The Lost Alliance (Rise of the Drakens Book 2) by Raven Storm (best books for students to read .TXT) 📕

he wants this alliance with the witches to work, he must try. Also, he can’t order me to do anything as his mate. Resistance is useless.”

Ronan laughed.

“Resisting you in any way is futile.” He snagged me around the waist, lifting me up in the air.

“Ronan? Could you help me with something?”

Wyrren’s black scales gleamed under the sunlight, his face drawn in exhaustion. It hadn’t even occurred to me to check on him after the other two elders had sacrificed themselves for the wards. He had to be struggling with the loss of his lifelong friends.

Ronan dropped me lightly to the ground and bounded off to help. I sighed, then spotted Benedict across the valley, shouting a group of drakens who were trying to build one of the first stone houses. I flew over, gliding to his side and waving at the drakens who paused in their work to wave or greet me.

“Are you busy?”

I bumped my wing to his, and he paused in the middle of his tirade. The berated drakens glanced at me with hope in their eyes.

“Not, not at all,” he replied sarcastically, his face deadpanned.

“Great!” I said with a high, cheery voice. I tugged on his arm and pulled him away, leaving the other drakens to get back to work without their king breathing down their necks.

“Put Ronan in charge of the reconstruction efforts.”

Whatever he had expected me to say, it wasn’t that. His eyebrows rose, a thoughtful crease appearing in his forehead.

“It’s not a bad idea. He is highly organized and meticulous.”

I nodded, nervously brushing hair out of my eyes. “I also may have hinted that you had already decided to ask him.”

Benedict leveled an unamused expression at me, and I grimaced.

“I just felt bad he was being left behind while we hunt for the blood witches. He needs something to do to keep busy, and I didn’t want to see him sad. He’s a lot like you that way.”

Benedict made a noncommittal sound in his throat.

“We are alike in that you don’t want to see him unhappy, or that he needs something to do to stay out of trouble?”

Now he was teasing me—a rare occurrence. I pretended to think hard, my brow wrinkling in consternation.

“Both,” I replied, and he rolled his eyes.

“Very well. By the way, your coronation is tomorrow evening. We will leave the following morning to search for the blood witches.”

I stopped short. “What coronation?”

He shot me a look like I was dense. I flinched, reminded of how he treated me when I first came to Dark Haven. He took a half-step towards me, his face softening. If he realized his mistake, he wasn’t about to admit to it.

“You’re my queen,” he said mildly, though his eyes were strangely fierce. “You need a coronation.”

“Of course,” I muttered in reply, feeling foolish. I knew I was technically his queen, but in the chaos of our flight from Dark Haven I hadn’t really thought much of it. Was any of this real? Sometimes I felt as though Crullfed would jump out from behind a tree at any moment, announce this whole thing had been a cruel trick, and drag me back to the breeding manor, cane in hand.

“Is that what you want?”

It warmed my heart that he cared enough to ask, instead of forcing my hand like he would have done only months ago. I closed my eyes, then opened them.

“Yes, it’s fine. It just took me by surprise.”

He smiled, a real one that I rarely saw. His hand found mine and brought it to his lips.

“Thank you. I want to do this for you.” I looked away, embarrassed. He exhaled through his nose.

“I am sorry there are no other female drakens to help you through this. Normally you would spend the day before the coronation with them, being pampered and picking out your clothing and other ceremonial items. I have nothing truly to offer you other than myself, and my people.”

The corner of my mouth twisted into a small smile.

“It’s enough. Truly.”

Benedict nodded, then, looked over my shoulder.

“Good, because I have no responsibility for what’s about to happen next.”

I didn’t have time to protest, because I was immediately accosted by Astrid, Vela, and a pack of their witches. They were grinning in an inappropriately predatory manner.

“What—”

“I’m off to have that talk with Ronan!” Benedict couldn’t flee fast enough, and I narrowed my eyes at his retreating back.

“Come! We have a lot of work to do!”

Astrid took in my dirty, disheveled appearance, and I snarled back unafraid. I was far from the self-conscious, weak little human girl I had once been. Astrid pointed a finger at my chest, unmoved.

“Quit it. Don’t you want to look good for your mates? I hear they will actually be bathing beforehand the ceremony. We can’t let such lengths go without reward.”

I let her lead me away, my nose wrinkling

“Where? In the ocean?”

Astrid giggled. “I see they haven’t divulged all of the island's secrets to you yet. Probably for the best.”

They led me back through the southern valley, past the drakens hard at work. Many stopped to smile and wave, some of them elbowing each other as I passed. A few even whistled at me. I whipped around; my fangs bared. I ran into an invisible wall of air, courtesy of Astrid.

“Let them have their fun. There hasn’t been a coronation or bonding ceremony in a millennium for them, let alone both at once. They crave normalcy. If that allows them to tease you, it’s a small price to pay.”

“They can have it,” I retorted, “just not on my behalf.”

The witches led me west, over a large expanse of hardened, black land until we reached the western slopes. The ground leveled out, and there were witches with hammers hacking at the magma, sweat dripping down their faces.

“We found it more efficient to crack the magma by hand, then grow from underneath.” I looked past the witches with hammers and gasped as a rich, mature oasis greeted my eyes. Trees and