High House Draconis Box Set

by Riley Storm

  “I will not fight a civil war just to retain a title I don’t deserve,” Galen said quietly.

  “Whether you want it or not, you do deserve it,” Aaric argued. “I will stand by you. I would rather you as our King. Someone who understands the world we inhabit now, and who wants to bring us more into it, not keep us aloof.”

  “I too, would prefer you as King.”

  Galen turned to see a delegation of bears approaching, led by a diminutive yet intense woman. “You must be Kaelyn,” he said, giving the Queen of House Ursa a deep nod of his head.

  “I am,” she said, limping heavily, though she walked without any assistance.

  A proud woman, Galen immediately respected her, realizing this must have been the bear he saw charge first into the vampires’ lines.

  Several more groups came up, including the nearly albino wolf he’d seen charge in next to Kaelyn.

  “Logan of Canis, I presume,” he said as the wolf shifter resumed his human form. “No ogling,” he said, leaning over to whisper loudly at Kyla.

  “Oh grow up,” she said, smacking him on the shoulder. “Just cause he’s tall, handsome, very fit, with a big—”

  Galen’s arm came up and he covered her mouth before she could say anything more.

  “Entourage,” Kyla managed to get out after prying his hand free. “A big entourage, which means he’s probably a good person to have so many friends.”

  The assembled group, including King Logan shared in the laugh.

  “Thank you for coming,” Galen said to them, nodding to all, including Kings Tarryl and Benjamin of Raptere and Panthere respectively. “I am deeply sorry for your losses.”

  All of the shifters shared a moment of silence for the fallen.

  “We didn’t lose nearly as many as we would have, thanks to your timely aid,” Kaelyn said, directing her words at Kyla. “Your mages saved a great many shifter lives this day. Thank you.”

  Each of the assembled heads added their thanks.

  “You did a good job, Archmage,” Galen said, emphasizing the word so that she wouldn’t forget that he intended to hear that story from her.

  “Archmage?” Kaelyn asked in surprise. “I was under the impression…”

  “Things have changed,” Kyla said. “And will continue to change. I am done with the animosity between our kinds. We all represent humanity to the rest of the paranormal, and it is time we started looking at humanity as a power unto itself, not to our respective kinds. We shall take our place among the other powers, working together.”

  She paused and looked around, including up at Galen. “Um, if you guys want to of course,” she added awkwardly.

  “We’re in,” Kaelyn said without hesitation.

  Logan glanced at the rest of his ‘entourage’, the Canis Council, Galen assumed, and after receiving nods from them, he too agreed.

  “We will help to bridge the divide as well,” Tarryl said after confirming with Benjamin that he was on the same page.

  All eyes turned to Galen, and he suddenly realized they were waiting for him.

  “I, for one, am tired of fighting, tired of war,” Galen said. “Peace, prosperity and friendship is something I would welcome eagerly, with open arms.”

  “So are you in?” Kyla asked eagerly.

  “Like I would survive my mate’s wrath if I wasn’t,” he joked, then jumped as she flicked a red magic spark at his arm. “Okay, okay, I’m in. We’re in, the dragons are in!”

  “Good,” Kyla said, nodding her approval. Then she paused, looking around uncomfortably. “So what now?”

  “Now we ensure that not a single vampire escapes,” Galen said. “Once that is done, we tend to our wounded.” He turned to Tarryl. “Can you send word after your men, that they may turn around and return their cargo to Drakon Keep?”

  “Of course,” the King of Raptere said, turning to one of his lieutenants to issue the orders that would see the mates of Galen’s brothers returned now that it was safe.

  “Thank you again for your aid in that,” Valla said. “Knowing my mate and child were safe was a relief.”

  The others nodded their thanks as well.

  “You are most welcome,” Tarryl said with a smile. “Though I would advise perhaps offering to buy a beer or two for the gryphons who carried them away. They’ll be a bit upset that they missed this fight.”

  Valla threw his head back and laughed. “I’ll buy them an entire keg each if they want!”

  “The darkness has been defeated,” Galen said into the silence that followed as the laughter faded away. “Perhaps we can use this as a time to look into the light. To let hope and the potential of prosperity guide us forward, into a new age. Shifters united in alliance with one another, and learning more about our new friends, the mages. What a time to be alive.”

  “Hear, hear,” Kaelyn echoed, and the others all chimed in.

  The other shifters departed to see to their Houses, leaving Galen alone with Kyla and his brothers.

  “We did it,” he said quietly, still not entirely believing it.

  Kyla smiled and hugged him tight. “Yes, we did.”

  “So,” Jax asked. “What’s the deal with this whole Archmage title?”

  Galen looked down at his mate. “I’m not sure, but once I manage to get the details, I intend to share. It sounds like my dear Kyla was somewhat busy during her little absence from our midst.”

  Kyla squirmed in his arms, uncomfortable at the attention. “It was nothing, really, I swear.”

  “Nothing, hmm? You stood up to your leader, told him to come help us, and when he refused you challenged him to a fight. A fight you won, then you forced the majority of the Guild, by the looks of it, to come to our aid in a fight that was quite possibly going to be to the death?”

  Kyla shrugged.

  “Good lord,” he muttered. “Someone save me the first time you tell me that ‘nothing’s wrong,’ if that’s your definition of nothing.”

  Kyla’s fist thudded into his chest, but he just laughed and swept her up into a spinning hug.

  “We’ve been given a new lease of life, my love,” he said quietly. “I hope you know I have no intentions of backing down from it.”

  “Good,” Kyla said. “Me too.”

  “Yeah?” he asked with a wide grin.

  “Mmm hmm,” she said playfully, dragging her index finger between his pecs. “In fact, you might say you have…wait for it…nothing to worry about with me.”

  Galen just groaned.

  Chapter 39

  “You’re going to have to do it eventually,” Kyla pointed out, resting her head comfortably on his chest

  Galen didn’t reply. She couldn’t see his face from the angle at which she lay, but her best guess was that he was staring straight upward at the ceiling.

  “It’s been forty-eight hours,” she added. “Things are going to get more complicated the longer you let this go on, my darling dearest. You know that as well as I do.”

  “Maybe,” he admitted. “Maybe not.”

  “Seriously? You’ve got several hundred dragons awake now, and none of them speaks modern English or understands the world they’re a part of. How do you not expect this to become a problem?"

  “Four hundred and sixty-six, to be exact,” Galen said quietly.

  “That’s a lot of trouble just waiting to happen.” She rubbed his firm stomach, feeling his abs through his shirt. “Besides, I’m going to have to leave for a bit soon anyway. I have things I must take care of back at the Academy.”

  “I can’t believe you’re going to just give up the title of Archmage like that.” She could feel his disbelief as he spoke.

  “I don’t need the title. I don’t want the title,” she added. “I’ve tapped into something new, Galen, some sort of new magic. I don’t know what, or how, but I have.”

  A hand came up to play with her hair. “Yeah, I can tell,” he said, letting her newly platinum hair fall back to her head. “I kind of like it.”
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  “Well, whatever the magic is, it seems to have gone right to my head,” she joked, making light of the fact that during the final battle, her use of this new magic had turned her hair the color of her magic.

  And also the color of his scales.

  “That’s all we need,” Galen agreed. “A cocky mage walking around Drakon Keep.” He tensed as he said it.

  “What?” she asked, propping herself up on one elbow so that she could look him in the eyes. “What’s wrong, Galen?”

  “It’s just that,” he said quietly. “You, here at the Keep.”

  “We’ve been over this,” she said. “I want to be with you. That means here, at the Keep. Together.”

  “Why do you have to be the one who gives up your position,” he challenged, not for the first time. “I could just as easily give up my title and come live with you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Because you fit here, my love. As do I. Neither of us fits at the Academy. I’ve outgrown it, and you, well, you’d be bored to death in a week, trust me. Then you’d start trying to run an underground fight club with the mages, and I’d find out and have to join it anonymously and kick your ass, and when you finally found out it was me the entire time, you’d be super cheesed and feel all emasculated by it and then…what?” she asked as Galen’s jaw fell further and further open.

  “You’ve thought about this!” he said accusingly. “In detail!”

  “Of course, I have, you big dope,” she said, patting him on the chest. “I put thought into deciding to stay here with you, believe it or not. I wasn’t sure which choice would be the better one for us. Now I know. As do you.”

  Galen stroked his jaw. “Still, an underground fight club does sound entertaining.”

  “Nope.”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “What do you mean, nope?”

  “There isn’t one,” she said innocently. “Never will be. Certainly not that the King would ever find out about.”

  “Kyla Langston…” Galen rumbled warningly. “What have you been up to?”

  She grinned and played her trump card. “Nothing, my dear.”

  Galen sagged back into the bed with a heavy sigh. “I am going to rue that word for a long, long time.”

  “As long as I can make you, yes,” she said, leaning in to kiss his cheek playfully. He tilted his head to the side and the kiss became something more, something deeper.

  When they eventually broke apart, she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

  “Come on,” she said, tugging at his arm. “Let’s get this over with. Once it’s done, it’s done. Everyone is back now, since the last of the vampires was tracked down and the remaining dragons returned almost four hours ago. You need to address them. To figure this all out.”

  “They won’t let me be King,” he said.

  “I’m telling you. You might be surprised,” she said. “Now up.”

  She flicked a hand at him and a spark of red magic shot into the side of his hip, making the big dragon yelp and rub his side and behind.

  “Yeah, just like that. Touch yourself for me, baby,” she joked in as raunchy a voice as possible.

  “You’re ridiculous,” Galen said, and winds picked up, pushing her against the back wall and pinning her there, spread-eagled.

  Her mate came over, looming over her, leering at her suggestively, running his hands freely across her body, touching her wherever he liked. She struggled against the bonds, but the wind held her fast. She was trapped.

  “This isn’t fair,” she said as he kissed her neck, one hand gently tweaking her nipple.

  As always, her body responded to his touch almost immediately.

  “Never said it was,” Galen growled, hot breath washing over her ear. “Now, you just stay there while I go claim my seat as King, and when I get back, I’m going to show you just how a ruler treats one of his subjects when they misbehave.”

  “What? Hey! Wait! No! You can’t do that!” she protested, struggling harder as he gave her a wink and headed toward the exit. “Not fair, mister. You’ll pay for this!” she called after him.

  The door closed and a moment later, the bonds loosened, slowly lowering her to the floor. Kyla shook her head, unable to stop from smirking. She hadn’t planned on going to the meeting of the dragon leaders anyway. The new dragons for the most part only spoke Drakon. Some spoke an older version of English, but it wasn’t her place either.

  Galen could do it on his own, without her. All she cared about was that he was coming back to her.

  Today, tomorrow, and for every day of the future.

  She couldn’t wait.

  Chapter 40

  “You’re serious?” she asked him for the third time that night.

  “Yes.” Galen sounded as shocked as she was.

  “None of them put up a fight?”

  He shook his head. “Not one. I walked in there ready to talk, to negotiate and see how everything was going to play out, and they all said that they were ready to serve. That the magic had awoken me for the purpose, and not them.” He shrugged. “Some of them are going to return to sleep.”

  “Really?” This was the first time he’d mentioned that to her. “Why?”

  “I think some of them, including Bollon, never expected to awaken.”

  Kyla nodded at the mention of the previous King. “I guess that makes sense, in a weird sort of way. Live forever in a dream, or life for a short period longer in reality. Something like that?”

  Galen kissed her forehead, keeping her locked in the tight embrace. “The magic will fade eventually, but it will be centuries from now before he is fully turned to stone.”

  “Well, no going back to the deep sleep for you, mister,” she said, overjoyed that the transition of power to Galen had been made permanent without a fuss.

  In fact, as he’d told her, they had also endorsed both Aaric and Jax to be upon the ruling Council as well. Victor and Valla were too young, but both of them were being treated well above their normal position.

  “How could I even dream of such a thing?” he joked. “Not when what I have waiting in reality is so wonderful.”

  Kyla shivered happily at the compliment. “I’m glad you think so, Galen.” She took him by the shoulders and leaned back. “I want you to know that, while I may be your reality now and going forward, that I will never, ever prevent, encourage or otherwise stop you from thinking upon your past and your dreams.”

  The dragon King, her dragon King, gazed upon her face, his lips turned up in a gentle smile.

  “Thank you, my love. I appreciate that more than I think you can ever imagine.”

  She returned the look and the pair of lovers just watched one another for several long moments, reading their thoughts and their souls through the gaze.

  “I want you to know,” Galen said at last. “That while I may have a past that means more to me than most, that I am fully, and completely, yours in the present, and the future. There is no doubt in my mind that the fates have seen fit to grant me another opportunity to be mated, and I intend to make the most of it. With you.”

  She bit her lip in delight, letting herself be wrapped up in his thick arms once more.

  “Thank you, Galen,” she said softly. “You make me so incredibly happy.”

  “Ditto,” he said happily, the two of them giggling over the word like it was an inside joke.

  “Is there anything else you want to tell me about your meeting with the other dragons?” she asked, not expecting much of an answer.

  “Oh, actually there is one other thing,” he said, tapping his chin.

  “Well, what is it?” she pressed when he wouldn’t expand right away. “Don’t leave me hanging like that, mister!”

  Galen smiled. “You might not like it.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “Cause, it’s just going to mean that I’m even more awesome than before, and you’re going to be forced to admit it.”

  Kyla snorted. “Right,” she drawled. “Th
at’ll be the day.”

  “Oh, but it will,” Galen said, grinning wide. “Because I know why you can cast silver magic now.”

  Straightening she looked at him solemnly. “Don’t mess with me, Galen. Not over that.”

  The shifter sobered immediately. “I am not, my love, my everything, my world. Though I stand behind my earlier words regarding it.”

  “Tell me,” she whispered, ever curious about her newfound powers, and how they worked. “How is it that a dragon knew about this? Who did you ask?”

  “I didn’t ask anyone,” Galen said quietly. “They came up to me, and asked if I knew who you were. I said you were my mate, and they said that explained a lot. When I asked for clarification, they pointed to your magic.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well apparently, we’re not the first dragon-mage pairing in the history of our races.”

  Kyla rocked back. “We’re not?” This was the first she’d heard of such a thing.

  “No. Apparently, back in the day, a male mage and a female water dragon got together. The mage loved his mate so much, he willed his magic to change. Eventually, his powers took on the hue of her scales as well. It is said that his offspring bore the same ability, though since none of them ever mated a dragon, it couldn’t be proven.”

  She frowned. “That’s why my magic is silver and my hair has changed color? How is it that we’ve never heard of this before?”

  Galen grinned. “Yes, it is, and that’s the best part. We have heard of them.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Does the name Nimue mean anything to you?” he asked cautiously.

  Kyla gasped in recognition and denial. “No. She was a dragon?”

  Galen nodded. “Indeed.”

  “The Lady of the Lake was a dragon,” she repeated, bits and pieces of the story she’d heard many times falling into place. “So that means…”

  “Yes my dear, Merlin was real. And you are his direct descendant.”

  ***

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  Thank you for reading Claimed by the Dragon King. This concludes the High House Draconis Series. If you enjoyed the read, please consider leaving a review, so that others may enjoy the story as well.