Page 67 of The Exiled Dragon

If I had my voice.

I stood my ground, Dragon growling in my chest. The ground shook, and the warriors stood back. Since knowing Odessa, I had not magnified my power before, but now I had someone to fight for… her. My mate was still sleeping in the cave, day three, and there was no sign of awakening.

Amora had just visited a few minutes prior, checking on my mate, who I had been pacing the nest over for days.

"Odessa is fine, Creed, she was human, and she was weak beforehand. She isn't like Princess Clara when she changed. She was royalty and wolfless. Wolves' blood ran through her; nothing ran through Odessa's veins except her own human blood. Odessa is breathing; her body is changing. Look." She pointed to her shoulders. "Her body is filling out, muscles have appeared, and damn, she's got some breasts going on." I growled, but Amora only growled back playfully.

"I suggest," Amora covered Odessa with the furs, "you take her back to the Elven Territories. Adam is planning on coming here…."

Adam's growl let go of my thoughts of my mate. He was now in front of me, nose to nose. He was expecting me to bare my neck in submission. It was why the other Dragons were here to watch and witness my submission and his power. Adam chose the wrong day.

My Dragon hissed back, my tongue flicking into the air, smelling the anxiety roll off of him. It trickled to his own feet that went backward. "Fine," he hissed. "Bring him with us," he ordered the other Dragons.

Amora, whom I had told to leave to save herself, stood by in the brush, watching. Her scent was covered, but her heartbeat pounded loudly for my ears along with Odessa's, who thumped quietly.

Plumes of smoke trailed instantaneously. My Dragon barely had time to bring the smoke back into our body. Our teeth attached to the first warrior's throat so quickly the other stood back, howling for mercy. With one flick of my neck, the warrior would be dead, along with its mate.

"Mercy, mercy!" his Dragon wailed, looking at his Alpha. Adam scoffed in disgust, transforming into his Dragon. I shouldn't give this warrior mercy. I remember his face as fledglings and how he mocked me, toyed with me alongside Adam. Let me suffer at the hands of the elders as they whipped me for just existing. Snarling, I let him go.

"Remember this day," my Dragon's deep voice beckoned. "Because there will be not another." The warrior slumped back, the other Dragon pulling him by his tail, running into the woods, not even daring to fly. Adam lunged at me before using proper battling etiquette, grabbing me by the shoulder.

My roar halted even the birds in the trees from chirping, talons now descending, grabbing his back and slicing right down the middle of his spine. Letting go, he reared his ugly head, claws scraping down my chest as I reared backward to stomp on his armored neck.

Scuffling was heard behind me. Amora darted into the cave in my peripheral, and two other familiar Elves came dashing to the bushes. No longer watching out for Odessa, my Dragon howled again, taking the horns on my head, pushing him away from the cave and deeper into the forest. Trees trembled, feeling the heat of the fight. Adam's flames blew to the top of the trees while landing on his back. Burnt embers of limbs fell around us.

My claws sunk deep into the flesh of his stomach. Scratching him down his middle, his internals spilled to the forest floor. "Think of Mother!" he cried. "She's watching you. Think how disappointed she would be," his Dragon wailed, shaking me off his body.

I faltered. Mother would be disappointed, disappointed I didn't fix things with my brother. Had I not tried hard enough? Did I just let him treat me like his prey all these years to get some sympathy? It only grew worse by the day. After their death, the floggings I took as a human still weren't enough to sate his anger.

My claw let his stomach go. One more inch, and his heart would have fallen from his body. His Dragon pulled in his innards, healing him remarkably fast, even for an Alpha. My body continued to heal more slowly, my feather-like hair standing on edge.

"You have betrayed your tribe, brother," he spat.

"The tribe will come for you," I growled, teeth-gnashing towards him. I should have finished the job and asked for mercy later, but what's done is done. Adam hobbled toward the direction of the tribe. I followed him. I watched Amora stumble from the other side of the encampment, acting as if she had been there all along.

Dragons ran to him, their eyes wide with worry with their Alpha torn to bits and shifting back into his human form. "Creed," he breathed. "Gone mad." Harsh whispers entered the crowd.

"Creed hasn't fought back in so many years. Why now?" one questioned.

"He's waited for the right time," he wheezed. "Creed has grown strong. He caught me off guard." The two warriors that had fled looked at each other and into the direction of the forest. Their eyes met my dark, fiery ones. They both shook, stepping back. Licking my lips, feeling the blood of my half-brother, I flew back to my cave.

It was best to leave. The Elven territory was our best bet until I found something better. Still, when I arrived, the cave was empty, along with the clothing Amora had brought. My Dragon shifted halfway out of the cave and raced to find her smell. Amora was not with Odessa. She was back in the tribe.

It was undeniable. Her citrus scent led me right back to where we started. Landing in the middle of the meadow, I could not control my Dragon. He growled at each Elf that tried to explain, but he wouldn’t hear it. Pounding on an invisible mirror, I couldn't gain control. The beast slammed into tables, pushed into trees, until Glinda threw a vial into the beast's roaring mouth and I could remember no more.

But now, laying here, feeling the fire touches of my mate, the darkness surrounds me, but every inch of my skin is crawling. She's there, I feel her, but she was so far away from me at that exact moment. Her hands, the coldness of the cloth she held while washing my body, gave me chills. My Dragon purred in delight at how delicately she held my hand, arm, and even feet. Gods, she touched my feet like they were to be worshiped.

Wake up.

A blanket was tucked around me. I wanted to scream in protest until her fingers petted my hair around my chest and lower and lower still. Gods, what was she doing to me? My Dragon growled, feeling her fingers inch towards what I wanted. My Dragon, being selfish and greedy, lunged forward inside me, flinging my eyes open wildly, grabbing her dainty wrist.

Odessa's heart jumped from her chest, but not in enough time to scream. Her light laugh held a 'whoops,' she likes to say when she has made a mistake, but there was no mistake in her hands. My Dragon had control of me. I could barely get the movements of my body under control, but then did I want to?

My Dragon, my beast, was possessive. He wanted her repeatedly as we had waited at least three days for her to wake. If I had known it would have taken so long for the venom of my fangs to change her, if I knew anything at all, I would have played with her until my Dragon was almost sated.

Flipping her to her back, my hand trailed up her thigh, my nose flaring at her arousal. She had cleaned herself, perfumed with her natural scent.

"Creed, are you getting greedy?" Odessa huffed a laugh. My lips fell upon hers, sucking them hard. Her body arched to touch my torso, her nipples pebbling under the heat of my skin. My cock was tight. It was going to burst. There was no time for foreplay. My Dragon wanted to claim her again.

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