The Lost Goddess, A War On Mates

Chapter 11

“Drake, you need to start taking these courtship offers seriously! You are turning 916 and still have not been able to ascend the throne because of your constant refusal to find a queen. I am starting to get worried my boy…she is not coming back to us.” King Lucius sighed at his son and his refusal of another high-ranking vampire. It had been going on for hundreds of years but before Drake at least entertained the idea of picking one he liked and eventually would love. He never began to love any so King Lucius had let it go knowing it was important he love his queen and not marry for simple status. 

Sadly, once they had found Aeris, Drake had his mind set on her being his wife once she was twenty-one. He would turn her and they would be together forever if she agreed. I had no problem with that, but now she was gone. Drake was getting up there in age and I did not have many older subjects for him to choose from. Younger vampires were typically greedy and impulsive, almost like a toddler. It was normal, in their nature, they tended to take a few hundred years to grow out of those thoughts and become more cultured and worldly. He would not get along with anyone younger than 650 years old. Not many vampires stayed available that long and chose to settle near their early 300’s. Drake has always been a restless sort with love but now he was fighting moving on.

“I will not entertain any of those women or men, they do not love me for me just the power I will yield…Aeris was perfect. She loved me without ever knowing I would gain immense powers someday. She hated me working as a prince all the time. She told me once, that we should run away and leave the kingdom to you for a few hundred more years.” He chuckled sadly at the memory. King Lucius smiled at the thought of his wild little daughter drifting about the world experiencing everything they could not give her like warm sunny days or sunrises. She would have made a fine queen with her insurmountable love and sense of right and wrong.

Standing and walking over to his son. He turned him gently to face him and took his shoulders, “Drake, I know you love her. I will not force you to move on or to pick any man or woman to be your life partner, but I must warn you that I need to hand the throne to you soon and I know when I did not have your mother while I ruled the stress was more than I could bare. I made impulsive and rash decisions. It almost cost us the coven a few different times. When I met your mother, she grounded me and would remind me to be level  headed to keep our people safe.” A small tear slid down his cheek reminiscing in his late queen. “I just want you happy, it’s been five years my boy. You have not smiled or laughed since she left, I miss that. The castle is tense, our people are afraid, some want to leave for a different coven which has not happened since the great war between the hunters and vampires 3,000 years ago. They are losing faith in our ability to take care of them.”

Drake cringed and nodded sadly slumping his shoulders. A small sob escaped him at the thought of moving forward without his fiancé. King Lucius immediately broke down and pulled his son in for a tight hug. Drake cried out and bawled for the first time since his mother died. Silent tears fell down the king’s face as he could feel the intense pain of losing the love of his life. One fleeting thought made the king squeeze his son tighter, ‘He is never going to be the same without her, he can never love again without her blessing. My poor son.” The tiniest groan escaped the kings clenched lips. He could not save his son no matter what from this pain.

After what felt like hours, Drake gently pulled away from his father with a watery eyed smile.

“Okay father, I will meet with some of the willing vampires for courtship meetings…for my people. I will not stop looking for Aeris, but I will let her go for now. If I do not find her by the time she is supposed to be twenty-one I will stop the search assuming…” He sobbed out again fresh tears sliding down his cheeks,” …she does not want to be found.” The king nodded solemnly and hugged his son once again.

“Come Drake, we must let the people know of this news, so they are not surprised in the coming years of your courtships and the search for Aeris. Would you like to clean up first?”

Drake shook his head no. “Summon the coven, they will know of my sorrow anyway. They are my family and I have neglected them long enough.”

The king smiled, grabbed Drake by his cheeks and leaned into his forehead. “You are the leader of this coven and will make a fine king someday, they love you and will understand your pain for Aeris. You have been strong in front of them long enough. Allow them to know you are still there emotionally and will be present for them. All will be well within these walls.”

Within the hour all the members had assembled for dinner in the dining hall. Drake stood from his seat acknowledging the coven. All of them had looked upon their prince with looks of worry, sympathy, and love. They waited patiently for their beloved prince to speak as he took some steadying breaths.

Clearing his throat, he spoke clearly and boomed throughout the hall for everyone to hear, “My friends, my family, I am here to have an important discussion with you.” He paused and saw everyone listening intently, “Me and the king have discussed the search for princess Aeris in great length today. We have both agreed that I cannot wait for her to return any longer and will…” He paused again taking a shuddering breath as fresh tears spilled breaking the coven’s heart, “I will start courting eligible vampires to rule by my side. No one will be chosen based on status but my love for them and their genuine love for me and my people, my family.” He smiled down at the coven with a sad smile. Everyone had mixed emotions running through the crowd. Clearing his throat he began again, “We will continue searching for the princess until her twenty-first birthday, by then I can only assume that she…willingly left us, her coven, her family.” He broke down into sobs and the coven stood alarmed.

One small girl near the head of the table ran to the prince and tackled him into a hug, tears streaming down her face.

“Please do not cry prince Drake! We love you so much and she loved you so much, she may have left but she will come back one day. She would not leave us like that and never come back.” She looked up at him tears brimming her eyes. He caressed her hair and hugged her back. She was a younger member only about 400 years old he believed. She was turned when she was only nine years old due to contracting smallpox and her attending physician was a vampire. He drank her blood and felt sorry for the poor girl. He turned her afterwards. He was executed later for turning such a young soul. Children were sacred and no one under eighteen was meant to be turned not fully able to understand the consequences. She was petite, a good friend and an excellent playmate for Aeris before she left. I believe her name was Yuki. Each member of the coven decided to follow Yuki and came to hug their broken-hearted prince. Many were giving gentle words of love and encouragement for him, for Aeris, and for the safe return and loving care of the princess. He could not help but smile at his people.

After all his members hugged him, he beamed. “I love every one of you and I will do better to be there for you all as you have been here for me. I am so sorry I have been emotionally absent for you all and I will rectify my behavior to be your strength in times of need.” Everyone broke out into cheers and then continued forward with dinner. All the vampires enjoyed different food that used blood cooked into it. Blood foods gave them a sense of humanity. It was a special marinade that a vampire chef made one day, and the coven loved it. It consisted of the food item being mixed with either straight blood or with a special blood puree that would soak into a food item. It gave them a sense of humanity. It also made it less hostile when other races came to visit. Drake sat down and for the first time in a long time he ate with his coven. The room was filled with love and warmth. He basked in the feeling before the sun started to rise and everyone went to their bed chambers for the day.

“Good night son, I will not start inviting any suitors until next month to give you some time to get comfortable again. “

Drake smiled sadly. “Thank you, father, I love you.”

The king beamed and patted his son’s shoulder, “I love you to, your mother would be proud.”

Starting a new school year, was exciting. I was a Junior now. I immediately, woke up and put on a pair of jeans and a tank top. Lately I have been feeling on fire, but Jake said I did not have a fever. It was odd but I went about my days. I was slowly becoming happy in the pack even with the members still treating me badly.

I was listening to music all the time because the boys gave me a phone and they put over a thousand songs on it for me to listen to. They also showed me how to use it. I liked to listen to this cool type of music called electro swing. It felt nice and made me dance. They also gave me wireless headphones and I hid them behind my hair a lot. Smiling and getting dressed I hummed to the tune on my phone. It was called Next To You and it made me feel whole. I liked to listen to a lot of songs on repeat. I also finally got some freedom back with the phone. I did not feel alone and afraid anymore. I ran out of my room and down the steps outside bypassing the kitchen. ‘I bet Lucas is in there.’ I cringed at his insistence to drive me to school.

Running down the trail I made it to school in ten minutes flat. I found the music also motivated me to run faster and be faster. I smiled to myself and went to my first class. I was treated about the same by the teachers but most of the students seemed too busy to notice my existence lately. I was feeling better about the pack. It was not ideal but what could a slave hope for. As I walked down the hall humming to myself I suddenly tripped.

I landed face first into the cold tile and groaned. Standing up I looked around and saw a bunch of girls laughing at me. I smiled at them, “Sorry, I guess I was not paying attention to where I was walking. I will be better next time.”

Turning away one yelled out, “How does it feel to be the pack slave and the pack slut?” They all burst out laughing as I stiffened and turned around.

“Excuse me?” I was thoroughly confused.

“Oh, we all know you f**k those three warriors. You sleep in the same room with them all, and trying to seduce the next Alpha? You really are a nasty slut.” They all snickered as I paled.

I tried walking away when she roughly slammed me into a locker shoving my face hard into it and gripping my hair. “You need to stop trying with the Alpha, there are plenty of other guys you can w***e yourself out to, you fat slut!” She was seething with rage when the bell rang.

She let go and walked away with her friends. I slumped to the ground shaking. 'Was sleeping in their room wrong? I felt safe there. Maybe I relied on them too much. Did they expect more from me if I stayed in their room after so long? Was I sending Lucas the wrong message?’ Many thoughts began to jumble and run through my mind when I was brought out of them by Mr. Steele.

“Aeris are you okay?” He moved my hair from my face and wiped some tears I had not realized were shedding. I shook my head biting my lip. He offered his hand and a calming smile. “Come with me.” I took it and walked with him. He loomed over me and when we made it to his room, he sat me in a desk and handed me a piece of pencil and paper. “You leave when you want to and not until you are ready. Work out some frustrations on the paper, okay?” I gave a slight nod, and he went back to his desk and started to paint. I turned on my instrumental music and just closed my eyes and started to sketch.

After an hour or so I opened my eyes and saw my paper full. My eyes widened when I drew myself surrounded by fire and my hair and eyes seemed to radiate power. I ran my hand over it because it felt unreal. How did I feel so enraged in my drawing when I did not feel like that right now?

“Wow…” was all Mr. Steele said behind me and I nodded to him. He sat in front of me, I felt like I had a fever again and I drifted in and out feeling dizzy. I laid my head down and Mr. Steele started to gently rub my head. Eyes closed I leaned into his touch sighing lightly. The last thing I heard was a gasp. Everything went silent and I blacked out.

Mr. Steele looked at Aeris confused on how anyone could hate such an adorable and talented little human. She seemed to be sick from how out of it she had been while drawing and when he checked on her again the drawing was finished and looked almost like a demon rising from the ashes. It was impressive and said a lot about her current feelings. She thought she was bad; she was not even close to anything bad. He sat down in front of her and watched her lay her head down. Rubbing her head, he tried to comfort her. She lifted it with her eyes closed and suddenly her hair was a gleaming white and her eyes opened. I gasped in shock but did not move. She smiled and my heart melted. She was beautiful. She sat up and got up from the desk. I leaned back watching her cautiously. She came over and straddled my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. I stiffened and lifted my hands over my head. I did not want to touch her inappropriately.

“Drew, thank you for being nice to me…” she mumbled into my chest.

“Ah, you are welcome Aeris…” He awkwardly looked away from her and shifted uncomfortable. She looked up at him and lifted her eyes. She gently cupped his face and forced him to look at her. Staring into her eyes Drew felt lost. He wanted to draw them while they glowed. He lowered his arms and held her cheeks lightly.

“You are so exquisite. They have such tiny flecks of yellow and orange they just add to the red. You mesmerize me…” He slowly leaned forward and Aeris moved kissing his cheek. Turning bright red, he coughs looking down and away. She pulls away and smiles. Standing up she grabs her drawing and leaves still glowing. Drew was completely confused and started to draw her eyes with watercolors, then acrylics, next oil paints, even charcoal pencils. Every attempt was never good enough for him. He was becoming obsessive over her eyes. He stayed in the art studio for hours before giving up and going home.

Walking down the halls she slowly became hotter and hotter as she walked to the gym showers.  She undresses, puts on ice cold water and steps in allowing it to cascade down her body. She sits on the floor and curls into her knees against the tiled wall with her head bent up towards the ceiling while she pants lightly. It was night fall before her eyes went back to normal and she finally woke up.

“What in the hell…” She stood up shivering and confused as to why she was in the shower. Turning some hot water on she warmed up and then started to head home. The moon was out so Aeris basked in the ambiance it emanated. Once she made it back to the pack house, she entered through the back kitchen door. Rushing up to the boys room they shared with her, she walks in and silently closes the door behind her.

“Where in the f**k have you been!” Basil screamed at me from across the room. I flinched away from him. His eyes glazed over. I assume he told Jake and Adrian. I heard loud footsteps only a few minutes later and the door slammed open. Both looked extremely angry. Fear settled into my gut, and I stepped away from my friends.

Jake yelled, “Well, where were you!?” and Adrian sat silently with his arms crossed over his chest. I flinched again and fidgeted.

“I, um, had a bad day at school so I went to the art studio…” I could not stop shaking and my voice wavered heavily.

“We got you a phone, so not only could you get to us, but so we could get to you Aeris! We called and texted a million times…we were scared to death.” Basil was pacing and screaming now.

I backed away and kept my head down as tears formed. I whispered out, “I am sorry…”

“I am sorry is not good enough!” Jake said sternly. I looked up at all of them and bit my lip hard. I ran out of the room and headed to my attic space. I knew I should have just stayed here, where I belonged. I will never be good enough for anyone.

All the boys sighed and left her be. Adrian fidgeted and kept glancing at the door. “Do you think maybe that was too harsh?”

“What else are we supposed to do just let her scare us half to death? No, we did not do anything wrong here. She will be fine. Tomorrow we will all talk it out a bit better and she will stay here with us.” Jake nodded to himself.

“What if she doesn’t want to come back down?” Basil mumbled dejectedly.

Jake sighed and ruffled his hair, “That’s something to handle tomorrow, Basil.”  They all nodded and went off to bed. They all tossed and turned in a fitful sleep without each other or Aeris in bed for comfort.

Lucas had tried to catch Aeris all day and he increasingly became angry that he could not find her. After a while he gave up and just went home after school. She was not home either when he arrived. Adonis started to whine in concern, but Lucas just went to the gym to blow off steam. After three hours of breaking a punching bag he left and showered in his room. A knock came to his door, he yelled enter, “Hey Alpha, can I keep you company?” A scantily dressed she-wolf came into the room and shut the door.

Lucas growled and Adonis came forward. “Get out, I will not be bedding any whores today…” She scurried out at the command not trying her luck. He sighed rubbing his face and cringing at the image of Aeris popping into his head. He wanted to f**k the w***e but found out it was useless; all it did was leave him unsatisfied and pinning for Aeris even more. It was becoming ridiculous. She would not even be his friend, never hanging out or allowing him to say more than a hello and how is your day. Lucas flopped back into bed and laid awake staring at the useless ceiling.

The current Alpha was pacing in his office as he noticed his slave was becoming happier and healthier. Eventually she would leave and tell someone of her mistreatment. He needed to break her more so she could never leave. Killing her was suspicious so now was the time to call in an old favor. 

Ringing the number, he dialed up his old friend,” Hello Alpha, what’s the pleasure of getting a call from you?” The other end sounded smug and eager.

Sighing the Alpha whispered, “I need a favor, a girl is becoming a problem in my pack, and I need her set straight.”

The other line went silent, the Alpha had thought he hung up, “Now Alpha, you know I am a retired warrior, my price is not cheap. I am sure someone else could do it, but I want some details on this favor before I say yes?”

The Alpha sighed, “Name any price and it will get paid. I need a certain pack slave to be broken and put in her place.”

“I see, and one of your own cannot do this because?” The other line sounded intrigued.

“I want the best at breaking sweet little things to take on the task. I can guarantee you will break her by any means necessary. I do not need it done right now but before she turns eighteen it has to be done. I do not want her to get the idea that freedom is a choice by then.”  Listening intently for an answer the Alpha holds his breath.

“Hm, I will do this particular job for free Alpha. I have a great idea for your little slave. She is something exquisite you know.” The Alpha could hear the smirk on his friend’s face.

“Very well, just get it done and keep me updated.” He growled out.

“As you wish Alpha.” The other line went dead, the Alpha sighed rubbing his temples. He now just had to hide her for the next two peace treaty festivals, everything would be fine.