Chapter 38: CHAPTER 27.0: The Aftermath

Aqua’s POV After hearing my mother’s story, it made me think a lot about my own. “I understand everything now, but I can’t stay here.”

“Okay… but Aqua please stop seeing Prince Lexus. I don’t want this for you.”

“I will but not until Monday. I need these last few days…”

She frowned. “You heard my story. Trust me Aqua, you don’t want to be in that position.” That’s exactly what she said in my dream. “I don’t regret any of it, but I still want to save you the heartache. Stop seeing Lexus. Not Monday, not tomorrow, now. The worst part is the hope you have that he’ll leave her won’t ever go away…”

My eyes watered because she was right. “Okay… you’re right, I should do it sooner than later. That still didn’t change my decision. I can’t stay here Mae.”

Mae frowned. “Even if it means your lifespan is shortened? You already live a lot shorter than the full dragon shifters. The king and queen won’t let you retire after the next adviser takes over. You’ll still use your abilities for them and die early because of it.”

I didn’t know that before my mother’s story, so I haven’t had time to think about it. “Holders are able to do so much for their kingdom, the sacrifice is equal.” I got up. “I should go.” I felt nothing but disapproval from my mother. “Here.” I grabbed a pen that was on the coffee table and wrote my number on a scrap piece of paper on the table. “Here’s my number, I’ll come back when I’m not busy working.” I still wanted a relationship with her, but it had to be on my terms.

Mae got up and hugged me. “You’re so much like your father.”

I walked out of the room. “Time to go.”

“Already?” Konn asked.

Lexus walked to me. “Are you sure you want to leave?”

I nodded. “I’ll be back but I think we should go for now.” I had a lot to think about.

Mae walked to Konn. “How did Lynn take the news about Aqua?”

Konn pushed my mom's hair behind her ear. “We're recovering from it. I have to focus on my family right now so you might not see me for a while. I really hurt her and my older son. He hasn’t admitted it because of Aqua. He's happy to have a sister but he’s hurt that I had an affair.” I didn’t think about Cade being hurt from that, but I should have. It made perfect sense.

Mae looked down out of guilt. “I understand…” She looked at me then at Konn. “We should stop this all together.” She wanted to set a good example for me. “This has been going on for way too long Konain, I want to be happy for more than just the few times a year you come here.” She deserved that.

Konn kissed her forehead. “Okay Fairy.” He walked to us and opened a portal.

I waved to Mae before I walked through. “What did Mae tell you?” Konn asked me on the other side.

“She told me everything including the fact that my shifting abilities aren’t sealed.” I took a deep breath.

“Adult hybrids of my combination usually don’t shift until adulthood.”

“That’s okay, you should be shifting soon then, we’ll figure it out,” Lexus said.

Konn looked sad. “When you want to go back the portal splicer is here Aqua.” He put it in the drawer.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Konn walked to the door. “No but it doesn’t matter, I’m the only one to blame for how I feel now.” He didn’t want to stop seeing my mother.

I let him leave then turned to Lexus. “We should stop seeing each other too… I’m going to the full moon ball with Calvin so we can meet up sometime during it to go through with the rejection.”

“What? We have a few days left; we should use them Aqua. I was serious when I told you I had feelings for you. You can look me in my eyes and tell me you don’t share those feelings?” He stared into my eyes.

A few tears ran down my cheek. “No, I can’t because I do have feelings for you Lexus. I’ve liked you even before we had sex. That’s why we have to stop, I can’t keep doing this even for another day because I’m just going to fall in love with you. I’m not going to be able to bare that when we have to reject each other. It’s better to stop while we’re ahead.”

Lexus wiped my tears away and it only made me cry harder. “Okay, we’ll distance ourselves these last few days.”

“Thank you,” I whispered. I walked out of the room wiping my tears away. I didn’t realize Konn was waiting outside of the door. “Konn? Aren’t you getting back to wo-” I stopped speaking because he hugged me.

“Come on, let’s go for a fly,” he suggested.

I walked with him out the castle. He shifted into his dragon form and I climbed on. We flew around for a while then he landed on a cliff that was far out. I climbed down and he shifted into his human form. “You were seeing Lexus?”

I sat down with my back against the tree. “I was… I know it was stupid. I broke things off because Mae wanted me to. We weren’t going to continue things past the full moon.”

“Why the full moon specifically?”

I didn’t want another person to know we were mates. “It felt like a good time stamp that’s all… I like him a lot and he likes me. I don’t want to end up like you and Mae either. I don’t want to be his mistress for twenty years. Plus, Sadia is my friend.”

He sat down next to me. “These things are complicated Aqua.”

I leaned against him. “Do you ever wish you met Mae for the second time before you met Lynn?”

“No because then I wouldn’t have Cade or Gray. If I met Mae as adults before Lynn I would probably be married to Mae. I wouldn’t have had an affair because I’ve never desired a woman more than her.

You’d probably have a few more full siblings. It’s a nice thought but not worth giving up my sons for.” It was a good answer. “If I didn’t have kids then the answer would be different."

I stared out past the cliff. “Lexus and Saida don’t have any children and they aren’t married yet but I’m the holder. I guess our obstacles are different.”

“Very different.”