Taming Her Beastly Mate

“I am her mate.” Micah’s lips curled upwards as he made his declaration. His blue eyes were glued to Brandy’s green eyes. He didn’t understand it but somehow, she was his mate. Hell, he didn’t care to make sense of it. She was his and that was all that mattered.

“That is impossible.” One of the elders took a step in front of Brandy as he stared at Micah. A druid could have another species as their mate but it was rare. Since it was so rare, the druids agreed to take chosen mates among other druids to preserve their kind.

“But he is…” Brandy admitted quietly as the elder scoffed in front of her.

“Not possible. This is obviously a clever scheme to prevent the mating ceremony from taking place. We will carry on—” The village elder was interrupted by a murderous growl.

“Carry on? You’ll be carrying body parts if you don’t step away from my mate.” Micah glared at the elder who continued to stare back at him unmoving.

The entire alter fell silent and everyone stood motionless. Brandy’s heart was pounding so loud against her chest. She was afraid it was going to burst out of her.

“What is going on?” Noah said. His voice was low and dangerous. His eyes were menacing as they flickered between Micah and Brandy. He knew he didn’t like the way the werebear was looking at Brandy before. He could see the possessive look in his eyes. But calling her his mate was too much.

“I don’t know why you were trying to force her to be your mate, but she is mine.” Micah watched as the elder peered at him and then Alexis.

“With all due respect…” The elder swallowed his words as he licked his lips. “You are not supposed to interfere. This is not part of the fairy princess’ jurisdiction.”

Alexis raised her hand up and pointed a finger at herself while her mouth was gaped open. She smiled as she listened to the low irritated sound that reverberated in Aken’s throat. She reached her hand out and rested it on his forearm softly.

“I haven’t interfered with anything. It is this naughty guardian. Bad guardian. That’s a bad bad guardian.” Alexis shrugged as Micah smirked at her. “You see? I can’t do a thing with him….” She then looked at the elder and narrowed her eyes at him. “However, you said this isn’t in my jurisdiction. Do you believe that there is a place in this world where you do not follow under fairy law? I am pretty sure there is something in there about forcing mates…”

The air became colder as Alexis’ icy glare traveled over the men in the front. “That woman is my guardian’s mate. We are taking her and—”

Aken sighed loudly making Alexis stop to look up at him questioningly. “Can’t I just kill them all? It would be much faster. In one second this would all be over.”

Alexis shook her head and rolled her eyes. “We are not going to punish everyone because of some bad leaders—”

“Excuse me?!” The elder in the front snorted out.

“Oh we will be. We will be excusing all of the elders from their positions.” Alexis turned with a sweet angelic smile.

“You don’t have the authority for that!” Another elder growled out.

“The fairy queen does…” Alexis looked at Aken and nodded her head to him. “Please bring the fairy queen here.”

“Alright my love. But if they try anything I will flatten them all.” Aken snorted and roughly kissed her forehead before he teleported away.

Micah glared at the hand that was still restraining Brandy. He scoffed and then proceeded to walk towards her. “Remove your hand from touching my mate.”

Noah stepped out in front of Brandy and glared at Micah. “She is MINE! I have been waiting for her. I have been planning this moment for years now. You aren’t taking her.”

Micah chuckled lowly and his murderous eyes bore into Noah as he continued to slowly walk towards him. “Did he hurt you?” He never took his eyes off of Noah, but it was clear who he was speaking to.

“No, I am fine.” Brandy felt her heart beating against her chest. She wasn’t sure what was happening but somehow Micah was her mate. And it seemed like he wanted her as well. It was too soon to get excited, but she couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

“But he was forcing you to be his mate…” Micah glanced to Brandy and watched her nod her head. This was enough for him. He turned his body and slammed his fist into Noah’s face. The hit sent Noah flying into one of the elders and they both went flying into the ground.

A moment later Aken returned, and he g*****d with a slight pout. “Damn.it! I was gone for a minute, and I missed it. Who knew Micah was so violent?” He chuckled as two more bodies manifested beside him. It was Rhea and Levi.

“Mom? Dad?” Alexis looked at them confused she was expecting to see her grandma Lilly.

“One of the things I wanted to talk to you about. We have taken over as the king and queen. I will explain more after this situation is settled.” Rhea turned her head to see Micah walking towards a beautiful woman with red hair.

Micah lips curled up as he walked up to Brandy. The guard released her and stepped away nervously. The moment he did Brandy took a step towards Micah, he caught her hand in his and pulled her into his arms. He cupped her face and then kissed her softly. He lost himself in her scent as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

“How dare you, she is MINE!” Noah’s voice roared as he struggled to his feet. Ice instantly formed around him and held him firmly in place.

Micah growled and looked over at Noah. Another man claiming his mate made the primal beast in him want to attack.

“Bring her over here, Micah.” Alexis commanded. “Let mom handle it from here.”

Micah looked down at Brandy whose beautiful emeralds were glowing up at him. Her eyes were glossy with dampness, and he lowered his head to k**s her eyelids. He wrapped his arm around her and slowly led her towards Aken and Alexis.

The feeling was so intense. It was as if lightning struck him and the fog within him vanished. The moment he saw her he knew she was his. He didn’t understand why he didn’t know it before, but he did now. And she seemed to feel the same way. His hand was tingling from touching her and a warmth was flowing through him. Why didn’t he feel this before?

“You came for me.” Brandy whispered out into his chest. Just a moment ago she was desperately trying to figure out how she could escape. She was being forced into a mating ceremony and was feeling hopeless. Now the man who she couldn’t stop thinking about was here. And suddenly he was her mate. Was it a trick? Was it some sort of spell? Because she never felt the strong pull before. But it was there. And he was warm, comforting and his arms felt like home. The sweet sparks heightened her senses making her body seek out her mate’s touch. She unconsciously leaned more into him as she looked up at him.

“I’m sorry it took me so long. We have a lot to talk about.” Micah gave her a weak smile and searched her eyes.

“That we do.” Brandy let out a quiet chuckle.

“Your majesty, the druids have always been private. All fairies are allowed to govern their own kind. This is a direct interference—” The elder in the front began.

“I will not allow anyone to be forced into taking a mate. This is not how the druid’s work. It is not how any of the species’ work. The druids have always been at one with nature. They respect the mate bond. Though yours is a bit different because you can shapeshift. You have three to four animals you each choose to shapeshift into. Usually your mate comes from another druid who has chosen similar creatures. Of course, you know it doesn’t always work that way. The mate bond forms with people whose souls recognize one another. I understand you took a step away from this in order to preserve the druid line. All druids were ASKED to take a druid mate.” Rhea looked over the four elders in front of her.

“This was allowed because they were asked and not forced. But today this is not the case. You were about to force a bond on someone.” Rhea looked over at Micah and the woman wrapped in his arms. “This is wrong. These are not the druids I know of.”

“We aren’t all like that!” A man spoke out from the seated crowd.

“We were forced to go along with this.” A woman’s voice rang out.

“It’s Noah’s family’s fault. They threatened to cut off our supplies if we don’t comply.” An old man stood up and pointed towards the front. “The elders are being blackmailed in order to keep our people safe.”

“Quiet you old fool!” Noah hissed as he struggled against the ice holding him in place.

One of the elders in the front sighed and shook his head. “We were wrong, but we didn’t know what to do. This is our way of life… this little village of ours here… it is all we have. Our people have little encampments all over the world. We blend in and try to stay out of the way. But everything changed for our encampment…” The old man frowned and looked at the couple sitting in the front.

“Noah and his family took over the businesses. At first, they were just offering to run them for us. But as they grew the companies they also grew in control. They supplied the money to take care of our village. It was up to them how money was distributed. They became our beneficiaries before we knew it. When they started pressuring us about Brandy, we didn’t know what to do. We wanted Brandy to choose him for herself and were giving her time to get used to the idea. But after her last fertility checkup we couldn’t wait anymore. She was losing her window and druid babies are too important to miss out on.” The elder watched the fairy queen look over at Brandy curiously.

“She still feels awful young. There is a newness to her powers. Isn’t it too early for her to miss her window?” Rhea watched as the elder nodded his head.

“Usually the window is always there but there are moments when it peaks. But—” He shook his head and looked over at Brandy.

Brandy looked away and bit her bottom l*p. She knew why it looked like she missed her window. The elders never once even suspected that she was pregnant. She felt Micah rubbing her shoulder soothingly. She wondered how he would react when he heard she was pregnant with his child.

“These companies have always belonged to the elders?” Rhea asked and watched the older men in the front nod their heads.

“We just needed help running them.”

“Are you willing to give the businesses back to the elders?” Rhea turned her head to look at the couple sitting in the front.

“We built them up. They were nothing when we took over.” The man said indignantly. “We are not just going to hand over all of that hard work.”

Rhea gripped Levi’s hand and shook her head slightly. She could feel his frustration at this couple. “Very well then. By the power I am granted I separate your lineage from the druid clans. You will bear the mark of the exiled.” The couple in the front gasped and Noah cried unbecomingly in disgusting sobs.

“Why don’t you come to Elysium? Bring all of your people there to live. Everything you need is already there, and your people will be safe.” Rhea watched the four elders looking back and forth at each other. Then they slowly nodded their heads in agreement.

“Thank you. We will make preparations to move to the fairy kingdom.”

Alexis released her ice from Noah who fell to the ground sobbing. He crawled over to his parents who helped him to his feet.

“Don’t worry my son. The Warden family will be just fine. We will continue to grow our businesses. We don’t need this backwards group.” The man said as he helped lead his son away from everyone.

The people began chatting quietly amongst themselves. Rhea and Levi were now talking with Alexis and Aken. They were filling them in on everything that was happening in Elysium. Levi was going to come back and check the druids for nembrant glass and give them a nullifying scale. This way they would all be clear when they entered Elysium.

Micah quietly held Brandy and lowered his head to her hair. He buried his nose there and breathed in her scent. “I missed you.” He whispered.

“Now what? You aren’t planning to take a mate, right?” Brandy licked her lips feeling a bit uncertain of what she should expect. She didn’t want to hope for what she couldn’t have.

“Brandy.” Micah breathed out. “You are mine and I am yours. I can’t stay away from you even if I wanted to.”

She looked up at him as he pulled away. “How are we mates? Why didn’t we feel it before?”

Micah shrugged his shoulders as he rubbed her cheek with his thumb. “I don’t know.” He glanced up at where Levi and Rhea were. They were still talking with Alexis and Aken. “Come with me. I’d like to introduce you to some people.”

Micah escorted Brandy by his side and nodded over at Alexis and Aken. “Of course you have already met them.” He then turned to look at Rhea and Levi. “And these people…” He smiled as he stared at them. “This is my mom and dad.”

Levi and Rhea’s eyes watered up as they smiled back at their son and his new mate.

“Welcome to the family.” Rhea reached out and pulled Brandy into her embrace.

Levi grabbed onto Micah and wrapped his arms around him. “I love you, my son.” He had been waiting and waiting for Micah to one day call him dad. Even though he never did until just now it was obvious that was how he viewed them.

“Why don’t you tell me a bit about what is going on with you?” Rhea asked as she looked the druid over. “It is hard to believe that you are losing your fertility window already.”

Brandy looked up at Rhea and chewed on her inner l*p. She shook her head slowly and looked down at the ground.

“Brandy, it’s okay. I don’t mind. I just want you.” Micah wrapped his arm around her. He didn’t want her to feel bad about not giving him children. He never planned on taking a mate to begin with. Children would have just been the icing on the cake. But that didn’t matter to him as long as he had her.

“Um… I didn’t lose my fertility window.” Brandy felt her stomach turn as she tried to figure out how to say what was on her mind. She looked up at Micah and swallowed. “Look, I was going to tell you. But you weren’t here. I wasn’t going to keep it a secret though. And I wasn’t going to expect anything either. I just thought you had the right to know. I don’t expect anything now either.” She could see his confused blue eyes looking down at her. “We are adults and we both know what can happen. Yet, we didn’t take any precautions and we were together… a lot.” She could see that he still hadn’t caught on to what she was saying.

“I’m pregnant, Micah.” Brandy’s eyes were glued onto the blue eyes in front of her. She could hear Rhea and Alexis squeal in the background, but their sounds seemed muffled down. It was like she was in a bubble with Micah right now. She watched as the realization finally reached his face. He brought his hands out to cup both of her cheeks.

“We are… having a baby?” Micah smiled as she nodded slowly. “Well then… I better mark you and make all of this official.”

“I know this isn’t what you wanted—”

Micah’s lips found Brandy’s stopping her words. He held her tenderly and slowly moved his lips against hers.

“This isn’t what I wanted…” Micah smiled as he stared into her green eyes. “This is what I have dreamed of. You are giving me my dreams.” He embraced her in his arms. He had a family, he had love… he had a mate.

“How does Micah have a mate?” Rhea asked looking up at Levi.

“I’m going to talk with Gaia about that, but I have my suspicion.” Levi looked down to see Rhea looking up at him expectantly. “Well, my fairy, they didn’t seem to feel the mate pull right away. I am guessing it has something to do with her being pregnant. But I don’t know. Gaia might know a bit more on this.”

“Are we ready to go home?” Aken asked looking down at Alexis.

“Your father and I have a few more things to finish up here but you guys go on. After everything is settled come to Elysium. Everyone will want to meet Brandy.” Rhea felt Levi’s arm resting on her shoulder and she smiled up at him.

“We will come and visit in a few days.” Alexis waved to her parents until they vanished from her sight. The air shifted and they were now in the inner room of Aken’s house.

Alexis watched as Micah lifted up Brandy and carried her up the stairs. She was so happy for Micah. And she couldn’t wait to see how his child turns out. A titan guardian werebear that is half druid. She wondered if the child would end up like Justice, Destiny and Raine. Where they can wield a magical sword to harness their powers. She felt Aken’s arms snake around her waist and she leaned her back into him.

“Do you want one of those too?” He drawled in her ear.

“Someday. We are both immortal, so there isn’t any rush. Unless you want to rush?” She smiled as looked up at him. She already knew his thoughts and watched the grin spread across his face.

“Well, you are right… I guess practice makes perfect.” Alexis smiled biting her bottom l*p.

Aken scooped her up in his arms and teleported to their room where he began to lay siege to her lips. He pulled her down on top of him as they collapsed to the bed.

“I’m so glad you are well rested.” Aken smirked as he ran his hands over her sides.

“Why? So, you can exhaust me again?” Alexis reached down and pulled her shirt over her head.

“Mmmmhmmmm. Over and over again.”

Alexis smiled as she traced her finger over his chest below her. “Why don’t you show me what you’ve got?”

Aken chuckled as her lips lowered to crash into his. Their emotions and hearts intertwined together beating as one. It was incredible. He loved her so much.

Sometimes it was hard to believe she was his. He worried that this was just a dream, and he would wake up trapped in the ocean again. He never thought that one person could change his life so much, but she did. She was the reason he finally felt alive. She was his everything, his treasure, his soul mate. For all eternity.