Cari
Everything was rushing in on her. Too much knowledge to process. She couldn't be this Serenity her Nana was talking about, she just couldn't. Why would she be that important?
It was just a coincidence that she had the gift of serenity and her grandmother had to have given her that dream to substantiate her claims. There were no gods and no one had ever heard of the primes, not until now. It was all a nice little story that had nothing to do with her.
Why would Nana do this to her? Cari had thought her grandmother always had her back. Even knowing she could've said something when Cari was suffering the past ten years she'd given her the benefit of doubt. Now this?
"So you had Dani and I kidnapped?" She asked her Nana.
"Dani?" The dragon prince asked with a sharp look at her cousin.
Cari shot him a scathing look before turning back to her grandmother. "Yes." Her Nana replied.
For some reason that infuriated her. "Is that all you can say? Yes?" She demanded.
"You're all needed to be here." Nana stated. "As I said, you are needed to close the gates."
"And him thinking he had the right to sever my bond with Andre? Was that your doing too?" Cari only had to see the expression on her grandmother to know the answer to that. "Unbelievable!"
"Your wolf came in early. Dani no longer has hers. It was inevitable that Eric would think she was you."
"How dare you?!" The dragon prince erupted.
Nana turned her disturbingly frank gaze to the dragon. "Cari was right, your race has always labored under the delusion you were the pinnacle of creation. The primes placed the gates here and the gods convinced your people to make these mountains your home so that your power would keep them closed.
Power is cyclical though and when you became puffed up and managed to lose most of yours you caused the erosion of the seals on the gate. Manipulating your pride was the only way I could get you to have the others here."
"And I was what, supposed to just sit back whilst he forced himself on Dani?"
"Eric might have his faults but he'd never force himself on a female. He doesn't need to."
Cari was incredulous, her mouth hung open for a beat before she exploded. "What do you call forcing a mate bond on someone?"
"Cari..."
"You've gone too far Nana." Cari's cousin Lan interrupted their grandmother. "You know very well Dani will be shunned for being mated to a dragon and what that'll mean for her."
"Who are you?" Cari's brother Vin asked their grandmother in a deadly voice, speaking for the first time. "You're sacrificing Dani to these..." he flared about for a word that could encompass what he thought of the dragons and then ground out the next with venom. "...dragons. For what? Money? Did they pay you?"
For the first time since she appeared, their Nana's face turned thunderous. "I don't appreciate that Calvin. You should know me better."
"The defining character of our people is loyalty and you've shown none to Cari and Dani." Vin replied with sadness. "Why would we even listen to anything you have to say?"
"And me?" Cari's head whipped to the new voice. "Is my word also not enough?"
The werewolf that now made his way towards her brother stood straight and proud. His hair had long turned white but was still full. A few lines crowned the corners of his eyes which were the only other thing that showed his age. Their grandfather.
"Are you in on this too?" Vin asked him.
"It doesn't matter." Cari stated, interrupting whatever her grandfather might have said.
Her eyes were on Dani. Her cousin's face was set, in that way Cari knew she had when she was deeply hurt. She had her arms crossed about her as if to ward off what was being said.
Dani's eyes were wide and full of pain. Cari could scent fear wafting off her. Dani was fearless and to see her broken as she was was harder than anything Cari had yet experienced. It brought back the last time Dani had been like that, the time they'd nearly lost her.
Cari wasn't going to let that happen. She walked closer to her cousin whilst everyone kept their silence, watching her. "Vin?" She called out.
"Yes?" Her brother answered.
"You and Lan find out what our dear grandparents are trying to sell us. Dani and I are going for a walk when we come back we'll tell you what is going to happen."
"Cari..."
"Grandmother," Cari interrupted her again without turning. "I'm a little sick and tired of people thinking they can run my life for me. I have no problem with blasting your precious gates to make that point."
"You've embraced your power I see." Nana observed. "Just be careful to find a balance before it consumes you. You were too serene before, now you might be going the other extreme."
Cari turned to give her a dry ironic look only to be met with a pleased one from her Nana. She had the disturbing thought that they were all going according to the script Nana had for them. That whatever they chose, it'd be within the Beta's plans.
"Damn, she's creepy." Cari couldn't help sending out mentally.
She got some resounding agreements from her cousins and brother and amusement from the rest of the werewolves. "Be nice." Nana admonished. "And well done."
Yes, the best thing would be to get as far from their grandmother as possible. She had always had a way of making her most manipulative schemes seem rational. That was the last thing either she or Dani needed. They had to keep their heads on straight.
Then it hit her that she'd managed to send her mental thought to every werewolf present, which meant...Andre! She could now talk to her mate! Again it was too soon for that bond to have formed but Cari wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
She turned her gaze to him, meeting his eyes. He looked as calm as he always did, in control. His fierce amber eyes were focused on her with that razor edge that told her she was the only one he saw. The only one who mattered. A curl of pleasure sprung into her stomach and she sent him a caressing thought.
It was a brush of her mind against his, a claim. A sensual touch unlike any other. It was intimacy that no one who'd never experienced a mental connection to someone could ever understand. It spoke of her longing to be back in his arms, of the desperation that their time apart had wrought. It was also an apology for what she had to do.
He gave her a smile. One that was mental and only touched the depths of his eyes where no one else could access. She loved that she was the only one he let see his true mood aside from the calm control he showed others.
"Don't let anything happen to you." He ordered. "I'll be very unhappy."
There was a sensuous threat deep in his voice that caused a thrill to run down her spine. Heat blazed her cheeks and she veiled her eyes. "I'll make sure to stab a toe or something." She promised.
A growl vibrated through her mind from him and she lowered her head to hide the smile that bloomed her face. She turned back to her cousin and she sobered as she once again noted the pain etched onto her cousin's face. As she linked her arm into Dani's she looked back at her mate.
They hadn't had enough time together outside of their intense mating. Though they already had a strong bond, it had formed from that intensity and the little moments in between. Cari wanted to go out on a date with Andre, to go for a walk, a swim, mountain climbing. She just wanted all this to end, but she had a feeling it was just starting.
"Soon." Andre promised, reading her mind.
Cari nodded then turned away once again. "There's a civil war going on out there." The dragon king stated. "But then we traced the source of the civil unrest to this room."
Cari turned to meet his golden gaze. "What civil war?" She questioned before taking her cousin out of the room.
*
She looked out over the cliff face the balcony faced with a rueful feeling washing over her. Taking a deep breath, she traced the rioting verdance that bridged the distance from the castle wall to the cliff wall. The garden was designed to be wild but it was clear that it was designed. A profusion of flowering shrubs mingled with wild flowers with trees defining the edges all the way up the wall a bit.
It was beautiful, in that way that the wolf in her could appreciate as much as the human side of her. For all it was tended, it held that wild spirit that called to the primal nature of the werewolf. Cari was tempted to take the steps down to the private garden and run, even though the space was limited for a true run.
It was private to the three storey apartment she and Andre had been given. The castle walls circling in to merge with the cliff. They'd been told there was a magical barrier that stopped anyone from flying in but Cari wasn't going to hold her breath. Trusting dragons didn't come easily, especially given what their prince had done and more so what she had done in retaliation.
Though no one had been seriously hurt, she had taken over about half the city and caused a civil war. How could they trust the dragons weren't keeping them around for some nefarious reason? Even with their assurances, she wasn't going to drop her guard but they had to stay for Dani's sake. The whole gate thing was secondary as far as she was concerned.
Her mind went back to the conversation she'd had with the king and queen just after she and Dani had come back. Cari didn't want to keep secrets, not when it affected all of them, but she was tempted. She also wanted to keep being angry with her Nana but what the king had said made it impossible.
"You didn't bother defending against me at all," she'd noted with shrewdness. "Why?"
The couple before her gifted her with indulgent smiles. Cari found them disconcerting and a little suspicious. "Serenity was never allowed to be reborn so her power, your power, was never diluted by countless lifetimes. You hold ancient powers, ones that are more compatible with what hold the gates of Azmodea closed.
Fighting against you would've forced you to tap more into powers you're not yet capable of controlling or even unleashed those your mate fights to hold back. Any of which would've blown the gates wide open." The king explained.
"I don't believe I'm this Serenity." Cari stated.
"People used to believe the world was flat." The queen stated. "It didn't change the fact that it is round."
Stung a little at the reprimand that had her feeling like a little child, Cari raised her head a bit. "You need something from me." She stated.
"As I was saying, you, your cousin and friend, hold powers that have since decayed from this world. Even the gods' powers have waned in the eons they've been reborn over and over. Only your powers are able to close the gates as they're as ancient as the time of the primes." The king stated.
Cari frowned. "How is it nobody knows about the primes?"
"They lived millions of years ago, at the beginning of time." The queen explained, he voice as beautiful and fragile sounding as she looked. "Even the gods have forgotten much about them."
"So how can I trust that Nana even knows what she's talking about?"
The dragon king leaned over a bit. "Your grandmother was the only one of the gods who knew where to find you, the one who was tasked with hiding you."
Her breath caught in her throat, her body stiffening as she braced for more bad news. It seemed to be the case with her grandmother. "Why?" She whispered the question.
"She was neutral."
Cari swallowed the lump that'd formed in her throat. "You've been working with her?" She realized.
"It is our city that is about to be destroyed." The queen pointed out.
"So what?" Cari questioned. "You've been manipulating everyone around you as she did? Were you the one who convinced your grandson that he needed to kidnap Dani and I?"
"Yes." The queen agreed.
Cari gave a mirthless laugh, a pained one. "So you manipulated your grandson too? Is it something your generation does."
The pair's faces became even more focused as they seemed to trace their piercing metallic eyes onto her. It was disconcerting to have the powerful pair so focus on her but Cari had decided to show her backbone and wasn't going to let them intimidate her. So while her heart skipped a beat, she held her head high and her chin at a stubborn angle.
"Do you know why your twin went to such lengths to ruin your life Carissa?" The king questioned.
She swallowed again trying to dislodge the lump in her throat once more, still it proved stubborn. It was still a sore point and she doubted she'd ever get to the point where it wouldn't hurt. Where the reality of what her sister had knowingly done wouldn't squeeze her heart so painfully.
"No." She tried to keep the hurt out but like the viper her sister had proved, it crept through.
"She's the goddess of love," the king explained kindly as Cari lost her breath and her heart sped up. Some instinct she couldn't even begin to reason told her that was far from a good thing. "During the age of the primes, she wanted them to be enamored with her but they never even bothered to see her.
She was the most beloved of gods but to the primes she wasn't even noteworthy. That was the first time the worlds experienced the dark side of love. Her hatred for you has survived long after most gods have forgotten about you."
"No," she shook her head. "Claire has shown me she loved me."
She couldn't have been so deluded, so blind. Her sister had shown her a noble side. Even with her new knowledge Cari could remember times when her sister had been selfless for Cari's sake, when she'd stood up for her without gain.
"Yes," the king agreed. "Claire loves you, in her own way. The goddess of love on the other hand despises you. She was tied to you by the other gods so that should you ever be reborn, she'd be a twin to you and see that you never find your true mate."
She fought the tears trying to well up in her eyes. "So our souls are not half of each other?"
"They might as well be. The bond that was put between you is of ancient magic long gone from the worlds. It'll take prime magic to break it, so if she dies, so do you. But she can be reborn and you'll go back to the well of souls without any hope of ever coming back."
Cari felt all the blood drain out of her face. "Wh...why?" She croaked.
"There're gods out there who've dedicated their lifetimes to ensure that you never get to live. They believe that your mere presence will call the primes and continue their war. Their myths about you have been distorted over time but they do have the oldest known records. Biased against you of course.
Those gods will do anything - anything - to stop your existence for all time. They can't do that but they can see to it you never are reborn. Since Dani and Annie are tied to you, they too will never be reborn."
Cari was confused. None of this made sense. "But in my dream Nana told me she'd gotten permission from the others."
"Yes, a group she managed to convince you were essential, but she was never supposed to help you. She was supposed to let you find your way on your own. There were so many curses set upon you and your sisters. That's why all three of you have known so much pain for your young years.
The gods against you have monitored anyone the other gods took an interest in or birthed. That's why your grandmother went to such lengths to make you three seem ordinary. Her children are both gods as are your brothers and cousin, you and Dani though seem to be humans, as far as they're concerned.
Your grandmother was tasked to take care of you and ensure you remained anonymous until after it was too late for those opposed to her to succeed."
"Your sister might not know it as yet," the queen added. "But her aim in this life is to stop you. Without your true mate by your side, you will fail."
Cari's heart sank inside her. She didn't want to believe any of this, she couldn't! Why did her life have to be so complicated? All her life she'd been an ordinary person and been happy. Now to find that it'd been deliberate. That her life wasn't even her own to live. Worse of all, to find out she needed Xander.
From what the royal pair had said, failure for her meant death. Which meant, as she was his second chance, Andre would die with her. If this was true, then Claire had won. It wouldn't really matter that she'd die too, she'd just be reborn.
She almost laughed, did she really now believe in this being reborn thing? Only denial hadn't gotten her anything so far and she had vowed to face things head on. It was time , once more, to put her big girl panties on.
"So now I'm doomed, is that what you're saying?" Cari knew she couldn't really trust information that came from a race that was always divisive when they'd ruled before. Yet she couldn't ignore the possibility what they were saying was true.
The queen smiled. "Hardly child. Your grandmother is the goddess of fate after all. Andreas was always your true mate but if your sister thought that Xander was, then she'd go after him and not Andreas. She changed the order of fate so you'd end up with your prince."
"Which is why the gods she was working with have punished her." The king added. "It'll soon be obvious that Andreas was always your true mate. Then the gods opposed to you will come after you. With how public you have become everyone, include them, will be noticing whatever you do. We have to move before they can attack you."
A frown once again marred the smoothness of her young face. "We?" She questioned.
The king raised a regal brow at her. "You were in the hidden library were you not?" Cari took a sharp breath at that. "You must realize by now that our grandson has a gift for chaos. He's one of the six so your fates are linked."
Despite her skeptism, Cari was intrigued. Things had turned a bit chaotic but then she had contributed to the chaos, not everything was on the prince. "How?" She asked.
"That, has yet to be determined." The queen informed. "We don't know everything even with the extent of ancient knowledge within our scrolls."
"What happened to my grandmother?"
There was a look that passed between the to royals that had Cari realizing she might not want to know. It was a bit too late though so she braced herself. "She has been trapped into a mirror, outside of time and throughout all of time." The queen answered with a touch of sorrow to her tone.
It was like a punch had been landed into her already raw heart. The pain that assailed her was something she'd never experienced before. It was an emptiness, an ache. A denial as if of her very essence. She felt anchorless, another blow when she'd thought life was finally going her way.
Would the hits never end?
She shook her head in denial. As annoying as Nana could be, she had always been there, now to hear she was just gone? Why hadn't they felt her leaving them? Had the stupid dragon prince done more than hinder their mental bonds? "She was here..."
"Yes, our ancestors came across her prison mirror eons ago. The woman you met has been with us ever since."
"So she's not my grandmother." Cari's voice came out as if it encompassed all the deserts of the world, unrecognizable.
"She's still your grandmother," there was a telling pause. "As is your grandfather." The queen added so softly that it took Cari a while to register what had been said.
When she understood, her knees buckled beneath her and she fell. Why? Why did life have to be so unfair? The grandparents that'd always supported her were gone, taken away from her and she was left with the ones who'd never been on her side.
Where was the justice in that, the fairness. Was it too much to ask for justice? Her hands braced against the cold tiles as her knees dug into the merciless floor. She couldn't breathe, her throat refused to let in air or allow any words past.
'Cari?' Andre demanded, his voice not yet as clear as it should be given their bond wasn't yet complete. It was hard to believe only nine days had passed since they met, that they were not fully mated. Had even that been deliberate on her Nana's part? She had had her and Dani kidnapped.
'I need you.' She sent back.
'I'll be right there.' He promised.
Cari was grateful the royal pair kept their silence as she tried to hold herself together. She hated that she was breaking down in the midst of their enemies, where she should be stronger. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath then released it.
'Stand tall.' her wolf surprised her by saying. Surprised since she'd all but forgotten she had it now.
The beast was right, she had to stand tall, had to be strong. Though her face was still pale, Cari stood back up and squared her shoulders then faced the royal couple. "Where do we go from here?" She asked in an unsteady voice.
"It falls upon you to lead the others to the gates and close them." The queen informed her.
Cari almost fell back to the ground in shock. A dry incredulous laugh burst out of her. This was the last thing she'd ever have expected. Were they out of their minds? The last thing she wanted was to have anything further to do with the dragons. She wanted to go home. To find a way to separate Dani from the dragon prince without killing her. She could care less about the dragons and what would happen to them if the gates opened.
"If the gates open, we'll all die." The king informed as if he was aware of her thoughts.
"So you want me to be in charge of closing them?" She derided. "Why not your grandson?"
"You and your friends are needed to close the gates." The king explained in that calm authoritative way rulers all over the world had. "I doubt if any of you would follow him."
Cari couldn't argue that. Aside from him having kidnapped them, wolves hated dragons and would never follow them, they'd rather die. "What about Andre? He'd be a better leader than me."
"Our grandson would never follow him." The queen stated and once more Cari couldn't argue. "You are what brought all of you together. Your cousin Daniella could've led you all but I doubt she's in the frame of mind to lead. Nor is your friend and the reaper prince."
Cari frowned at that. What was going on with Annie? They'd stopped being friends long back but Annie had insinuated that Claire had blackmailed her. Back then Cari hadn't believed her but now, after all she'd learned of Claire she had to rethink her assumption. Had she been unfair to Annie?
"I...I can't..." she swallowed hard.
This was big, too big for her. Once again she was in danger of being swept away on a tide not of her making. Was this what her life was going to be? She knew that as a princess her life wasn't necessarily her own but it shouldn't start this soon, right?
"But first," the queen continued. "You must break the bonds between you, your sister, her mate and your prince."
Cari's heart beat so hard at that she was almost afraid it'd leap out of her chest. Andre came in as the queen was explaining how that could be achieved. As much as she wanted to do it, Cari didn't think she was the kind of person who could hurt her sister, even Xander.