Arranged To The Alpha
Chapter 45

Natalia:

“Blake, you know that the last thing I want to do is see the man” I said, walking through the forest alongside my husband who had his arm around my waist, pulling me toward the empty arena where we knew that he was waiting for our presence.

The forest moving to clear the path for our arrival told us that he was waiting for us to come, and knowing that he was, I got more annoyed with each step I took.

“Baby girl, I know that you don’t want this, but what better chance do we have? If Drake is playing a nasty game, then we have to be prepared. I don’t know if anyone out there is against your grandfather and wants you as dead as they want him; therefore, I want you to at least be prepared for what we’re going to face. Yes, I know that it would be hard, and yes, I know that you are still angry with him; but we don’t know the whole story, we don’t know what kind of pressure he was also under, and no, I am not defending him, I am just stating facts” Blake said as we reached the empty arena where my grandfather stood, waiting for the two of us.

“I take it that your husband is smarter than you are” he said, looking at me as if I had mucus coming out of my nose “what brings the two of you here?”

“Nothing…”

“She needs to be trained, and we both know that you’re the only one who can do that. I know that after what happened, you might not want to, but I know that you’re the one person that I can trust to at least be honest with me. Whether it is a sacrifice, or not, I know that you wouldn’t cheat or lie about it” Blake said, stopping me.

“I am not going to take their same path of power, Blake” I said, snapping at him. Crystal who was on my shoulder, lowered her head under my hair to hide herself “I am not going to have my dragon or you living in that fear”

“You need to understand that no one is forcing you to do anything, Natalia” my grandfather said, stopping me “I did not force your father to kill his dragon, and had he shown me that he truly loved your mother, I wouldn’t have forced him to do it”

“You killed your love for your power…”

“I did it, he did not have to” he said, stopping me “and power wasn’t the only thing that I was after. If you choose to listen to a whole story instead of being emotional, judgmental, or a child, then you would know that there are more reasons to this. Yes, I have killed her, and I would do it again if I had to, powers or not. My love for her is as f*****g true as anyone’s would ever be, and to prove it, I didn’t marry or get with another woman after her. I could have a long time ago, and I still can; however, I devoted myself to ONE woman, one woman who lied and cheated me…”

“What?” I asked, frowning in confusion.

“The woman was a witch, do you understand me? Your father helped me kill her to ensure that she did not kill him long before we found out, or more specifically, your father told us about his ‘love’s’ pregnancy…”

“That is not the story that you told me…”

“I do not lay my plate open for those to come and eat from it as they please” he said, glaring at me “I do not give my clear answers to those who I do not know, and I do not make the mistake of giving the full and correct version to someone that I just met”

“You know about my meeting with Nikita” I said, avoiding his eyes.

“You should be thankful that the woman is from my side and that I was the one who sent her. The hex on Ryan should heal but it would be taking time, but your husband’s brother could have sent those from his side to you, and you would have given your necks to them. You would have given them a chance to harm the two of you…”

“Wait, wait, so Ryan was telling us the truth about the games?” Blake asked, frowning in confusion. Nikita nodded, looking at Blake as I shook my head in disbelief, both finding this absurd and insane.

“You are not being serious right now…”

“The games have started, and YOU were chosen, Natalia” he said, glaring at me “you and most of the other manipulators. Your brother in law is starting a war like no other, one that we swore to stop years ago. He has sided with the witches to start it again and repeat a history that we have tried preventing years ago”

“How?” Blake asked, shaking his head “how did he even find out about it?”

“A man who chooses to side with the witches will choose to let his heart go to their power. These witches are manipulatives, and the mermaids they work with can get them answers that were thrown deep into the oceans as we got rid of them. The dark dragons and those who were born of dragon bloods can survive the hottest of fires to get the ancient scrolls which were hidden within the walls of the volcanos” grandfather said, looking the two of us in the eye “the two of you have been dragged to a manipulative game, and because you’re choosing to trust the wrong people, the two of you are just being dragged around like a bunch of punching bags”

“Not really helping with the scolding part, Alex” Nikita said, walking out of the temple that we entered before. Her eyes met mine and she smiled “my apologies for lying to you about being your grandfather’s enemy, Natalia, but there was no other way to get you to at least doubt my word and come here. Had it been up to me, I would have brought you here myself, but I can see now why your grandfather asked me not to”

“Who the bloody hell are you?”

“I am one of the temple’s ancient assassins” she said, closing her hands and opening them again. She revealed a line of fire, earth, wind, and water before she closed her hand “like yourself and your grandfather, I carry all the elemental powers in my b***d; however, your grandfather was also my senior or teacher in other words. I chose to be his assassin while I trained here, and he was the grand manipulator by our choice. As for the stories about your family. Your father froze to FREEZE the dragon not kill him, and I know that in your head, it is the same, it is not. The dragon still lives to this day, but is in hibernation or dormant. Your father can come and wake him when he wants, but does not, and it is for reasons that also include protecting you”

“You might not choose to listen to your grandfather, and I do not blame you. The man has lied to you enough for you to doubt his word, but then again, if he could manipulate elements, I believe that he could manipulate both you and your husband” she said, looking at Blake with a smile on her face. Blake’s hand which was holding mine, tightened gently, wanting me to calm down and listen without judging anything, and nodding, I chose to keep a complete open mind right now “if you want, I can be the one to tell you the entire story, how your father met your mother, why your grandfather was FORCED to kill your grandmother, and why you’ve had to live in hiding. I know that I am the last person that you might trust since you just met me; however, listening can never harm you. You can choose to take what you want, leave what you want, and then, we will go and start with training”

“Can I ask why are you sure that I will be agreeing to start training with you? Not to offend you, but I have no means or reason to do so” I asked, looking the woman in the eye. She smiled at me, her once brown eyes turned blue, a shade that matched my own for a second as water started flooding the area around us. I shook my head at her, and with a flick of my finger, I made the ground under us, sucked the water in, growing plants around us.

“You are a strong woman, I will admit that, and you have that fire in your eyes. A fire of desire, love, power, and strength. But I believe you act on emotions more than rationalism, and I cannot blame you for that. You are a woman, and it is important to have your heart clean from the inside” she said, looking me in the eye “however, it is also very important for you, as a human, to know when it is time to drop your ego, to stand strong for both yourself and your family, and train when required as to ensure that you’re able to fight when needed. You might not understand this now, but if your husband brought you here, it means that he does”

“That still does not answer my question” I said, shaking my head at her.

“Because, you will need to fight and survive. The survival games have been there for centuries, and you need to understand that the witches wouldn’t have started them now unless they were out for no good, and some of them could be out for revenge” she said, making me frown.

“What did I do for them to get revenge from me?” Blake looked at me, and shaking my head in confusion, the two of us waited for what Nikita had to say.

“They are not out for revenge from you in specific. You are the first bloodline of witch and manipulator in over a hundred years, most of them usually died due to excess power at a very young age, and that is why you sometimes feel like your skin cannot contain the amount of power you’re having. Yes, you are no witch, at least, those powers have not reflected on you; but the amount of power you’re carrying can be the one thing to destroy them all, especially since you have survived, it is prophesied, that there is a person the last of your kind and b***d, can have the strongest tribrid that’s ever been seen in history. Someone who will be able to rule the whole magic realm, whether witches, wolves, or element manipulators, and that is not something that they want” she said, looking me in the eye “and that is why, they will all be out there to kill you. Both you, and your husband, Natalia…”