Page 96 of The Exiled Dragon

“I don’t think so,” Nicholas growled. “You forced a bond. You forced her!” he yelled. The crowd murmured, looking at Adam. Adam quickly recovered, putting his hand on his chest.

“So, this was the pain I felt?” Adam faked a tear. “When I was meeting with my warriors having a search party to look for you, you were betraying our bond?” Stumbling back, he put his hand on another warrior's soldier. “After everything, after all the love? Our endless nights of passion?” Amora gripped onto Nicholas, growling again at Adam.

“And Nicholas, my guard for my precious mate. I have given you the best tent in the tribe for the best warrior! This is how you repay me? The infidelity!” Many warriors growled, listening to how their Alpha was betrayed.

“All lies!” Amora screamed, walking up to Adam. Her claws lengthened, scratching his chest. The brutality of his ex-mate made him falter, falling to the ground. Warriors pushed her back. “You want proof!” Amora yelled. “Look at my mark!” Pulling her tunic to the side, the once light mark was dark with Nicholas’ Dragon. “This is the mark of a true mating! The Dragon is dark, solidifying the bond. My Dragon is stronger now! Can you feel it!? Feel how she burns in anger at the one we call Alpha!” Amora’s Dragon radiated, growling until she shifted again. Her muscles rippled across her light green scales.

Adam arose, dusting himself off. “That means nothing! My father and mother’s marks were the same shade as ours, Amora!” Adam’s tone softened. “Now, my mate, I’m willing to forgive you. Just please, come back to me.” Adam held out his hand, waiting for her Dragon to accept, only her Dragon backed away.

His hands balled into a fist, throwing it down to his side. “Fine,” he spat. “There will be no redemption later.” “And you, Griffon, are you not going to kill this traitor?”

I stood with my arms crossed, waiting for the exact moment to strike. I wanted it to be slow and painful, but with the warriors standing around us, it would be near impossible to do. Exposing Adam of his lies would be far greater.

“I am ‘ere to kill da traitor.” My father walked forward, his cloak dragging in the dirt. “I’m ‘ere to kill,” my father spoke loudly for all to hear. The Elders backed away slowly, being swallowed by the crowd. From the corner of my eye, I saw Alpha Kane and Princess Clara nodding their heads in their respective wolf forms.

“I’m ‘ere to kill the traitor who killed mah mate. That would be ya, Adam.”

Chapter Fifty-Six

Under the Moon

ApollolookedAdaminthe eye, his eyes forming into those of his Griffon. The large slits of his eyes narrowed horizontally, picking up Adam’s heart rate and flushed skin. Adam, on the outside, remained stoic, his body language showing he was the Alpha Dragon of this tribe. On the inside, he was crumbling.

Warriors growled out, some holding spears while others shifted. “You killed ya mother and ya father, killed an entire tribe because of yar greed.” Apollo’s finger pointed at Adam. “An entire tribe wiped out because of tha black magic laced with the blud of Dragons,” he hissed. “Yar a traitor!"

Adam had worked hard to keep up the façade of a caring Alpha status with the rest of the tribe. He made sure the Dragons were fed; the women were taken care of, and they flourished. Most of all, he had the warriors eating out of his hand the way he would reward them with gold and precious stones. As long as he had his warriors, he would remain unstoppable.

Adam glanced at the crowd, looking for the Elders. They were the holders of the memory powder that could wipe the entire tribe clean of the truth. Of course, they would back away from the danger. They had always been cowards, thinking only about themselves and not that of the tribe. They only wanted to get magic back, and now it looks like they had lost it indefinitely.

The warriors gathered around Adam while he flexed his arm muscles, the red scales rolling down his skin, his nose breathing black smoke into the air. “Is that right, old Griffin? You really think you could take on all of us?”

Apollo snorted, his feathers ruffling down his spine. “I’m sure tae ‘ave sum ‘elp.” Creed stepped forward, Adam now noticing that the scar he had placed on Creed’s face and neck was wiped away. Creed’s face now showed emotion, his eyebrows set in a stiff position of anger. Warriors pointed, wondering why Creed’s disturbing appearance was now that of a strong, magnificent Dragon-Shifter.

“And me,” Creed spoke, putting his hand on his father’s shoulder. The women gasped, holding their children tight. He was no longer the monster they thought. The scars were gone. His face was that of a handsome, rugged warrior. Younger women of their mother’s species gawked with their mouths hanging open. How could they have missed such a handsome man?

The Warriors grumbled, “Wasn’t he deemed unworthy of having a mate? What is this?” They all motioned to his marked shoulder. Adam’s fist coiled, his claws seeping into his palm. He was running out of lies, out of the deceptions he relied on all his life. He needed that memory powder.

“I have found my mate,” Creed growled out to the crowd. “The bond we share has healed not only my appearance but my voice as well. Are you ready to listen to the silent Dragon who stayed hidden in the shadows all these years?” The crowd shuffled their feet. Creed’s voice was that of an Alpha; a powerful aura leaked from his body, beckoning them to listen.

“Adam killed Alpha Kaldran and Alpha Ondi, who were wrongfully paired by black magic.” Creed’s feet led him to the center of the crowd, ensuring his powerful words would be heard. They parted, letting him through, listening to the beautiful Dragon speaking words of truth and power that fell from his lips. “He led us to believe that there was another female Dragon, which there was not. Adam knew I would patrol the portal that day before the attack. He orchestrated a smaller tribe to attack ours, again using black magic and black magic laced with Dragon’s blood, making it far too powerful for Dragons to handle.”

The crowd continued to deliberate amongst themselves, arguing if Creed could be right. Adam saw the strong wall of defense slipping away from him. He dug into his loincloth pocket, praying he had some of the memory powder left from previous uses. Thankfully, there was some left. He chuckled internally as Creed continued his banter.

Growls were heard at the back of the crowd. Wolves had the tribe completely surrounded. Some wolves herded women and children away from the crowd to keep them separate from the fight that would soon begin. Women screamed, but the wolves were gentle, persistent, and moved them out of harm’s way.

“Not only was my mother not raped,” Creed roared. His newly healed vocal cords screamed at him not to use them so freely to the listening ears of the tribe. Clearing his throat, he walked to the Elders, who were pushed to the front by Wolf Shifters, two of them being Alpha Kane and Princess Clara.

Alpha Kane stood in his half-shifted form. Standing at seven feet tall, he stood on his hind legs, his claws holding two Elders while Clara, the smallest Wolf he had ever seen, nipped at the heels of three others. “These Elders interrupted a mating bond between my parents, Ondi the Alpha Dragon and Apollo Alpha of the Griffins. I am the product of their almost-mating.”

Creed shifted, and the black plumes of smoke quickly flew around the tribe. Everyone stepped back, hearing the mighty roar of Creed. “Are my feathers not proof enough?” his Dragon spoke. “My talons on my wings, the feathers on my mane, the blackness of my body, does this not show proof that I am part Griffin?”

“He is telling the truth!” Two warriors came forward, walking with spears in hand. “We spoke to Amora. Everything Alpha Creed says is true!” Adam growled loudly. “Alpha Amora and Nicholas’ bond smells stronger than it ever did with Adam!”

“You dare call him Alpha?! The roof I put over your heads, the food I have put in your mouths, and you dare question me?”

“The Elders kept Creed’s parents apart. You are the reason Alphas Kaldran and Ondi are dead. You tried to keep Creed away from his mate.” Amora’s Dragon walked forward. Nicholas, who had also shifted, did not leave her side. “But don’t you see?” Amora’s eyes softened before they hardened again. “True love conquers all. Black magic can be broken with a bond strong enough.”

Adam’s anger radiated. He glanced at the only friend he thought he had left, Alpha Kane of the Crimson Shadows Pack. Kane only looked away, dismissing the Dragon he once saw as a friend. The fun times together running the plains, killing rogues, the long evenings they spent talking about finding their mates, all for nothing. Those comforting words Adam promised him he would find his mate were all a ploy for Adam to solidify powerful alliances in Bergarian.

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