The Alpha's Drakonian Mate

CHAPTER 4: TEMPORARY TRUCE

Savannah’s POV

I groaned as I opened my eyes slowly and flinched at the bright light. Hmm… Did I sleep in again? 

Then I stiffened as the events of the day flashed through my mind. The arrival of the Dragon prince, the meeting with him and his claim that I was the long lost drakonian princess who was betrothed to him because of a blood pact between our ancestors. For a moment I hoped it was all just a dream; no, a nightmare and I was just waking up now. But then my vision cleared, and I met the concerned eyes of my mate. And near him stood the devil with a slight smirk on his stupid face. Not a nightmare then…

Even though my first instinct was to deny his claims, I couldn’t do it because I knew it was the truth. The birthmark in his hand that was the replica of mine was proof enough, but more than that, my instincts told me that whatever he told was true. I guess I had known from the day Nadia mentioned the Drakonian realm that I was connected to it. I could just feel it…

Now, how was I supposed to get out of this blood pact thing? There must be a way, because going with the stupid dragon was not even an option. I just got my man back and there was no way I would let anything come between us anymore. Fate really loved to play with us, right?

I looked at Tristan, who heaved a sigh of relief before straightening up from his crouched position.

“Don’t worry about anything, princess. As long as I am alive, I won’t let anything or anyone take you from me. Just relax and let me take care of it. I would take you to our room now. Take rest, sweetheart.”

I nodded at him, feeling drained all of a sudden. A sleep sounds heavenly and it may just be the thing I need before I could function properly and find a way to deal with this new drama.

Tristan helped me stand up, and I was about to walk away when Xavier stood in front of me with a smirk. Now what? 

I glared at him, feeling the urge to wipe the stupid smirk off his face. The nerve of this guy! When a pregnant woman wants a break, you dare to stand in her way? If he hadn’t been a bloody prince, I would have already rearranged his face to that of the pig he was!

“What do you think you are doing?” Tristan snarled, not even bothering with niceties anymore, and I approved his attitude. There was no need to be nice to the damn lizard!

“Where do you think you are going?” Xavier asked me, ignoring Tristan. The nerve!

“My room!” I snarled at him. “Now move out of the way before I demonstrate the powers of a Drakonian princess!”

“Not so fast, princess. I am not letting you stay in his room,” he declared, pointing at Tristan.

“What do you mean by letting me?” A ball of fire formed in my hands even before I made a conscious decision to do it and I realised it was his own power. Would fire work against dragons, anyway? With that thought, I manipulated the fire, and it changed to a globe of water that shimmered with power. There, this would do well for you, you f*****g lizard!

“How wonderful! You already have your powers,” he said, looking at the orb of magical water in my hands, looking none too bothered by it. In fact, he looked fascinated with my powers when I wanted him scared. Just freaking nice!

I contemplated throwing the water orb that he was watching with such fascination, to his ugly face, just to see what would happen. But I was snapped out of my thoughts when he continued speaking.

“Like it or not, you are my betrothed and I am not letting you sleep in another man’s room when I am here, even if it is just for a few hours.”

Un-f*****g-believable!

“How stupid! If you didn’t know, we are already mated, and we have made a baby together, too. And you don’t want me to sleep in the same room as him? Too late for that!” I snapped at him in disbelief. How could he be this ridiculous!

“It was one thing when I didn’t know of your existence. What has happened is in the past and I can’t change it. Though I hate that the woman meant to be mine was claimed by another man and is having a child with him, I am ready to accept it because you didn’t know about our bond just as I didn’t. That doesn’t mean that I will allow you to be with him now. You are mine and only mine from this day.”

“Yours? She is mine! Mine in every sense of the word! She loves me and she is my mate! The moon goddess has paired her with me and that is more important than any betrothal or blood bond!” Tristan snarled at Xavier, his eyes almost spitting fire. 

“You may be mates, but you aren’t mated yet. And I forbid you in the name of the blood bond that you shouldn’t try to do that because the consequences would be dire…”

Dire? He was bluffing! We had put off our mating ceremony until after my delivery, but now it was not a choice. Maybe if I am mated to Tristan completely, it may nullify the blood bond with Xavier?

“Don’t even think about it, princess. You don’t want to kill your baby or die, right?”

What?!

I turned to Tristan, hoping that he would call Xavier out for his bluffing, but Tristan was looking at me with a tired expression; the anger gone just like that. Seeing my questioning gaze, he shook his head with a sigh.

“Blood bonds are sacred. Breaking them will result in a death so painful that we won’t even wish it on our worst enemies. We can’t risk it, Savannah…”

“So you mean there is no way? That I have to go with him?”

“Over my dead body! I promise you I will find a way. We will overcome this too, just as we always do,” he promised, and I leaned against him.

“I would appreciate it if you would step away from the king, my dear princess.”

I stiffened as I heard Xavier’s warning. This guy just didn’t know when to take a break, did he?

“Actually, what the hell is your problem? You are a f*****g prince. There shouldn’t be any shortage of women for you. Smart, rich, beautiful women must be vying for your attention, ready to serve your every whim,” I snarled before feeling tired. I looked up at him, feeling desperation well up in me. If I could make him understand, maybe everything would be fine? “Why are you so hellbent on snatching me away from my peaceful life? Why can’t you just ignore the bond thing like I do? It has gone without problems for all these generations. Why can’t we just go on with our lives and forget this?”

“It is not that easy, my princess. It was different with our ancestors because they were in two different worlds. The bond didn’t affect them since they never met. But since you had arrived in this world, the bond had strengthened and sooner or later, trying to break the bond will get to us. We can’t escape it until we die…”

“If I have to kill you to break the damn bond, I will do that too!” I snarled at him. 

“You think killing me is the solution? Then you are wrong. Because my father had met your mother and it just about killed him when she died. He survived only because he was a powerful dragon king and he had the strength of the land. Do you think a fragile pregnant woman like you could survive such an ordeal?”

I looked at him with wide eyes as his words hit me. He had informed me that I was the drakonian princess. But I hadn’t realized how that meant he must know my parent’s identities. But now he was telling me that my mother was dead. I had never met her or even known about her, but hearing that she was dead hit me hard. I will never get to meet her or know her. I will never get to know her love. Never…

Until that moment, I hadn’t realized that even though I had accepted myself as an orphan, there was a small hope that I would meet my parents once. But now it was just a dream that will never come true…

I felt dizzy all of a sudden and when I regained my bearings; I was sitting in the chair and Tristan was looming over me, his eyes wide with concern. Even Xavier was looking at me with worry, and I couldn’t help but sigh. 

“My mother…” Tristan blinked at me, understanding flashing in his eyes as he realised what I was thinking. Next to him, Xavier looked at me with a mix of pity and guilt, probably at the harsh way in which he had shared such sensitive information. He opened his mouth as if to say something and then shook his head before sighing.

Well, I guess he wasn’t as bad as I thought him to be. What he said sounded reasonable, and maybe if I tried, I could make him understand my plight. With renewed hope, I looked at him.

“I am pregnant with the heir to this kingdom. Making me leave the realm now would cause unrest among the people and it would affect me as well as the baby if I am not with Tristan in the last trimester of the pregnancy. Could you please give me some time? At least until my delivery?” I asked pleadingly, and Xavier looked at me with confusion at my sudden change of attitude. But then, to my relief, he gave a slight nod. Yes! I will get two months’ time at least and within that time, I should be able to come up with a solution to this problem…

“I understand your situation, princess. But I have a few conditions of my own.”

I felt Tristan stiffen beside me and I looked at Xavier, wondering what nonsense he was going to spout now. I felt a spark in my hand, reminding me of the stupid birthmark, and I sighed while nodding at him. I had no other choice. 

“My first condition is that I won’t leave here until after your delivery and then too, I would only leave with you accompanying me.”

“But aren’t you supposed to become the King next month?”

“It can wait.”

Tristan gritted his teeth, trying to control his wolf, and I shook my head at him. Not now…

“I will take care of the formalities,” Tristan declared grudgingly. 

“And the second condition is what I already said. You are not going to sleep in his room from now on. You will have a separate room, and I forbid you from being close to him. You are mine and only mine from now…”

Tristan let out a low menacing growl at his claim that I was his, but I caught his hand and nodded at Xavier.

“Alright. I agree…”

Xavier grinned at me triumphantly before raising his hand towards me and after a moment’s hesitation, I shook his hand.

“Deal,” he said as sparks flew into our entwined hands. At least we reached a temporary truce...

I took my hand back and sighed. Life was going to be tough from now under the bossy dragon’s rules, but I guess it was better than having to go with him and losing Tristan once more. We will find a way to overcome this. We have to…