Chapter 135

Xaden’s POV

“What do you think this is about?” Harley asked as we approached the conference hall for Alphas. It was outside of all territories and rarely used except for meetings that included all Alphas for both bear and wolf shifters. We only had a meeting that concerned everyone when it was an emergency.

Whatever this was about, I knew that it wasn’t going to be good.

“I guess we will find out,” I murmured as we approached the hall that led to the meeting room.

“Where the hell have you two been?” My father asked as he stormed towards us. “We had been waiting for you.”

“Sorry, Dad. You called when we were at school. Took us some time to get here,” I told him as we went towards the doors together.

“This is an emergency, Xaden. You should have run faster in wolf form,” he muttered, then he froze and sniffed the air, narrowing his eyes at me, his lip curled up. “Did you shower?”

I frowned and glanced down at the fresh clothes I was wearing. Harley was also wearing fresh clothes, and his hair was still damp.

My father glanced between us both.

“You both showered? What part of an emergency did you not understand?” My father asked, folding his arms across his chest. “There was no urgency??”

If I hadn’t showered, my father would know that we were both with Anila. Plus, we were still sweaty from our night last night and the last thing I needed or wanted was for the other Alpha’s to know what went on.

“Just come on,” my father growled as he turned and stormed towards the meeting hall.

The table for the meeting was long and it held all the Alphas in the region, both bear and wolf shifters. When we entered the room, they all turned to stare at us, their eyes narrowed and the look of annoyance that reflected my father’s annoyance was evident on their faces.

“Sorry we are late,” I said as I grabbed a seat at one of the empty chairs. Harley sat beside me, he gave his own father a look and nodded at him. Harley and his father looked so much alike; it was almost uncanny.

I looked around the table, expecting to see the Alpha King present as well, but he wasn’t. which meant this meeting was under his nose… it made me believe that this meeting was about the Alpha King.

“Xaden, how are you feeling? Word got out fast about your injuries during the last attack,” Alpha Clay, a wolf shifter and an alpha from one of the nearby packs, said.

“Better,” I told him. “It’s almost like it never happened.”

“But it did happen, and that’s why this meeting is so important,” my father said, his eyes scanning the room. “There is a dragon on the loose and the Alpha King is involved. My own son almost got killed because of it. We need to assume that another war is going to happen only this time it’s going to be worse because it’s not just the Dragon King who is involved. Our own Alpha King is also involved.”

The murmur erupted around the room, and it was clear everyone was worried.

“I saw a dragon earlier today,” one of the Alpha said, shaking his head. “I honestly thought I was seeing things. What are we supposed to do if the King turned on his own people? Are we strong enough to fight him? He nearly took out multiple packs during the last battle and it wasn’t even that big.”

“We need to find out where they are hiding and what they want,” Harley’s dad said, standing to his feet. “We need to protect our lands at all costs.”

They all nodded in agreement. I looked over at Harley, who seemed deep in thought.

“We need a plan,” my father said, settling in his seat at the head of the table. “If we want to take out the dragons, we are going to start with the Dragon King. Without the Dragon King… the Alpha King has no power.”

“So, we kill the Dragon King?” One of the Alpha’s asked.

A worried pit formed in the middle of my stomach, and I could tell from Harley’s face, he was feeling it too. This wasn’t good; if they were after Jaxon, it meant they could potentially take him away from Anila and that wouldn’t be good.

Harley pulled his eyes away from everyone else and looked at him, both of us having the same understanding.

We needed to save Jaxon.

…..

Jaxon’s POV

The dragons flew overheard, their eyes glowing red. They weren’t in control; the Alpha King was in control of them. He managed to figure out how to take control of all the dragons even though they were protected under the ground. A witch informed him if he only had one of the dragons in his possession, then he could soon have all the dragons. He tricked me into giving him a dragon and now all the dragons had broken out of Dragon Valley.

“What are you planning on doing with them? You promised me you wouldn’t hurt them!” I had yelled at the Alpha King, fury boiling inside of me, but I knew I was powerless. Not while he still possessed the Dragon Stone. Now he also possessed all the dragons… one wrong move on my part could mean their end.

“As long as they cooperate, there will be no need to hurt them,” he simply told me. “You are either on board with me, or you aren’t. But let me warn you, Jaxon, there will be consequences if you go against me.”

With that, he turned and walked away, taking the dragons with him.

I clenched my fists at my side. I needed to get out of here; I fucked up and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to fix it.

Without another word, I turned and quickly left the Alpha King’s palace. It took about an hour, I eventually returned to Dragon Valley, my whole heart sinking at the sight of the city that took us years to build underground. It was supposed to be a place of protection, but now there was a large crater leading to the outside world where the Dragons had escaped from.

There was blood and fire still burning; my heart sank at the sight. I knew it was bad… but seeing it was something entirely different.

“You’ve returned,” Angelica said, her eyes misted with tears as she looked around at her surroundings “You’ve missed some things.”

I leaned against one of the walls that went to a building that was once standing but now was a crumbled mess.

“This is all my fault,” I whispered. I hated the type of weakness and vulnerability I was feeling. “I was careless.”

“I don’t understand what you were thinking,” Angelica said, shaking her head. “Sorry to say, Your Majesty. But you are right. This is your fault. How could you be so dumb??”

Typically, I wouldn’t have let anyone speak to me like that. But I knew she was hurting, and she was right. I fucked up… if I hadn’t given him a dragon, then none of this would have happened. Then again, there’s no telling what he would do with the Dragon Stone if I hadn’t done something.

It was such a powerful stone that he could use it to destroy us all.

“You were supposed to be protecting us; you promised me that you were only doing this to protect us. But you gave that monster access to us and now… our dragons are gone. Not only that, but the stable staff are dead.”

I snapped a look at her, my eyes narrowed at her words.

“What are you talking about? Who is dead?”

“The stable help,” she repeated.

“Which ones? Who??” I asked, my voice roaring.

“Does it matter?” She asked.

Of course, it didn’t matter, but I needed to know how many died because of me.

“All of them, Jaxon,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “They are all dead. They were trying to tame the dragons, but the dragons killed them instead.”

Tears poured out of her eyes as she spoke.

I staggered away from her. My people were dying because of me. I needed to fix this. When he asked for a dragon, I never thought he would do something like this. He gave me his word that my dragons were safe and stupidly I believed him.

I didn’t even think it was possible; the earth was supposed to protect the dragons from dark magic. That was part of the reason why we live under the ground, so no dark magic can harm them. I never thought that he would be able to cast a curse on the dragons using the dragon I had given him.

I felt sick to my stomach at the thought.

“I have to go,” I told her, pushing past her and going towards the gaping hole that led to the outside world.

“You’re leaving us, again?” She asked, folding her arms across her chest. “Shouldn’t you stay and do some damage control? Those who are still alive need their king. They are devasted and working tiredly to rebuild our home despite their hearts being broken.”

“I need to find Anila,” I told her over my shoulder. “I need to tell her what’s been going on. Maybe she can help us. She has an infinity with the dragons. If anyone can break the hold the Dragon King has on them, it’s her.”

I had faith in my mate; I knew that deep in my soul, she was special.

“You should know, that not all the dragons are under the influence of the King,” Angelica said, stopping me in my tracks. “It could be because of her connection with Anila. But she might be able to help as well.”

“Which Dragon?” I asked, turning to face her.

“Ember,” Angelica replied. “She went to get Anila’s help. So, she might already be aware that something isn’t right. You are right though; you should go to her. Because we are going to need all the help we can get. A war is coming, Your Majesty. And your dragons are in the eye of it.”