Page 35 of The Exiled Dragon

“No!!” my brother’s Dragon cried. He shifted back into his human form, sitting next to the barely recognizable man and woman on the ground. My nose heaved in a breath. Mother and father. Both were coughing up blood, the acid already seeping into their system.

“Mother.” Adam’s eyes dripped with tears, holding her face to his chest. Shifting back, my hand landed on my father, now covered in his blood.

“Good, you stayed at the portal,” he whispered. Blood trickled from his mouth. “Good boy.” Adam shot a nasty glare.

“No, it’s his fault you’re dying. He should have returned!”

My mother lifted her hand, grazing Adam’s cheek. “No, he did what he was told, respecting his Alpha.” Father’s light in his eyes faded, his heart no longer beating. My Dragon let out a cry from my cords.

“L-listen.” Her voice was but a whisper. “Get along, for the tribe. For me… p-please. Don’t kill each other, p-promise me.” Adam rubbed a tear away from her cheek, not answering her.

“Promise,” my Dragon spoke. My love for my mother would never die, and giving her a last wish of trying to make this tribe work was my devotion to her. Adam’s jaw clenched. Mother finally leaned to Adam, waiting for his word. Mother’s throat bobbed, choking on the blood invading her body. Her throat swallowed for the last time, the brightness of her eyes fading until she no longer had a breath to breathe. Her eyes still opened, looking at the son her mate had given her. Even in death, she was waiting for his promise.

Adam had said nothing. His grip tightened, closing her eyes with his fingers and gently laying her on the ground. Dragons of our tribe encircled us, many crying for losing their Alphas. My tears were uncontrollable. They became forced down my face as I continued to look at their lifeless bodies.

Adam stood while I sat in the dirt, now hovering over my mother. I had to hold her one last time. Her spirit could still be there, I had to see if I could feel her. Adam pushed me down into the dirt, kicking me in the stomach. My hand was so close to her, I tried again, only to have Adam step on my hand with his meaty claw.

“This is your fault!” he yelled loud enough for the crowd to hear. “This ‘Dragon,’” he spat sarcastically, “had dared ignore the cries, the call his Dragon made to him letting him know our tribe was in trouble. He ignored it!” I shook my head, waving my hands around.

Amora came from the clearing, clutching a small child. “He ignored the call! Ignored his instincts!”

“No!” my Dragon roared. Many stood back, the fear in their hearts I felt around me. Adam flinched, his head twisting to see me, disgusted. “When your family, your tribe, is in danger, you come to call half-brother. You have always been an outcast. You will now be named. Being the next in line for Alpha, the loyal son of Kaldran and Ondi, I now take my new rank as Alpha. With my first command of power, I order Creed to be exiled indefinitely for his crimes. He will come when I command him to help protect the tribe. It is what mother would have wanted.” His voice softened as he spoke of mother.

“Leave!” he roared. Many flinched at his tone, but I did not. Elders whispered as they saw the look that could be confused with defiance. My mouth hung open, unable to explain I was at the portal. I took Adam’s position today. It was my job to be there.

Dragons looked at me in disgust, snickering, whispering false rumors to add to my already tarnished reputation.

“I’m sorry this happened to you, Alpha, in the most gruesome way possible,” Elder Naho spoke solemnly. “And to think you were at the portal, waiting for relief when this all happened, I couldn’t imagine the turmoil you endured.” Adam hung his head, nodding.

Adam had his claws in everyone.

“It was, but my father’s Alpha command made me stay.” Amora looked at me and then at Adam. I shook my head, rushing to her only to be grabbed by Adam’s clawed hand. “She is no longer your family. None of us are. You are just a waste of air.” My heart clenched, and a rotten piece of stone fruit hit me on the side of my face. My hair whipped into my eyes, smelling the rotten fruit entangled in my hair.

Several more pieces of old food were thrown at me. Curses, disheartening words poked into my heart like knives. Horrible phrases dug into the deepest parts of my soul. I fell to the ground not because I was physically weak but now I was alone.

Alone, I was now alone. Not even Mother and Father could save me from this liar, this cheat, and now I had made a promise; I would not kill my mother and father’s true heir to the Alpha title. If only I could speak, if only I could fight back and let them know they followed someone so evil. His personality shined too bright, his confidence to take care of the tribe too strong for me to shake.

They loved him, just like my father. Many Dragons came to congratulate and console him while I stood up from the pile of rotting food.

I was now exiled, a piece of rubbish, old food to be stomped upon. My eyes wandered to Amora, who handed off a screaming child. She picked up her dress and ran to me, only to have another Dragon lead her to her mate. “Creed,” she whispered softly, her voice tender as the sister I thought her to be. Her eyes were soaked, not knowing what to do.

I mouthed to her, “go,” nodding in her direction. I couldn’t ask her to defy her mate. The bond was too strong to separate them. Adam would have to decide in his own time if he was wrong to do what he had done to me.

Gripping my fists, rubbing the rest of the rot from my body, I grabbed my things and headed deep into the forest. Away from the tribe that had given me up without a look back.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Creed

Thememoriesthatinfiltratedmy dreams, which make sure I am reminded that I was alone in this land, did not haunt me the night before. The echoing of the loneliness did not startle my Dragon, nor wake him to find the fury of red bleeding from his eyes. This time, our eyes only opened slowly, and felt the one person who had changed my loneliness, and my well-being.

Her favorite spot was right on top of my chest. Her whole body used mine as its own nest. Her torso curled up around mine, and her hand tickling the back of my neck. Fingers gently stroked the bits of loose hair while she slept. Not one bit was uncomfortable. It soothed me until it would lull me back into my own sleep. It’s like she knows when I awake in the night, disturbed by one thing or another. This went on for the entire night. If she stirs, my Dragon vibrates, whispering to her body to take rest. We have grown accustomed to an endless cycle in our few short days with each other.

We were each other’s, and I didn’t know what I could do to tell her. Writing on a discarded leather would be ridiculous. I need to tell her such a declaration as this with my own words. I wanted her to be my mate, my chosen mate. If I were blessed with a mate, it would have been her. My heart knows it to be so. I just had more time to get to know her and love the small things about her.

The only person I ever truly loved was my mother. She protected, sheltered, and gave me refuge when I needed it. Now Odessa holds the title of the only person I would ever love in this world. She was my shelter, the aide to my loneliness, and the provider of my heart. My fawn looked at me differently; the light she held for me, and the caring nature of her heart had me falling to my knees every day, thanking the gods she was brought to me.

What I did to deserve this, I did not know.

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