The World's Last Hope 19

“I haven’t seen you sleep the entire time you have been here. Don’t you need sleep?”Kate asked Bella from her spot snuggled up to Bella on the couch.It was one o’clock in the morning and the pair were in the living room watching tv while Angela, Beatrice and Charlie had all gone to bed. Rosalie had joined her mate and that left Bella with a few guards Kate had been introduced to but hadn’t spoken to. They weren’t as friendly as Charlie but Kate reasoned it was probably because they didn’t interact with anyone other than their own people unless they had to. She couldn’t blame them though. If she had been hunted like the shifters and the witches had she wouldn’t go out of her way to make friends. She wouldn’t even have been willing to associate with vampires if she was them. Then again they all were extremely devoted to Bella and took their cues from her. It had taken Bella’s fight with the witch that had gained their loyalty but as soon as Bella came out the victor the witches were more than happy to follow Bella’s lead. Kate had expected some kind of pushback but there had been none. She didn’t truly understand their customs though. Bella had claimed they wouldn’t be a problem so Kate would trust her. That didn’t mean she would be interacting with the witches if she didn’t have to. Not that they spoke to anyone but Bella and Rosalie.

“Not as much as other shifters or humans.”Bella told her.

“How much then?”Kate asked.

“I can go years without sleeping.” Bella figured that the magical sleep she had been put into was the reason she was so rested.

“How long do you sleep once you do?”Kate wondered if Bella slept a long time.

“The longest I have ever slept was five years.”Bella usually slept less than that.

“Five years?”Kate wasn’t sure what to think about that.

“Dragons sleep to heal. I had been wounded in battle and it took that long for me to recover.”Bella explained.

“So if you got hurt you would have to sleep to get better?”Kate asked.

“Depending on how bad the wound is. Minor things I don’t have to but for major ones sleep is the only way for my body to fix itself.I have known of dragons who slept for centuries to repair their bodies.”Bella had been lucky that she had never been injured that bad.

“Shit.”Kate tried to think about how this would affect their relationship. Vampires couldn’t live without their mates but Kate might have to if Bella ever needed to sleep that long.

Sensing Kate’s worry Bella tried to reassure her.”It is very hard to hurt me let alone alone kill me.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”Kate grumbled.

“You haven’t seen me in action.”Bella wasn’t concerned with getting hurt.

“I saw you fight the witch and maim Carlisle.”Kate said.

“I wouldn’t count what happened with the witch an actual fight. She wasn’t very skilled.”Bella had expected more of a challenge from the woman.

“You don’t consider her skilled?”Kate had thought the woman was very skilled. Skilled enough that she would have been able to easily kill a vampire. Probably a were creature as well.

Bella shook her head.”Not at all and based on the fact that the council chose her to represent them makes me think that I will have to spend some time training the witches. Luckily I can pass most of the training of your people on to my warriors.”

“I hope that my people don’t cause any conflicts once they get here.”Kate knew that some if not most of the vampires that were going to show up weren’t going to be very happy taking orders from were creatures.

“Tanya mentioned not many would be coming.”Bella said.

“When we told the other queens your plan they weren’t willing to send as many as we were expecting. It was obvious that they not only didn’t completely trust you but didn’t like the idea of not being in charge of the situation.”Kate and her sisters had been upset that the Volturi queens hadn’t offer Bella their support.

“Do you think that they will try and attack myself and my people?”Bella asked.

“I want to say no but they are the ones who defeated the Romanians. With shifters keeping themselves hidden and witches erasing themselves from history they haven’t been challenged for thousands of years. All those things have given them the false belief that they control the supernatural world. I fear that they will not see you as allies and the vampires they are sending are spies coming here to scout out your army and its capabilities.”Kate had discussed it with Tanya and Irina while Bella was off meeting with some of her people. The three of them didn’t trust the Volturi’s motives. The queens had shown more of a reaction to Bella and the army she had than they did to the Romanians and their allies. It made the sisters suspicious of their counterparts motives.

“I always thought the threat I was here to fight was the Romanians. We could have misinterpreted the vision. The threat could be all vampires and their want to control the supernatural. Maybe it is my purpose to finally take control over all creatures.”Bella mused.

“I don’t want to even think about how much death will occur if that is true.”Kate had no doubt that to achieve the title of ruler Bella would have to kill many others who would want the throne for themselves.

“I will speak to my generals about this. I also need to appoint proper advisors.”Bella said.

“Who are you going to pick for those roles?”Kate asked.

“Rosalie is already one of them. I want Beatrice as well but the witches will have to decide who they want to represent them. As of now Beatrice is simple my ambassador. The various different were species will all have to decide who they want to represent them as well. Usually I would ask the vampires for someone but with us being mated and you being a queen you automatically fill that role. Unless of course you don’t want to be the vampire representative in my court.”Bella shouldn’t have just assumed Kate would want to be a part of her court.

“I am more than willing to be your vampire advisor but I think Tanya would be better at the job.”Kate knew that Tanya had a better grasp on politics and what was going on in the world than she did.

“That would actually work out better. With you being my imprint your title isn’t just vampire queen. Once we have the ceremony you will be the queen consort of my kingdom.Your position will be much more important than that of an advisor.”Bella said.

“What exactly will my duties be as your consort?”Kate had no clue what being mated to Bella meant in regards to ruling over all the were creatures.

“You can be as involved with running the kingdom as you wish. Be that standing by my side making decisions or just showing up for formal events. Your duties will be what you want them to be.”Bella told her.

Kate let out a sigh of relief.”Thank god. I was worried that I would have to follow specific protocols.”

“Royals make their own protocols. Mine are much more lax than previous rulers. I never felt that comfortable being a queen and refused to make my people bow before me or use my title when addressing me.”Bella hated when people treated her like she was better than them.

“Everyone we have come across has referred to you as your majesty or my queen.”Kate hadn’t heard anyone but her coven, Rosalie, Angela and Beatrice call Bella, Bella.

“That’s because they choose to not because I make them. Now I have to formally give them permission before they speak informally to me. That’s not to say that if you aren’t one of my subjects you are allowed to call be Bella. I may be informal with my people but with outsiders I demand the respect that my title carries.”Bella knew that with foreigners that if she didn’t make them address her as queen they didn’t respect her authority.

“I wish I could have people refer to me as just Kate. Tanya and the Volturi won’t allow it though.”Kate hated the distance her title put between her and everyone else. Yes it was nice to be in charge but it got quite lonely when you couldn’t have friends for fear of their motives.

“My people will refer to you anyway you want them to. We haven’t sealed the bond yet but once it is known you are my imprint they will respect you.”Bella said.

“How do your kind go about sealing the bond? Vampires exchange mating marks but vampire venom is poisonous to were creatures.”Kate had been wondering how they would cement the bond. Her vampire side was itching to do it soon. Especially with all these unmated were creatures and witches around.

“Who told you vampire venom is poisonous to shifters?”Bella asked.

“Well Carlisle mentioned that the wolf shifters that live next to him usually died when they were bitten. We all just assumed that meant that it was the venom that killed them.”Kate and the others hadn’t really questioned it. Nor did they have a reason to.

“Vampire venom isn’t poisonous to shifters. However my venom is poisonous to vampires.”Bella told her.

“I will be able to mark you with my bite?”Kate felt a lot better knowing that her claim would be seen by anyone who looked at Bella.

“Yes and you can also drink my blood. Although it does affect vampires.”Bella had been bitten by many vampires during her lifetime. Sometimes during a battle other times during sex.

“How does it affect vampires?”Kate wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with the idea of drinking Bella’s blood.

“I’m told it makes you feel like you like you are invincible. Like you could take on an entire army by yourself. It will affect you differently as you are imprint but I’m not sure exactly how. I only ever met one other dragon that was mated to a vampire and we didn’t really speak much about the blood drinking aspect as it is rather impolite to bring up.”Bella explained.

“Has anyone ever drank you blood?”Kate was almost afraid to ask but it would drive her crazy not knowing.

”I have been bitten during battle and some of my vampire lovers liked to drink from me.”Bella tightened her arms around Kate when she heard her growl.

“Tell me who the vampires that you sex with are right now!!”Kate demanded.

“I will not. For two reasons. One they are most likely dead now and two because if there weren’t and I told you who they were you would kill them.”Bella wasn’t going to tell Kate the identity of any of her former lovers. It wasn’t safe for any that still lived.

“It’s my right to kill them.”Kate was going to peal their skin from their bones and burn them alive.

“Alright then you need to tell me who all your past lovers are so I can kill them.”Bella said.

“I’m not going to do that.”Kate wasn’t going to let Bella kill someone just because she had sex with them. Realizing the trap she walked into Kate huffed.”I see what you did there.”

“I know that vampires are jealous creatures but you are going to have to try very hard to keep from given into that jealousy. It’s completely unfounded. As soon as I locked eyes with you any and all women I have ever known or will know in the future pale in comparison to you. My, heart, body and soul all belong to you. No one else will ever be able to compete with our bond. My devotion to you far surpasses the devotion I have had to anything in my life even my people.”Bella told her.

“I will try but my patience has already been tested many times by the many looks you receive from not only the women gathered but some of the men as well.”Kate had almost given into to her urge to kill a few of the people who had been somewhat forward with Bella.

“It will lessen once we have our official ceremony and you are presented to my subjects.”Bella said.

“What happens at this ceremony?”Kate asked.

“For a regular bonding ceremony for a royal we would stand in the middle of an empty field were our subject would stand around us and watch a mage performed a magical ritual that would end with us exchanging our mating marks.”Bella explained.

“Wait we are expected to exchange marks in public?”Exchanging a mating mark was a very intimate act for a vampire. Kate wasn’t sure if she was comfortable doing it in front of a large audience.

“We would be but I can’t bite you. My venom would kill you.”Bella was saddened by the fact that she couldn’t. It was something she had always looked forward to doing when she found her imprint.

“Then how are we going to seal the bond?”Kate wasn’t sure what could be done if Bella couldn’t bite her.

“You can still bite me but for my part of the bond I will be using a magic spell that acts in place of my bite. It won’t be as romantic as what you deserve. For that I am truly sorry. It is the safest way though.”Bella wished she could give Kate the proper bonding experience. It wasn’t something that could happen though. She would just have to do something to make it up to Kate.

“I’m sure it will still be romantic.”Kate hadn’t known Bella long but from what she had learned Bella was a very caring person. She had no doubt that Bella would do everything she could to make the experience special.

“I wish we could trust one of the witches to oversee it but they are so out touch with their magic I doubt any of them could even comprehend the spell let alone preform it.”Bella said.

“When do you want to do the ceremony?”Kate hoped soon.

“I wanted to wait until the war was over but with the information you have shared about the Volturi queens I fear that it will be a long time until it is. Afterwards we will have years of rebuilding and reorganizing. Maybe we could do it soon if you wanted.”Bella suggested.

“I am more than alright with doing it soon.”Kate would have done it the moment they met if she could have.

“Then l will need to go to my keep and collect a few things.”Bella had all the items she needed to perform the ritual hidden away in her keep.

“Can I come with you?”Kate wanted to see what kind of things Bella had decided were important enough to seal away for so many thousands of years.

“That’s fine. I wanted to bring Angela, Rosalie and Beatrice with me as well to collect a few things. Would you mind if I stored some of my personal effects in your home?”Bella didn’t want to impose but wanted to have some of her personal comforts with her.

“Of course you can. If there isn’t enough space for it in my room we can put your stuff in one of the guest rooms.”Kate was more than happy to have Bella put her stuff in the house. It was one more step to Bella thinking of Alaska as her home.

“Then we will wait until the humans wake up and go.”Bella said.

“Until then let me introduce you to Captain Marvel.”Kate reached over from her spot on the couch in Bella’s arms and grabbed the remote. She was excited to go Bella’s keep. Kate was sure she was going to see some incredible things when they got there. The most important being the items they needed for the bonding ceremony. Kate was extremely relieved that Bella wanted to do it so soon. When they originally talked Bella had said she wanted to wait until the war was over to begin their relationship. Kate would have waited. Even if she had to fight her vampire side the entire time to keep it from claiming Bella. She was just happy that it wouldn’t be much longer. Once it was over she was going to be the queen consort to the were kingdom. Kate wondered how that would affect her vampire queen status. From what she could tell the were kingdom was a lot more powerful than the vampire kingdom. Especially with the vampire kingdom being in the middle of a war. Then again Bella mentioned that some of her people were aligned with the Romanians. Not that Kate thought there were the kind of people she wanted on her side. Snuggling closer to Bella’s body Kate decided to worry about it later. They had few hours until the humans woke up and she wanted to enjoy the private time she was getting with her mate. Everything would still be there in a few hours.