Maximus - A few moments earlier
“Callie’s been gone awhile,” Graydon states.
I pull my phone out of my pocket to check the time. Graydon’s right; she had been gone at least forty-five minutes. It shouldn’t have taken that long for her to find a restroom and return.
“I’ll go search the house,” Zeke says.
“I’ll go with him, maybe she ran into Cat,” Lucian states.
“If you don’t find her meet us back out here in ten minutes. Me and Max will look around out here.” Zeke and Lucian disappear among the throng of people.
I look at Graydon, “Do you think she is okay?”
“She better be or God help the soul that dare hurt her,” he growls.
The ten minutes passed by and not a single sighting of Callyn. We ask people if they have seen her, but no one has seen a thing. I didn’t think that we would get real answers from anyone. Most of them are drunk. Graydon and I silently walk back to the fire that we were sitting at; Lucian and Zeke are already there.
“Anything?” I ask.
“No. This place is so big that we could be missing her,” Zeke states.
“Anyone try to call of text her?” Lucian questions. We all shake our heads.
Graydon pulls out his phone and calls her. It must have gone to voicemail because he starts cursing up a storm. He tries again and again, nothing.
“She may not be able to hear her phone over all this noise.” Lucian has a point.
“What do we do now?” Before anyone can come up a suggestion, screaming can be heard and a group of people come at us running. That’s when I feel it. The panic, the confusion, the fear. The emotions are so strong. I look to the others, and I can tell by the look on their faces that they feel the same. It’s Callyn, and she’s in trouble. But where is she?
Graydon grabs the arm of someone as they run by, halting them in their tracks. “What the hell is going on?”
“Fire. The barn’s on fire,” he yells. Graydon lets go of the person, and we all look at each other with shock on our faces.
No. There should be no reason for Callie to be anywhere near the barn. But something in my gut tells me that my angel is right in the middle of this mess. We all take off at a run toward the barn. The entire barn is up in flames. If anyone is in there, there’s no way they could survive. I scan the crowd looking for Callie, but I don’t see her. Shit, what if she is inside the barn. She can’t be inside that barn. But if she is, I have to try and save her. She is my mate; what kind of mate would I be if I did nothing? I make a move toward the door, when there is a loud crash. Out of the roof burst a bird, and not a small bird. No, this thing was huge.
My eyes follow the bird as it flies higher. Suddenly, it stops and hovers slowly, beating its wings to stay in place. Without notice, the bird starts to descend, and gracefully lands a few feet in front of all of us. That’s when I notice this is no ordinary bird.
It’s a fucking phoenix.
Holy shit, Callie shifted, and she is breathtaking. Her bird towers over us. Her feathers start off red at the top of her head and gradually change to orange then yellow. Her wings follow the same pattern. My eyes travel down to her feet...claws. More like talons of death. I don’t think I’ve seen claws that big on any avian shifter.
The shriek that erupts from the bird’s beak rattles me to my bones. I have this insane urge to kneel and bow in front of her. So, I do. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that I’m not the only one. The guys are all kneeling before the phoenix with their heads bowed. I can feel the air shift around me. It’s more than that. I can feel the air as if it’s a part of my body. It’s weird, yet exhilarating at the same time.
I lift my head to watch as the phoenix starts to shrink, and Callie rises from her kneeling position. As she stand, there is something different about her. She seems more regal if that makes sense.
“Rise my kings, you never have to kneel before your queen.” Me being who I am I can’t pass up the opportunity to tease her.
“Is that so, because I can think of one reason you would want us to kneel before you.” I give her a wink.
She chuckles. “You cheeky devil.” Shoulders and back straight, she walks over and stands before us. We all rise from our kneeling position.
“What the hell happened, Callie? How the hell did you end up in that burning barn?” Graydon practically yells. “This wouldn’t have happened if we had gotten around to assigning the protective detail we talked about. How stupid were we to let you go anywhere by yourself.” Graydon starts to pace. He’s clenching and unclenching his fist as he murmurs to himself.
Callie walks up to Graydon, halting his steps. She wraps her arms around his waist giving him a hug. With no hesitation Graydon wraps her up in his embrace. “One thing at a time my grumpy bear. I prefer not to go into that conversation here. Let’s wait until we leave. Also, there is something that I need to do first.” She untangles herself from Graydon and walks right up to Zeke pulling his head down. She doesn’t give him any warning before she presses her lips to his. Well, this is definitely a strange turn of events.
Lucian
I knew the second I saw that bird burst through the roof that it was Callyn. When she landed in front of me, I shake my head. I have never seen a more stunning creature. I felt her power. When I was kneeling before her, I swear I could feel the earth move beneath my hands and feet. It was like it was talking to me. A strange, yet comfortable feeling washed over me. You can since the change in the air around Callyn. When she shifted back to her human form, you can tell there was something different about her. She emerged from that fire as a queen.
You can hear it in the way she talks, and the way she carries herself. This Callyn is more confident and sure of herself, if the way she walked up to Zeke was any indication. I feel like I have missed something by the way Graydon is scowling. Callyn just pulls Zeke’s head down and starts to kiss him. I wouldn’t have expected her to do something like that, not in front of all of us, not yet anyway. What happened to her in that fire? She rose from those flames as a new person it seems.
I don’t have much time to ponder my thoughts before Callyn is standing in front of me. When did she stop kissing Zeke?
Callyn stands on her tip toes, placing a hand on my chest, right over my heart. She moves closer to my lips. I angle my head slightly to give her better access. I’ve wanted to kiss her for the longest time, and it’s about to happen. As much as I would like to take this kiss over, almost every fiber of my being is begging me too, I don't. I will take our first kiss at her pace, let her be in control. But only this once.
I can feel her lips ghost over mine. “You think too much, Lucian,” is all she says before she presses her lips to mine.
I wrap my arms around her, pulling her flush to my body. The feeling of her in my arms, her lips on mine, everything that I thought it would be doesn’t compare to this. This is better, so much better than anything I could have dreamed. She lets out a moan and all it does is spur me on more. My hand travels down her back to grip her butt, pulling her hips closer to mine. She let out a little gasp giving me all the opportunity I need to push my tongue in her mouth. I lied when I thought this couldn’t get any better, because it just did.
The taste of her on my tongue is something I will never forget. This only makes me want to taste her in other places. I live for that day. We separate just for a moment, to catch our breaths, before we change the angle of our heads and resume kissing. This time when our lips meet, I feel a wave of power release. The feel of it is almost as intoxicating as Callyn’s lips. Almost.
Callyn feels it too because I feel a shiver rack her body. She pulls back meeting my eyes and graces me with the biggest smile. Then she winks at me. I growl, barely resisting the urge to pull her back into my arms and continue kissing her.
“Uh, guys, we might have a problem.” Max’s voice breaks me out of my haze of lust. I look around to see what he is talking about, but I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“Care to elaborate?” My voice coming out rougher sounding than normal.
“Graydon has been slowly creeping toward the fire. He has been in some sort of trance since we felt that energy wave you and Callyn gave off,” Zeke explains.
I walk up next to Graydon. “You okay?”
“Don’t you feel it?”
“Feel what?”
“The pull. It’s almost like the fire is calling out to me. It feels like home.”
“That’s how I felt when I was kneeling on the ground. It felt like home, like it was calling to me.”
Zeke, Max, and Callyn walk up, all of us standing in a line staring at the burning barn.
“I feel like that every time the wind blows,” Max says.
“I can feel the moisture in the air calling out to me,” Zeke whispers.
“What do you think this means?” Max questions.
“You are each the proud owner of an element.” We all turn and look at Callyn. “You each will be able to control an element. It seems like your elements have chosen you already.”
Callyn
The boys are looking at me like I have grown a second head. Well, I guess in a way I have now that I can shift.
“How do you know this?” Lucian looks at me skeptically.
“I have been reading the journals my aunt has given me. In one of them, this was a possibility. The necklace around my neck has the etchings of each element. Also, when I shifted something just finally snapped into place. I felt at home and peace. Things are clearer, sharper. My instincts took over.”
“Is that what happened when you landed, because I have to say you looked and sounded hot.” Of course Max would crack a joke after I just dropped a huge bombshell on them.
“I’ll show you the journals, and we can talk about this after we handle the raging inferno in front of us.”
“How the hell are we supposed to do that?” growled Graydon.
“From what you all just said, you and Zeke are the best candidates.”
“Still doesn’t help, Callie bear.”
“I don’t know how to help you control your elements. I just know that it was a possibility that you could get it these abilities. I didn’t get that far in the journals.”
“Lucian, what do you think we should do?” Zeke questions.
“My educated guess would be you have to channel it. I felt the earth come alive under my hands when we knelt. I think you have to use the connection you feel in order to use and manipulate the energy around you. Try and concentrate on the connection first.”
Both Zeke and Graydon close their eyes; their breathing slow and steady. I knew from the few pages I had read in the journals my aunt Dahlia gave me this was a possibility. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t know for sure that they would receive this power. How disappointed would they have been if I told them about this and it never happened? I couldn’t stand to see that in their eyes.
“I can feel it,” they say at the same time.
“I’m going to say that most of this is going to have to be on pure instinct. Your body should almost know what to do,” Lucian states.
I can’t take my eyes off them. I can feel the power coming from them. It takes a few minutes, but then it happens. In the palm of Zeke’s hand is a ball of water.
“Holy shit,” he whispers, not moving his eyes, not blinking. It’s almost like he thinks if he breaks his concentration, the ball of water will disappear.
“Shit,” could be heard from Graydon. I look to see that he has drawn some of the flames toward him.
“Graydon, try to will the fire smaller. Zeke, try to call more water then throw it at the fire.”
“It’s too much, I can’t,” Graydon panicked.
My necklace started to warm. Can I help? I moved so that I was standing between Graydon and Zeke. I place a hand on each of their shoulders. “Use me.” They both quickly glance at me before returning their attention to their task. “I think adding my power may help you control yours, at least until you get the hang of this.”
I send a low wave of my energy at them, just like I did in the hallway. Graydon tames the fire that he was slowly starting to lose control of, and Zeke gathers more moisture from the air and throws a nice size ball of water. We slowly moved in a circle around the barn until only a small flame was left. By then, you could hear the sirens wailing. We had also drawn a crowd.
We were so wrapped up in this and each other that we didn’t notice what was going on around us. I spotted Cat front and center. I walk over to her and try to ignore the rest of the eyes on us.
“What the hell happened, Callie?”
“I still need to talk to the guys about this, but I don’t want to do that here. Everyone here has seen enough.”
“Let’s go then.” I nod my head. “We’ll meet you at my house.” I walk back over to the boys. “We need to make ourselves scarce.”
“I’ll try and talk to my grandfather. Hopefully, he can head some of this off.”
As we walked through the crowd I heard the whispers. It’s true, she really is the Alpha Queen. Did you see the phoenix? I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. Did you see the way they controlled the fire? Where did he get water from? It was like he pulled it out of thin air. Are we supposed to bow to them now? I wonder if this will change anything?
This was the nice things that I heard. Oh, there was bad things too. I bet she thinks everyone should cater to her. I’m not kneeling for her. I bet she starts acting entitled now. I hope she doesn’t think this makes her special. Kelsey two point oh on its way. I expected the majority of what was said. I knew there would be people for and against who and what I am. The Elder Council proved that much. So, the things that they were saying didn’t come as too much of a surprise. The ones that did surprise me, are the ones that called me Your Highness or Your Majesty. I didn’t expect that at all.
All it does is make me move faster. I need a second to breathe and wrap my head around the fact that I just shifted for the first time. Becoming a queen can wait for a day or two. I don’t know exactly how to go about that anyways. I breath out a sigh of relief when I get into Graydon’s truck. It doesn’t take us long to get on the road and head back to my house.
I send my aunt a message letting her know that we were on our way back. In no time at all, we are pulling into my driveway. We walk quietly into my house and start getting situated in seats around the living room. Everyone is staring at me, waiting. Nothing good is going to come from this. Though maybe Kelsey will finally be exposed for the horrible person she is.