My eyes fluttered open. Warm sunlight sifted through the silk curtain adorned with drawings of a phoenix.

Immediately, I knew I was in the Silver Palace of Mysth from a memory.

The suite smelled of spring blossoms. Outside the window, the landscape of green, violet, and blue sprawled to the red forest.

A sob escaped me. My mother had stayed in this room and looked out the window at the red and silver trees before she’d been sent to the monster Angel King.

A flute sounded near, bringing joy and sorrow at once.

A large hand touched my face before I turned to search for Ares.

Another sob of joy and relief caught in my throat.

Ares had survived.

His knuckles traced across my cheek, and my need for him rose greatly.

“How do you feel, love?” he asked.

I blinked at him. I’d been used to him yelling at me, “Freyja, stop it.” Or “Freyja, must you screw it up?” It felt strange that he now called me love and used his enticing, velvet voice on me as if all of a sudden I was made of paper and glass.

“How long have I been out?” I asked.

“Three nights and two days, love,” he said. “Seeing you like this drove me out of mind.”

Was my name going to be ‘love’ from now on? I frowned at him.

“What displeases you, love?” he asked. “Do you feel pain? I’ll send Einarr to fetch the healers.”

So the advanced human also lived. What about Lucas, the guardians, and the others?

I seized his arm to stop him from rising to call Einarr or anyone. I didn’t want him to leave me for a second.

He sat back on the edge of the bed. “I won’t leave you, love.”

“How’s your chest wound?” I asked. “Let me see it.”

He unbuttoned his shirt. “I regenerated well with Merlin’s help. The Fey aided you with their Earth magic.”

A jagged scar was blunt on his chest. I vowed that the Dark Lord would pay for it one day.

“The blade missed my heart by an inch,” Ares said, grabbing my hand and pressing it against his warm chest. His strong heartbeat thumped against my palm. Feeling the pulse was intoxicating, not only did it mean that he was a live, but for a Nephilim who carried a death touch, who didn’t inspire a heart to beat but instead to stop, the thrumming under my hand was one of the greatest feelings in the world.

“It now beats even faster and stronger for you,” he said.

I stared at his chest, his muscles rippling, his heat radiating, and his scent dominating.

Lust sprang in my veins.

“Want me again, my little mate?” Ares asked, his voice turning from smooth velvet to rough and husky.

I swallowed, but I needed to know if everyone was okay first.

Ares seemed to read my thoughts. He leaned against the headboard and gathered me up onto his lap, his arms sliding around me possessively. I liked him being clingy. I liked it even more when I felt his huge bulge under my bottom. I wouldn’t object if he thrust it up inside me now.

“The Fey and the High Prince’s Fallen Angels came in time,” Ares said. “My main army also arrived. Prince Seth’s fighters blew off a fleet of Reapers. ThunderSong chased into the portal to hunt the rest. The wicked woman and her Angel mate led the hunt. The Dark Lord’s force won’t be a threat for a while, but we must always stay alert.” 

His cock pressed so hard against me that it was torment not to have it fill me inside. We could talk while he fucked me, so he could soothe the fire in me. However, it might not be the right thing to do while fury and grief swirled in his eyes.

“We lost Glacies and Jericko,” he said.

An ache squeezed my heart. The guardian of ice had become my friend. He’d liked me. He’d tried to put out my cursed fire. He’d defended me. He would no longer be among us, but he’d always be missed.

Jericko was the one who had the bluest skin among the Dragonians. We hadn’t gotten along, but he had fought hard for Ares.

“I saw Tyrone coming back with Caen to fight the horde,” I said.

Ares nodded, stroking my hair. “He found out Jericko was the traitor.” He shook his head in sadness. “Two thirds of the men Caen brought perished. All of our surviving men are still recovering from their battle wounds. The Fey healers have being using their magic to help heal them.”

His men didn’t have Ares’ amazing regenerating ability.

“Where’s Merlin?” I asked.

“Miss him?” he asked. Thought he knew he was the only man I ever wanted, there was still a hint of jealousy in his voice. He couldn’t help it. Our mating bond demanded our absolute devotion to each other.

“I miss this.” I swayed my hips on his erection and he gasped, his eyes turning molten gold. “But I need to ask you first: do you have a problem with me being the First Witch?”

“I’ve been processing this for three days now,” he said. “You led me on a wild goose chase. You made a fool out of me.”

“When I told you I was the First Witch the first time, and you said, ‘Sure, and I’m the Dark Lord of All Angels.’ Remember?” I winced at merely mentioning my grandfather, but there was no longer an option avoiding talking about my bloodline.

“You’re an expert at mixing truth and lies,” he said. “No one on Earth has the mind sorting them all out. First, you said the witch was heading east.”

“Didn’t I head east to the Twilight Realm at that time?”

“You said she was the opposite of you—plain, old, and uncreative.”

“Because you prayed she was the opposite of me.”

Ares sighed. “I don’t blame you. I should have known, but I was an idiot. I brought all this suffering to us because I was so fucking blind. When I first touched you, I was on fire, and every cell in me came alive. I wouldn’t feel that way if you weren’t my mate. I’ve never felt that kind of heat toward any female. My instincts screamed that you were mine, but I tried to listen to my cold reasoning. All the signs were there—your emerging magic, my immunity to your death touch, Merlin’s and the guardians’ reactions to you, and the ancient elemental tongue you could speak—but I kept looking the other way. Whenever I’m around you, I truly feel home. Atlantis is mine, but it never feels like home to my soul. When I thrust in you the first time, I blinked out of my existence, because you’ve become my whole world. Yet I still believed the First Witch was on the other side of the horizon while you were in front of me all this time. I deserved all of the torment and more.”

He’d seen all of the signs, but he always caught up with them a step slower because of his belief in the Oracle’s promise. Didn’t they say prophecy was a double-edged sword?

“Will you forgive me, Freyja, my love?” Then he added, “I’ve never asked for anyone’s forgiveness since I never needed to. But you’re my mate, so I’ll do this for you.”

The prince was always the prince, wasn’t he? He sounded like he was doing me a favor. He would have to make a lot of compromises living with me, and I would have to do the same.

I sighed. Being Ares’ queen would take the work of Earth and the Heavens.

As for forgiveness, he didn’t need to ask for that. He’d protected me. He’d always put my life above his. In the end, he’d chosen me above all—the witch and his kingdom.

Now was my turn to ask the tough question. “Does it mean you’re fine with me being the last spawn of the monster Angel King? You hate him and the Angels more than anything, and I have Angel blood in my veins.” 

“Why must I care what blood runs in you, love?” he asked in puzzlement. “You’re you, my Freyja. I wouldn’t have marked you as my one and only mate if I don’t love you.”

My heart skipped a beat, then pumped furiously. He’d been calling me love, but it was different than claiming to love me.

“Do you really mean that? You don’t despise me for being a Nephilim—an abomination?”

“You aren’t an abomination, Freyja,” he snarled. “Anyone who calls you that will fall under my sword! You don’t realize how beautiful and special you are. You’re one of a kind, my cunning witch.”

“But you said I forever annoyed the hell out of you.”

“That too.” He kissed my lips, gentle and hard at the same time. “I’ll have to live with that. You’re the only female made for me.”

“I don’t want to be one of a kind.” 

“Is that why you hid your true identity from me?”

“That and more,” I said. “I was also mightily pissed at you.”

“Are you still?”

“It depends on what you’ll do next,” I said sultrily and regarded his tanned torso, my eyes traveling from his massive shoulders to his hard chest and muscled stomach. His trousers hung low, and a trail of golden hair disappeared under it suggestively.

His erection grew harder and larger beneath me.

I licked my lips. My panties were soaked with my arousal. He gazed down at me in amusement, lust a dark storm in his golden eyes.

“You’re recovering,” he said. “I won’t hurt you, no matter how much I want you now.”

“Hasn’t Merlin told you that your touch can energize me?”

“That and more,” he said. “He said I’m electricity to you.”

“So what are you waiting for? I need a little reboot now.”

Ares slanted his mouth on mine, and sparks crackled and ignited between us. He deepened the kiss and slammed his tongue against my hard palate. A moan escaped from my throat, and I grabbed his hair.

A raw, guttural sound rumbled from his chest. He pulled my gown off me and caressed my breasts roughly. I ground my ass against his hardness.

“You drive me crazy, my gorgeous little monster,” he said huskily. Even his voice sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine. His hands moved to grab and cup my butt, and his mouth took over where his hand used to be, enveloping my taut nipple. His suckling made my blood run hot and cold, then hot again.

“Ares,” I whispered as I yanked his cock out of his trousers.

Its silky head jerked forward. Ares’ lips left my breast. He liked the way I looked at his cock. A moist bead emitted from the slit in response.

“It wants your sweet pussy,” he said, his voice slurry. The prince was in the grip of lust. “How bad do you want me to fuck you?”

“So bad,” I breathed, “but I want to taste you first.”

His eyes brightened. Ares opened his legs wide, his cock shooting straight for the treat.

I bent down, my tongue flicking out and licking the liquid from his crown. He sucked in a sharp breath. He tasted so good that I was on him again in an instant, my tongue tracing the column of his length from the base, all the way up to the head in one slow, languorous movement. When my tongue reached the head, it swept over the thick ring of his crown.

Ares groaned blissfully.

My teeth nipped his cock, and he barked a series of curses and bucked his hips up.

Only then did I take his shaft into my mouth, gliding up and down and suckling him mercilessly.

“You’re gonna make me come, Freyja,” he inhaled and exhaled, his hand tangled in my thick hair. “You’re everything to me, and I need to fuck you now.”

I released his cock and smacked my lips.

Ares lifted me until I was practically sitting on his face. His mouth devoured me, his tongue thrusting into my heated channel. Pleasure rippled through my inner walls and spread further and further. With a nip on my inner thigh, he released me and put me down on bed, bending my knees to my chest to give him uncontested access to my bare sex.

He leaned in and thrust his cock into my depth, right until he hit the hilt, until his heavy balls slammed into my bottom.

The first thrust was the most glorious, and it got only better from there.

He stared at our joined flesh, lust making his face beastly, which aroused me like no other. He picked up pace and fucked me faster and harder. I wanted to propel up to meet his plunging, but he pinned me right there, in absolute control. The prince merely wanted me to enjoy the ride.

“Such a hot, tight pussy,” he groaned, pulling out a little and driving back in hard. “The best I’ve ever had. The only one I’ll have from now on. Your pussy will always be there for me to fuck whenever I want and however I want.”

Always be there for him to fuck? Want to bet on it? The prince still believed that he could take whatever he wanted, as he was used to. I would teach him a lesson about that later. Now the pleasure was just too much for me to gather my wits to challenge him.

He groaned erotically at the pleasure.

“You’re going to make me come in a second, little mate,” he said, clenching his teeth. “I can barely contain myself. Oh, Earth!” He thrust into my depth, then stilled. “I’m going to slow down now to savor you. We have forever.”

He adapted to move slowly and causally in me, as if he decided to take a nap basked in the afternoon sunlight, but it only made my lust boil.

I tried to move up my hips to help him correct his course, but he pinned me in position. He would drive me mad if he kept teasing me.

“I need you to go faster,” I demanded.

“But, love, I want to make love to you. This is the way to do that, in case you don’t know,” he said, pulling out a little and taking his time to penetrating me.

That was enough.

Let’s see how he could sustain it.

I inserted a finger into my mouth, my other hand fondled my breast, and I let out a string of my most lusty moans as I writhed beneath him.

“I can’t get enough of your big cock,” I said breathlessly. “It fits my pussy perfectly. Your every hard thrust eases my aches.”

A moment ago, he was trembling from restraining himself from fucking me any harder. He no longer had the restraint. My seduction had worked, and his need to drive in me at his natural speed won over his determination of slow sampling.

He let go and thrust in me with abandon, his muscles rippling on his torso at his powerful moves.

“Yes, harder! Deeper! Faster!” I cried.

“You asked for it, woman!” He quickened his thrusting to a fever pitch.

I moaned louder at the intense pleasure that rocked me senseless. I’d never imagined that mating could be so spectacular.

“Want more, my lusty female?” He poured his strength into me, hard and raw.

My core ignited, the heat liquefying. 

“Is it good for you, my little mate?” he asked, moving his hips clockwise, and a new kind of sensation hit my nerve endings.

“You can do better, Dragonian,” I purred, freeing my legs from his binding and wrapping them tightly around his waist.

“You should have told me you’re my mate on our first encounter,” he said, “so we wouldn’t have been tormented for so long. I wanted to fuck you at first sight. I wanted to pin you against a tree and thrust into you so hard from behind, with your bountiful breasts in my hands. I fantasized fucking your pussy so hard that you’d cry.”

He pounded harder between my thighs as if punishing me for delaying his pleasure for too long.

I lifted my hips to meet his rapid thrusts. “You never asked the right question, Prince,” I said between moans. “You were determined to exclude me from the beginning, even though, instinctively, you wanted me since I was your rightful mate.”

“So you punished me all the way?”

“You think this is punishment?” I purred. “Should we stop then?”

“There’s no chance in hell I’ll stop. Neither will you,” he said, plunging into me with his hybrid’s will and power. His movements became a blur; his muscles rubbed me roughly and powerfully.

“Oh, Ares!” I cried for mercy. The wave was coming, pushing me to the edge.

His cock became as rigid and hard as the granite. His coming approached in a tidal wave. His mouth dropped to the mating mark he’d claimed on the base of my neck and his tongue licked it.

“Mine!” he roared. “Mine forever!”

His body tensed like a coiled whip before he released it. The prince hit the very depth of me and pumped his seed into my well. I let go as I fell off the cliff and landed on the high waves that came to meet me.

As our orgasms throbbed and echoed each other’s, our mating bond radiated like the sun.

“My mate, my love, my future queen,” he said, emptying himself completely into me.

~

 

Afterwards, I pressed my face on his chest, my hand circling his bellybutton lazily.

The Fey Empress would send for me soon, but now I wanted to spend all of the idle time with Ares.

“We’ll talk to the Fey about the cure,” he said. “As soon as we have it, we’ll leave for Atlantis. I need to go see my father.”

“You can leave me here.”

He growled. “I’ll never leave you behind. A Dragonian doesn’t separate from his mate.”

Would his temper ever ease?

“You’re only a half Dragonian.”

“It doesn’t matter. Wherever I go, you go.”

I hoped he wouldn’t say more about being his shadow or him leading and me following. We’d just had a hot sex. I wasn’t in a biting mood.

“You’ll sleep in my arms every night and wake up every morning with my cock buried deep inside you. I’ll fuck you whenever I get a chance, and you’ll scream my name when you come.”

It sounded enticing. But he got the most out of it.

“But—” I started.

“You’ll like Atlantis,” he coaxed. “We’ll live in the western dome of the golden tower. You’ll have everything you ever want. And your wolves can live in our garden.”

“My pack likes to hunt. I don’t think they like pretty gardens.”

“Everyone needs to learn to make a compromise in order to live in peace and harmony, which includes your wolves.”

Good luck talking to my pack about that, especially the she-wolf Lenka.

His tone softened as he glanced down at my sour expression.

“If you worry about the wolves hunting the servants,” he said, “I’ll have the guardians to keep them in check. You don’t need to worry about a thing from now on, love.”

Maybe other females wanted that—not to worry about anything, but that wasn’t what I had in mind for my life. I hadn’t had time to process all of the changes and hadn’t had a chance to come up with a plan for my future.

“So both my wolves and I just got ourselves a huge, gilded cage?” I said.

“It’s not a cage. If you insist on it being a cage, I’m living in it with you, aren’t I?

“I don’t like my life to be any different than before, Ares. I like to roam freely.”

“Yes, in my—our palace and our garden. Even in Atlantis, when the elite guards escort you.”

Again, a cage.

“You aren’t just the wolf girl now, Freyja,” he said. “Now everyone knows that you’re the First Witch. You’ve demonstrated your great power and made a declaration to the world.”

“I didn’t exactly announce my debut,” I said. “I was merely trying to survive.”

“You did well, love,” he said. “But now that we’ve mated, things will be different. I’ll give time to adjust.” He raised his torso to plant a quick kiss on my lips to assure me and flashed me a grin. “I’m a patient man.”

He’d never once demonstrated his patience ever since I’d met him.

But if this was the beginning of a negotiation, I needed to get a better deal.

“It’s for me to decide where I go, sit, or sleep,” I said. “Even though we’ve mated, it doesn’t give you the right to decide everything for me. And you don’t get to determine my future path either.”

“Your future is with me,” he said, then at my dark look, he asked, “How about we make decisions together?”

He was offering to co-rule if I became his future queen. I darted my eyes slowly as I considered it.

“I love you, Freyja. I’ll make things work for you, for us. Tell me, what do you want to do next? Where would you like to go?”

“I’m thinking of returning to my forest home.”

“Then I’ll go live with you and your pack.”

“But you have a kingdom to run.”

“What is a kingdom to me without you? Since you won’t live me with in Atlantis, then I’ll have to go to the place you choose.”

I gazed at him. He meant it. He was going to give up his kingdom for me. And it wasn’t the first time. When he’d chosen me over the witch, he’d given up the new, phantom kingdom the Oracle had said the First Witch was going to bring to him.

I still had no idea how I was going to do that. I was still Freyja. I had no money, no army, and definitely no kingdom in my palms. Though I wasn’t hunted at the moment, my grandfather would never give up coveting my power. He would return to harvest me at the next possible opportunity. Danger and threat would always be around me.

Ares knew, yet he still chose me.

I wouldn’t live without him either. I’d realized that when I’d watched the Angel pierce Ares’ chest with an angelblade.

“I’ll live in your golden palace with you,” I said. “I’ll go to Atlantis.” 

He blinked. “Wasn’t that what I proposed in the first place?” Then he shook his head. “All right then, I’ll always ask you before making decisions for us.”

“Ask nicely and we’ll make decisions together,” I said.

He slid his hand to cup my sex. “Should I ask first and nicely now?”

Heat rose in me, but I didn’t need to raise a finger to seduce him. The prince wasn’t any more disciplined than I, although he’d constantly demanded I learn it when we’d been on the road. His cock expanded to full length, harder than a rock.

Before I rode him again, I needed to make sure one last thing.

“You do realize that even though I’m the First Witch,” I said, “I’m nothing like what the Oracle said. I have nothing to offer you.”

“You have everything to offer me,” he said. “Just look at your hot body.”

His hand started rubbing my sex, and his eyes darkened with desire. We were insatiable toward each other.

“Is my body the only thing you value?” I hissed.

He sighed, laying on his side and pulling me against his chest.

“You’re the First Witch on Earth, Freyja,” he said. “Do you know what it means for the future of our kingdom?”

“I don’t see my being the First Witch having anything to do with the future of a kingdom.”

“You don’t see it now, my silly mate. We’re the first powerful hybrids and the beginning of a whole new race. Our children will be superior in every aspect. They’ll have my strength and your magic. You’ll produce many little witches and warlocks with my enhanced genetic makeup, little wife. They’ll dominate the Earth. The pure-blood advanced humans won’t lead, nor will the Dragonians. The Fey can hide inside their walls. The world will evolve and they will be left behind and forgotten. But our offspring will lead Earth to a new era. We’re the start of that great future—you and me. That’s what the Oracle meant. That’s why she sent me to find you.”

So his ambition was back. So quickly?

I narrowed my eyes. “Aren’t you giddy that you got yourself a breeder?”

“No!” He placed his large hand at the back of my skull and maneuvered my head so he could peek into my eyes. “You know what’s in my heart, Freyja. I would give up anyone and anything for you. You’re above my kingdom and myself. How do you want me to prove that to you?”

He’d proved that when he’d thrown himself at my cursed fire and the blades between me and the Angels.

I pressed a hand on the new scar on his chest. “You don’t need to prove anything.”

“Don’t you want my young, our young?” he asked.

“I’m too young for that,” I said. “I haven’t really lived yet.” Thanks to my evil grandfather and his Angel hunters.

“You can start living the life you want and I’ll be with you every step of the way. We’ll share everything. As for children, we don’t need to make a plan for that right now. We have time. One day, you’ll beg me to have our super babies.”

I blushed. I wondered why I still felt shy sometimes. I’d finally known a man intimately and tried so many different sexual positions.

He smiled, obviously liking my pinkish face, and kissed both my cheeks.

“I don’t see how I’ll beg to nurse your—our—babies and change their diapers!” I said.

A laugh danced in his eyes. “When the time comes, you’ll fight me for that.”

He’d have to wait a long time for that. The heat between my legs spread and I needed to fuck him again. I was utterly addicted to the feel of his cock inside me.

He read my desire. “Take what you want, my female,” he said roughly.

He stroked my breasts; his every touch was flame in my blood, and my mind shorted. The meaningful conversation was over.

“I need a bath,” I said.

“That I can arrange,” he said, sweeping me up and carrying me toward the bathing chamber.

The tub was already filled with warm water, but Ares was in no rush to help wash me since he was more interested in caressing, exploring, and teasing the flesh between my thighs.

Primal, pure male desire distorted his handsome face.

While the wildfire coursed through my veins, he lifted my leg. My folds opened for him enthusiastically. Ares aimed the thick head of his cock at my entrance and glided in from the side, stretching and filling me.

I pushed my ass back to glide along his length, and he let me enjoy for a minute or so before taking control again and driving his enormous, hard cock into me with brutal strength.

Wolves howled outside the door, led by my beta Blaez, echoed by the red she-wolf Lenka.

My pack was here? How had that happened?

“They tracked you and found you when the Dark Lord’s legion came for you,” Ares said, not slowing his thrusting. “They climbed the cliff to try to get to you and tore into your enemies’ wings on the way down, though they were no match for the Angels.”

“I told them to go north and preserve themselves,” I said, arching my back to take him in deeper.

“They wouldn’t leave you,” he said. “By the way, I haven’t had a chance to tell you that they’ve accepted me as your mate.” He shook his head. “Ventus said that they call me your consort.”

My wolves weren’t exactly easygoing when it came to the outsiders.

I narrowed my eyes on my arrogant, powerful mate. “How? What did you do to them?”

He grinned. “Well, it took a little extra work of course, a bit of bribe, plus some degree of necessary intimidation. They’re cunning, just like you. They’re also practical.”

My pack called again outside.

Wait, I’m coming, I ordered them. And don’t scratch the door.

They flashed pictures in their heads.

They’d been playing with the blue dragon and flying alligators in the Twilight Realm’s most enchanting red forest. They weren’t too impressed with the winged beasts, but they tried to get along with them.

Well done, I commented. But all things considered, do not call them winged beasts to their faces. Especially do not call the guardians flying alligators. They’re proud and sensitive, and they’re more, just as you are more.

The wolves agreed after a bargain, and then they flashed a message.

The Fey Empress had sent them to fetch Ares and me.

Ares quickened his thrust in urgency. “I’ll take time fucking you for the whole night when we get to Atlantis, love.”

We came together in a tremble and I sank my fingernails into his thighs.

So much for helping me bathe.