Jealousy

We walked in silence to the meeting room.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't nervous.

I've been to one before so it was not about being the newbie, it was about what happened.

Do they know what happened?

I don't want their judgement or their pity.

I don't want to be treated any differently. Just the same as I was before.

We enter the room and Kaine takes his seat at the head of the table.

Just as I'm about to head to a seat further away he grabs my wrist and sits me on the chair to his right.

I'm his right hand woman.

The simple gesture gave me butterflies but anyone with eyes could see the tension between us.

I don't know what kind of tension it is but it's obvious something between us has changed.

And that change is our mate bond.

No one except for Connan knows about it and I'm not sure if he's told anyone.

I'm lost to what they know and that's what makes me the most nervous.

I sit down and Kaine starts the meeting.

"What have we missed?" He asks everyone.

"Not much. There was a brawl between one of our people and one of the fae but thats it" Azura says.

She looks Kaine right in the eyes ignoring my presence.

If she felt the change between our actions she ignored it.

But the change in her actions, caused a small fire inside of me.

"Where did you guys go?" Funn asks.

I look over at Kaine.

I had no answer and we hadn't planned what we would tell them.

He keeps my eyes for a small minute and as if we were speaking in our minds, he understood that I wanted him to take the lead.

He opens his mouth but looks at me one last time for confirmation.

Knowing what he's about to do, I nod my head.

"We were on a trip. We went to visit Cora's grandfather." He says.

He kept it vague but I know someone is going to ask questions.

"Oh! How is he?" Funn asks excitedly.

He might have been rough during their first encounter but he's such a sweat heart and I know he cares for everyone.

"He's dead." I say quietly but just enough for them to hear.

I hear them all say sorry and how they hope his soul is in peace.

They are all looking at me so I look at them all in return and give them a small smile as if to say thank you.

However, my eyes got caught with Derek's.

His emotionless face is for once showing me empathy, pity, even maybe sadness.

I nod my head at him and he nods it back.

I don't know if we will ever be friends or if he will ever let me in but at least we're civil.

"So what happened?" Connan asks.

Kaine looks at me.

He wants me to tell the story.

I'm guessing he doesn't know how to explain that I've been abused my entire life or how to explain that I killed them both.

"He was old. He exceeded the normal life span because I kept him healthy. When I left, he had no one to take care of him." I say.

I kept it vague but my tone of voice told them that I would not tell them anymore.

"What's up with you two?" Azura says placing her arms on the table and leaning in closer.

Of course she wants to know.

The fire inside of me grew larger and I gripped my knees with my hands.

She's making me angrier by the second and I don't know how much longer I can take it.

I feel Kaine grave my left hand from underneath the table and pull it off my knee.

Giving it a gentle squeeze, I immediately calm down.

"As you know, Cora shifted about a week and a half ago. When she shifted into her fae form, something snapped between us. It didn't take long for my dragon to realize it was the mate bond. Yes, you heard me correctly, Cora and I are mates." Kaine says.

Well, at least that's off my chest. And his.

I hear a couple of gasps around the table to Azura is silent.

Is she upset?

Awhh poor her I say in my head with the most sarcasm I could.

Now she back off from my man.

"How is that possible?" Azura says.

She sounds upset.

Anyone with gears could hear the cold tone in her voice.

"We don't know yet but all we know is that it's true. He is the other half of me." I tell her.

I need to put her in her place but in a respectable manner.

I did so by showing how he is mine and how he is everything to me.

I grip his hand under the table to show him how much I appreciate him.

We have yet to discuss about our feelings but we both know that we are happy with the bond.

"We asked Connan when it had first happened but he doesn't know either." Kaine says.

"Wait. Kaine was there? Why? Oh my god Kaine you must have flipped!" Finn says with amusement in his voice.

"Yes. Connan was there to help Cora through her transformation. And no Finn, I didn't lose my cool nor did I 'flip out'." Kaine tells him.

"He flipped" Connan says.

Everyone around the table laughs except for Azura and Derek.

So really it was just Finn, Kaine and I.

"Excuse me." Azura says as she leaves the room.

"Sheesh. What's her problem?" Finn says.

Everyone stay quiet for a bit but then, much to my surprise, Derek spoke up.

"She's jealous." He says.

Kaine looks surprise as well as everyone else but my face stayed neutral.

Derek must have noticed when he gave me a small smirk.

Finally!

A facial expression. An emotion!

I think we're getting somewhere.

"Why would she be jealous? Shouldn't she be happy for us?" Kaine asks.

I laugh out loud.

"Kaine, I've only been to two of these meeting so far but even I could see how she feels for you." I tell him.

He nods his head clearly processing this information.

"I cant quite understand it though. Azura and I are like family. Her parents and mine were friends and we grew up together. She's like a sister to me." He adds.

I nod my head understanding his confusion.

"Maybe because you two grew up together, she had the time to grow feelings for you." Connan says.

Kaine nods his head at his comment but says nothing more of the matter.

"Okay. So, next thing we must address is Cora's ascension." Connan adds changing the subject for us.

I nod my head and look at Kaine.

He's the head of this table and the boss.

He looks right back at me and speaks.

"We were supposed to have the ascension a couple days after Cora had shifted and grow accustomed to her new form, but then we took the trip to see her gramps and the plans changed. Now, we will crown her as queen whenever she is ready." He says.

"Kaine. I told you earlier I was ready. We should have it as soon as possible!" I tell him.

Did he forget what I said?

"I know that, but your still grieving. You need time and putting more pressure on your head isn't going to help." He tells me.

The others nod their head in agreement.

"He's right princess. Being queen is a huge responsibility and not for the faint of heart. You lost your only family." Connan says.

I brush my hands across my face and place my arms on the table.

"I said I'm fine!" I tell them.

It was more aggressive then I wish it was but it's true.

"Okay.." Kaine says trying to calm me down.

"I say we hold the ascension two weeks from now. It gives you time to heal, gives us time to prepare it and it will ensure that we hold a proper ceremony." He adds.

"Fine, but no later." I say.

"I agree." Derek says.

I'm surprised he's speaking so much.

This is unusual for him, at least around me.

"We should properly prepare it but we cannot push it off for any longer. Rumours of her return have already started." He adds.

Connan and Finn not at his statement.

Kaine doesn't agree but he knows they're right.

"Okay. Two weeks from now we will declare Cora as the queen. Meeting adjourned." Kaine says.

One by one they all stand up and leave the room but Kaine makes no move to leave.

I stay put and sit next to him patiently waiting for everyone to leave so I could ask what's wrong.

He doesn't need to show it on his face or say anything. I can feel it.

When everyone leaves, I decide to ask him.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

I shakes his head and rubs his hands across his face.

"It's too soon. Cora you went through a traumatic experience. Something no one should go through. I know you say you're okay and that you're ready but I know you're not. Being queen is a massive responsibility. It won't be easy." He says.

I nod my head but I stand my ground.

"Kaine, you forget that I've gone through these type of experiences my entire life. I might have not know what losing your family would feel like but that's because I never met my parents. I've gone through traumatic experiences my entire life. I know it's a huge responsibility but my entire life I've been nothing but responsible. I can do it. Plus, I have you by my side." I say giving him a small smile for reassurance.

"I will be with you every step of the way." He says returning the smile.

"And I wouldn't want it any other way." I answer.

We both get up and head for our chambers.

We reached my chamber first since it was closer but when I waited for Kaine to say goodbye and head for his, he did no such thing.

"Oh. Did you want to come in?" I ask.

He laughs at my shock and nods his head.

Following me inside, I head to my living room and sit down on my sofa.

He took at seat beside me not even two seconds later.

Not only did he seem nervous about something, but I could feel it.

"What's got you so worried?" I ask him.

He shakes his head and doesn't say a word.

"Hey, we're in this together. Wether you like it or not, we're mates. You can talk to me." I whisper.

He looks at me and starts talking.

"After you killed the chief, after you ran into the woods after the other man, I followed behind you but no one can keep up with an enraged fae. I came in just in time to hear what that man did to you." He says.

I nod my head.

So he did hear me.

I take a deep breath before speaking.

"First of all, their names are William and Jeffrey. While I grew up in Devlan, William would abuse me a lot. Which of you already know, but Jeffrey... He never knew when to stop. He's psychotic. He can't feel regret or remorse for anything he ever did to me. I was 9 when he sexually assaulted me. Can you believe it? I was a child. What kind of sick man rapes a child? When William found out he was really upset. He yelled at Jeffrey. I could hear it from where I was laying down. He raped me behind the chiefs house so I could hear the yelling through the window that was open just a crack. No one knew except for the three of us. Now there's you two. Please don't worry, I've comes to terms with it. It happened and it was terrible but there's nothing I can do now. They're both dead." I explain.

The entire time I had been looking at my lap.

At my hands that were tightly closed together, fingers clasped together but when I finished, I looked back up at Kaine to see he was silently crying.

The two lone tears that streamed slowly down his both cheeks.

And scoot closer to him and grab his face in my hands.

I wiped the tears away before I spoke.

"Please don't cry. I'm okay now." I say giving a small smile to show that it was the truth.

He nods his head before he pulls me into a hug.

I stayed there with my head against his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat.

This is everything I could ever want in life.

He is my other half.

My soulmate.

My everything.

That night, he slept in my bed, holding me close. Keeping the nightmares at bay.

That night I dreamed of nothing but bliss.

Oh Kaine, what would I do without you?