Chapter 1 Restlessness
My whole life I've been locked up in the Colony compound. Not that I don't love it. It's my home. I grew up there. I know everybody, and everybody knows my whole entire life story. Yeah, it's one of those close knit communities where you can't sneeze without someone from the other side handing you a tissue! It's great knowing you can count on everyone. There are practically no enemies, and if there are fights, they are quickly resolved. It's for the good of the Colony. However, we get no privacy either. But I can live with that. I've grown up with it. It's familiar and it's what I know.
I'm just... bored! I need to get the hell outta here, and Mom and Dad seem to understand what's going on with me. I don't know why, but for the last month or so I've become really restless. I can't sit still and I need to get out and spread my wings... Literally.
Mom and Dad only let me shift at night, and always with Dad by my side. He's told me about that old group call the hunters, and he also told me he fried them all! I wanted to laugh if I didn't feel bad for the poor puny humans. But he also told me there may still be people out there like them who want to harm us and prevent us from having a normal life so we have to be careful who sees us.
I've grown up my whole life knowing I'm the next dragon prince. Dad says he can't wait for me to grow up enough so I can take over some of his responsibilities and he can spend more time with Mom. Dad hates paperwork and would much rather be more hands on than behind a desk. So Freaking Boring! But it's what is expected of the Next Dragon Prince... But that doesn't mean I'm the only dragon prince.
Mom and Dad had the responsibility to repopulate the dragon species... and Dad was determined to do it all on his own! Yuck! Yeah, I can hear them going at it night and day. Our little nest isn't exactly sound proof... I wonder if I can transfer to another floor? We've got at least 10 floors that have not been used in decades... I could make my own little nest up there with my game consoles and an extra big bed... I really do need my own space!
Well, that resulted in me having 5 younger siblings. First off was my sister Hope. She's only 9 months younger than me. Crazy, I know! But I guess dragons only need a 3 month gestation period, and Mom got pregnant when I was about 6 months old... Again... YUCK! Then came Luke 9 months after that, and then Ezra. They are each a year apart, so at least I know Dad has some restraint... Barely! Then Mom needed a small break and had Eden 2 years after Ezra and finally Jude came a year after that. If I know my parents, they are working on number 7 as we speak!
With any small community, I was raised with some really close friends. The group closest to my age are Ava, she's one of my best friends. She's Jason and Lily's daughter. She has pretty brown hair and dark green eyes. She's a wolf shifter and absolutely gorgeous. She has curves in all the right places. She smells like peppermint. She always makes me smile.
I asked Mom and Dad if they thought she could be my mate. I really like her, but they said she probably wasn't. And when I asked why they just smirked.
"When you find your mate, you'll just know Levi. You won't even have to ask," Dad smirked at me. Like that was some great wisdom to show me how to find my mate. I was so damn confused, and that wasn't what I wanted to hear!
I have no idea what the hell that was all about. When I asked, they both just chuckled. "I'm sure you will find out soon," Mom winked at me. "She'll find you. Trust your dragon."
That left me really unsettled, and a little excited. Did she know something I didn't? My dragon has been grumpy for weeks now, so I'm not sure I should trust him at all! What if he just finds some random chick and attacks her? But then again, he hasn't attacked Ava at all. Does that mean Mom and Dad are right and she isn't my mate? It's so damn frustrating!
There is Rex, he's Leo and Eve's son. He's a good guy. He likes playing sports. The dude is awesome at baseball. But he's really good at football too. Actually, I haven't found a sport he doesn't like. He is even into boxing, which I do with him and Uncle Milo in the training room.
Tate is Ian and Maddy's kid. We don't always get along, mostly because he has a crush on Ava, and she won't give him the time of day. It's not my fault the guy can't take a hint. I'm hoping he finds someone else when we get to school to hold his attention and stay away from Ava.
Ryan is my other best friend. He's Sam and Paris's boy. He's super smart and really good with computers. Actually, he's a hacker, just don't tell his parents that. For the last year and a half we've broken into Millbrooke High School's security system and watched the kids. It was only for observational purposes. We wanted to know how to fit it!
Sure we go to the mall with our parents every once in a blue moon, but that isn't anything close to how you behave at school. Anyway, we've seen things we probably shouldn't! There is a lot of bullying there and kids making out in class rooms. Yuck! It's almost as bad as walking in on my parents naked in Dad's office!
Where was I? Oh, yeah! So, Knox is Enzo and Sage's son. Dax is Kye and Stella's. And Sybil is Seth and Ashley's daughter. And that pretty much sums up all the kids my age going to school with me tomorrow.
I could go through the whole damn list of kids and parents but that would literally take forever... And I'm 17 and bore easily. I know every single child, every birthday, every anniversary and any other important date you can think of. I kinda have a photographic memory, which is good and bad. (Now I can't get my parents going at it in our living room last month out of my head!) But that doesn't mean I want to go on and on about each child, even though I could.
I swear I need to get outta here and fast!
I'm so freaking restless, and I need to get outta this cave. Literally. We live in a huge freaking cave. Or, I guess it's more of a cavern. It's a cool structure with hallways and rooms and stuff. But we are basically inside a mountain. There is not much to do in here.
Luckily tomorrow is my first day of actual school. Mom and Dad are sending us to the school out in Millbrooke. It's the closest town to us so our parents can keep an eye on us while we are on our own. Up until now, we've been going to school online and home-school. Both those options were good until now. We got all the education we needed, both magically and normally. But there is only so much we can get without the experience of being out in the world.
Dad claimed he didn't want me to go to school until now because my dragon might scare people and I needed to know how to control him. I call BS. My dragon is tamed... Mostly. He won't hurt anyone unless he thinks he's being threatened... Or he sees someone else being threatened. And while I've seen the feeds from the school, I'm sure I can control him from beating the crap outta people picking on the weak. I'll just have to put them in their place another way. It's my job to keep people safe, even humans!
But whatever. I know Dad is only trying to do what is right for me. He's spent most of our free time together practicing my magic. He told me this was very important so I never lost control. Now I have pretty good control, and can do some pretty awesome things. I can't see the future like Dad says we are supposed to. Maybe that comes with age. But I can use elemental magic and nature magic. I like helping things grow.
I sigh as I look around the compound. Same hallways, same rooms. Same old everything! Nothing has changed except the number of people living here. Someday I'll have a mate of my own, and we'll have our own little ones to worry about.
I smirk at the thought that Dad wasn't much older than me when he got Mom pregnant. He was 18! I'll be 18 in about 2 weeks. Dad says I'm close enough to find my mate now... I'm still sad that it won't be Ava.
"Hey!" Ryan jumps onto my back scaring the crap outta me. The guy loves to sneak up on me, especially when I'm not paying attention to things around me! Jerk!
"RY!" I scream as Ava doubles over in laughter with tears falling down her face. She's so dang cute. I wish she was my mate, but... My dragon doesn't even stir when she's around. But that doesn't mean I can't feel anything for her. I guess it's just my human side that likes her.
"You ready for tomorrow?" Ryan asks as he climbs off my back, shoving me against the wall and smiling widely like a loon.
"Yeah. I can't wait to get the hell outta here and into the real world," I grumble. "I've been so restless lately. I feel like I'm being caged and need to get out and explore!"
"You know our parents only did this to keep us safe," Ava argues, sending me a sympathetic smile.
"I know. And I appreciate it. Dad didn't even have to go to war. From what Erik tells me, it would suck, but I just wanna be normal," I growl. "They all kept us safe, which is great, but we need the chance to go out into the world like every body else."
"Dude, you're a dragon prince. What the hell is normal about that? Your entire species was almost eliminated!" Ry argues. "Nothing about you is going to be normal. But you can fake it, I suppose."
I guess he's right. There is nothing normal about me. My mate won't be a dragon. If I don't end up with Ava, I suppose she might be human like Mom was. But her DNA changed the moment Dad shared his blood with her to save her from her tumor, so she's not quite human anymore. Also, she's not a shifter. She's a kinda hybrid... One of a kind, I suppose.
"Can't I at least pretend to be normal?" I pout. I really don't want to cause a big stir at school tomorrow. I want to blend in, even if I was born to lead.
Ava comes up and kisses me on the cheek, "You can be as normal as you want to be," she reassures me.
I pull her into my arms. I really like the feel of her pressed against me. "Thanks Ave," I murmur, pressing a soft kiss into the crown of her head. This feels so normal, and yet...
I have a funny feeling that tomorrow everything is going to change and I want to hold onto this normal for as long as possible.
"What's wrong?" Ry asks, sensing my mood.
"I don't know. I am excited for tomorrow, but it just feels... like everything is changing," I admit. I don't want to say I'm scared. I'm not. Not really. Just... restless. Everything is confusing right now.
"But isn't that what you wanted?" Ava asks, with a cute confused look on her face. How could she not be my mate? I don't understand! What if I find my mate and we aren't friends anymore?
I think about what she asks me and give her a tight smile. "Well, I do want things to change... But some things I wish could stay the same," I say looking into her eyes.
She blushes at me, like she knows exactly what I'm talking about. We've never talked about our feelings for each other, and now it seems too late.
I know Dad regrets getting involved with some chick named Nichole and he wishes he'd never met her. She almost ruined things with Mom. He's always told me to be cautious with my emotions because when I do find my mate it will be amazing... But what if I want to choose my own mate? What if I find the girl I'm meant to be with and she sucks? Why can't I have Ava?
Yeah, I know she's got her own mate out there...But there has to be a way...
I sigh and just hold her. I'm not sure I'm ready to let this go...
