Alexis was awoken suddenly from the impact of something soft covering her face. It was being held over her head with pressure as she struggled to get out. She felt a body beside her and grasped at it sending a wave of frost onto the body.
“Damn Lex! You don’t play fair.” Micah pouted as he removed the pillow off of her head.
“I don’t play fair? You are smothering me in my sleep.” Alexis squinted into the bright light of her room as her eyes came into focus. She looked at the young man with light blue eyes and black hair. He had his brows furrowed as he swatted the ice crystals off of his body.
This was Micah, her guardian. He was a werebear that had been given special powers in order to be the shield and sword to the fairy princess. All fairy princesses had a guardian. Her mother's guardian was Cody who was also her uncle. He was adopted by her grandparents when he was a child along with his twin brother Jason. But it was different with Micah since he wasn’t raised as her brother.
When Alexis’s mother Rhea visited the fairy kingdom she didn’t find a guardian for her daughter. It wasn’t until Alexis was three years old that Rhea felt a strange pull while traveling with Lee (Alexis’ father). They went to investigate to find a young boy, who was five years old, bound in anti-shifting cuffs. The boy was badly beaten with deep lashes underneath his tattered clothing. He was taken in as a slave after his parents were killed during the demon war. Unfortunately, he had been discovered by dark elves and taken. For three years he lived a life of torture, poorly clothed, hardly fed, and very much unloved.
Lee incinerated the dark elves that were holding him captive, and Rhea took Micah back to Elysium. She planned to adopt him as her own just like her parents had done with her adoptive brothers. Unfortunately, because of the trauma Micah had experienced, he had extreme and powerful outbursts. He had an intense energy that radiated from his young body, and he was a premature shifter. Because of that, his anger explosions were serious. It was decided for him to stay in Elysium where he would be cared for by the king and queen of the fairies (Lilly and Tyler) and he would start immediately as a pupil under the seasoned powerful guardian Tristan.
It took several years of discipline and training under Tristan to help Micah learn to reel in his temper and emotions. What was surprising was how strong Micah was. Even at his young age, he was the strongest guardian that there has ever been. The fairy queen Lilly concluded that it was because his charge was the most powerful fairy princess to ever exist. Fairy magic was clever that way… at times it had a mind and life of its own.
Alexis visited Micah often in Elysium (the fairy kingdom). It was easy to do since their family had these black pearls that allowed them to portal to the other instantly. Because of this, she was able to see Micah daily. This was important for both of them. They grew up together and were just like siblings. Rhea wanted Micah to consider her as a mother but he never accepted it. Still, Micah was always treated as part of the family, but it was no secret that he looked at Tristan as his father. He even called him pops affectionately… and maybe teasingly too.
Micah still had to work on controlling his temper, but he would never lash out towards Alexis. However, heaven help anyone who upset her. His emotions were tied to her. When he was angry it was almost always on her behalf. She was his family, and he would do anything to keep her safe and happy.
“Geez, Lex my sweat turned into little ice beads.” Micah sighed dusting the ice crystals off of himself.
“Eeewww! Micah! Why are you shirtless? And you are wiping your nasty frozen sweat beads on my bed.” Alexis snorted sitting up angrily.
“I was training early this morning princess. Unlike you who has been sleeping the day away.” He chuckled as he watched her eyes land on him icily.
“And you are in here because….?” She raised her brows at him and folded her arms over her chest.
He grinned mischievously as his eyes flashed at her in amusement. “Oh, I was just curious how you responded to Jared’s love confession.”
She looked at him stunned as her cheeks flashed through several different shades of pink. “How did you know?”
“I overheard him practicing his speech on the balcony.”
“And you didn’t warn me? Isn’t that your job?” She snorted with a heavy sigh.
“My job is to protect you. And that I will do with my life. But who am I to interfere between that powerful overwhelming emotion between a woman and a man.” He teased with a Cheshire cat grin. He watched her shoulders heave as she looked down at her hands on the bed. His eyes softened and his smile faded looking at her. He didn’t like seeing her look like this. He moved slowly and gently sat across from her on the bed. “Lex…”
“I can’t give up on him Micah. I am frustrated to death with that man. And maybe I am stupid, but I need to see him. I can’t move on unless he outright rejects me. The fact that he hasn’t rejected me… I can hold onto that right? That it means he doesn’t want to reject me.” She looked up at Micah who was looking at her with concern.
“You know I think Jared really likes you…”
“He told me he loves me. But he probably has a fated mate out there. He is young for a dragon. And has a lot of time to meet her. I’m not sure what he is really offering. Does he want me on his arm to pass the time until he finds his mate? Or is he really saying he will throw that away? Because… I can’t. I like Jared but as a friend.” She looked up at Micah who was deep in thought with a small frown on his lips. “What is it?”
“Lexi… the thing is… this whole Erebus business. You know what he did to your cousin right? He beat poor Lucy and abused her thinking she was you. If he realizes you are the one he should be after…” His light blue eyes looked straight into hers pleadingly. “Aken knows Erebus will come for you once he knows you two are mates. And as your guardian, I don’t want you in danger. Can’t all this wait until your father finds Erebus and kills him?”
She stared at her fingers quietly for a moment. She tried to forget about the lunatic deity, Erebus, who was hell-bent on destroying Aken. Because of that, he captured her cousin Lucy thinking she was her. And the things he did to her… was horrible. And her family is extra cautious because there was a premonition of Erebus killing her. But it was a premonition and those often changed.
“What Lucy did for me… I can never repay her. She pretended to be me to protect me.” She shook her head slightly as her determined eyes stared back at him. “But I won’t live in fear. So what if Erebus knows who I am? With Leviathan (Lee) and the Kraken (Aken) here he would be a fool to come for me. Not to mention I am not exactly a pushover. I am not a god but I am a demigod. And as the fairy princess, I also have an ancient magic at my command. Everyone is scared because of some premonition they saw and they don’t even know the details. What if that premonition only happens if Aken stays away from me?”
“After everything you learned about the Kraken… you still want him?”
A small smile reached her lips. “I don’t care about his past. I just want him by my side. I have no problems putting a collar and leash on him if necessary. He is mine. I don’t intend to give up on him.”
“You know he sort of needs to agree to that.” Micah chuckled and shoved Alexis lightly. “You can’t force him to take you as his mate. No matter how stubborn you are.”
“I know Jared wants me to think on this but honestly I don’t need more time than what I have taken. I know I’ll never be satisfied unless I capture my mate and tame him down. So that is what I will do. I will be the Kraken tamer.” She listened to Micah chuckling and watched him stand up from the bed.
“You set the bar high princess. You should have started out on a smaller beast and worked your way up.” He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. “I know this is going to mean more trouble for me. But I’ll do my job. I will protect you no matter what. So if you intend to flag hellfire up here, I’ll be your shield.”
“I don’t need you to be my shield. I’ll ice hellfire to a smolder.” She smiled and demonstrated summoning ice crystals by twirling her fingers. This was one of her powers as a demigod. She could control the ice element and summon it from thin air. Her mother could summon water but only through her summon connection with Lee. But for Alexis, ice was her power, not a summons.
“Well, princess before you master simmering out hell’s fire you need to work on that dragon and wolf issue of yours.” He smirked and extended his hand out to her. “Time for practice.”
She groaned as she accepted his hand. “I need food first.” She pouted as he pulled her up. He was right though. She was a dual shifter. She could shift into a wolf or a dragon. She needed to work between shifting between the two seamlessly. It was still a challenge to shift from her dragon to her wolf and vice versa.
Her dragon was a part of her like how all dragons were. She was a light blue dragon that had a light stomach and a lighter tail. And she was a rare frost dragon meaning she breathed ice not fire. Her frost was strong enough to put out the fires of the strongest dragons. The dragon king of the west, Titus, was a challenge but her ice still beat his fire. That’s what happens when you are the daughter of a tier-one deity though. The dragon came from him which is why it was so powerful.
Her wolf came from her mother and like her mother’s wolf, hers was a dire werewolf as well. Her wolf was all white with light gray ticking which almost looked blue. When the sun hit her fur just right it looked like she shined with a blue hue. Her wolf’s name was Yuki but communication between them usually happened when she shifted. Yuki had more of a quiet personality. Still, Alexis and her would chat from time to time but usually, she had to initiate the conversation.
“Get dressed Lex. We will eat after practice.” Micah walked towards the door and reached for the handle.
“Who else am I sparring with?” Sparing with Micah worked but she liked to practice fighting in the air as well. She listened to his laugh and knew exactly who she was going to be fighting with. “Nooooo.” She pouted with a soft groan.
“Brian is already waiting for us outside. And the prince said he has some extra moves for you today. Let’s move it.” He walked out of the door shutting it quietly behind him.
She stomped over to her dresser and rummaged through her drawers for some clothes. Brian was the dragon prince of the west. He was born almost a year after she was born. And living in the same castle they grew up together. Now don’t get her wrong. She loved Brian dearly. He was like having another annoying brother around. Brian might not be a demi-god but he was a challenging fight. He wouldn’t go easy on her either. He wouldn’t let her slack and fight lazily. During these sparring matches, he always went into them at one hundred percent which meant no slacking today.
The two young men were a big part of her life, but she also had her cousins that she was very close to. Her cousin Raine lived there with them as well. She was the daughter of her Uncle Cody and Aunt Kelsie. And she was born the same day she was. In a crazy turn of events, her other cousins were also born the same day. Aiden, Lucy, and Destiny were all born the same day as her. She also had one more cousin, Justice, who is the same age as Brian. They were all her close family who she loved and trusted completely. Even though they didn’t live together they visited often (thanks to the portals). She couldn’t explain it but the bond she had with them was a powerful one. And she knew that deep down there was a purpose behind this. The moon goddess had something planned but it was hard to say exactly what that was.
“Let’s gooOOoooOOoo.” Micah groaned banging his head on her door loudly.
She rolled her eyes as she walked over to the door. She opened it and watched his lips curl up in a cheesy grin. “I think you’ve got this thing backwards. I’m the one who gives the orders.”
“Ahh but you forget my dear that I am not your subject. I am your protector. Completely different. I protect you. I don’t take orders from you. So, if necessary, I will override your judgment. Which means I don’t take orders from you… you take them from me.”
“Of course. Because you know I will obediently listen to whatever you have to say. Oh fearless brave protector of mine.” Alexis gave him a half-smile and listened to his low chuckle.
“I think you should have been given two guardians.”
“That’s what all guardians say… I am sure Uncle Tristan felt the same way with grandma. And we know Uncle Cody says that all the time about my mom. I think the real problem is that you guardians are not as tough as you think you are.”
“Ha! No, the problem is that our charges think they are invincible and don’t treat themselves as if they are irreplaceable because they are!”
“All except for me. I am replaceable which is the reason for Lucy’s fairy powers-”
Micah stopped abruptly growling loudly. His fierce gaze connected with Alexis angrily. “Is that what you think?!”
“Relax Micah.” She laughed quietly and shook her head. “I’m not saying that I am replaceable to anyone. But I think fairy magic has decided that. Since there was a premonition of me dying fairy magic has decided that instead of preventing my death at all costs, they would simply have a backup.”
“You aren’t dying. It is already prevented. I will not let anything happen to you. I don’t care what crazy deity is after you.”
“This deity Erebus is ruining everything. It is his fault my mate won’t even come and see me. I hope someone finds him soon. I hate how they are letting everything get controlled by one man.” Alexis pouted folding her arms over her chest.
“Not one man…one crazy deity who is eating souls to become more powerful.” Micah corrected with a cheeky tone.
“Whatever… if dad and Aken teamed up he would be taken care of in no time. As it is the deity Rogio is after him for interfering with the vampires. It is only a matter of time before he is dealt with. Which makes this whole mate thing even more infuriating.”
“Well instead of battle training would you like me to pull up a couch and listen to your problems?” Micah chuffed out grinning at her wryly.
She reached over and punched him in the arm sending a layer of frost where she connected.
Micah furrowed his brows and rubbed his arm briskly. “You just wait till the world finds out that their future fairy queen is actually a frost demon who will kill all their beautiful flowers. All hail queen Alexis… Ahhhh! Oh no! Her frozen tundra powers have killed all the plants!” He teased and immediately sprinted away from her.
“Oh, you want a frozen tundra?! Alright… here comes your frozen tundra.” Her lips curled up and she dashed after him. In his annoying way, he was distracting her from overthinking. He did it out of habit now knowing how she is. It was something she would never confess to him… but she loved him for it.
Aksara