Chapter 13- Visions
Elowen POV
The dream hit like a tidal wave of starlight and thunder.
One second, I was floating in nothingness, just soft warmth and the scent of my mates around me, and the next, I was in a garden carved from moonlight. Everything shimmered. My fingers dripped with silver light, and a woman stood before me, cloaked in mist and crowned in stars.
Selene. My goddess. My mother in power. The pulse in my veins that always felt just a little too big for my mortal skin.
“Daughter of wolf and star,” she whispered, her voice curling into my bones. “The Fae must rise. The courts must call to their gods again. Temples must be built. Worship must begin. It is the only way to match the dark power Raelith is clawing toward.”
She touched my forehead. It burned in the best way. Like truth. Like prophecy. Like a holy fuck you to the forces rising against us. “Go to the monarchs. Speak the message. Rally the realm.”
Then the dream snapped.
I bolted upright, chest heaving, body drenched in sweat and glowing faintly like moonlit mist. Around me, my mates shifted. Ashrian mumbled something filthy in his sleep. Bram curled tighter around my feet like the massive bear he was. Daxon’s wolf stirred in my head. Lachlan’s arm pulled me possessively to him, muttering something in Gaelic I couldn’t even translate.
But Vaelrix....He sat up at the same time I did. Eyes wide. Glowing. That golden dragon energy buzzing around him like a silent storm. “You too?” I rasped, voice still hoarse from the divine intrusion.
He nodded, slow and solemn. “Nythoril sent a vision. The temples must be expanded. Three divisions, one for each dragon god. He wants morning and night bells rung to connect the people to their gods.”
Our eyes met across the tangle of limbs and warm bodies. A pulse passed between us. Bigger than us. Bigger than even the prophecy. “They’re preparing us for war,” I said softly.
He reached out, brushing his hand across my cheek. “And calling for faith to fight it.” We stared at each other in silence, the weight of divine instruction heavy but somehow comforting. We weren’t alone in this. Not even close.
I let out a breath and flopped back onto the mattress, sighing as the warmth of five godsdamn mates swallowed me whole again.Bram’s leg slung over mine. Daxon grunted and claimed my arm like it was a stuffed toy. Lachlan muttered something that definitely included the words “mine” and “again,” and Ashrian just reached blindly to bury his face in my neck like the clingy vampire he was.
Vaelrix settled last, curling behind me, one arm over my waist. I smiled, heart full. Mind racing. We’d handle the Fae realm. We’d build the gods their temples. We’d ring their damn bells.
For now, I was going to lie here and bask in the warmth of my chaos, my destiny, and the dragons wrapped around my soul.
The Next Morning.....
I woke up face first in Bram’s chest, suffocating in muscle, heat, and what I hoped was just his arm wrapped around my thigh. “Morning, sunshine,” came Daxon’s gravelly voice from somewhere near my ass. “You drooled on Bram again.”
I lifted my head. “I did not.”
“You did,” Bram grunted, unbothered. “Marked me like a damn sleepy sloppy claim.” Ashrian, lounging on his back beside us like a half naked goddamn centerfold, smirked. “Could’ve been worse. Could’ve pissed the bed.”
Lachlan, already sipping tea from where he leaned against the headboard like some smug Highland prince, muttered, “Can’t take ye lot anywhere.”
“Tell them you are a celestial goddess and they’re all lucky you don’t make them sleep in the hallway like the mutts they are,” Lyssira snapped in my mind. “And for the love of moonlight, brush your hair before the council sees it and assumes you died in a wind tunnel.”
“Noted,” I muttered aloud, grabbing a pillow and smacking Ashrian with it just because his smirk was too damn smug.
“I didn’t do anything...ow, rude.”
“You exist like a walking temptation,” I grumbled. “It’s exhausting.”
Vaelrix, the only one already dressed and halfway to the door, looked over his shoulder with that dragonlord smirk. “You all coming to breakfast or just staying here to fornicate and insult each other?”
Bram stretched and cracked his neck. “Both.”
“I vote both,” Daxon added, snatching my pillow.
“I vote someone brings me coffee before I rip out their spleen,” I muttered, burying my face in the sheets.
“And wash your goddess ass while you're at it,” Lyssira huffed. “You smell like five mates and bad decisions.”
Honestly? Fair. We didn’t rush to the dining hall, but when we got there, the place was buzzing. Soldiers from half a dozen species, nobles and warriors, witches and dragon riders, all packed in, eating, laughing, arguing, living like we weren’t one whisper away from a god fueled apocalypse.
I glanced at my mates. Bram was already halfway through his plate, bacon hanging from his mouth like a caveman. Ashrian looked like he hadn’t slept, probably because he hadn’t, damn vampire stamina. Lachlan sipped his tea like royalty, and Daxon kept giving everyone side eye like he was trying to find a reason to punch someone.
Gods, I loved them. But I had shit to say. I stood up slowly, the room naturally falling into silence the second I rose. Eyes turned. Forks paused mid air. Even Vaelrix stilled beside me, giving me the floor. “My people,” I began, voice steadier than I felt. “Last night, I received a vision from Selene.”
Heads tilted. Attention sharpened. “She warned me that worship is not optional anymore. If we want the gods to fight beside us, if we want to survive, we have to meet them halfway. Twice a day. Morning and night. Real faith. Real offerings. Real intention.”
I scanned the room, pausing on Captain Lya Monroe and her Marines. “You have a rare opportunity,” I told them. “Your numbers, your discipline, your loyalty, that can fuel the gods. Choose one. Start connecting. Your belief could save this whole damn world.”
Lya nodded once. Her Marines straightened like they were receiving divine orders from high command. And honestly? They were. I sat back down, heart thudding.That’s when Vaelrix stood.
Gods, he was breathtaking when he stepped into his full authority. Broad shoulders, emerald hair, dragonfire in his voice. “Beginning today,” he said, “the bells will ring at 9 AM and 9 PM. When you hear them...pause. Pray. Light something. Meditate. Dance naked under the moon, I don’t give a damn....just connect.”
A ripple of surprised laughter broke the tension, but he wasn’t done. “The dragon gods have decreed it. The fae gods have answered the call. The sun, the stars, the moon, the earth, they are watching. We need their strength. And they need our devotion.”
“Live the way you preach,” I added, voice rising. “Give them your time, your love, your belief. Because I’m not letting Raelith take this realm...and neither are you.”
Ashrian muttered, “I better be getting divine blowjobs after all this.”
Lachlan rolled his eyes. “Y’don’t need divine anything, ye smug bastard.”
Daxon chuckled darkly. “Speak for yourself. I’ll take moon blessed stamina any day.”
I snorted. “Y’all better worship twice a day like I said, or you’re sleeping alone.”
That shut ‘em up real quick. Alpha Draven rose next, arms crossed like he was built from war. “We’ve received word,” he said. “A rogue vampire clan, eighty strong, is arriving tonight. They’ve turned their backs on the Aegis Protocol. They’re smart. Old. Dangerous. But they’re on our side. Greet them with caution, but show them respect.”
The room buzzed with murmurs again. I stayed seated, heart still pounding, my hand in Vaelrix’s under the table. He squeezed once, firm and reassuring. After the last bite of toast disappeared and the coffee ran dry, my mates and I rose, stretching out sore limbs and cracking joints.
Time to train. Time to fight. Time to worship. Because this wasn’t just a war anymore.
This was a goddamn reckoning.