Pheromones, yanderes, and lemons. Oh my!

Chapter Seventeen

Gajeel's POV

Where is Mate? Mate must be with me. But she is not. Why is she not? I awaken, roused by the sounds of others above me. Yes, Mate is not here because I am here. I am chained. They smell tasty, these chains. But I cannot eat them because I cannot move.

I try to shift my weight. No luck. They only bring me meat. It is not metal, but it is not bad. I try to move anything slightly, but can't. My body is cramping. I would eat these chains because they smell good but I cannot move. I cannot move because of the chains and I cannot break the chains and eat them, ( They really do smell good. Are they torturing me by giving me food I cannot eat? ) because I am weak.

We are at sea. I hate the sea. It moves too strangely and smells far too strongly of fish and salt. I will eat fish, but I do not like this fishy salty water. It makes it so I cannot break the chains and find my Mate. I need to find my Mate. She must be by my side, blanketed and protected in my wings.

There are others who will try to take her from me, but I will not let them because she is my Mate. She is mine and I will Mark her and then they will not dare come near her or I will shred them. Why do they chain me? Are those hatchlings from another group in league with my rivals?

"I'm sorry, I can't. You might hurt her." I snort to myself. I will not hurt her, she is my Mate. I will keep her safe with me and she will have our chicks and then we will keep them safe together. That little black-haired hatchling needs to learn things properly. What is that?!

I perk my ears. Footsteps. Yes, those are footsteps. It is the little sky dragon. I watch her come down the stairs, holding our food dish. I am hungry, but I ignore it. Her cat is carrying a lantern. My subordinates are asleep, so she approaches me first. As she kneels in front of me to release my hands, I growl and she looks up.

Release me. I do not speak, but command her with my eyes. "N-no, I can't. I'm not allowed." I snarl, but keep her gaze trapped with mine. You will release me. She trembles, unable to speak. I am your alpha. You will release me. Her trembling stops and I catch the shift in her scent.

She leans forward and releases my wrists and then stands and unchains my collar. "Wendy, what are you doing?! Stop!" Her feline calls, but neither of us listen. When my limbs are free, I shakily stand. The feline flies to the top, screaming for the others. The little sky dragon remains in front of me, calmly waiting.

Cast your magic upon me. With a slight nod, she uses her magic and I growl in pleasure as my strength floods back into me. I hear footsteps crashing down the steps and see the warrior facing me. I grin. Then, as the red haired woman takes a step forward, I release my full roar upon her.

She cries out, clutching her ears. Quickly, and without orders, the little female releases and uses her magic upon both my subordinates, who had woken and were adding their voices to mine. The fire one immediately lunges up and forward. A blue cat grabs the warrior woman and half-flies, half-drags her back up the stairs. The lightning one moves far more sluggishly than I would like, but with a small growl, he joins the fight at the top. I pat the small female on the head and she lets out a purr.

Now stay. You mustn't be harmed. She nods and sits complacently upon the floor. I shift my hands to claws and begin slinking quickly up the stairs. As I do, I hear a small sob of horror from behind me, but do not stop or look back. I carefully assess the position at the top. The fire one is doing battle with the other dragons while a woman made of water is trying to fight as well, but is kept busy saving the ship.

The lightning one is battling the warrior woman and my feline comrade. However, he is still moving sluggishly and looks like he is talking to them. I growl in anger, but do not interfere. My glance falls upon the nearby mast. I launch myself upon it and clamber up through the nest of ropes and cloth. As I balance at the top, I hear a small shout below me. A small maroon feline is pointing to me and the woman has amassed a wave of water to capture me.

No! I will not be captured! I am going to my Mate! I roar again, but this time a roar of command, not of challenge. The lightning one's dimmed eyes re-sparked and he shot his power straight up and knocked out the water woman with one shot. She and her wave collapsed back upon the deck, sending water and combatants everywhere. Satisfied, I allowed my full power to surface and stretched out my wings completely, enjoying the wind for a brief moment before launching myself into the air. As I soar forward, the fire one joins me and flies at my flank. We separate quickly when a shot of lightning hurtled at us.

We swirl around in the air in anger, only to be greeted with another bolt and the sight of three felines and the two other slayers flying at us. The fire dragon releases a blast of his own and it lands close to the ship. The explosion causing it to rock violently and a large cloud of steam to rise. Upon unspoken agreement, we separate, using the smoke screen as best we can.

I sense enemies. Yes, the hatchlings have come after me. I dip and whirl through the air, allowing them to believe they have caused me to flee. They gradually catch up. I catch the hints of triumph in their scents. I will turn that to FEAR. I close my wings and drop suddenly. I quickly reopen them and zoom forward, catching up to the blond one before his feline can adjust. You are a FOOL for coming at me injured! I slam my fist into his upper arm and spin, slamming my elbow into his throat, turning his howl of pain into a choked gurgle as he passed out and went limp.

I snarl as the second hatchling lands on my back, wrapping his arms to pin my wings and restrict my arms. We begin to descend quickly, not quite falling but close. His feline is not strong. I begin to thrash and he simply holds tighter. I manage to wrap my arm back and sink my claws into his side. He howls in pain and I push harder. "Is this how far you would go for her?!" He screams. Damn right. I rip my hand back out of him and throw him off. I grab one leg and flip him upside down, hauling his feline off of him easily. I look him dead in the eye. This is your final warning, hatchling. Then I drop him. I don't release his feline until he's halfway to the water. The creature immediately races down and caches his companion before he smacks into the surface as I soar off. To my Mate.

To be continued...

Muwahahaha! I'm doing this to you again! >:)