Free Web NovelChapter 84: Chapter 84
Tempest was the only one clapping and cheering for Dron.
Everyone else hissed and booed him.
It felt like it was the two of them against the world, and after what she found out today, she guessed that was the truth of the matter.
Everyone wanted them for one thing or another, but no one wanted them to be together.
Tough titties.
There was nothing anyone could say that would make Tempest turn against Dron. Not after this. Not after she finally figured out exactly how she felt about him.
"He won! I told you he would. I really should’ve taken that bet." Tempest smarted off at the mouth as she tried to walk by Prince Jaqen.
He put a hand up and all the guards around him surrounded her.
Her heart fluttered in her chest. For a moment there she’d forgotten that she was in the presence of royalty and he could change history at his whim. Who’s to say that he still wouldn’t have Dron killed?
"You’re becoming way more trouble than you’re worth." He snarled at her.
Tempest lifted her chin, making sure not to show just how fearful she was. "Lucky for you, you don’t have to deal with me. I’m Dron’s headache, remember."
"You are what I say you are." Prince Jaqen fired back.
"As you wish. Make a ruling. Look out into the crowd and tell all the people here that you are going back on your word. That the battle you orchestrated was nothing more than a farce." Tempest kept her eyes on him.
They both knew he couldn’t do that. If he was about to punish Tempest and Dron he would have to find a different place to do it.
He clenched his jaw so hard Tempest was fearful that he would break the teeth in his mouth. Instead of yelling out in anger as she thought he would, Prince Jaqen sighed and backed away from her.
"Go on, be with your cursed mate. One way or another, you’ll see the error of your judgment. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’ll be clamoring to come back here once you see how he acts during your heat." Prince Jaqen waved his hand, and the guards moved to the side, letting Tempest go.
She didn’t hesitate, pushing his warning to the back of her mind. She rushed through the crowd trying to find a way to get to Dron.
Before she could even get halfway down, the prince silenced the crowd and began talking.
"Brothers and sisters, today we were shocked and humbled by the might of an apex predator. The bloodlust and savagery of this alpha is a reminder of what exactly is locked inside all alphas and exactly what can happen if provoked." The crowd erupted into another round of boos.
Tempest could feel her ears getting hot; she was pissed. That isn’t the truth. Prince Jaqen was making it seem like Dron was the one in the wrong here. He was the one who was drugged and tricked into fighting for his life. The invitation, the tour, all of it was a setup.
"Now, now, Dron did exactly what he was born to do. Reap destruction and chaos. There is no shame in that. No fault. How could we ever expect someone of his nature and upbringing to show mercy on a fellow Thraqen?" Prince Jaqen continued.
Tempest turned in a slow circle, and the hate emanating from nearly every last person in the crowd was nearly palpable. She had to get down to him. Had to help him through this, but the more she tried to climb down the stairs, the more she was starting to realize that there was no real way down onto the arena floor.
"Come. I’ll show you the way." A voice spoke so close to Tempest that she jumped in surprise.
She whirled around to see who was talking to her, but the man had his entire face covered by a thick scarf. He put his hand out, but Tempest shrank away.
There was no way that she was about to follow some random stranger anywhere. There was no one here in the high royal class that she could trust. Prince Jaqen made sure to teach her that lesson.
"Tempest, it’s okay. It’s me." The man slightly dropped the scarf that was wrapped around his face, and Tempest nearly wept in relief.
It was Gerax.
She had no idea what he was doing there, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the face. She grabbed hold of Gerax’s hand and allowed him to pull her through the crowd.
The prince continued on and on, giving Dron insult-laden compliments. Tempest didn’t want to hear another word. It was all a lie. That wasn’t the Dron she knew and loved. What the prince was saying didn’t align with the man that Tempest knew. Even the warning about how he was going to act didn’t weigh on her mind the way she was sure he wanted it to.
She knew the truth.
She knew Dron.
"Come, we have to move fast." Gerax yanked her through the crowd harder when the group of people seemed to get more dense. It didn’t take long for Tempest to realize that she was near the entrance.
Finally, they pushed through the crowd and were standing in front of a long tunnel. In one direction she could see light, and she was sure that was the exit, in the other direction the way was lit by strobing lights and was much darker. That must be the way to the arena.
"We have to get Dron." Tempest tried to pull away from Gerax, but he refused to let her hand go.
"No, we need to get out of the arena." There was a twinge of fear in his voice. He was uncertain. She wasn’t used to hearing him like that.
"What’s wrong? What’s going to happen?" Tempest questioned, looking at the usually stoic man.
"There’s going to be a riot."
Tempest’s eyes widened, "A riot? Why? All because Dron won? Surely, that’s a bit of an over-exaggeration."
"Not to these people. They were promised a redemption. What they got is a villain who conquered all good."
"Dron isn’t a villain." Tempest snapped at Gerax and finally yanked her arm away from him.
"I know he’s not. I see it. I saw it the second I realized what was happening to him. An alpha blessed by the moon gods could never be the villain in any story." Gerax pulled the scarf from around his face. His eyes widened, and he looked down at the place on her arm where he’d just been touching. "I’m sorry. Oh by the gods. Forgive me." He dropped to his knees in an almost comical way, and he bowed in front of Tempest.
"What the hell are you doing? You didn’t hurt me. Why are you doing this?" She tried to get him off the floor, but the more she touched him, the more he pulled away from her.
"You’re a fated mate. I shouldn’t have touched you. I’m not supposed to touch you."
Tempest sighed and rolled her eyes, "Gerax, stop this madness. It’s fine. I promise you nothing is going to happen. Get up. We need to find Dron and get out of here before this place implodes."
Gerax looked up from where he was kneeling as if to gauge whether or not she was telling the truth. She waved her hand, gesturing for him to get up in a hurry.
"Where would he be?"
Gerax tilted his head, "The prince has concluded his address. Dron must still be in the middle of the arena. I’d guess he was looking for you."
Tempest surged forward, and in that same second, a loud crash caused the walls around them to rattle. "What the hell is going on up there?"
"Chaos." Gerax looked up as if the ceiling might crumble down on them at any moment. "The royals are accustomed to getting their way. On the outside they may seem like the most refined of us all, but they are as bloodthirsty as any other class, maybe even more because there is no one around to stop them. The guards are there to keep others from harming them. They won’t intervene as they fight among themselves."
"Then how do we get Dron out of there?" Tempest was starting to panic. She yelped in fear as another loud crash sounded from above them. She was confident that Dron could face any foe, but she wasn’t sure he would survive being trampled to death.
"Stay here. I’ll get him." Gerax started.
"No. I need to come with you!" Tempest tried to take a step forward.
"Tempest, listen to me. If Dron sees you’re in danger, he’ll put himself in peril just trying to get to you. Trust me." Gerax stared at her for a moment.
She had to believe him. There was nothing else that she could do.
She nodded, and Gerax took off running down the darkened hall after wrapping his face with the scarf again.
It seemed to be taking a long time. The longer Tempest stood there in the middle of the tunnel waiting for any sign that Gerax managed to get to Dron, the more intense her anxiety became.
The shaking wasn’t stopping. The yelling and screaming from above wasn’t getting quieter.
"Please, let him be okay. Please." Tempest prayed to herself as she leaned against the wall and slid down to her butt. She covered her ears with her hands, trying to block the sound of mayhem out.
Tears burned her eyelids. She was trying to remain strong. Trying to put on a good front, but in reality she was losing her mind with worry not only for Dron but for herself as well.
Now that she knew exactly what waited for her outside of Dron’s care, she knew for certain that she wouldn’t survive. Even if she were able to survive physically, she wouldn’t survive mentally.
"My temptation, why are you on the ground?"
Tempest gasped and whipped her head up. The tears she was trying to hold back cascaded down her cheeks as she watched Dron and Gerax slowly making their way down the tunnel.
She couldn’t hold back her relief anymore. She pushed herself up from the ground and ran in Dron’s direction. She collided with him, wrapping her arms around his body the best she could while he still had on the armor.
Dron grunted in pain, but he didn’t push her away.
"I’m sorry. Are you okay? What am I saying, of course you’re not okay. I’m so sorry this happened. They tricked us both." Tempest reached up and began caressing Dron’s face.
Gerax stepped away.
"I’m here with you. There is no better place for me to be."
Her heart expanded in her chest again. The man had a knack for saying the absolute best things regardless of what was going on around them.
Dron leaned forward, dropping his face against her neck as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
He inhaled her scent. A move that would’ve made Tempest uncomfortable before, but right now it felt as right as breathing.
"We should go. We have to get out of here." She whispered but didn’t move.
Dron was the first one to stop. He inhaled once again, harder this time, before he pulled away from her. His eyebrows furrowing. Instead of taking another step back, he began to sniff at her like a hound.
"He touched you here." Dron growled as he raised a hand and let his fingers wrap around the same spot Prince Jaqen had grabbed her earlier. "And here." Another growl rumbled in his chest as he dropped his fingers to the spot where Prince Jaqen had grabbed her arm.
"It’s over now. It’s all done." Tempest tried her hardest to soothe him, but he wasn’t done. Dron continued to sniff and paw at her.
"He..." Dron hesitated as he got to the space on her wrist that Gerax had grabbed. Dron turned slightly, and Tempest could see the pure rage in his gaze. He stared directly at Gerax.
"No, don’t. It was accidental." Tempest stood in front of Dron and tried to pull him out of his alpha instincts. Seems like Gerax truly had a reason to beg for forgiveness.
"Accidental or not, no one touches my mate." Dron tried to step around her, but she put a hand on his chest to keep him steady in front of her. freewёbnoνel.com
"If he didn’t, I’d be up there getting trampled. Would you rather I be dead or here with you?" Tempest raised an eyebrow and waited for Dron to see the logic in her statement.
"It will never happen again." Gerax finally spoke up. His back plastered against the wall as he cowered away from Dron.
"It won’t." Tempest put a hand on Dron’s cheek and forced him to look at her. "Can we go home? I want to leave now." She smiled at him and watched in real time as the anger all but dissipated from Dron’s body.
"Let’s do that." Dron grabbed hold of Tempest’s hand gently as he and Gerax rushed toward the exit.
"I have a transport waiting." Gerax shouted over his shoulder as the three of them finally made it out of the long tunnel.
Tempest gasped in shock when they got out into the main area of the high royal class. In just that short amount of time, the people who were in the coliseum had leaked out onto the street, and they were brawling among themselves. The fountain was destroyed, benches ripped from the ground, clothes spewn around everywhere.
What shocked her most of all were the people who were openly having sex in the middle of it all. It was complete pandomonium.
"Mine." An older alpha growled. Tempest hadn’t even seen him standing so close to the three of them. The alpha had his eyes locked on Tempest. This was about to get really bad. Or it would’ve if Dron weren’t standing right next to her.
As the alpha rushed in Tempest’s direction, Dron grabbed him by his neck and chucked him across the space as if the man weighed nothing more than a piece of paper.
"Where is the transport!" Dron barked at Gerax.
"It’s here. Right here!" Gerax pointed up, and sure enough, a small transport barely big enough for two people came to settle right in front of them.
"Wait, how are we all going to fit on that?" Tempest asked as Dron grabbed hold of her and rushed to get on.
"I’ll get out. They aren’t coming for me. They aren’t looking for me. I’ll meet you two back at Dron’s house. Be safe!" With that, Gerax turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Tempest didn’t have a chance to ask him to be careful, the transport was already floating up into the air and whizzing away from the madness below.
