Chapter 9

Nine

Aweek after our anniversary, our bond and emotions had settled enough to finally allow us to go out around others.

Our first stop was of course Caleb's parents' house. They fawned over us, inspecting everyone's bloodstones.

"Oh! I love what you did with yours," Jolie complimented me. "It's super cute."

"A diamond in the rough," Nico said with a wink.

Caleb rolled his eyes. "Don't flirt with my mate, Dad."

Pulling Jolie aside, I asked, "Did you get the crown?"

"Both!" she shouted.

Everyone looked towards us and she put her hands over her mouth and we huddled our heads together again.

"Yes, I got his and yours."

I sighed. "I don't want one."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Darling, daughter-in-law, you are going to be queen whether you accept it or not. So, better to be decked out than to not be. You will crown Caleb, a picture will be taken of you crowning him, and then he will crown you, and then we will take a picture of you and all of the current hybrids in your pack. Those pictures will be posted with the article about Caleb assuming the mantle of King of the Hybrids and list you as his queen. It will serve a dual purpose of announcing his title and your place as his mate. That way all those thirsty bitches will back off."

Laughing as I shook my head, I said, "Once again, you surprise me by the things coming out of your mouth."

"Are you all still keeping it a secret from him?" she asked, eyeing Caleb who was trying to stealthily move closer to us.

I nodded. "Everyone is in on it, so it's only him not in the know." And he hated it. He knew there was something we were hiding and he wanted to know so bad. I took a drink from the water Jolie had given me and winked at Caleb, which made him frown.

"How are you feeling?" Jolie asked. "Any pregnancy signs?"

I spit out the water all over Jolie as I coughed and gasped, "What?"

She wiped her face. "Well, that's the first time in a while that I've been spit on."

"I'm so sorry," I rasped and wiped at my face.

Laughing, she shook her head. "It's fine."

"Why … why did you ask about that?"

"When you are mated, it makes you more fertile," she explained.

My mouth dropped. "No one told me that!"

She frowned. "Oh, well, yes."

"Is-Is there contraception that works?" It wasn't that I never wanted to have kids, I just didn't want to have kids right now. Not with the H.E. trying to murder us!

"Let me call Kara," she said, pulled out her phone, and headed to a different room.

Caleb walked over, frowning. "What's wrong? Why are you panicking?"

My chest was pounding and my breaths were becoming larger and faster. "I, um, uh, fertile."

Riddick rushed over, grabbed me, pulled me into his lap on the couch, and started to purr. Immediately, my anxiety reduced. Resting my head on his shoulder, I pressed my nose against his nose and drew in big breaths of his scent to further relax.

"Mom, what did you say to her?" Caleb asked, growling softly.

"Do not growl at your mother," Deryn snapped.

"I'm fine," I called out to Caleb.

Riddick gripped me tighter. "What was it, Ember? What set you off?"

"I'm just not ready for that step yet," I whispered. "Maybe once the H.E. is gone, but not … not now. It would be so selfish, so irresponsible. I can't do that to a poor, innocent child."

"You're not making any sense," Riddick whispered.

Jolie sat next to us, and said, "Okay, I talked to Kara and she has something for you. Do you want to go get it now?"

I nodded and pushed out of Riddick's arms, ignoring his growl. "Yes, please. Now."

"Need a teleport?" Nico asked.

"I haven't been to the elven lands or Kara's house yet, so yes, please," I requested with a nod.

"You haven't been to the elven lands?" Fox asked from down the hall, walking over to me.

I shook my head.

"Well, let's remedy that!" he exclaimed and set his hand on Nico's shoulder. "Trip for four, please."

Nico rolled his eyes.

"Five," Caleb snarled and stomped over.

"Oh, look at the time," Nico said, and teleported us.

I blinked as I inspected the cute house before us.

Kara walked out and frowned. "I don't remember inviting you, Fox."

Fox pouted. "Mom, you're so mean. Don't you miss your favorite son?"

"We all know I'm the favorite," Silverowl said as he and Leona walked out of the house. He smiled at me. "Congratulations, Rubyhare."

I dipped my head. "Thank you, Silverowl."

"Oh, she's already got the head dip instead of bowing down," Leona praised. "That's my little queen."

Sighing, I walked to Kara and hugged her. "Hello, I hear you have something for me?"

She patted my back and said, "Yes, let's go inside. Also, congratulations."

"Thank you," I replied and let her lead me inside of her home.

Katar sat on a couch watching television as we entered. He raised a hand. "Hello."

"Hello," I replied.

"Where're your mates?" he asked as we turned to head down the hallway.

"Probably breaking things at the house since we left them there."

Chuckling, he said, "They'll get over it."

"I'll just have to face a fight when we get back," Fox said behind us.

"Hello, son," Katar greeted.

"Hey, Pop."

"Why are we here?" Nico asked.

"I need to prevent pregnancy!" I shouted a bit too loud.

Jolie and Leona burst out laughing.

I sighed and shook my head. "Whatever."

Kara patted my hand. "It's perfectly normal, ignore them. They haven't matured past twelve."

"I'm sorry to barge in like this randomly," I apologized. "I wasn't informed about the fertility increasing after being mated. Now is not the right time for me, us, me."

She patted my hand again. "You don't need to explain yourself, child. I'm here for you whenever you need me. Especially now that you're mated to my favorite grandson." She leaned closer and whispered, "But don't tell him that. He's got a big enough head already."

Chuckling, I nodded my agreement. "Your secret is safe with me."

In a room lined with shelves that housed hundreds of bottles, Kara released me to walk over to a table where two white, plastic bottles sat. "You are going to take one of these pills every morning. It will keep you from getting pregnant and also decrease the pheromones you are putting out. That is part of the problem when you get mated, your pheromones go crazy and it sends your mate, or mates, into a frenzy to copulate with you."

"Got it," I said. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Nana or Kara, please." She smiled and slid the bottles towards me.

"That will take time to get used to, but I will try," I promised as I picked up the bottles.

"Come, while I would like you to stay longer, I think your mates are likely missing you."

Leona hugged me. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you. I appreciate your help in setting it up."

"So, how did it all go?"

I laughed and shook my head. "I almost teleported away."

"What?" Fox gasped. "We didn't hear about this.

I looked around at the living room of people and decided it didn't hurt to tell his family members. "I gave them the boxes with the bloodstones in it, gave a speech, and they just stared at it. Then Caleb started laughing."

"Laughing?" Jolie gasped.

I nodded. "I thought maybe I had misjudged everything and was about to run away, but he grabbed me and showed me my gift, bloodstones from all of them."

She blew out a huge breath of air. "Oh."

"So, we have bloodstones for sale, if anyone needs them," I said and laughed, shaking my head. Now, it was easy to laugh about it, but at the time, I had felt absolutely crushed.

"That had to be so traumatic in that moment," Leona said and put her arm around me, squeezing me. "Poor thing."

"Yeah, it was until he explained."

"Are you excited for the next steps?" Katar asked, turning his television off to face me.

I flinched. "Um, for Caleb becoming king, yes. For me … not so much."

"You'll do great," he said nonchalantly. "The most important thing is to be there for Caleb. You are his partner, the one to help him shoulder his burdens. A sympathetic ear to listen to his complaints."

"Even when he's being a whiny baby about them," Kara said out the side of her mouth.

"Hey!" Katar gasped.

Everyone laughed, and I felt some tension ease.

"None of us set out to be princesses or queens," Kara informed me. "We just fell in love with men who were destined for that road and accepted the mantle. Just like you will. And, you at least have this support system of women who will be there for you no matter what you need."

"Thank you," I said, "sincerely, from the bottom of my heart. I don't know if I could have transitioned to this crazy life without all of you at my side."

"Girl bosses rule the world," Jolie said and held her fist out.

I bumped my fist against hers and Leona bumped hers against both of ours. Kara walked over and did the same, which earned a slight giggle and huge smile from Jolie.

"We need you all to keep us in line," Nico said and hugged Jolie. "Without our queens to speak reason, we would likely cause havoc and insanity."

"One hundred percent true," Katar said and winked at Kara, who blushed.

My heart soared seeing the older couple still able to make each other blush after so long being married. It gave me hope for my future.

"Well, let's get you home," Jolie said. "Caleb is likely fighting his other two fathers right now and who knows what your other mates are doing."

"Probably joining in," Fox said with a wide smile. "As we will when we get back. I do love an afternoon brawl!"

"Such a troublemaker," Kara said with a shake of her head.

"Bye! Love you!" he called out.

I turned and hugged Kara again. "Thank you, Your … Kara."

She squeezed me and said, "Come see me again when you run out."

"Bye!" Katar called and raised a hand as he turned his television back on.

We teleported back to the house to find it empty.

"Grass sparring ring," Nico said with a nod. "I can hear the growling from here."

"I'm getting water to take my first pill," I informed them.

"We'll let them know," Fox said as he skipped out of the house.

Watching a short, buff prince skip out of a house was quite the sight and yet this was a normal part of my life now.

"Aside from this, are you doing okay?" Jolie asked.

I took my pill and nodded. "Things are going well."

"I'm glad to hear it," she said and reached into the back of the cabinet next to us, pushing things aside until she got to the very back.

I watched curiously, waiting to see what she grabbed.

"Ah!" she exclaimed and pulled out a box of chocolate covered cookies. "I was saving these and I have to hide them so Fox doesn't find them, or he will eat them all."

I took one, crunched on it a bit, and around a full mouth said, "So delicious."

"Right?" she exclaimed. "So good."

"I need a stock of these at the house," I said as I looked at the cookie.

"I'll send Riddick the link and hint that you like them." She winked. "They like doing things that they think you don't know about and that make you happy."

"Good to know," I replied.

"So, tell me about it," she urged.

I blinked at her. She … wanted me to tell her about sleeping with her son.

Seeing my expression, she laughed and said, "Tell me about the anniversary and the mating bonds."

"Oh," I breathed, finished my water to wash the cookie down, and launched into a full description for her, minus the sex parts.

She gasped when I mentioned Caleb laughing, but then smiled after I explained what happened next. "I'm so glad it all worked out, though not exactly like you had planned."

"Me, too," I said and sighed. "Though now I'm terrified about the fertility issue. It's not that I don't want kids, but …"

She nodded. "I get it. And don't worry, the pills should sort it out."

"I wish I had been warned in advance," I said, "but we'll just move forward as we are." There were always things you couldn't control and didn't know about, and I would be damned if I let it affect my mood.

"Let's go grab the boxes so you can take them back with you," she said and shoved another cookie in her mouth. "You can't look at yours until Caleb puts it on you."

I drew an x over my heart. "Promise."

And I definitely would keep it. I really didn't want to look at the crown she had had designed for me. It might send me into a panic yet again.