Dragon Alpha's Special Mate

32. What Is Balance?

Sophia

As I slowly open my eyes, I sit up quickly, expecting the pending hangover to hit me hard. I blink my eyes a few times to look around the room, the memories of where I am and who took me here flooding my mind. I toss the blanket off me quickly, realizing I’m not hungover at all. I feel good, actually. Very well rested, in fact. How long was I out for?

Before anything else happens, I test my connection with Ax, hoping to reach him now that I’m alone. Unfortunately, while I can very much feel my connection to Auriel, I can’t reach Ax.

There’s a knock on my door, and before I can react, a tall, lanky woman walks into my room.

“Logan’s expecting you for breakfast.” The skinny redhead tells me, keeping her head facing the ground, not daring to look up at me. “There’s a dress for you in the closet he requested you to wear.”

She waves her arm to the side, and I see the door she’s pointing at. I look down at my clothes, realizing I’m in different ones than I wore before. Someone changed me into these pajamas. I shutter, ignoring that thought as I walk to the closet.

I open the door to see just one dress in there, a long black dress that looks more like it’s fit for a cocktail party rather than a breakfast. I swallow hard as I walk toward it, changing into it. Auriel mentioned not to rile up Logan, and I’ll have to play by his games until I can figure out a way out of this. I’ll survive this for my sweet Ax. He’s probably so worried about me.

I step back out of the room and find the woman still standing there.

“What’s your name?” I ask her, and she keeps her eyes trained on the floor as she answers me.

“Yanda.”

“Well, Yanda, let’s go see what Logan wants from me this morning.”

She walks me through the corridors, and I try to memorize the hallways we take, knowing that I could potentially use this knowledge to escape at some point. After the fifth or sixth turn, I get mixed up and have to mindlessly follow this girl who doesn’t ever look up until we’re in a large room. The scent of freshly cooked food wafts into my nostrils, and I basically float into the room.

“Ah, thank you for bringing her, Yanda. You’re dismissed.”

“Yes, sir.” She says with a curtsy before leaving the room, the large door slamming behind her.

“I’m sure you’re very confused by all of this.” He tells me as he stands up and pulls my chair out for me. I timidly approach him and sit at the chair as he pushes it in for me.

I refuse to answer him as he sits next to me, reaching toward the middle of the table and making my plate for me.

“Don’t worry, dear. I’ll explain everything as we eat.” He finishes putting food on my plate and pours me a glass of water before he starts taking a few bites of food. I look at the food in front of me, deciding if I should trust it or not. I guess he could have poisoned me while I was passed out, so there’s no reason to starve while here.

“I’m sure by now you realize how very special you are. Your father, Ryder, left at a tumultuous time a long time ago. He was granted permission to roam on the streets of your world in exchange for a very special person. You. His first daughter.”

“I’m not his to give away.” I snap at him, causing Logan to chuckle to himself.

“I see the two of you share a sharp tongue. I care not what you think. You are mine, and I will have what was promised. See, without me, Auriel would have never found her way to me.”

I stare blankly at him, not sure what to say to him.

“Didn’t Auriel tell you how you came to be with her?”

“Yes, but she didn’t mention that I would be promised to another.”

Logan laughed again before taking a long drink of his water and staring back at me.

“Of course, she didn’t. She didn’t know, if she did, she wouldn’t have agreed. She cared far too much about finding Avian; she wouldn’t agree to be your dragon if she knew you had already been promised to me. Your father is a demon, and he made a deal with me—your life for his freedom. You were always destined to be mine, but I wanted you to be stronger. So, when Auriel needed a host, I helped her find you.”

How can he have so much power to will her into me? Auriel mentioned she took matters into her own hands. She also mentioned that I have a dark aspect to my lineage that allowed her to enter my body as a dragon would. So that’s what this is.

“What are you…” I finally ask, scared to know the answer.

“Oh, nothing more than a very powerful demon. Well, the demon leader. And you’re my bride. My very powerful bride.”

"Why do you need me?"

"Because if I'm going to bring order and balance back to the world, I'll need you."

"What balance?"

Before he answers, I feel a chill creep over my skin, and from the corner, I see M step out of the shadows and look at me.

"I've been locked away, and it's time for the world to feel peace and order. Eleanor Shaw got far too lucky. When she sent me away, I couldn't keep tabs on the dragons that appeared. Then the Dragon Gods and Goddesses gave her daughter Syry. What a slap in the face that was. When it was time for more balance, Marina Shaw defied them, and instead of obliterating her, they rewarded her. She should have died when refusing to give up Kai. But, once again, there was no true balance. However, the universe can try to create balance. That’s why Maxson was cursed with the Zinnalite dragon because in destroying that power, it had to go somewhere. They should have let Kai die with it. Then, Maxson wouldn’t be so powerful. There would have been balance again. But no. The Dragon Gods and Goddesses sent Avian to protect Maxson, giving him a dragon with scales that will never be harmed. Giving him a Dragon God to be his dragon. One that will never run out of energy. And now, Auriel is here, with you through other powers—the start to bringing balance. The universe was so unbalanced it found a way to bring me back. You being with Logan is the start to an evening out of the power balance."

I stared at him in disbelief, not understanding what he was saying. Not getting why I’m the one who has to pay the price for everything the Shaws did. How can I bring balance?

“I’m sorry, Sophia. This is our fault. We never thought something like this was possible. We never knew how unbalanced we made the world. I should have never come to you.”

I stared around the room, finally landing on Logan.

“What does this mean for me?”

“I’m glad you asked. You will go through a series of tests, and when you come out of it victorious, we will create balance in the world again. Starting with the dragons.”

I swallowed hard, vowing to myself I would never help him.

“Now, eat up. Training starts soon, and we need you to be ready to go to the pit.”

There’s a knock at the door, and I see the door open, with Yanda standing there and letting my father in. I stare up at him, hope blossoming in my chest until he starts to speak.

“Maxson is here.”

I quickly stand up, shooting the chair out from behind me until Logan puts his hand on my shoulder and shoves me back in the chair.

“Good. I’ll speak with him shortly.”

My heart races quickly as Logan's hand on me starts to feel relaxed and soothing. I stare at him, quickly ripping his hand off me, severing the comforting feeling, and glaring at him.

“I’ll never be yours.”

“Oh, sweet Sophia, you’ve always been mine.”

I swallow hard at the chilling words and turn back toward where my father just strode out of the room as if he didn’t deliver me to this awful fate.