He was prepared to finally get his revenge but then somebody screaming stopped him cold. “That’s enough of this nonsense, Stephan. I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be. But Alistair did nothing, he is innocent. It is not his fault that George is his father. Can’t you see he’s only defending himself? If he wanted, he could have hurt you as well!” Mickey placed her hand on both of them to separate them from one another.
Stephan didn’t know what he was doing, all he could see were his parents being murdered in front of his eyes. Mickey was able to calm him down a little.
Sarai just hugged Alistair and she was about to cry. Mickey felt so ashamed about what Stephan had done. He’d almost killed Alistair. Mickey got inside and got two water bottles. “I am so sorry, guys. Alistair, are you okay?” Mickey asked, offering water to him.
Alistair just nodded. “Don’t feel sorry, honey. It’s all right,” Sarai said, and she helped her husband into the house.
Stephan stood near a bench, still fuming with anger. “Stephan?” Mickey asked softly. Stephan looked away, not willing to look into her eyes. He knew what he did was so wrong and he already regretted that. “Stephan, I know you’re feeling bad because of what you just did. It’s okay, it was the anger and pain you had building inside of you all those years, it just came out today,” Mickey said, and offered him the other water bottle.
Stephan looked at Mickey, and all his anger vanished as she spoke to him. “I am sorry Mickey; I lost all control today. I promise, this was my first, and hopefully last, time.”
“I understand, Stephan, but I can tell Alistair is a real gem.” Mickey looked at him and smiled. “Let’s apologize to both of them.” Mickey understood what was driving Stephan. All the pieces fell into place, including the crippling loss of his brother, and she felt so happy for Stephan. At least he has someone to call his family.
Alistair was seated on the couch, looking better than earlier. “Alistair, I’m sorry. I lost all control when I heard the name of your father, George.”
“It’s all right, but I just want to know, why were you this angry at my father? I know he can be rude at times.” Stephan told him everything that happened back then, and he was the son of the Elite King James.
Alistair took a few moments to absorb this new information. “You know only half of the truth,” Alistair said as Sarai came and sat next to Mickey.
“Half-truth? What do you mean by that?”
“That night was the worst nightmare for Dad. He loved his brothers so much, especially James. But he didn’t know that Dale was so selfish. Dale had conspired to kill your whole family that night so that he could be the Elite Shifter King. Dad even tried to save James’s life, but it was too late for that. You couldn’t have seen Dad killing your parents with your own eyes. There must have been some confusion.”
“Yes, I just saw Dale killing my mother and my brother Vincent in front of me. I somehow managed to escape.”
“It’s true, and I don’t know how to make you believe it. But Balthazar’s father Dale wasn’t happy with how the palace was being run, with the shifters free to do whatever they want. My dad was attacked, and he left the palace forever with my mother and your brother. I was barely a glimmer in my mother’s eyes.” His fists were clenched and he tried to curb his dragon bloodlust.
“My brother? You mean Vincent?”
“Yes Stephan. You heard that right; your brother Vincent is alive. Dale almost killed him that day, but somehow Dad was able to save him.”
Stephan’s mouth dropped open in surprise to hear this unexpected news. He’d never known his brother was still alive, and he was overcome with emotions until he was hugging Mickey, afraid to let her go. There was a moment of silence until the relief of knowing they didn’t have to be enemies washed over them in waves.
It wasn’t long before they were talking openly and honestly about everything. It was still tense, but they managed to move past it until they were laughing at the absurdity of a family feud. Alistair also told him that his father had left the palace the same day those incidents happened. He’d loved James so much, and Dale was killed in the fight, while George tried to save James. George had searched for Stephan for so many years, but he’d failed to find him, finally giving up hope.
Stephan once again apologized to both Sarai and Alistair, and they headed back to Mickey’s house.
The drive back to Mickey’s home was a silent one. Stephan didn’t know what he should say to Mickey. If he’d known that Mickey already knew about the shifter world, and that her own best friend was married to a dragon, he would have revealed everything much earlier.
Chapter 15
Sitting down in the living room, Stephan held her hand and said, “I am so sorry, Mickey. I wanted to tell you everything before, but I was always afraid of losing you. And every time I scraped together enough courage to tell you, something would come up. It’s not an easy thing for a human to believe.” Mickey silently listened to what he was saying. “I know I don’t deserve you, but the animal in me was selfish, and wanted you at any cost.”
“I almost didn’t believe it even when Alistair shifted in front of my own two eyes.” Mickey said as Stephan smiled at her comment. ”I hope there aren’t any more secrets. I want to know everything about your life.” Mickey grabbed his hand and took him to the bedroom so that they could talk until morning lying on her bed.
“My dad was the Elite Dragon King, eldest among these three brothers, and my mom was human. We all lived in a huge underground palace. The dragons were free to shift and fly. It was big and exotic and safe. But one day, my parents decided to move to Australia because they sensed something was wrong. They were peace-loving dragons without a deceitful bone in their bodies. My dad decided to leave the palace so that Balthazar’s father, Dale, could be the king. Before they could leave, they were attacked. One of the dragons, Thomas, somehow saved me from a fate worse than death. Thomas was a trusted soldier of my father. He took me to Australia to start a new life, where my father had already made arrangements for us. There I met Aiyana and fell in love. She was killed saving me from a cat shifter in Australia.” He breathed deeply and took a strong drink of the wine sitting in front of him.
“That’s why you kept warning me about David, right?” Mickey asked.
Stephan nodded his head. “Yes. I didn’t know that you already knew that he was a cat. And I had sensed he had feelings for you. After Aiyana, I never trusted cat shifters.”
“What about Alistair?”
“I thought his parents were also involved in the murder of my family. I realized that was not true when Alistair told me the story after I almost killed him. I’m grateful to him for telling me about how Vincent survived. All this time, I thought he was dead,” Stephan said as Mickey leaned into kiss him.
“You are a good dragon, Stephan, same as Alistair.” This time she smiled and gently kissed his lips. As she deepened the kiss, Stephan took the lead and they slept in each other’s arms after having a round of sweet sex full of love.
Two days later, Stephan received an invitation from Alistair to go to the palace where his father and Vincent would be waiting for them. They would be returning to the palace after almost a century.
