Page 75 of The Exiled Dragon

"He was your true mate? But Kaldran?" Mother shook her head. "Your father's name was Apollo, Alpha of the Griffins." I sat next to her. With my newfound speech, I could not find words to express myself. Mother rubbed my back, feeling the tension in my shoulders. My father wasn't a rapist, in fact he was an Alpha Griffin?

“They are to be extinct,” I faltered. “Only in legends.”

"Apollo is the last of his kind, a black griffon. Griffons hold the body of a lion, strong heavy muscle, and the head of an eagle with talons on his front legs. Feathers from his wings to the top of his head. He was large, just as big as any Alpha Dragon, and had lived a long time before finding me. Apollo waited, hoping the gods would bless him with a mate. Still, he lost hope until he left his home and traveled here from the other side of the Northern Mountains. My mate wasn't sure how to approach me, how our bond would work. It was unheard of to be mated to another species at the time, you see."

Mother grabbed my hand, pulling it into her lap, tracing the tribal tattoos on my forearm. "As I dried myself and got dressed one day, he stepped out of the foliage. He stood tall, menacing. His eyebrows were furrowed, but my Dragon immediately took to him. I knew he was my mate; he was just too damn shy." She giggled. "Apollo was too scared to move, unable to decide whether this was a genuine bond, but I fixed that." Mother laughed, squeezing my hand tightly.

"I took his face between my hands and kissed the handsome beast," she whispered breathlessly. "From that day onwards, for a month, we got to know each other. I met him every morning and didn't leave his side until dusk. I had to keep our meeting a secret; I was the last female Dragon and the hope that I would bare female fledglings was on my shoulders. The tribe was praying to the gods that I would find a Dragon mate." She sighed.

"One day, the Elders grew suspicious about why I left every day, and I was followed." Her face turned cold. "Apollo and I were going to mark each other but were stopped before we could. He had spilled his seed, but the Elders threw a magical memory powder blown in our faces tha laced our lungs. The other Elders came to the scuffle, knocking him off, trying to kill him, but Apollo, your father, was too strong. They dosed him heavily enough that he fell asleep. His hide was thick, so they left him to bring back more magic and weapons, but he was gone. Apollo did not remember me," she bit her lip, "and he flew away." My Dragon growled, punching my fist into the dirt. Mother grabbed my hand, petting away the mess.

"I couldn't remember either. The Elders told me what happened, and they said they helped erase the brutal rape I was said to have suffered, explaining the marks on my body. What wasn't part of the plan was that I conceived you." She smiled. "Several months later, your stepfather, who had just become of age to find his mate, was also given a magical memory powder, forgetting his true mate he had just met earlier in the day. Since he was the next in line to be Alpha, they had followed him every moment, being sure to kill his mate if she was not a full-blooded female Dragon.” She paused. “And she wasn’t. Her death ensured the black magic wouldn't be broken. Bonds can break the dark spells.” Mother's face saddened again. Drops of tears landed on her dress.

My Dragon hissed inside me, angered at the brutality. The Elders were old and supposedly wise. They were to help the tribe grow to be peaceful yet protected. This had gone too far.

"A temporary love potion was slipped into drinks that night around the bonfire. We were then mated and marked." Mother clutched her chest. "Your stepfather is innocent in this. Don't blame him. He was a magnificent Dragon and treated me right." Her eyes pointed to me. "He really was a good Dragon."

I nodded, not wanting to show my anger. My Dragon wished to destroy the Elders and their vicious ways and have my revenge. What other Dragons have they ruined?

"How is he? Kaldran? Is he on the other side with you?" She smiled solemnly.

"Yes, he even found his mate. The gods blessed them. They are both thrilled." She sighed happily.

"But what of you? Is Apollo with you?" She shook her head.

"No, he is still alive. I'm not sure if he has a second chance mate, or not. The gods granted me a chance to have another here in this life, but Apollo is the only one for me. I could imagine no one else. Your father will always have my heart." Tears sprung to her eyes.

"Mother." I pulled her to my chest. "You can't be alone."

"A bond is a powerful thing, just as I have said." She changed the subject. "Odessa's bite has completed both sides of the bond, which also healed not just your voice, your looks, but also broke the memory spell on your father."

"What?" I choked. "He's going to remember?" Mother gripped my hands together.

“The Witch Glinda helped heal only the bond block, not the magic that seeped into your family’s genealogy. If I was alive with Kaldran, it would have broken my memory spell too because by blood we are connected.”

“Gods,” I sighed, rubbing my forehead.

"Your father is going to remember the fight, the scuffle between the Elders and taking me away. He's going to remember all of that, but he won't know where I am; he won't know I am dead. I've tried to reach out to him in his sleep, but he doesn't know me. The spell will take time to fall from his body, but when he remembers, I fear the entire tribe will face his fury."

"Tell me you don't want me to save them?” I snarled. “Mother, I have been more than accommodating to them," I growled, putting my hands to my face. "I don't want to go back. They have turned on me, no matter how much I help the tribe."

"They are all at the mercy of your half-brother. He was conceived under black magic and not just any black magic, Creed, black magic laced with Dragon's blood." My head whipped up, staring at her, baffled. Dragon's blood was hard to take, especially when in Dragon form. They would have had to take blood in Dragon form to use the magic inside, meaning a Dragon gave it willingly. Giving blood to any supernatural was inapprehensible, according to our ancestors. Even they knew the power our blood held.

"Witches have been experimenting with other supernatural blood types in their magic. Dragon Shifter's blood makes their spells ten times more powerful. From the time you were born, you have been cursed. The Elders made the people hate you, shun you. It only got worse when Adam realized what they were doing. He walked in on the Elders as they were convening with Witches, trying to find a spell to help gender selection for the next fledgling Kaldran and I were to have. They were trying to save the Dragon race, but for a price. Selling their own blood for their debts, giving the Witches extra to play with."

I stood up, pacing in front of her. Her eyes stayed glued to me, not having me leave her sight.

"Adam found out your stepfather and I were not fated mates, which caused him not to gain a powerful Dragon such as yours. This gave him reason to hate you. Creed, you were born of two strong Alpha lines. It should have been you who took over the tribe. You are the strongest being born of fated Alpha mates. That next day he fought you, purposefully ripping out your throat! Before your Dragon could heal you!" Mother yelled, stomping onto the ground. Pacing, she walked to and from the edge of the forest to stand in front of me.

"Adam stole potions, strengthening him. That's why he won that day! Adam told the Elders he would tell the entire tribe what they had done to me and your stepfather, and the worst part was, the tribe would believe Adam. You know he is a sociopath! He acts diplomatic, doing tasks for the sake of the tribe, but they are all lies!" Mother took a rock from the ground, throwing it into the pond.

"He planned it all! The death of your stepfather and I was orchestrated perfectly once he realized that Kaldran was toying with the idea of making you Alpha." Mother balled up her fists. "Even your stepfather knew your heart despite the dark magic!" Mother's face reddened as she yelled.

"The supposedly last female Dragon was to come to our tribe that day to mate with another. It was to help produce a female, which your father and I were against from the beginning; it was all a farce. There never was a female Dragon to give to Hildago. Once Adam broke the 'fake news' about a 'fake female Dragon' being gifted to Hildago, he went berserk. Adam went as far as having spells planted on a smaller Dragon tribe to go rogue until they were wiped out by ours. Innocent Dragons, Creed!" I pulled her to my embrace as her face reddened with anger, trying to calm her.

"The Elders let it happen! Too worried about saving their own lives! How could I have given birth to such a monster?! I thought I was doing the right thing, raising him right, but the Dragon's blood magic was so strong, I couldn't fight it!" She sobbed. Her legs gave out. We fell together into the dirt.

"All because the Elders wanted to save the Dragon magic, our race. To have more female Dragons for the magic to regenerate," Mother screamed in frustration. “They are killing everyone off by their own hands.” Her wails echoed through my ears, her tears for the innocent lives lost.

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