Royally Elected Read online

  “Don’t I have to have one for each of you?”

  “We don’t think so. Nico has been working on getting all our blood and connections into one. He’s been having trouble, but we know it’s possible.”

  “I wouldn’t mind having four,” I said softly.

  “Good to know,” he replied.

  “Lunch!” Dan boomed.

  “Food!” Tamara and Madison yelled, raced down the stairs, and past us to the dining room. They didn’t live in the house anymore, but they might as well have with how often they were here.

  We followed them and took seats at the dining table alongside Dan, Thor, Martin, Sharla, and the girls. Dan chatted with Martin and Sharla while Deryn chatted with Thor. It was a nice home cooked meal and I loved being a part of it.

  Looking at the girls, I could imagine Deryn helping his own children cut up their meat or making silly faces at them…like he was doing now. He would make a great father.

  But, not with me.

  Sorrow filled me, tightening my chest painfully.

  “Excuse me,” I whispered, set my napkin down, and raced to the bathroom. I gripped the counter and bit my lip to stop the sobs trying to escape.

  I deprived them of so much by being their mate. I wasn’t worth it. My love wasn’t worth it.

  Deryn tried to open the door and sighed softly when he found it locked. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

  I flushed the toilet, opened the bathroom window, and leapt out. Thankfully, I landed in a crouch and the impact only hurt my legs a little.

  Thor looked at me from the dining room window, his eyes widened, and he stood up, his mouth opening, likely calling Deryn.

  I shifted into my dragon form and jumped up a bit so I was floating above the ground—not really flying, but not touching the ground. I banked left, towards the back half of the forest. I landed in a rolling heap, but somehow avoided injuring my wings. I hated flying as a dragon. It was scary, but I was trying to overcome it with small flights.

  Deryn tugged on our bond and I gently placed a shield around it, to prevent him from finding me. I did the same to the others’ bonds as well.

  What was I going to do? They claimed they didn’t care, but part of them did. Part of them wanted heirs.

  I didn’t want to have four children. Childbirth was painful. Plus, there was always the possibility of having two of Deryn’s kids and none of Fox’s, or something like that. Nature wasn’t fair.

  Curling up beneath a massive oak tree, I let out the pain. I sobbed and howled my pain. The pain of knowing I wasn’t worthy. The pain of knowing a small piece of them would always resent me. The pain of knowing I cost the men I loved so much.

  Nico, Rhys, Fox, and Deryn popped into existence a few feet away from me. All four looked at me while clutching their chests.

  “Go,” I whispered.

  All four dropped to their knees and groaned.

  “What’s wrong?” Fox asked and started to shuffle towards me.

  “How did you find me?”

  “We can always locate you now,” Nico said.

  “I’m not worth this…all this pain,” I whispered.

  “Stop bottling it up and talk to us, please,” Rhys begged.

  “Love is stupid!” I snapped. “It makes you do stupid things.”

  All four cringed.

  “You chose me, but why? I don’t want kids, but you all do. You all would make great fathers. What if I have two kids from one of you and none for the others? Your lives are run by schedules now. We don’t come home and spontaneously jump into bed, not when there’s three more of you also being affected by my scent. We haven’t had time to even mate, yet all four of you have my crystal.

  “Mating may not be the best idea. If my dreams are right, you’re all going to die protecting me. You’re all going to die because I am a burden. I don’t add any substance to your lives. I’m not politically savvy. I’m not magically gifted. I have quirks like being able to tell dragons apart, but nothing useful. I make crap compared to you four. I don’t contribute. I’m a hinderance.”

  “Well, now that you got all of that off your chest, how do you feel?” a squeaky male voice asked.

  “Is that—” Rhys began.

  “No way,” Deryn whispered.

  “They’re real?” Nico asked.

  I turned and looked behind me. A tall red fox with nine tails grinned at me, his tails fanned out behind him proudly.

  “A kistune?” I asked and wiped at my face.

  He bowed. “I’m Nar, a relative of Foxfire’s.”

  “I didn’t summon him,” Fox said loudly.

  Nar sat in front of me. “He’s been complaining about not being able to help you. I thought I could assist.”

  I almost said thank you out of politeness, but I wasn’t thankful. I hadn’t wanted to say all of that to them.

  “You’re trespassing,” Deryn told Nar, but he looked more intrigued than mad.

  “Technically you brought me here,” Nar said. “I’ve been working on her for a week.” Nar looked at me. “You’re very strong-willed.”

  “Thank you?” I wasn’t certain if it was a compliment or not.

  “Can we have some privacy?” Fox asked Nar.

  Nar looked at me and whispered, “Summon me if you’re in danger.”

  “How?” I asked as he started to become see through.

  He dropped a piece of paper with a kitsune drawn on it. “Put it on your skin and it’ll add a tattoo. Then you’ll just need to tap me, uh the tattoo, and I’ll help.”

  He disappeared and I stared at the piece of paper on the ground.

  “Jolie,” Fox whispered.

  I looked up at the four men staring at me. “What?” I whispered.

  “We need to talk about this,” Rhys said.

  “I know,” I admitted. I picked up the paper and walked to them.

  Nico grabbed my hand, then the rest set their hands on him and Nico teleported us to the apartment. We sat together on the floor of my apartment for a moment, then I moved away from them to the couch before they could grab me to hug me.

  They sat on the floor facing me.

  “You weren’t supposed to hear all of that,” I whispered and looked at my hands.

  “You should talk to us more,” Rhys chastised. “We shouldn’t have had to hear that from you because of a Kitsune spell.”

  “It’s not easy for me to tell you that type of stuff. You guys don’t talk to me about things like that,” I reminded them.

  “We talk to each other,” Fox said.

  “Still not me,” I pointed out.

  “Stop trying to change the subject,” Deryn said.

  “Let’s start with point one,” Fox said, putting up a finger like he was counting. “Love is not stupid.”

  “We told you that kids aren’t important to us,” Rhys frowned, his brow drawing together. “You told us you were going to get your tubes tied, and we were fine with that.”

  “You say that, but if I told you I decided to have kids, you’d be ecstatic,” I snapped.

  “Yes, of course we would!” Rhys snapped back. “Having a kid with you would be great.”

  “See!” I yelled and stood up. “You want kids.”

  Fox stood between me and Rhys and said, “We want kids, but we are fine not having them as well.”

  “What brought the kids up all of a sudden?” Deryn asked.

  “Lunch,” I replied and plopped back down on the couch. “Seeing you with the twins tonight.”

  “We know that sex has been sparse,” Nico said. “We’re sorry about that. We have told you that you can take one of us away if you want.”

  “I can’t do that.” I shook my head, and my hands fisted.

  “Tell us your dream.” Deryn reached out and set a hand on my knee.

  I sighed and told them the entire dream. They listened silently through it, then all turned to face each other.

  “Dhampirs fighting alongside vampires?” Rhys asked.


  “That would be a hell of a fight.” Deryn growled and shoved a hand through his black hair.

  Fox chewed on a lip and I found myself mesmerized by it. “The dream does sort of sound like a premonition,” he said.

  “It does,” Nico agreed with a sigh. He rubbed his temples and murmured something too low for me to hear.

  “I don’t want you to die,” I whispered.

  Rhys pulled me off the couch and into the center of them on the floor. They all hugged me, and I sniffled, trying to hold back the tears.

  “We don’t care how much or how little money you make,” Rhys whispered. “You love your job and that is what matters.”

  “You do contribute to us. You don’t see it, but you have helped shape us into better princes just by being our queen,” Fox said.

  “Ask our fathers,” Deryn muttered. “They’ll tell you that we’ve changed because of you and it’s something they appreciate.”

  “Dan’s told me that,” I admitted with my words muffled as I pressed my face into Nico’s chest.

  “If you don’t want kids, then we won’t have kids,” Nico said. “We could always adopt.”

  “Or, we could get a surrogate,” Fox suggested.

  “I don’t know how I feel about a surrogate,” I admitted. If someone was going to carry a child by one of them, while we were together, shouldn’t it be me?

  “You don’t need to feel obligated to have a child with any of us,” Deryn said. “We won’t ever pressure you.”

  “If you want to get your tubes tied still, we’re fine with that,” Rhys told me. “We’ll go with you to your appointment if you want us there.”

  “And, you are worthy of us. We aren’t worthy of you. You’re way more understanding than any of the other girls we’ve dated. None of them understood our nuances or our quirks,” Deryn told me.

  “And there wasn’t a single girl who we all liked. One of us would bring a girl to meet the others and some of us wouldn’t get along with her. We all love you. We all love spending time with you. You’re not a rut in the way. You’re another friend added to our group. You’re our last puzzle piece,” Fox said.

  “Why am I so emotional?” I asked angrily.

  “Nar,” Fox said. “He messed with your emotions to get you to open up to us.”

  “How long will this last?”

  I really hated being emotionally vulnerable like this.

  “Until tomorrow or the next day,” Fox informed me.

  Wonderful.

  “Are you second-guessing mating with us?” Rhys asked.

  “No,” I said immediately. “No. I am not second-guessing mating with you four. I want to mate with you. I’m sorry I didn’t make it a priority. I hadn’t realized how much time had passed until Thor mentioned it today.”

  “Thor?” Rhys asked. “You saw Thor today?”

  “He’s helping my dad with some stuff,” Deryn explained.

  “How has it been two months?” I asked softly.

  “You’ve been so busy with the new game release that you lost track of the days,” Nico said and smiled.

  “Wait, that means it’s March and we missed Valentine’s Day?” I asked.

  “We never celebrated it before, and since you didn’t bring it up, we thought you didn’t either,” Rhys admitted.

  I was the worst girlfriend ever.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. Turning to my right, I threw my arms around Rhys’s neck and kissed his cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

  “You don’t need to apologize,” Rhys assured me.

  “I do. I’ve been a terrible queen. I’ve neglected you four.”

  “That’s enough,” Nico whispered and pulled me from Rhys’s hold. He tilted my chin up to look at him. “We’ve all been busy and neglecting each other. Why don’t we take Saturday and split the day up, so we can each have some alone time with you?”

  “You’ll only get a few hours with me like that,” I reminded him.

  “We will take whatever morsels of time we can get with you,” he whispered.

  “Especially if it’s time alone,” Fox said.

  “We need to make a schedule again and stick to it,” Rhys added.

  The other three nodded in agreement.

  Chapter 2

  Rhys pushed open the door to his family’s house, and I was pulled away by a rambunctious teenage boy.

  “Jolie! Come see,” Gavin, Rhys’s younger brother, said as he dragged me by the hand down the hallway and into a large living room. The furniture looked centuries old, and the room was filled with older dragons. They all looked up as we came in, but Gavin paid them no mind. He pulled me to a set of double doors on the opposite side which led to a balcony where we could see to the town. “Look!” he ordered me with a wide smile.

  Gavin’s energy was unrivaled, he made even Fox look slow.

  I looked out the direction he pointed and saw the town being decorated.

  “Is there a festival coming up?” I asked him, admiring the bright teal designs.

  “Yes! It’s the Night of the Dragon Festival,” he said and bounced beside me. “You’re coming right? You’ll be here?” he asked and looked over at Rhys who was speaking to Emrys.

  “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I didn’t know there was a festival.”

  “Rhys!” Gavin called into the other room. “Can she come to the festival? I can stay with her and—”

  “I can chaperone,” Andras said, hopping down from the balcony above us to land beside me.

  “Andras!” I said and smiled. Andras was Rhys’s younger brother by a couple of years.

  He kissed my cheek and smiled warmly at me. “We’ve missed you here, Jolie.”

  “I was here last week,” I reminded him with a chuckle.

  “A day is too long to go without seeing your lovely face,” he murmured in my ear.

  “Andras,” Rhys growled across the room. “Stop flirting with my queen.”

  “Not going to happen,” he told Rhys with a wide smile. “She’s family now and I like watching you get all worked up.”

  “What happens at this festival?” I asked Andras and was thankful when Emrys distracted Rhys.

  “Vendors, games, fireworks—”

  “I’m sold!” I said and smiled happily at the two younger siblings.

  “I should have known you were the cause of all this raucous,” Rhys’s mother, Adelaide, said as she entered the room. After giving me one hard glare, she turned and smiled warmly at the others in the room. “Welcome,” she greeted them.

  Andras draped an arm around my shoulders and Gavin linked his hand with mine, protectively. Their reactions were unconscious for them and it made me feel better.

  “I’m alright,” I whispered to them and they both stepped away from me. At Christmas, she had said she accepted me, but now she was being cold again. Why?

  Emrys walked to me and kissed my cheeks. “Hello, Daughter.”

  “Father,” I replied.

  “Come. Walk with me,” he ordered.

  Rhys started to come, but Emrys held up his hand. “Stay with your mother.”

  Rhys’s lip twitched, but he nodded and stayed in the room. Emrys tucked my hand into the crook of his arm and led me away from the house. “Rhys told me about your dreams.”

  I sighed. “Of course, he did.”

  “But, he said you flew yesterday.”

  I cringed. “Not really. I floated more than flew.”

  “And?”

  “And I fell, like a chick from a nest. I don’t know how I didn’t break a wing,” I admitted to him.

  “Why does flying scare you?”

  “It’s not flying. It’s falling.”

  He nodded, stopping in front of a piano in front of the great room where we stood. This one had the same age-old furniture but looked more lived in and less like a museum. “Then, we need to focus on teaching you to fall properly.”

  “Come again?” I asked and stopped walking.

&nb
sp; “If your fear is falling, then we need to teach you how to prepare for crash landings. We all fall at some point and knowing how to fall is very important.”

  “Do you think my dreams are premonitions?” I asked.

  He shrugged, his eyes darting toward the hallway where the voices suddenly grew louder and laughter flowed down to us. “I’m not a seer. I can’t tell you if they are or aren’t.”

  “Should I go see one?”

  “I need you to promise me something,” he whispered.

  “What?” I asked and met his gaze, which seared into mine.

  “If I order you to flee, to leave a battle, you must do it. You must promise me that you will flee,” he said.

  “I can’t leave my guards behind.” I shook my head, a lump forming in my throat.

  “What if leaving will save them?”

  “Then I will leave,” I agreed.

  “Then you need to do as I order. If this battle comes to pass, and I tell you to leave, it is because leaving will help your soon-to-be mates. Understand?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  “And, please ignore my mate. She’s still getting used to seeing Rhys happy with a woman who isn’t her. It’s a motherly instinct to hate the woman he loves.”

  I chuckled and leaned my head against his arm as we walked back. “I’m glad you’re so accepting of me.”

  “I told you. It’s some weird magic you have over us. All of the kings discussed it. I think that also bothers Addy. She is pulled to you but wants to dislike you. It makes it harder on her.”

  “I can’t control it,” I grumbled.

  “Do you want to come to the festival?” Emrys asked, squeezing my hand that was still on his arm and led me back to the room where the others were and back toward the balcony again.

  I nodded.

  He smiled. “Good, because I was going to force you anyway.”

  I laughed, and he left me on the balcony to go talk with the group inside. Gavin had disappeared during the walk, as had Andras. Emrys and one of the older dragons left the room, going somewhere else in the house. Rhys talked with some of the older dragons, his mother at his side, beaming proudly. No one could mistake the pride that shone in her eyes. How could I prove myself to her? Maybe she thought I was playing with Rhys since I hadn’t completed our mating bond?