had thought the men who were my mates would be the last to steal my heart, but I had not anticipated this little girl. She had stolen it again. I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed.

She giggled and patted my arm. "No constricting! Not too hard."

Right, she was a snake that used constriction for its prey.

Loosening my grip, I said, "Right. No tight constriction. Only light, friendly constricting."

"Do you know what you want?" Triston asked me.

I shook my head. "Order for me?"

He nodded. "Of course, my queen."

Pulling out my phone, I searched the nearby area to see if there were any children's stores we could stop at after dinner. There was one about a block and a half away and it didn't close for three hours, so we should be able to make it.

I also started searching for the most popular kids' shows to read the descriptions.

"Your food, Your Majesty," a voice said, startling me since I had been engrossed in my research.

"Thank you," I said and put my phone down.

Caleb took a drink of his wine to try to hide his smile.

"Nuggets!" Lily gasped and waved her tablet at Branson. "Take."

Branson took her tablet, hit the button to lock it, and set it on the floor against his chair's leg.

She grabbed a nugget, bit it in half, and danced a little on my lap. It was incredibly adorable.

"Is it good?" I asked.

She nodded vigorously. "Yummy!"

"I'll add nuggets to our grocery order," Branson said and pulled out his phone.

I ate my food, a gnocchi dish that was divine.

When everyone had finished their dinners, ice cream was brought out for Lily and all eyes turned to me.

"The reason we gathered you here was to discuss something very important," Dan said.

"Oh?" I asked.

"We're going on a trip and we'd like you to come with us," Jolie said.

"A trip where?"

"The Summit," Nico answered.

"Um, isn't that the one where they tried to auction off Jolie?" I asked.

Leona laughed and Jolie scowled.

"They made her the prize for the tournament, yes," Dan said with a frown, but then smiled. "It didn't work out like Amos anticipated, though."

"Will it be okay to have all of us go? Won't that leave our new territory and clan unguarded and open to attacks?" The thought of leaving our new clan alone for a week terrified me.

Dan nodded. "That's part of why we're all gathered. Since we're all going and your clan will be the least protected, I wanted to offer you guards."

"The dragons and elves will offer guards as well," Rhys said, and Fox and Silverowl nodded their agreement.

Frowning, I looked at Caleb. "What do you think?"

"I think it's the perfect opportunity for you to see more of the world and for you to learn more about your role as queen," he answered.

Lily looked up at me with a frown. "You leave?"

"You're going with us," Caleb said immediately.

Her eyes brightened and she looked at him across the table. "We go trip!"

He nodded. "Yes."

"Who would be going?" I asked, looking at Dan and Jolie.

"Everyone here," Jolie answered. "Plus, the other kings and queens."

"Random question," I said. "Why do you all live in the same area when you could live in the different countries across the ocean?"

"It allows for us to have meetings together to come to agreements faster and to meet with the elders who are also located here. Hundreds of years ago, we used to be divided, a country per race, but that caused a lot of tension and there were lots of battles. We wanted to ensure our people could mingle and not be so closed-minded towards the others," Dan explained.

"Then why are hybrids so hated?" I asked. "If you wanted them to mingle, why are so many against the idea?"

"Long-held hatred is hard to get rid of," Rhys said. "We thought hybrids were a myth until the ones came to steal Caleb. We thought it was just physically impossible for dragons and elves to mate, like cats and dogs cannot crossbreed."

That did make sense, but was still so odd to me.

"How long would we be gone?"

"Two weeks," Rhys answered. "We will travel by train there and back and be there for one week."

"We will stay at the location to make it easier to attend the meetings and events," Jolie said. "We will have rooms next to each other as well."

"I don't like being gone for so long," I said, "but if that's what is expected and what you want, then I won't decline."

Caleb smiled. "It will be good for us to show up at the Summit, to make an appearance, and show our united front and lack of fear."

Lack of fear? That was a lie. I was terrified.

Nodding, I agreed to going, even though I did not agree with not being afraid.

"Great! We leave tomorrow!" Dan announced.

"What!" I screeched.