by Ava Mason
Elizabeth, Guardian of Dragons
A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance
Ava Mason
To my readers
Because of you, my whole existence is validated
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Please
Reach Me
1
Knee bouncing, I pulled at the string attached to the bottom of my dress and wrestled with my inner demons. I’d saved a woman who despised me, beat me to the ground and rubbed my face in her filth. And yet, I couldn’t save the man I loved.
The Queen’s words tumbled over the table, doing cartwheels and flips, trying to garner my attention. But my thoughts were on her words from a different day.
It had only been three days, but they felt like a lifetime ago.
I made a promise and immediately failed. To her. To my clan. To my guys.
I’d promised to lead and guide them. To protect them.
Protect.
Air whistled through my teeth as the silent word on my tongue made it feel thick and foreign. It was loaded with promise and assurance. To protect him with my dying breath.
And I couldn’t even keep it once.
Avery still refused to speak, or to consider staying with the team. My clan was feeling angry, sad, and lost. And a little bit impatient.
I looked down, realizing that I’d yanked the string on my dress so hard that I had pulled out the hem.
I heard Easton’s name and my head snapped up. “Huh?”
Eyebrow raised, the Queen answered. “I thought that would get your attention.”
I rubbed my face. “I’m sorry.” Ignoring the royal figure in front of me was very rude. And probably deadly.
She rubbed her fingers across her lips, studying me. We were sitting at a table in her suite. Like for reals, I was actually in the Queen’s section of the castle, a place where I imagined she practically invited no one. Except for Gerard, of course. And the fifty other soldiers that guarded the wing. And James. And probably a long trail of lovers. And maybe the rest of her family, if she had any.
So. Yeah. Anyway. I was here and I guess that made me special. Did I really want to be all that special? No, I did not.
I looked around, noting that her office was lined with old and presumptuous looking books. I’d seen a couple of titles when I’d arrived. Shit, like, Theory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and, Power, Order, Violence and Justice. I even saw what appeared to be an original copy of Moby Dick and wondered if she’d actually read that thing. If she’d actually read any of those crazy ass titled books.
My eyes drifted to the door attached to her office and I mused about what could be beyond this room.
Was it her bedroom? Did she ever bring guys back here? Did she bring them through this office first to impress them with her smart books, then drag them back to some enormously soft bed to make passionate love? I eyed her body. Not that she would have to drag any guy anywhere. She probably had a million dudes lined up to pretend to be interested in nuclear magnetic resonance just to see that tight bod under her fancy clothes.
How many lovers did she have?
I pinched my leg. I had no fucking right to wonder about that.
Her sigh caught my attention again and I looked up, my cheeks blushing. I was doing a horrible job of even pretending that I was listening.
She stood up and began to walk towards the door I’d been eyeing earlier. “Come with me, Elizabeth.”
Oh no. She’d called me Elizabeth. Was I in trouble?
Standing up, I walked behind her, just a step. I wasn’t sure what protocol was when walking with the Queen, even though she’d declared me a sister of sorts. My upbringing was so impressed on me that I couldn’t help but show her respect by letting her go ahead of me.
She stopped and so did I. She turned, her hands folded across her chest. She had a scowl on her face.
Bad. That was bad.
“I don’t have cooties, you know.”
I shrugged. “Well, I didn’t know. I haven’t been instructed on the inoculation of Queens.” Then I forced myself to smile and grabbed her hand, tucking it through mine. “I’m sorry. I’ve had a shi-crappy week.”
She leaned into me, just a little bit and it gave me a warm glowy feeling. Were we becoming friends?
“Tell me, what’s going on?” Even though she was leaning onto me, giving the impression that I was in charge, she had a way of leading me in a way that was so natural, so gentle and yet, so compelling that I couldn’t do anything else but lead-follow her. I wondered if she’d read how to do that in one of her fancy books or if it just came naturally to her.
I tucked my hair behind my ear. “Well, you know about the battle with Sophia. And that someone tried to kill me.” Her hold on my arm tightened just slightly. “And then Avery came home from some super secret mission that no one will talk about.” We were at the door now and she’d grabbed the handle. Instead of opening right away, it made a whirring noise and a red laser scanned her hand. Then, there was a click and she pulled it open. The door didn’t lead to her bedroom but light filtered in from the outside and I braced myself for a blast of cold air. “And now he says he wants to…” I stared at the landscape around me. “Holy Queen Mary of Scots, Batman!”
Instead of a wintry wonderland, we stepped out into the most magical garden I had ever seen in my life. It spread for acres, lined with colorful flowers and delicate trees. I thought the Botanical gardens were amazing, but this blew my mind. First of all, it wasn’t even cold. There wasn’t a single snowflake anywhere. Butterflies chased each other through air which smelled liked honeysuckle.
“Keep going.” The sides of her lips were turned upwards, just a tiny bit, like maybe she was proud of her garden.
“And… and. What was I talking about?” I was lead-following her towards rows of purple, pink and red flowers.
“Avery.”
“Oh yes.” I took in a deep breath. Suddenly, the thing with Avery didn’t seem like something I should be sharing. It felt too personal somehow. Besides, she had much bigger problems than my love life. “I’m sorry. What was it you were trying to tell me?”
She paused for a moment, a look of concern on her face. “I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time with your clan.”
I wanted to protest but she stopped me.
“I know that this country, the world of dragons, is…” She spread her hand out, thinking before she settled on a word. “Different. You still have a lot to learn about the intricacies of our magic and binding power. Plus, you’ve been dealing with everything that has been thrown at you since the death of your parents. It’s a lot to take in.”
I took in a deep breath, pushing away the suffocating feeling that threatened to choke out tears.
“But you’ve always been an Alpha, Lizzy. You’re still a leader. A strong one.” The side of her lip turned up, just enough to convey her trust in me. “And I highly doubt that the warrior who took down one of the most dangerous dragons in the kingdom can’t figure out how to handle her clan.”
I gulped down a breath. The Queen had so much trust in me. So did all of my guys. I couldn’t let them down. I pressed my lips into a firm line and shook my head. I would figure this out. I would keep the team together.
Because even though Avery hadn’t said the words himself in a ceremony, he was mine. I would show him that he still belonged, that he was still loved and needed, no matter what had happened.
“What did my dad do?”
The question spilled from my lips from nowhere, surprising even me, and yet, it was the question that had pressed at the back of my mind since I’d met the guys. Her eyes widened and she turned away, but pulled me deeper into her garden.
“There wasn’t one thing in particular that your father did. It was anything and everything that he did. In the way that he looked at you, as if you were the most important thing in the world. He demanded your respect but gave it in return. He would do anything you asked, as long as it didn’t go against his moral code. Also, there were some rumors that he had taken down some ruthless killers.” She looked at me. “Wolves.”
I sucked in a breath. That he would take out wolves in favor of the dragons would be seen as a betrayal among the pack.
“Except he would never admit to it.” She smiled, touching her lips, as if remembering something. “His love of chocolate was probably the only thing that could rival his modesty.”
I grinned. He loved chocolate as much as I did.
She shrugged. “He had a particular way of bringing out the best in you. He made you want to earn his respect, for him to be proud of you.”
I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. The sun’s golden rays warmed my skin and I wanted to throw off my dress and run around in it. I was beginning to tire of the snow and was happy that the spring was coming soon. I opened my hand as if I could catch the rays in my hand and rub it over me like lotion.
I sighed. “Did you ever date my dad?”
She burst out laughing, jerking out of my arm to lean over.
“Gah, what the hell? Why is that so funny?” I raised my eyebrow at her, unamused, even though her laugher was musical and welcoming.
Holding her hand to her chest, she took in a deep breath. She grappled at me, looking for my arm again and I pulled her up. Her smile was bright and carefree and I wished I could see it more often. The Queen lived life to the fullest. Whether it was in happiness or seriousness, she did it all the way.
“Heavens, no. I had a little bit of a crush at first, of course. All the girls at University did. But it didn’t matter. I wasn’t allowed to date anyone, not just him.” She waved her hand. “Anyway, once he met your mother, his eyes were for her and her alone. He never even looked at anyone else after that.” A shadow passed over her face. She grew serious and I knew that talk of my dad was over. “Elizabeth, you know that the magic of my Kingdom, my magic, is tied to the artifacts. You also know that I suspect Andre has been collecting them.”
I nodded.
She waved her arm around us. “This garden is something I created as a child.”
Holy crap. My mouth dropped open. “You were a kid when you did this?” And I thought my childhood was magical.
“I was about three when it started growing. It just suddenly happened. I didn’t mean to do it, but my magic just spilled over.” She held her finger out and a butterfly landed on it. I stared at it in wonder. “Of course, it wasn’t as big as this. It was only a few flowers. But as my magic grew, so did the garden.”
Suddenly the garden came alive around me, the buzzing of bees was louder and the flowers swayed, basking in the sun. It was if it wanted to show off the beauty of its owner.
“For as long as I’ve lived, I’ve maintained this garden effortlessly.” She frowned. “But lately, the flowers have begun to die. And it’s becoming harder and harder to keep up. I used to do it naturally, without any effort. But now, I have to think about it to maintain it.” Her face was sad; she couldn’t bear this fact. Something that had clung to her very existence, her childhood, was fading away.
We were headed towards the edge of the garden and I realized that several rows of flowers were in different stages of dying. Even some of the delicate trees bowed over, as if in pain. She turned to look into my face. “I share this garden with only those in whom I have ultimate trust.”
Suddenly my throat was dry and I knew that she’d brought me here for a reason. Of course, she’d probably already asked my help but I wasn’t listening earlier. I tried to make up for it. “What can I do to help?”
She bit her lip, considering my words. “I need a spy. Someone to watch Andre for me.”
I nodded, considering her words. “And you think one of my guys can help you?”
She stopped, pausing, and it made her next words heavy. “Actually, I need Sophia to do it.”
I choked on my spit. “What?”
“You’re her Alpha now. She must obey you.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like I have any plans to order her around. Especially to spy on her own boss.”
“Andre is more than a boss to her. He’s raised her since her father died.”
I sucked in a breath. Holy shit, seriously? “And you want me to tell her to spy on her surrogate father?”
“She’s perfectly positioned to watch him. You are her Alpha now. What did you think this meant? That you’d be able to avoid her forever?”
“No, but I thought I’d just run interference between her and the guys. Let her live her life as normal, otherwise.”
She frowned. “That would be very… disappointing. I had much higher hopes for you.”
Scowling, I walked deeper into the garden, leaving her behind. I studied the intricate patterns of the garden, noting that some of the flowers were so complicated, they probably were unique in the world. It wasn’t necessarily that I was afraid of Sophia, or averse to telling her what to do. It was the opposite. I was afraid of myself around her. Could I keep my anger in check?
The smell of a rabbit passed through my nose and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Oh what fun this little wolf could have in this garden. I turned back towards her.
“I’m assuming you need information as to exactly where Andre is keeping the artifacts.”
She shrugged. “If it is Andre. Right now, it’s only a suspicion. It’s hard to watch him because he’s in charge of my Special Ops. Plus, he’s very careful. If it is him, we need to know whether he is destroying the artifacts or hiding them for his own reasons. If he’s hiding them, he’s suppressing their power somehow.”
I nodded, eyeing the dying rows of flowers. “Ok, I’ll ask her. Or command her to do it. Whichever is necessary.”
She smiled. “I knew I could count on you.” She hesitated a moment, biting her lip. “There is something else. Somehow Andre found out that we were meeting. He has requested a meeting with you also.”
I frowned. “Why?”
She shrugged. “He said something about a missing file.”
I sucked in a breath. Damn. I waved her off. “I’ll meet with him another day.” That was definitely a meeting I could put off. Forever, if possible.
“Actually, that’s part of what I need from you. Maybe you can turn the tables on him. Get some information from him. In fact, I need you to meet with him.”
I sighed. Of course. Being a sister to the Queen was never going to be easy. I grinned. “Yes, my Queen.”
Scowling, she took my arm and we began to walk back towards her office. “If you don’t stop calling me Queen in private, I’ll have to put a magic spell over you.” She eyed my hair. “I heard that Christian prefers your hair pink.”
I sucked in a breath and put a hand to my head. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I would.” She spoke with such certainty, I had no doubts that she would.
“Fine, Aria.”
“Oh!” She grinned. “I didn’t realize how nice that would feel.”
Smiling, I reached the door and stopped. Holding her arm and looking into her earnest eyes, her walls were down again and they radiated sincerity. And then I wondered if she had any lovers at all. Or friends. There was something about her, just like my dad, that made me fiercely protective of her. I wanted her respec
t. “Quee— Aria.” I was too used to calling her The Queen. As in THE Queen. It would take a while to get used to calling her anything else. She was the only Queen I knew, after all. “I’m prepared to do whatever you need. Just say the word.”
She studied my face. “There is something else I need. But I’m not sure if you’re the right person to ask.”
I frowned. “Well, if it has to do with the artifacts, I have a suspicion that my team may be up to the task. Despite any deficiency I bring.”
She frowned. “Don’t underestimate yourself, Lizzy. You’re just now coming into your powers. And you just defeated one of the most powerful shifters I know. And I’m not talking about Sophia.”
I raised my eyebrow. “Huh?” Did one say ‘huh’ to a Queen? And who had I defeated, if it wasn’t Sophia?
She pointed at my chest. “Yourself.”
I sucked in a breath. “How do you…?”
“I am not an idiot. I know everything and everyone. I knew the power that ring held when I gave it to you. I warned you. I told you it was powerful.” She tilted her head. “And you chose mercy instead of vengeance. That says a lot about you. You’re just like your dad.”
I sucked in a breath and my nose tingled with unspent tears. That was the highest compliment anyone had ever paid me, and my body hummed with her praise.
She nodded. “There are two artifacts I need. One is out in the open for anyone to see. I need you to trade it for a look-alike so that no one will know it is gone. If I take it out in the open, then Andre will know and may push his plans forward.”
I nodded. “Consider it done.”
“The other one, I need it taken quietly and kept safe. A thief will have to take it, not an army. And you’re not going to like where it’s stored.”
“Absolutely.” I took in a deep breath. “Just tell me what I need to do.”
