35: Not her Again, ugh!

**Raegan**

Three weeks passed after the council had finally left us alone. I made it abundantly clear that I had no trust for them or the rules that they had established for our kind. They let Kai get away with way too much shit, and if they had just stepped in when Shawn and I first mentioned him attacking our patrol guards after Coal ascended the throne, he would never have gotten this far.

So I spent those three weeks training again and doing work. I didn't have anything to catch up on for Stone Moon, and I wasn't even sure I was a member of Stone Moon anymore.

My family had stayed with us for the first two weeks, but then they needed to head back to get Johnny ready for the next semester of school. I hated to see them leave me again, but I knew I would see them soon. We had already made plans for the next six months worth of visiting one another, and I had hope for the first time since Kai had lost his Prince-ship that things were looking up for me.

The only thing that really truly stung, was the results of my fertility tests. I had several specialists conduct the same tests, and all of them told me the same thing.

The chances of me successfully carrying out a pregnancy were slim to none. They did, however, tell me that my going into heat was a good sign. It showed that though those chances were low "the Moon Goddess" shone down on me. That didn't set me at ease the way they wanted it to.

It seemed to piss off Coal even more than it unsettled me, and I couldn't help feeling a little guilty for his lack of faith in the deity he once praised.

We spoke about it about a week after we had gotten the test results.

"Coal?" I asked as I gently ran my fingers through my hair.

"Yes?" He smiled at me, sitting up on the bed.

"I noticed you... you don't seem," I pursed my lips, trying to find the right words. "You don't seem so keen on some of the things you were before I was... misplaced."

"Misplaced?" He raised a brow.

I rolled my eyes, and smiled a little, "you seem to react less to that choice of word than the other options for the situation."

He shrugged, "fair enough. What things are you speaking of?" He swung his legs off of the mattress and sat at the edge while holding his arms out in a gesture for me to join him.

I walked over to him until I was standing in between his open knees, "the Goddess." I said quietly, placing my hands on his shoulders.

He expelled a heavy sigh as his hands fell on my hips, "I was wondering when this would be brought up."

"I also know that your mother is in the cells, Coal. And that your father rejected her. What... what did you go through while I was gone?"

He shook his head, "I don't think you want to know, Rae. It was bad. I don't want to add shit that's not even yours on top of your burden."

"I want to know," I protested, moving my hands to the sides of his neck and tilting his jaw back with my thumbs so that he was looking up at me, "I want to carry your stuff with you, just like you've been doing for me. That's what mates do, right?"

He furrowed his brows, and then smiled sadly, "my mother helped Kai in getting you taken."

My heart sputtered in my chest, and rage bloomed.

"She *what*?" I blinked several times.

He sighed and grabbed my wrists, gently pulling my hands off of his face before kissing each of my palms gently. The soft sparks that came from his kisses calmed me instantly.

"She admitted to it after he marked you. Insisted that I needed to move on and seemed... a little too unsurprised with the issue. I asked her point blank if she helped him, and she went silent. Dad rejected her after that and I had her dragged to the dungeons. She's still down there. I've been putting off figuring out what to do with her until I could get up the nerve to tell you."

I nodded slowly, letting my hands fall back to his shoulders as I took in the information he just laid on me.

"What about the Goddess?" I asked him after a moment, needing a change of topic so that I could process what he told me for longer.

He growled lowly, and I raised my brows in surprise.

"That bad, huh?"

He huffed, and leaned back with his arms extended out behind him to prop himself up. The look of raw resentment and determination in his eyes was hot. He looked hellbent, and something about the way all of the small muscles in his face and jaw moved to allow that look to take place was getting me going.

"She is no Goddess of mine," he snarled, his eyes flashing the black of Arsen.

I bit my lower lip, trying to push the dirty thoughts of him from my mind, "and why is that?" I forced out.

"I realized," he leaned forward again, putting his hands back on my hips, "I don't like that the Goddess I believed in allowed the things that happened to you to happen to you. And that she is still making you go through horrendous things even after you've survived all of *that.* Character development isn't worth all of this. A deity that sees us as their children shouldn't do that to their children."

"What about her w--" I started but he cut me off by spinning me quickly so that I was laying on the mattress and he was hovering above me. I giggled.

"Shhh," he rolled his eyes playfully, "my religious crisis can wait. I have a mate who needs to be taken care of," he smirked, and his nostrils flared.

So he could smell it.

I grinned.

"Is that so?"

"It is," He nodded eagerly, "and as it just so happens, I have the night off. So I can take care of her all she needs," he dipped down to my neck and sucked mercilessly on his mark.

I gasped and gripped his shoulders tightly, my claws extending a little in response to the unrelenting pleasure he was suddenly giving me.

He licked at the mark languidly, and I moaned loudly. "Coal," I managed in between moans.

"Good girl," he smirked against my skin, and pulled back a little.

I whined at the loss of contact to which he trailed his hand down my side before following the waistband of my pants with his fingertips.

"Wanna see how wet me sucking your mark can make you?" He teased.

I groaned and rolled my hips, trying to urge him forward.

He chuckled as he slipped his hand underneath my waistband and cupped my bare sex.

"No panties?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I don't like wearing underwear to bed," I pouted, glaring at him.

He grinned, "how come I never knew this?"

"Because you were Captain Virtue-- Oh fuck!" I gasped as he pinched my clit softly.

"Captain Virtue?" He chuckled.

I nodded, biting my lower lip to fight the undoubtedly unholy sounds that were bound to leave me.

He hummed thoughtfully, rubbing my folds with his fingertips gently.

Then he started to trail kisses along my neck and collarbone. I moaned and squirmed to try and get more contact, but he bit my collarbone to make me stop.

I obliged, wanting nothing more than the pleasure he was sure to bring me.

A loud knock on the door interrupted us. Coal growled but didn't stop kissing me.

I grunted and tried to get my mind to clear up enough to tell him we needed to get that.

The person behind our door knocked again, this time louder. "It's important guys!" Hannah shouted.

I groaned managing to find the will to make him stop at the sound of her urgency.

He rocked back onto his haunches and pouted up at me as I got to my feet.

I rolled my eyes and patted his head, "if you're a good boy, we can finish this later." I said, and then re-adjusted my clothes and answered the door.

"Thank Goddess one of you answered," Hannah breathed out, looking rather concerned.

"What's wrong?" I asked, feeling Coal approach behind me.

He snaked his arms around my waist as Hannah frowned deeply.

"Serena Claire is here." She growled out.