Chapter 115

Anila’s POV

“You are such a beautiful bride,” Angelica cooed as she helped me get ready for my wedding.

I stared at myself in the long-standing mirror; the wedding dress hugging my figure perfectly. I felt beautiful… like a princess, but at the same time, I felt conflicted. Marrying Jaxon felt almost wrong. I had other mates as well that I needed to return to, and I knew convincing Jaxon to let me return to them would be difficult.

I’ve been here for only a few nights and things were moving so quickly. I barely got to see Jaxon outside of a few shared meals together. He’s been so busy with his work; I’ve pretty much been spending all my time with Angelica and some of the other staff preparing for our wedding without him.

Angelica said it was natural for him to drown himself in work. I wondered if this is what our lives would look like.

The other night, after I had sex and marked Jaxon, I made a difficult decision. I blocked Zach from my thoughts and feelings. I knew it would upset him, but I didn’t want to hurt him by spending all my time with Jaxon. Plus, I needed to focus on my task at hand and I couldn’t do that if I could feel part of Zach’s emotions as well. Despite not marking him in return, I could still feel him as if he were a part of me.

I suppose he was part of me.

As I drowned myself in this wedding planning, it got easier to think about him and the rest of them less. I knew why I was doing this and that was my main focus. As much as I enjoyed my time with Jaxon… at least the time I actually got to spend with him… my main priority right now was making sure that Xaden survived.

I needed to save him.

Seconds away from walking down the aisle, Zach’s thoughts came bursting forth and invaded my head before I even knew what was happening. At first, I thought it was imagining things. The stuff he was saying broke my heart.

It was like a punch in the gut hearing him speak so foul of me.

He thought the absolute worst of me; he was saying that I didn’t care about any of them and that I was doing this for my own personal gain. I suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

“Anila?” Angelica asked, sitting beside me. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head as tears burned in my eyes. She tried her best to recover my makeup, but it was no use. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing down my cheeks, ruining all her hard work.

It didn’t take long to figure out why I was hearing Zach… it was Damien. He was using a spell to make it happen.

But why?

“Anila…” I heard Zach saying after a long pause. “Are you still there?”

“Do you really think that?” I asked him through our shared link. “You really think I don’t care about you?”

I was hurting and I hated that I sounded so weak, even in my own mind.

“You weren’t meant to hear that…”

“And that makes it okay?” I shot back before he could say anything more.

“Ugh…I could use another cigarette,” I heard him saying. I was certain I wasn’t supposed to hear that, but his words made me gasp.

“Are you smoking, Zach?” I asked him. “Since when did you smoke and why am I just learning about that?”

“Look, I don’t have enough time to argue with you,” he murmured, sounding as defeated as I felt. “Xaden isn’t doing good. The doctor doesn’t think he has much longer. We can’t wait for you forever, Anila.”

His words shattered my soul completely.

How long do you think we have?” I asked him, my tone trembling.

“Maybe a few hours…” he told me. “He’s not doing good. Maybe if you weren’t off playing house with the Dragon King, you’d remember that his time is limited.”

“That’s not fair, Zach. I’m only doing this to save Xaden,” I told him.

“Anila, what’s going on? You look like you’re about to get sick,” Angelica said, touching the side of my arm gently. I completely forgot she was there. “Just take a deep breath. Do you need water?”

“Sorry, I’m just talking to one of my mates,” I admitted. “I’ll be okay…”

Her eyes widened and she dropped her gaze to the ground.

“Then save him,” Zach shot back, bringing my attention back to him. “Because he doesn’t have much longer. I have to go. The wizard boy can’t keep this spell up forever.”

“Okay,” I murmured. “But we are going to talk about this later, Zach,” I told him firmly, proud that my voice came out stronger than I felt.

He didn’t reply, but I felt the connection ending. I let out a breath of air before I stood up, rubbing my hands up and down the skirt of my dress, hating that they were clammy now.

“Come on,” Angelica said, standing up with me. “Let’s get you cleaned up and down that aisle. Soon, you’ll be Mrs. Develson. Queen of Dragon Valley. You’ll never have to worry about a thing again.”

……

Jaxon’s POV

I never thought I would get married. But this was really happening.

I’ve been so conflicted with my feelings these last couple of days, and plus my conversation with the Alpha King didn’t go over all that well the other day, I hadn’t been able to face Anila. If she knew what it was, I had to do, she would never forgive me. Giving the Dragon King one of my dragons so he could take over the human world stood against everything Anila believed in… It stood against everything I believed in.

He assured me that once he got what he wanted, I would get what I wanted.

The wedding was small, which was how I wanted it. This wasn’t for Dragon Valley to witness; this was personal for only the two of us.

Once we did the inauguration ceremony and Anila was officially sworn in as Queen, then we would invite the entire city to the ceremony. But this marriage was only between Anila and me.

The wedding wasn’t like a traditional human wedding. We didn’t have anyone marrying us… I was the one marrying us. We would exchange our vows and then we would mark one another once more. I would bring my dragon forth and light the torch and then we would burn the sculpture that was created out of straw of the two of us. It stood tall in the center of the palace grounds, waiting for us to burn it, symbolizing our eternal bond.

Then I will kiss her, and the ceremony will conclude. We would celebrate our marriage in private later. My cock twitched at the very thought, and I cursed myself for being so weak when it came to her.

Despite the nervousness about the wedding, there was something else stirring deep in my gut. Something else was wrong and I had a feeling it had to do with Anila.

Just as the music started, I braced myself to see Anila for the first time. A couple of the local children walked down the aisle throwing flowers on the ground with big smiles on their faces. Eager to watch their future queen walk down the path they created just for her.

A moment later, the music grew louder, and Anila appeared at the end of the aisle. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. Her dress hugged her perfectly and amplified her every curve. It was white with dark purple flowers stitched along the seams and down the delicate fabrics of her gown. Her hair was curled perfectly and wrapped up in a high pony with more flowers draped in her loose curls, some curly strands rested against her flushed cheeks. Her eyes sparkled under the moonlight and behind her, Angelica walked, making sure Anila didn’t trip over her long dress which dragged behind her on the ground.

My eyes snapped back to Anila and as she neared, I could see the fear and worry on her face. It made my heart twist at the sight. I knew with certainty that something was wrong and for the first time since I marked her, she was blocking me.

My brows furrowed as she neared; she wouldn’t meet my eyes. Her eyes were looking everywhere but at me. When I saw Angelica, her eyes were on me, and I could see the worry in her own gaze.

I didn’t wait for Anila to finish walking down the aisle, I met her halfway.

She froze when she noticed me walking towards her; my face remaining stoic as my eyes narrowed in her direction. I didn’t miss, or appreciate, the fact that her body tensed upon my nearness, but I pushed the thought aside and closed the gap between us.

“What are you doing?” She asked, her voice coming out breathy, my lips closed around her mouth, and I took her in.

Her kiss was sweet, but there was something else inside of it. I could feel her pain and worries. It wasn’t for the wedding though… it was for her mates. The ones who aren’t me. I knew that kissing her like this would open her emotions to me and I’d be able to read her better.

I pulled her closer, wanting more of it.

Realizing what I was doing, she quickly pushed at my chest and staggered away from me.

“Jaxon…” she gasped.

“You are thinking of them,” I said… feeling my anger rising. “On our wedding day. You still think of them?”

“They are my mates…” she told me, tears filling her eyes. “And something happened… we need to hurry and get married. Xaden doesn’t have much longer to live and—”

“Is that all you care about?” I asked, hating the hurt that I could feel in my chest. “Xaden and the others?”

“You know that’s why I’m doing this, Jaxon…” she told me, breaking my heart even further. “I’m doing this to save him.”

“Of course you are,” I muttered. “I was stupid to think otherwise.”

“What are you talking about?” Anila asked, her eyes wide and filled with confusion.

“I need a queen, Anila. Someone who isn’t going to take off the second you get the chance…”

“You know I wouldn’t,” she tried to say but I held up my hand silencing her.

“And what’ll happen after you save him?” I asked. “Would you still want to remain married to me? Have you even thought about it? Because in my mind… you are to stay here and remain my faithful wife and queen. Only mine. I don’t share Anila, and I wasn’t planning on sharing you after marriage either.”