#13 The Dragon King and his Werewolf Princess
Chapter 24 River

I marched around the castle searching for Calix who had gone missing earlier this morning. It had been a few days since our passionate kiss and there had yet to be another. I spent most of my time stomping around the lonely castle with Grier close behind me. Vix came around at least once a day to entertain me, but I felt like I was being babysat half the time. Calix kept coming up with excuses as to why I couldn’t leave the castle, but none of them were good enough and he was never around for me to yell at him about it.

Then there was the fact that Calix hadn’t been interested in talking or sharing anymore of his emotions since the Ferals attacked. I see him at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but that’s it. He greets me in the dining hall in the morning before breakfast and bids me goodnight after dinner, walking me to the bedroom door. At lunch, he hardly spoke. Vix, Mag, and Grier were the only other people to attend each meal and they had little to say about his moods; I guess it was normal.

I, for one, wasn’t thrilled by his absence or his cool attitude towards me. If he wanted me to stick around, if he wanted to be my mate, then he was going to have to act like it. Otherwise, what was I doing here? I was tired of feeling like a prisoner and I needed to get out of this castle so I could start searching for a portal, a way out of this realm.

The more time I spent here, the stronger the matebond grew between us. Lavender began picking up on his scent two days ago. Unsurprisingly, he smelt like campfire with just a hint of chocolate and marshmallows. I could sense when I was getting closer to him, feel his emotions nipping at my mind, and a fire began to burn in my core.

I pushed all those feelings aside as I stormed down the corridor of the west wing, walking past the offices and heading straight for the conference room, where I sensed his presence. I didn’t stop to think before I threw open the doors and barged in.

I froze a few steps into the room, my eyes going wide and my face draining of color. Shit.

The room was filled with people, every chair at the table was occupied and the eyes of each of those occupants turned towards me at the sound of the door opening. I searched the room and my eyes easily landed on Calix, who was sitting at the head of the table with Mag to his left and Vix to his right. Some man in formal attire was standing in the front of the room, seeming to be in the middle of what was probably a well thought out and rehearsed speech.

“Oh, uhm, I’m sorry.” I started to ramble, turning back towards the door.

“River.” Calix’s voice rumbled.

“I didn’t know you had company.” I kept babbling, moving away from the room.

“River, stop,” He demanded,

My body tensed at his command and I went cold, rigidly turning towards his voice.

“Come here.” He said in a deep voice.

“I’m sorry….” I began again,

“I said, come here.” His voice left no room for argument.

I wasn’t one to submit, obviously, but I was feeling quite embarrassed about invading his meeting so rudely, the meeting of a King, and there was something in his voice that urged me to listen.

I scurried across the room to stand at his side, but Calix had other ideas. He wrapped his arm around my waist and yanked me down onto his lap, nuzzling his face into my neck.

“You never apologize for being where I am, do you understand?” He growled into my neck.

When I didn’t respond, he looked up at me with his fire and ice gaze,

“Do you understand, River?”

“I should have knocked first.” I argued which only caused his frown to deepen.

“No. Never knock. Always barge in. You belong here, wherever I am.” He growled, tucking my hair behind my ear.

“Okay.” I finally sighed.

“Men, this is my mate and the future Queen, River Storm.” He introduced me to the room without taking his eyes off of me.

Everyone quickly stood and bowed towards us, their eyes cast down in submission. I gulped, turning to look at them, but Calix kept my gaze on him by pinching my chin and forcing me to stay still.

“You may be seated,” He said to the men,

“Did you need something, my dear?” He asked me.

“Well yes, but it can wait.” I whispered.

“No, you don’t wait. Everyone, out. We’ll continue this meeting later.” He dismissed everyone with a curt wave of his hand.

The men around the table swiftly exited the room and I glared at Calix.

“You didn’t need to do that. I could have waited, it’s not a big deal.” I sighed, sounding frustrated.

“I meant what I said, River…” He started to argue,

“Are you sure? You weren’t just putting on a show for your buddies?” I snapped.

“River…” He looked offended.

“You’ve hardly said two words to me the last few days, Calix. You’re never around. You haven’t spoken to me like this, like you did after the attack, for days. I’m a ghost roaming around this big, empty castle, unable to leave. I’m not a prisoner, Calix, I’m supposed to be your mate.” I nearly bit his head off, shoving myself off of his lap and stomping away from him.

Calix stood from the chair and crossed his arms to look at me.

“You’re not a prisoner, River, I don’t want you to feel that way.” He sighed.

“You’re keeping me here so I can’t search for a way out, for a portal back to my realm.” I accused him.

Calix’s eyes went wide,

“I swear, River, that’s not what I’m doing. I have men scouring the realm looking for a way out, a crack in the walls, a portal, as you call it.” He said and I judged his expression for sincerity.

“You do?” I was surprised.

“Of course I do, my dear. I want you to be happy, I’ll do anything for you.” His eyes were pinched together with concern.

“Why haven’t you been around?” I asked stubbornly.

“I’m sorry for that, my dear, the realm keeps me quite busy. I should’ve done a better job at making time for you. I thought that you’d want time to adjust and I thought you were more comfortable around Vix and Grier.” He raked his hand through his hair in frustration.

“You said you’d give me a tour of the realm.” I complained.

“You’re right, I did. Come on, then.” He grinned, holding his hand out towards me.

“What? Now?” I said in surprise.

“Why not?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me from the room.

I laughed as I hurried to keep up.

“It only takes about a day to travel the entirety of the realm, but it’ll take another day to travel back, so we’ll have to stay overnight somewhere.” Calix said as he led me back to the bedrooms.

“Can you be away for two days?” I asked.

“Anything for you, my dear,” He shrugged, looking back at me with a smirk, “Go pack a bag. Make sure you have clothes for all kinds of weather. I’ll meet you downstairs.” He kissed my cheek before leaving me at my door.

I was smiling the entire time I packed a small bag for an overnight trip. I felt pretty silly for getting so worked up about his absence and barging into his meeting like that, but I can’t deny how happy I was with the outcome. A chance to see the entire realm and check for portals myself was exactly what I wanted.

“And two days with mate!” Lavender barked, sounding excited.

“Calm down.” I chastised her.

“You need to get on board with this matebond thing or face my rafe.” Lavender growled, trying to sound threatening.

“Your rafe? Talking a big game, Lav.” I chuckled.

“I’m serious, River. I want our mates and I won’t let you ruin it.”

“How can we stay here? You don’t want to get back to our realm?” I argued.

“I love him.” She whined.

“You don’t even know him. Besides the day of the attack, he’s hardly said two words to us.” I sighed heavily.

“Beau Feu talks to me.” She replied smugly.

“The dragon? But, Calix said he can’t communicate.”

“He can with me, I’m his mate,” She sounded proud, “And he loves us. We can’t leave them.”

“I just don’t know, Lav.” I mumbled.

“Give him a chance.”

“I’m trying. What do you think I’ve been doing?” I resisted the urge to snap at my wolf.

“Try harder,” She bit, “You have two days alone with him. Figure it out.”

“Lavender.” I whined, but she wasn’t having any of it. She huffed at me before closing off the link.

I groaned loudly and finished packing, grabbing a few things from the bathroom before heading out of the bedroom. I easily found my way through the corridors, the maze that was the castle becoming more and more familiar to me. I found Calix waiting for me in the foyer.

“Grier and Vix will follow us along with your guard. Mag will stay behind to handle things on our behalf.” Calix said, smiling at me.

“Are you sure?” I asked again and he laughed, taking my bag from my hand.

“Absolutely, come on.” He snatched up my hand and laced our fingers together.

I followed him out the front door and saw what was to be our mode of transportation. A horse and buggy. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at the large black horse pulling the grand black carriage. It had brass detailing twisting and curling around the entire carriage. A single door was opened on the side revealing the red velvet lined interior. There was a long bench seat on either side of the carriage.

Ahead and behind the carriage were small vehicles that looked like inclosed ATVs. Enar, Bijorn, Koll, and Rolf were already waiting on four of the ATVs. Vix and Grier walked around us to take their position on the remaining two.

“Seriously?” I cocked an eyebrow at Calix.

“What?”

“A horse and carriage? That’s how you get around?” I laughed.

“It’s the most comfortable mode of transportation, yes. We have the ATVs and snowmobiles along with a public train that goes around the entire realm, but that takes forever.” Calix explained.

“You don’t have cars?”

“What?”

“Nevermind.” I laughed, shaking my head.

I walked ahead of Calix and towards the carriage, climbing inside. Calix followed and we sat on opposite sides.

“There’s a cabinet overhead with blankets and pillows. The carriage has climate control, so if you get too hot or cold, we can control it with this remote,”

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He opened up a door above our heads and revealed a stack of blankets and two pillows and showed me a white remote that had settings for heat and air,

“There’s a table,” He pulled at a white rectangle against the wall and pulled a flat table down between us,

“And then benches pullout to make the carriage into one large bed. There’s also a TV,” He slid a false wall back behind him and revealed a small, flat screen TV,

“A small fridge supplied with snacks and drinks.”

He opened another false section of the wall just below the folding table, revealing the white interior of a minifridge fully stocked. Beside the fridge was a cabinet with some more snacks.

“Okay, this is pretty impressive.” I laughed, looking around.

“Better than a car?” He tried out the foreign word for himself and I laughed harder at him.

“It’s definitely different.” I finally said,

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