Chapter 2
“I told you she was his mate, Aiden. The one in your arms, Merlot, is Margo, and that is Jenna, her little sister, on the floor,” Rose said as she walked in. “And I’m 100% with you for killing those fuckers. Aiden and I have kindly disposed of 2 for you already, with the last one in your dungeons, awaiting your interrogation.”
“Where did you find them?”
Rose smirked as Aiden pulled her close to his side. “Just outside of the protection spell. They were waiting for the girls to come back through, but Rika found them and brought them here.”
He glared at her. “Why didn’t you link, telling me that she was here?”
Rose leaned against Aiden’s chest, looking up at him. “Mom said that it would be better if we could offer you some information other than, ‘here, Merlot. Here’s your abused mate. We know nothing about her or what happened to her. Good luck.’”
Merlot bared his teeth at her, growling angrily. “And what did you find out?”
“Well, we know that Margo is Flora. We have no idea what Jenna is. All we know about her is that she is not Flora.”
“Flora? What the hell is Flora?”
She laughed as she tugged Aiden into the room. “Flora is exactly what it sounds like.”
He looked down at a sleeping Margo. “She doesn’t look like a flower.”
Rose rolled her eyes as she slowly approached the bed with her hands up. “I’m going to show you something. Please don’t bite me.” She gently rolled Margo away from Merlot’s body, drawing a gasp from him when little green and white tentacle-like vines were clinging to his clothes. “Flora’s are flowers, trees, bushes, hedges, vines, ivies, and every other type of plant. Their DNA is not just one specific type, but any plant that has ever existed, in this world or another, so they can shift into them all.”
Merlot pulled her back close to his chest. “I’ve never heard of Floras.”
Rose sighed. “That’s because they were believed to be extinct. There used to be forests of them, but now they haven’t been heard from or seen in centuries.” Rose tucked Margo’s hair behind her ear. “She’s the last of her kind. Just like your father was.”
“How did they go extinct?”
“They were drawn to their plant life form until one day they just stopped shifting back to their human form, losing the ability to do so entirely. When the humans started destroying forests, they were all killed.”
Merlot looked down at the fragile woman in his arms as he tried to process what Rose was telling him. “What else do you know about her?”
“I know she’s 19, but that’s all. She wouldn’t talk to us, and she wouldn’t let Jenna talk to us. She just kept saying that she would only talk to your parents.” She tilted her head toward Jenna. “She’s very protective over Jenna. I also know that there are others, but where they are and what they’re going through, she will only tell the Luna and Alphas.”
Merlot turned to look at Jenna. “I’m Merlot. This is Joyce, and that is Keith. Are you okay?”
Jenna looked down at her feet, not saying anything. Joyce knelt down in front of her before taking her hand.
“Hi, Jenna. You can trust us. We won’t hurt you.”
Jenna looked up at her shyly. “Do you promise?”
She nodded as she pulled her into her arms. “I promise you, my little mate, nobody will ever hurt you again.”
“Wait, mate?” Merlot asked.
Joyce helped Jenna get off the floor. “Have you been eating? You’re very thin.”
“Princess Rose has been making sure we are eating. The people before we got here didn’t give us much food.”
“Where did you come from?”
Jenna glanced anxiously at Margo, who was still asleep, nestled into Merlot’s side. Joyce gently turned Jenna’s face back to hers.
“I’m Joyce Lincoln, and they are my brothers, Merlot Lincoln and Keith Lincoln. Our grandparents are Lilianna Lincoln and Lukas Lincoln, the King of Kings and Queen of Queens of Dragons. Our parents are Amerald, Lucianna, and Joshua, the Queen, King, and Alpha of this pack. I promise you can trust us. We will protect you.”
She hesitated before nodding. “We’re from Houston.”
“Texas?” Joyce asked in shock.
“Yes.”
“But that’s not where we came from. That is where we were taken from.”
“Taken from?”
“Yes.”
“By who?”
“These men came into our apartment, killed our parents, and took us and Nalani.”
“Nalani?”
“Our triplet.”
“Wait! You and Margo are part of a triplet set?!”
“Yes. Nalani is our middle sister. I am the youngest,” Jenna said.
“You don’t look like each other.
Jenna sighed. “We used to. Whatever the men who took us injected us with changed her appearance. And you’re wrong; she’s not this Flora. She is just sick.”
Rose eyed her curiously. “Why do you say that?”
“Because we are humans. Before those men, she never needed the sun. They did this to her.”
Rose sighed. “I hate to tell you, Jenna, you both are shifters. I can smell it on both of you. You can also only find this pack if you are a rogue, which is a shifter without a home. With that being said, whatever they injected you with, we will figure it out and do our best to help you through it. I didn’t find anything foreign in your system when I was checking you out. Also, as for her being Flora, I know she is. Flora is the only shifter species that cannot be healed by magic. That’s why you are no longer hurt, because you are not Flora. You are something else. My magic helped you. Her body won’t let me heal her.”
“How do we heal her?” Merlot asked quietly.
“I’m not exactly sure. I only got here 36 hours ago. Mom, Aunt Kalani, and Aunt Lily are scouring the libraries for any information on Floras they can find.” Rose covered Merlot’s hand as it trembled. “We’ll figure this out. It is going to take time, but we will. She’s okay right now. Let’s go talk to this asshole in the basement and then go to Deegan to do research. I hear we are due at Slimmer in the morning.”
“We?”
Rose smiled at him. “Did you really think that we were going to let you do this alone? No, I didn’t think so. Come on, cousin. Let’s go speak to this guy and see where we are starting.”
Merlot looked down at Margo again. “I don’t want to leave her.”
Rose patted his shoulder. “We’ll leave Keith and Aiden here to protect her.”
“NO!”
Rose rolled her eyes. “They can sit outside. Joyce can stay inside with them. Come on.”
He hesitated before laying Margo on the bed. He got up to grab the blanket and pillows off the floor. He gently positioned Margo on one of the pillows before covering her. He brushed her hair back before leaning down to kiss her cheek.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he murmured.
He walked to the door, opening it before glaring at Aiden and Keith. “Get out.”
They both rolled their eyes but walked out of the room. Rose walked out beside Merlot before he shut and locked the door, while Aiden pulled Rose close to kiss the corner of her mouth. Merlot waited impatiently for them to finish their silent conversation and let out a sharp exhale when Rose finally hugged him. Rose led Merlot down the hallways to the dungeons, where he grabbed her elbow, making her stop.
“It’s about damn time, cousin. That man has been going crazy.”
She smiled softly. “It’s not like that. We are just close. We haven’t had sex.”
“Maybe not, but you look happier. You both do. I’m happy for you guys. I can tell you’re already stronger. Him, too. Where’s Jackie?”
“Sleeping. She finally accepted getting a dragon.”
He pulled her in for a hug. “Goddess, that’s great. Everything is looking up for you guys.”
She smiled at him. “Gotta love Aunt Kalani and her psychoanalysis techniques.”
“If that’s what makes you happy. Now, we can talk about mates later on. Let’s go fuck this asshole up.”
Her smile turned sinister. “I’ve been ready.”
They walked into the small cell at the end of the hall. The angry, muscular man inside immediately rushed them. Rose took a step back as Merlot’s aura came out so fast and hard that the man instantly stumbled before falling to the ground, clawing at his throat as he gasped for air. Merlot crouched in front of him with his teeth bared and his eyes narrowed.
“Let me make this clear to you: you will only be alive as long as you are useful. You hurt my mate. You will die. How you die is completely up to you. I am going to ask you questions, and you will answer them. There is no way around it. I will go into your mind.” He paused to let his words sink in before pulling his aura back to let the man breathe. “First question, why those two?”