The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate-Chapter 140: Dealer’s Choice, Captain

Thor stared at Serena, who had just commanded every dragon on the field. "That was the hottest thing I’ve ever witnessed, and I watch myself train every morning."

"Thor," Halvek warned.

"I think I’m in love."

"You’re not in love, Crushturn."

"My dick disagrees."

"That’s your last remaining brain cell dying. Get in formation."

Thor looked Halvek dead in the eye. "Let’s just say I would let her ride me hard and I wouldn’t buck her off."

"One more word, Crushturn."

"I would let her ruin me. On my knees. On my back. Sitting on my face. Choke-me-while-I-finish. Dealer’s choice."

"CRUSHTURN."

"Yes, Captain."

Above them, Flareon circled once and glided down, touching the field with the composure of a dragon who had absolutely not just terrorized her bonded for an hour.

Elara slid off before the dragon had fully stopped moving.

Captain Halvek was waiting, his arms crossed.

"She tried to kill me," Elara said flatly.

"She tested you," Halvek corrected. "There’s a difference."

"The difference is subtle when you’re plummeting toward the ground."

Halvek’s mouth twitched. It might have been a smile, quickly suppressed. "Tomorrow you ride Styx. He’s worse."

Elara gave him a look of pure horror. And it had nothing to do with Styx.

Thor’s head snapped toward them. "Did I just hear Moaning Myrtle is going to ride Styx?"

"Thor, if you call me that one more time."

Thor gave her a knowing look. "I heard what I heard, Myrtle."

Styx closed his eyes. Not asleep. Just choosing not to participate.

"Ground rules," Thor continued. "You ride him. He’ll fight it. I watch the whole time. And if he makes a noise he’s never made with me—"

Halvek held up a hand, cutting Thor off. His eyes were on Serena.

"Frostborne. Water dragons it is." He pointed past the field toward the coastline, where a water dragon circled low over the water. "Get that one to listen to you."

Serena stared at it. From afar, it stared right back at her. The mutual enthusiasm was overwhelming.

She climbed onto Styx with Thor and they launched towards the coastline.

"Welcome aboard Styx Airlines," he narrated. "Today, we will witness a girl become a woman for the first time."

Serena didn’t even open her mouth. There were too many things wrong with that.

"Heard it," he said. "Didn’t hate it."

She closed her eyes. She’d flown with this man in an actual battle. Her first actually. He didn’t say a goddamn word then. What happened to that guy?

She gladly stood on Styx, jumping off in the middle of a Thor monologue about the Holy Trinity.

The wind hit her face, and her body responded before her brain did. Muscle memory. The kind earned from two battles full of bruises and near-death experiences that she really should have learned from by now.

She jumped from Styx onto the water dragon’s back.

It bucked immediately. This dragon had looked at Serena, assessed her, and decided, on principle, that it was not interested.

She respected that. She also didn’t care.

"To land," Serena commanded.

The dragon did not go to land. The dragon went straight up, rolled, and dumped her off its back like a sack of flour it had grown tired of carrying.

Serena found herself airborne. Velkaris was not nearby. And shocker, Thor and Styx were nowhere nearby. The ground, however, was very nearby and approaching with enthusiasm.

If she died here, Dex wouldn’t even know. He’d come back to learn that she got bucked off a water dragon while Thor was supposed to be spotting and she was banned from using Velkaris and magic.

On the bright side, if she survived, it would make an excellent story. On the dark side, Thor would be the one telling it.

Considering no one else was told ’no magic’ and she was the only person going near water dragons, she assumed it was Tiberon’s orders. What’s another protocol violation on her growing list.

She rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of the rules just for her and fabricated a glider in her hands. The wind carried her back toward the dragon.

"And she’s off!" Thor announced. "Beautiful dismount. Flawless rotation. Nine out of ten. Minus one for not screaming. That’s the sexiest part."

"No magic, Frostborne!" Halvek called from below.

Serena shot him a look that could have skinned a deer at fifty paces. She was falling from the sky without a dragon. The suggestion that she do so without magic was the kind of advice that sounded reasonable only to someone standing safely on the ground.

"Yes, Captain," she said through her teeth.

Thor watched from Styx as the water dragon bucked Serena off for the second time.

"You know what I always say?"

"Nobody asked," Serena called back, mid-fall.

Thor cupped his hands around his mouth and projected his voice louder. "Use your thighs next time, Frostborne! Squeeze! That’s what I tell every woman I—"

"CRUSHTURN," Halvek barked.

"Ride with! Women I ride with. On dragons. Tactical advice, Captain!"

Halvek closed his eyes. "I’m going to count to five. When I open my eyes, you’re going to be in formation and silent."

"That’s fair," Thor said.

Halvek opened his eyes.

Thor was neither in formation nor silent. He was, however, waving at Serena. She did not wave back.

By sunset, half her training suit had holes burned through it from water dragon acid. Her ribs were bruised in places she didn’t know ribs existed. Her hair was a mess, and she had definitely used magic at least five more times.

Halvek turned his back every single time she did, staring at the horizon with the sudden intense focus of a man who had developed a passionate interest in clouds.

"She’s using magic again!" Thor announced, pointing. "I respect it, but I’m reporting it!"

"You’re not reporting anything, Crushturn," Halvek said, still staring at the clouds.

"Shouldn’t we log it, Captain?" Thor pressed.

"You are supposed to be on Styx, spotting her."

Thor glanced at Halvek. Then at Serena, who was glowing gold. Then back at Halvek. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Captain, she’s still doing it now. You can turn around and see her."

Halvek’s eyes dropped from the sky, landing on Thor. He stared for a long moment, then walked away without responding.

At dusk, Thor did a lap around the arena, then landed Styx beside Serena, dismounting with the casual energy of a man who’d had an excellent day at work.

He looked Serena up and down. No subtlety whatsoever. The full, shameless, head-to-boots assessment of a man who had never heard the word "boundaries" and wouldn’t have cared if he had.

"Frostborne. You look like someone set you on fire and then put you out with a hammer."

"Thank you, Thor."

"Wasn’t finished. Still the best-looking woman on this field. And I say that as someone who also bears the burden of sexual magnetism."

"Please stop talking."

"Can’t." He grinned. Then turned, and whistled while he walked off, Bertha strapped to his back.

"Frostborne and Vaelor," Captain Halvek called.

"Yes, Captain," they both answered in unison.

"King Tiberon requests your presence in his study immediately."

✦✦✦

When Serena and Elara entered, Tiberon was sitting behind his desk waiting. Bellatrix was standing next to him, her gaze sweeping over them with the precision of a woman cataloging reasons to be unimpressed.

"I am leaving for Orosia. Under no circumstances are either of you to leave Drakenfell." His voice was flat and final. "That is a direct order."

Serena didn’t argue, but her jaw tightened. Of course Alaric had filled him in. Captain Halvek too. They had been too obvious in their questions, too desperate in their search for information. Yet no information was being shared with her and it was about her.

"Bellatrix will be filling in for me while I am away. You will report to her until further notice."

Serena wasn’t sure what the hell "reporting to Bellatrix" meant or looked like. Considering Bellatrix had been in one meeting total in the war room since Serena became Dex’s mate.

"Yes, Your Majesty," she said, keeping her voice steady despite the alarm bells ringing in her head.

Elara stared right back at Bellatrix for a fraction too long before answering. "Understood." The word landed flat.

Tiberon rose from his chair. He looked older than he had three weeks ago, the lines around his eyes deeper, the set of his jaw tighter. He was worried and hiding it well, but Serena could tell. This was a father going after his son. Not just a king managing a crisis.

"You’ve not failed at your duties yet," he said. It wasn’t quite praise, but it wasn’t criticism either. "Training continues. I expect results."

He walked past them towards the door.

"Your Majesty." Serena’s voice cut through before he could leave. "Is there any word?"

Tiberon paused with his hand on the door handle. He didn’t turn around.

"Not yet."