Chapter Two

Drakarus

I sit back in my chair and watch as the others file in. “What is this about, Eyrx?” I ask when he sits beside me.

“The witches are acting suspicious,” he says.

“Again?” I raise my eyebrow. “Why am I just now hearing about this?”

“It just happened,” he says. “They have been in the neutral zone off and on for months now, but they all suddenly retreated.”

“Doubtful,” Julianna chuckles.

“Why are you here?” I ask.

“Because I am your sister and the wife of your second-in-command. I can do as I please,” she smiles.

“Very bold for a dragon who won’t be able to shift soon,” I say, and she smiles .

“You won’t hurt the heir to the throne,” she says.

“Excuse me?” I ask, glancing at Eyrx.

“Find a mate and I’ll stop saying it,” she shrugs.

“I can certainly punish her for that, but it might delay the meeting,” Eyrx laughs.

“Only by a few seconds,” I remark, and he frowns. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

“So, it seems like they are just wandering around when they’re in the neutral zone, but for months?” Eyrx says. “They’re up to something. I just can’t seem to pinpoint what. They’re not coming close to our wall, but all the ones we’ve spotted are directly connected to the royal family.”

“Well, they haven’t broken the treaty, so we can’t exactly do anything about them being weird,” I say. “The abrupt retreat is odd. How about this… Let’s place some soldiers close to their wall and try to provoke them a bit. King Rystar is a hothead, so I know he will reach out if we get close. His moronic son, Aldric, might be the one, though. Rystar likes to delegate shit.”

“We’re going to have a problem on our hands when Aldric takes the throne,” Julianna remarks cautiously. I respect that she is aware that she shouldn’t actually be here, but I won’t say no to her. She is one of the few that I will bend to occasionally. I took the throne at nineteen when our parents passed in a mining explosion. She was only seven when they died, so I raised her. She’s twenty-six now, but I am still just as protective of her as when she was a young child. I couldn’t be happier that she is mated to my best friend. I know Eyrx is just as protective of her.

“I agree,” I sigh.

“You okay?” Eyrx asks me.

“Yeah, just feeling a bit drained today,” I say. “I’m going to stop by the mine and check with Keril. Send me someone later, yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ll keep an eye on things,” Eyrx says with a concerned tone. It’s not like me to feel drained like this for no reason. It’s been a while since I bedded a woman, so that must be why.

Dragons have to fuck frequently, especially unmated ones. They like to act like I am choosing to not have a mate, but I want to find her. I am nearing forty and I need an heir. Anything could happen and I would be without someone to take over. I trust that Eyrx could handle it, but it would make me a failure. My bloodline would die out. All of this is exaggerated, considering dragons can live to upwards of four hundred years. Julianna thinks it’s a combination of losing our parents and simply being lonely. All I know for sure is that I want to find and breed my mate. I want to know what the pull feels like. It angers me that I hold jealously for those who have mates.

When I get to the mine, Keril is already waiting for me. “Your Highness,” Keril says, bowing his head .

“Report?” I ask gruffly.

“We hit another pocket of Ignisium,” he says proudly. “We are stockpiling at this point.”

“You can slow production by thirty percent. Offer more breaks so they aren’t digging as fast,” I say. “Any accidents to report?”

“No, Sir,” he says.

“Alright. Updates are going to Eyrx for the remainder of the day,” I inform him.

“Yes, Your Highness,” he bows. Fuck, the feeling is only getting worse. I refuse to appear weak around my people, though. I power through the trip back to the castle.

Vulkara is a beautiful land with a warm climate. It offers us the ability to farm all year long. Everything is built to perfection, and we are advanced because of our never-ending supply of Ignisium. It is the essence of dragon fire, so we are able to use it for several things. I feel blessed by the Gods to have such a magnificent territory to share with my people. They are who make everything run as efficiently as it does.

The castle was built from obsidian generations ago, long before the treaty was passed. It offers us protection from most spells in recent years since we started focusing on mining the Ignisium and could incorporate that into the walls of the castle. I think we all have an unspoken understanding that the witches won’t be able to help themselves. They will eventually break the treaty, and we can destroy them once and for all. They are powerful when they are banded together, but they are still nothing against us.

When I get into the castle, I go up to the bedroom. The King’s space takes up an entire wing of the castle, but I have one dedicated area that no one is allowed to enter without specific reasoning. Eyrx and Julianna know that I do not want others in here, so guests are limited to those I invite to fuck.

Eyrx will have a woman here soon, so I strip down and lie on the bed. I have many things swirling in my mind, but I keep coming back to the meeting. Why would they pull back so fast? My instincts tell me they’re about to break the treaty, but how? I hear the large door to my room open and I sigh as I run my hands down my face.

A woman softly clears her throat to let me know she is here, so I stand. I have fucked this one before. She is usually who Eyrx sends when I need them to be able to withstand my stress. She is used to my aggressive tendencies, and she knows what I expect. I lift her chin, and she smiles sweetly at me. She’s a decent fuck, but she’s not my mate.

Dragons have outstanding stamina, and we can go for hours while coming several times. Let’s see how much this one can take before one of us passes out. I suspect that she understands my state of mind since she is only called when I need something to fuck my anger out with. I might be feared, but it is known that I will not harm a bedmate. I have enough self-control to ensure their safety. On rare occasions, I will have several women so that I don’t injure one. When I find my mate, she will be made to take me. She will be delighted to take me as many times and for however long I want. She and I will share the same lust for one another. We will be able to sense each other’s pleasure, and it will grow in perfect synchrony. I want my mate because I am stronger with a mate.

“Would you like for me to start on my knees, my King?” she asks softly.

“Yes,” I huff. She nods and sinks to her knees. “Speak up if I hurt you, understood?”

“Yes, my King,” she says as she looks up at me from her knees. She has my cock in her hands, and she smiles wickedly before wrapping her plump lips around the tip and sucking hard. As she starts to move her head and take me deeper into her mouth, she is already preparing for what I’m going to do. I take her head between my hands and shove my cock as deep as it will go. She cups my balls and squeezes as I start to fuck her throat hard and fast. Even then, it’s not enough.

I push the woman back against the bed and prop one foot on the edge so that when I thrust deep, she is forced to take all of me. “Fuuuuck,” I growl as I fuck her mouth. She is still sucking hard and massaging my balls. When she tightens her grip, I groan. She knows how desperate I am to come right now, so she keeps squeezing and tugging at me and I fall into a violent pace. She is humming with delight, but it’s her moan that finally drags me down. She is nearly coming as she greedily drinks me down.

I grab her by the hair and shove her onto the bed with her face down. Only my mate gets to watch me fuck them. Only she will get to see my pleasure. I am saving that part of myself for her. My queen.

I pull her up to her knees while her chest is on the bed, but offer her no warning. She screams when I slam inside of her. I imagine for a moment that she is my queen and push past the growing weakness to continue channeling my anger into her. The woman is sobbing but is pushing her hips back to meet my violent thrusts. Her pussy grips onto me as she moves through endless orgasms. I am trying to find my release before exhaustion finds me first. I move my hand to the side of her body and push her flat to better support myself.

When she comes again, the grip of her pussy drags me down with her. I growl and slam as deep as her body allows to drain my cock inside her. We are breathing heavily, but I am suddenly dizzy. I don’t want to fall on her, so I move back to stand so she can get up. When she turns to look at me, her eyes go wide.

“Oh my God. Drakarus!” she shrieks. “Sit. You need to sit.”

I am far too weak to tell her to mind her place, so I let her pull me back to the bed to sit. Something is terribly wrong. I am quickly losing control of my body and for the first time since the explosion that took my parents from me, I’m scared. “Eyrx,” I mutter. “Get Eyrx and Juli.”

Before she can respond or react, my body gives out. She screams and attempts to catch me as I slump forward and hit the floor. “Help! We need help!” she yells.

I am screaming at my body to do anything, but it doesn’t respond. I cannot even open my eyes. When no one comes, she runs from the room, and soon after I hear a stampede of footsteps running back to me.

“Oh, Fuck. Drake,” Eyrx says with panic in his voice. “Juli, get Salvor. Now.”

“But he’s…”

“Go, Julianna. Get the healer!” he shouts at her. Eyrx would never shout at his mate unless he was scared. His fear makes more panic build inside of me, but I can’t do anything about it. I can’t move or speak to tell him I’m still here. My body is cold now, but I don’t feel like I’m dying. Am I dying? “Keril, help me get him to the bed.”

They move me to lie on the bed. A blanket is laid over me to conceal that I am naked still. “Move,” Salvor barks as he runs into the room.

“He’s cold, Sal,” Eyrx says. “He doesn’t have an heir. Juli cannot lose her brother too. ”

“Shh,” Salvor says as he lays his hand on my chest. “His heart is strong. Did the girl say anything specific?”

“She said the second time he finished, he was noticeably weaker, but wanted to be respectful, so she didn’t say anything. She turned and she stated that he was extremely pale, and his eyes were green.”

“Green? Is she sure?” Salvor asks.

“Yes. I asked her twice,” Juli says as she sniffs back tears. Salvor forces one of my eyes open, and I can see him for a moment. When he opens the other, anger is written all over his face.

“It’s the fucking witches,” Eyrx snarls. “Isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Salvor says with a calm voice. “It seems that he is in a coma, of sorts. His eyes are green because he’s been cursed into this state.”

“Keril, stop all production and ready the soldiers. I want them ready to fly by daybreak,” Eyrx says, naturally sliding into a position of power. I fucking hate this, but I trust Eyrx to do what needs to be done. We have protocols for this, so I am confident he will find a way to produce an heir of my bloodline.

“What can I do?” Juli asks tearfully.

“Be with your brother, Juli,” Eyrx says softly.

“I can’t lose him,” she whimpers. “I can’t lose him, Eyrx. I want him back. You bring him back to me, Eyrx. ”

“Shhh,” Eyrx says as he comforts her. I can hear her muffled sobs, and it breaks my heart. “I will burn their entire fucking territory down to find a way to get him back. I promise.”

“I’ll sit with him,” she says as she forces her emotions away. “Bring me a witch and we can break them. The closer to the royal family, the stronger.”

“The king has daughters. I will bring one back with me,” Eyrx says.

“No one touches her but Drake, understood. When we get him back, he can use her to spare the woman here his anger,” she says. “If we cannot get him back, we will breed her to give Drake an heir.”

“Have the servants ready a room for her. We will return in three days,” Eyrx says. “If something happens…”

“Don’t you ever try and say goodbye to me again,” she scolds loudly. “Three days or I am coming to kill them all myself.”

“Be good, my love,” he says softly. “I love you, Julianna.”

“I love you too, Eyrx,” she says. There is silence for a while before I sense my sister lying next to me. Her cries are soul-crushing, and I want to comfort her. I can’t mindlink. I can’t speak. I can’t move. They think it’s a coma, but it’s not. I have no way to tell them that this is a paralysis of the soul and body. At least I still have my thoughts, right?