Drago:
I hung up the phone after conversations with Victor, Constantine, and Gregori.
We had a crisis on our hands, a fucked up gods damed crisis. I picked up the phone; I had just sat down. I ran my hand through my hair nervously, waiting for Ash to pick up.
"Drago?" he picked up, surprised I was calling him.
"Ash, I need you, Cinder, and Cole to immediately meet me in the living room." I didn't even wait for him to acknowledge my instructions before I hung up.
I lay my head back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. I ran my hands roughly over my face in utter frustration.
Things had been going so well. There had been several times we'd had Ria here at the house. We had tried to spend more one-on-one time with her while still providing her with the safety of the group dynamic. It had been a hard line to toe.
Every time I was near her, my dragon wanted to be close to her. He felt contentment around her, but he was growing increasingly possessive of her. The others had mentioned similar things about their Dragons.
Natalia had gotten closer to her and really become a friend. I was happy about that for multiple reasons. Yes, it aided in our quest to woo her to us. However, I was honestly glad that they would have that friendship when we went back home to Romania.
Natalia had told us that she had recently been asking questions about how she felt about us. Trying to facilitate a change in the direction of our relationship from friends to romantic. So far, she hasn't been super receptive to our gentle flirting or Natalia's hints.
This is going to seriously fuck everything up.
I hear footsteps and see my brothers entering the room with matching expressions of concern. Those only increase when they see the level of frustration I am putting off.
"What's wrong?" Leave it to Ash to cut to the chase.
They all sit, and I begin, " I have just spent over two hours on the phone with Gregori, Victor, and Constantine. There is a major situation brewing, and it involves Ria."
I hold up my hand as I see them all about to bombard me with questions.
"Victor received an official letter from Anthony Escarra. In this letter, he stated that he was aware of a Royal Female Dragon that had been found. He was also aware that she was currently unmated. He issued an official request that we present her to the other Royal families for possible mating."
I take a breath and continue, "I then spoke to Gragori. He had been notified of the letter by Victor, and then he had contacted both Anthony and Santoro, Anthony's head of security. They both verified the letter's authenticity. It was then covertly stated that there could be an attack if we don't comply."
"Are you fucking kidding me!" Cinder could not contain himself any longer.
"Patience, brother, there is more. Gregori then took it upon himself to save our asses by telling them both that we had already mated and claimed her, and that we would be heading home immediately. Then, demanding a second verification, Victor confirmed to them both that it was indeed true. Constantine then did his magic and forged the official claiming notification that we would be sending out to the other families, our allies, and associates."
"Fuck!" That was all Ash managed to say.
Cinder and Cole just looked stupefied.
Ash ran his hands over his face and let out a huge breath, " We don't have any choice. If we don't immediately make their claims true, there will be war. Our people can't handle a war. We have to mate her and take her tonight."
"She will hate us," Cole whispered.
"Maybe if we explain to her, she would be willing?" Cinder suggested.
"No, she would try to run. She's still too leery around us. As loath as I am to do this, we are responsible for the safety and well-being of our people. Not only do we need her to prevent a war, but we also need her to help revive our people. We will have to pray that we can help her understand the dire situation we have found ourselves in."
I got up and paced the room," I think I will truly have to play the evil villain in this. We must be absolutely sure she can not leave us. That means preventing her from returning to the US under any circumstances. I will need to contact Senator Keeting."
They all looked horrified by what I was implying. I had to weigh the lives of my family and others against the possibility that my mate would hate me and never forgive me for what I was about to do.
Ria:
I was hanging out in our dorm room living area, having a movie night with Natalia. It was nice. I missed having nights like this with Cin, so it was therapeutic.
I was a bit leery at first. I was afraid she would start talking about her brothers again.
I had noticed a subtle shift in the dynamic as of late. It seemed the brothers were all trying to get me alone more. They didn't try to get me completely alone, or I would have seriously freaked out. No, it was just a distancing of myself and one of the brothers, and giving more privacy for conversations. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Also, there had been more flirting. Nothing outrageous, subtle but definitely flirting. Then, on top of that, Natalia started asking me questions about whether I liked them.
It was starting to make me nervous as fucking hell. Not to mention, I had no idea what the hell was up with all of them doing it at the same time. I mean, damn, was there about to be a fight or argument between brothers because they were all flirting with me?
I honestly wasn't sure how to handle this or what to do. I was hoping to talk to Cin about it tomorrow. We were supposed to video call each other tomorrow afternoon since it would be Saturday.
Earlier, I had been in my room finishing up a paper when Natalia knocked on my door. She asked if I would like to have a movie night. Just us, some movies, and a bunch of junk food is how she put it.
It reminded me of nights at home with Cin, and actually sounded really nice. So I agreed, and we went to hang out in the living room.
She had gotten popcorn, different chocolate candy, gummy bears, and chips. I saw a possible stomachache in my future, but it was fun. We decided on action, drama, or horror. I wanted to avoid the rom-coms. So far, she hadn't brought up her brothers, so I was starting to relax.
We had started a Marvel movie, and I was chilled out on the sofa in a pair of PJs shorts and a matching tank. I was barefoot, and Natalia had mentioned painting each other's nails. I had already been munching on gummy bears and was now eating popcorn.
Suddenly, Natalia jumped up, "damn I forgot the soda, do you want one?"
"Yeah, sure, I think I still have some Dr. Pepper in there."
"Yeah, found it." I heard her rummage around, then the fizzy sound of air meeting carbonation.
She walked back into the room and handed me an open bottle of soda and a glass of ice. She had her own.
I poured my soda into the glass and took a hefty drink as I had been munching on the salty popcorn.
We were into the movie, and I started to notice my mind wandering. I drank more soda, trying to ground myself. Then I started getting sleepy. I didn't feel quite right.
"Natalia, I don't feel so good." I could hear myself slurring my words, and my limbs were getting tingly. What the fuck.
I tried to stand, and my legs wouldn't support me. I was starting to panic. Natalia stood up and bent over me. She pushed me down to lie on the sofa. I tried to push by her and get up, but I had lost the ability. I looked in her eyes and saw guilt.
Oh my fucking god, what did she do? I turned my head as much as possible and saw my glass of soda.
"What did you fucking do?" I wasn't even sure she understood my slurred speech. Then my eyes closed, and sleep swallowed me whole.