Bella had lowered her head to gaze adoringly at where Lexi had settled herself against one of her colossal feet whilst her son stood by the door to provide her with a warning if anyone entered unexpectedly.
She had listened intently to Lexi as she had described the years of her life since they had been apart and as she listened to the story, her heart ached for so many reasons.
She hadn't been there for her for the majority of her life and it pained her that Lexi had to suffer at the hands of these arrogant people that surrounded her growing up. If she had the chance to visit her in anything other than dreams, she would have put a stop to the torment instantly, and she knew that Eromaug would have as well.
Her heart had twisted with jealousy when Lexi had told her of her closeness with this female wolf called Anne, but as soon as she had reminded herself that Anne was by Lexi's side throughout her traumatic youth, her heart softened and she began to imagine that perhaps, she and this furry Anne and her sassy split personality could have been friends too.
Most of all, she hated that Eromaug and that abomination of a wraith had successfully managed to trick Lexi into being here. The last thing she wanted to see was Lexi chained here too.
"Bella, are you ok? You went awfully fucking quiet all of a sudden." Lexi asked softly as her fingers traced over the scales of Bella's feet idly.
"I was thinking…I don't want you here." she rumbled sadly.
"Well that's fucking charming," Lexi snorted teasingly, "Nice to know that after all these years you don't want me around."
Bella sighed, sending a gust of warm air barreling straight towards Lexi.
"You know that's not what I meant. In all the years that I waded through your dreams just to catch a glimpse of you, not once did I manage to imprint enough and warn you away from becoming trapped down here." she rumbled mournfully, "You didn't even remember me when you woke."
"You couldn't have known this would happen, Bella, if…" Lexi began, but she was interrupted by a series of angry chirrups coming from where Orynn had been stationed at the door and a low, dangerous sounding rumbling coming from deep within Bella's belly.
She watched in awe as Bella lifted her head and faced the doorway of the cavern, still in complete awe of how graceful her movements were considering her size. As soon as the figure of Narcissa appeared in the entrance, Bella roared in displeasure, the noise drowning out all of the words that Narcissa was trying to speak.
Lexi was left with no choice but to cover her ears and watch in astonishment as seconds later, Bella sent a torrent of purple tinged flame careening towards the spot that Narcissa stood.
The look on Narcissa's face was one of resignation and irritation rather than fear and she made no attempt to move out of the way as she seemingly accepted her fate and allowed the flames to consume her.
As the flames died down, it revealed a pile of ash in the center of the doorway and Lexi blinked in astonishment at what she had just seen.
"What the...fucking hell Bella!" Lexi laughed ecstatically as Bella's chest rumbled in contentment and her head returned to its previous position, "Did you just…"
"Unfortunately not," Bella spat, "She will return…she always does."
"So you've done this to her before then?" Lexi probed excitedly.
"Obviously," Bella answered imperiously, "She was warned from the start that if she came within breathing distance, I would not hesitate to incinerate her where she stood. This is not the first time I have roasted that bitch of a wraith, and it won't be the last time either."
"It's a little scary how similar we are Bella," Lexi laughed and shook her head before suddenly becoming serious, "I will find a way out of this for us Bella. For all of us. I'm not sure how the shifters are going to take to a half daemon and her dragon family roaming about in our world, but they can stuff it where the sun don't shine." she finished with a grin.
Bella's chest rumbled in amusement as she cocked her head thoughtfully at Lexi.
"Do you really think it will be that simple?"
"Fuck yes. We have their Queen on our side so there isn't really much anyone can do about it. If I vouch for you, it won't be a problem. So…no eating the humans and annoying shifters, okay? Well…not unless you're told to." she shrugged.
"Will my children be safe?" Bella asked quietly, "I can't leave them here without me. The only thing protecting them from torture and death is the threat of my wrath and the protection that Eromaug has extended to them."
"How many children do you have, Bella?"
"A few hundred…give or take." Bella answered as Lexi sucked in a shocked breath, "I know that not all of them will be able to return to your realm with us Lexi…they are...changed and unstable. But I cannot leave here until the safety of all of my children is guaranteed. Whatever they have become…I am still their mother."
Lexi nodded somberly as her lips settled into a flat line.
"That's a lot…" she sighed as she bit her lip, "I'll do what I can Bella, don't worry…I need to speak to Anne...and my father but, I'm sure between us we can come up with a solution."
"Then I suppose the wisest course of action now would be to find a way to remove Eromaug from the picture and there's only one way to do that." Bella mused as Lexi sat forward eagerly.
"Do you think we can pull that off?"
Bella snorted as the corners of her mouth seemed to pull up in an expression that closely resembled a smirk and it was a little unsettling.
"Of course we can pull it off, Lexi…together, we're absolutely unstoppable."