The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate novel Chapter 193

Chapter 193: She Talked Back To TIBERON

"Where’s Onyx?" Serena and Elara said at the same time the moment Gav walked in.

He was supposed to be taking Onyx potty and getting him a fresh bottle so Elara could come into the war room.

Gav dropped into his chair. "He’s with Velkaris."

"By himself?" they asked in unison, both already on their feet.

"Yes." Gav’s voice was flat, the kind of flat that came from losing an argument with a baby dragon. "And I’m not going to give a dragon a bottle. That’s ridiculous."

Serena and Elara were already moving towards the door. Both shot Gav a look of pure annoyance. He said he’d take care of Onyx.

"Stop." Tiberon’s Alpha tone hit the room like a wall. Both women froze mid-step, turning slowly, their expressions identical masks of maternal mutiny.

Dex and Hale felt it immediately, their mates’ frustration bleeding through their matebonds like a low current of heat.

Aegon: She is upset.

Dex: She is misinformed.

"Serena." Dex leaned forward, keeping his voice even. "Velkaris has been around baby dragons before. He’s not going to hurt him."

Serena’s jaw tightened, but she didn’t argue.

"You are both not finished," Tiberon said. His tone left no room for negotiation. "Sit."

They sat. Neither of them looked happy about it.

Tiberon waited until they were settled, then folded his hands on the table and turned his gaze on Dex and Hale. The look carried the full weight of a king who had been dealing with the consequences of everyone else’s decisions for far too long.

"Next item on the agenda. You’re caught up on the administrative side. Now, you need to be caught up on protocol punishments."

Dex straightened. Something in Tiberon’s tone shifted, the temperature in the room dropping a full degree.

Serena went very still, eyes widening.

Elara’s fingers curled around the arm of her chair.

"I was given a summary before I left," Dex said carefully. "Serena went against a direct order during the battle on the wall. I’m aware."

"You are aware of one line in a very long story," Tiberon said. He opened a leather-bound folder. "Sit back. This will take a while."

Dex frowned. "How long of a while?"

Tiberon didn’t answer that. Instead, he looked at Serena.

"Shall I, or would you prefer to deliver this yourself?"

Serena swallowed. "You may."

That answer alone made Dex uneasy.

Aegon: I don’t like this.

Dex: Neither do I.

Tiberon began.

In the span of ten minutes, Dex’s jaw had dropped several times and he almost shifted on the spot. Serena reported to him as part of the Draken Forces. But more importantly, she was his mate.

Aegon: We don’t let her out of our sight. Ever.

Hale’s head came up at the mentioning of Elara’s name.

"That brings us to the Fae operations." Tiberon flipped to another page in the folder. "After you went missing in Orosia, Serena and Elara requested a portal from Alaric to go after you."

Dex’s eyes moved to Serena. She was looking at her hands.

"He denied it," Tiberon continued. "They acted independently and made a portal to Orosia."

Serena and Elara glanced at one another, neither going to throw Aeron under the bus. So they stayed quiet. Sure. They made a portal. They’ll go with that.

"Without authorization." Dex’s voice was controlled, but the vein in his neck was visible.

"Without authorization," Tiberon confirmed. "They infiltrated enemy territory."

"Once inside, they were discovered by the Second in Command of Velanthor. He drew his sword and pursued them through his own chambers."

Dex’s jaw tightened.

"During the pursuit, they engaged in what I can only describe as improvised combat." Tiberon glanced at his notes as though confirming this was actually written down. "Items thrown at the Orosian officer included: a travel bag, a goblet, and pillows."

Gav made a noise.

"The pillows were effective enough to disorient him momentarily," he continued. "They were not effective enough to stop him."

"Pillows," Dex repeated.

"Yes," Tiberon confirmed. "Against the second in command of Velanthor."

"Elara attempted a high-ground strategy by mounting his bed," he added.

Hale slowly dragged both hands down his face. It was just as awful to hear the second time as it was the first.

"It did not work," Tiberon said. "He resumed pursuit. During the chase, they were cornered near a weapons rack."

Gav leaned forward, already grinning. He loved this part.

Tiberon paused. Not for effect. For endurance.

"A decorative axe fell from the wall and decapitated him."

Dex blinked.

"I’m sorry," he said. "A decorative axe."

"Yes."

Aegon: I do not believe it. Mate is not capable of that.

"They also broke into the restricted section of the library again," Tiberon added to Dexmon, as if she wasn’t there. "Repeat offense for Serena. Their punishment is recataloguing the Lower Archives."

Dex didn’t react. The library was the literal last thing he gave any fucks about.

"Serena hasn’t had to do the punishment," Elara said. "So really I’ve been doing double punishment."

Serena exhaled, already wanting to go back to Shadowclaw. There was no universe where she’d be doing that punishment. At least that’s what she told herself. She saved their lives. She was here to see Dex and only Dex, because she missed him.

And to friendzone him. Which she didn’t want to. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to push it off for another day.

She shook her head once. No.

Her resigned ’over-it’ energy flowed to Dex through their matebond. Dex’s brows knit, not liking that at all. He hadn’t felt that from her.

Tiberon closed the folder.

"You are now caught up. She falls under your command now." He said it like a parent dropping their kids off at school, and letting the teacher decide the punishment.

After he left, and the door closed, nobody moved.

Then Gav, who had been holding it together by a thread of rapidly disintegrating willpower, broke.

"A decorative axe," he wheezed. "That got me last time you two got chewed out and it got me again."

Hale groaned from behind his hands.

Dex stood, and pulled Serena’s chair out from the table. She looked up at him, waiting.

He stared at her for a very long time. He closed his eyes. Opened them. Exhaled through his nose.

Then he picked her up off the chair and threw her over his shoulder.

She squealed, the high-pitched sound echoing off the stone walls.

"Dex, put me down."

"No."

Hale stood and looked at Elara.

Elara held up one finger. "Don’t even think about it."

Hale thought about it.

He picked her up anyway.

"HALE."

"Safety protocol," he said, borrowing Dex’s line. "You’ve been flagged as a flight risk."

The four of them disappeared down the corridor: two men carrying two women who had, in their absence, committed acts of war, assault, international diplomacy, decapitation by home décor, and a complete reorganization of the national archive system.