Chapter 23: Chapter 23

My stupid human has left me no choice. He bangs against the barrier of my mind, and it vibrates from his screams. He refused to listen to me so I shall refuse to listen to him. I will not allow him to cause us to lose out mate. She must know the truth. Someday I hope that he will see and understand why that evil man had to die. Maybe then I will have a chance at redemption.

As I look at our mate I can smell her fear as she approaches me. It saddens me that she is so terrified. I don’t even have to wonder if it is in fear of flying on my back or me itself. Even I was amazed when I shifted at our sheer size. In the time of a little over a decade I believe that I am almost as large as Xander. She reaches out a hand and lays it against my hind leg. The tingles from the mate bond are so strong in this form that I have to hold in my groan from her touch.

When I stay still her eyes slowly open and look at me. Moving slowly I so as not to frighten her more, I lower my form to the ground. Closing my eyes in concentration I fold in the spikes along my back and tail so that she will not be cut as she takes a seat. Gently I unfurl my wing and tilt my body so that it is slanted toward the ground.

You may use my wing to find your place. If you climb up to my neck you will be able to hold on. I tell her. She puts on a brave face and begins her accent. All the tingles along my wing where she touch makes me want to laugh. It almost feels like she is tickling me. Sensing movement I watch as Xander comes closer. I release a growl and he stops his forward momentum.

You must have faith in your guard. He would not harm another who was not a threat. I am a part of him so you should trust me to do the same.

“What the hell?” he says out loud. I know he is probably in shock that I can speak to him in this form. I have no idea how I manage to do so but something told me that I could. He looks at me curiously probably wondering what else I am capable of. For once I also wish to know. Emily is finally on my back. She wiggles trying to get comfortable. When she stills I start to take slow steps away from the house that I crushed. Maximus will have to worry about that later.

Walking to the edge of the houses I begin to spread my wings. Hearing an audible gasp from my mate I look back to check on her. She grips the base of my neck as tight as she can, and her eyes are scrunched so tight that her nose is crinkled. I nudge her with my nose until she meets my gaze. I would love to reassure her that this flight will go well but even I don’t know how it will go. I turn my head to the sky signaling her that I will be taking off.

Hold on mate.

With three large steps I flap my wings and watch the sky as we begin our ascent. A small scream leaves her lips and I feel her arms on my neck tighten. Once we are higher than the houses I bank in the direction toward our cabin. I believe that she will feel most comfortable there. Flapping my wings is like stretching muscles that haven’t been used in forever. They are tight and the strain from not having flown so long is getting to me.

In just a few minutes I land in the clearing outside our cabin. I hit the ground hard, and I feel as she bounces a bit on my back. Looking at her, they are now open, and she looks around. Her hair is blown, and she looks almost wild. Her skin has a glow to it that I have not seen before. As I gaze at her she looks at the ground and then back at me. I see that she wants to get down, but I leave her for just a few minutes as I have enjoyed taking her on her first flight.

With a sigh I lower my head to the ground so that she can slide off. She does so easily and stands there staring. Realizing that I didn’t quite think this through I lay my entire body on the ground. I have brought her to the cabin only to realize that I cannot enter in this form.

“I have to admit that wasn’t so bad” she says as she looks around the clearing. The grass is high here and hides all of her lower legs. She runs her hands along the top of them as she walk throwing looks my way.

I believe that it was awesome. I have enjoyed you riding me, mate”

Her cheeks pinken and she hides behind her hair. Not liking the lack of view I blow air in her direction moving it out of her face. “Hey, what did you do that for?” She ask as she puts her head.

Do not hide yourself from me mate. I will not hide from you.

I do not like this. I cannot hold her in this form. A light tinge of fear still comes from her. Rising I take a few steps away and thin the barrier so that he can speak.

“It’s about time you son of a bitch. You need to take her away from here. I do not trust you with her. Let me the fuck out of here----” he screams.

I do not have time for your petty games or the names. I will allow you to listen to the conversation. You will stay in there until I know you will behave, or she ask for you. I will give her answers with your permission or not you insolent child.

The growl he gives in return is worthy of a beast. When he is quiet and compliant I shift. As I shift I feel him trying to push through and it angers me. He has no trust or faith. With a roar I push him away and straighten to standing. Not bothering to speak to him I turn back toward our mate and close the distance. When I approach her she quickly turns away and my steps falter. What did I do I wonder.

“You’re naked dumbass. Humans aren’t used to nudity like us” Maximus reminds me.

Crap. Not even ten minutes into gaining her trust and I have already messed up. “If you close your eyes and I can go to the cabin and grab something to cover us. I didn’t realize it would make you uncomfortable.

“Yes, Please” she answers not turning toward me. I dematerialize into the bedroom and grab a part of pants out of the closet. Throwing them on I head to the kitchen and grab the pitcher of water out of the fridge. In a flash I materialize to stand in front of her. Tapping her shoulder I smile as she opens one eye to peak at me. “Geez, I forget how fast you are. I guess you couldn’t have grabbed a shirt too huh” she ask.

“These fabrics are restricting enough. Do you wish for me to cover myself more. If it will make you more comfortable I will” I offer. She eyes my body with a heated gaze. Stepping toward her I reach to touch her but freeze knowing that we need to talk.

The heat from our kiss still gathers in my chest. Soon I will no longer be able to keep the effects of it at bay. If she is to let me mark her then she must know the truth. With a heavy sigh I wave a hand to the side of us and clear a space in the clearing. The grass is now lower in the area and should be comfortable to sit on. The sun in the sky is already passed midday. Looks like this time is as good as any to start.

“If you tell her the whole story there is no guarantee that she will stay. She might just fear us more” Maximus says in a defeated tone. It sounds as if he has finally learned that there is no way to stop me.

“If she does not know the full story she can never really decide. When he comes to love total honesty is best. Without it there can be no trust and no respect. You used to know this. Perhaps you hearing things from my point of view will allow you to remember” I say to him.

“Why don’t you come and sit, and I will start to answer your questions” I say gesturing to the spot I cleared. Her gaze has yet to leave my chest and I have to stop myself from asking what she was thinking about. Finding a distraction quickly I listen to the sounds of the clearing making sure that we are still alone. She has the right to hear this tale. I’m sure that Maximus wouldn’t want others to hear it yet.

“You’re damn right. You shouldn’t even be telling her.” He yells as he starts to pace.

Ignoring him I watch as she comes closer. Her hands hold the edges of the light blue robe and I realize it’s to stop her from tripping. When she comes close enough I slip out a claw and use it to remove the bottom of the fabric. Her body freezes and the scent of her fear fills the air. Tossing the removed fabric behind me I freeze in my movements.

“Sorry, it was bothering you and I felt the need to take care of it. I wasn’t going to harm you” I say trying to reassure her. The sun beams behind her where she stands making her look almost like an ethereal shadow. The streaks in her hair are highlighted. I follow a few of the strands as they frame her face. Quite gracefully she sits in front of me and holds my gaze. With the removed fabric she shifts her legs as she tries to find a way to cover them. I swallow hard at a peak I receive so near the flesh that I crave between her legs as they get folded behind her.

“A bit of a warning the next time you want to rip my clothes off would go a long way.” She says Realizing what she said her heart rate picks up and are sheen overtakes her cheeks.

“I assure you that when I do decide to rip your clothes off, you will be very aware of my intentions” I tell her in a sultry promise. Her eyes turn heated, and I watch with rapt attention as that sky blue darkens. We stare at one another for a heated moment. The scent of her grows stronger and I clench the fabric on my legs to stop me from reaching out to her. Damn this heat is going to be the death of me. Arousal is so easily seen in this form that I easily shift it to try to hide her effect on me.

“Shall we begin” I ask her trying to break this need. At her nod I release a heavy sigh. I know that this is something that needs to be done but I am dreading it all the same. “If it is alright with you I will start at the beginning. For dragons, our awakening happens when we are at six years of age. That is the time when our humans can first hear us speak. Before then we are still with them. We just are like….well we are observers. We see all that they experience. We feel there pain just as they do. We learn what they like and what they don’t” I look away from the trees to see if she is still listening. When I see that she is I continue.

“When Maximus first heard me speak he had already been through too much for a child. As I watched him grow, I wanted nothing more than to be his friend. I wanted to give him someone that he could count on” I feel Maximus stop his pacing as he tries to listen more closely. “However, already he was a child that trusted no one. At just the tender age of four he witnessed the cruelty of the world. We both did. His name was Howard, and we were close to him. He did raise us after all.” I tell her.

“You have no right to speak of him. You don’t know anything” Maximus yells. It causes me to pause in our tales as I rub a hand over his heart. I can feel the pain of the loss just as I watched him feel that day.

“Howard was the man that found us when we hatched from the egg. For many of us dragons when people found out that our priceless golden eggs were going to be another mouth to feed we were simple tossed aside. He took us with him to his camp and cared for us. Even though he was homeless he took us in. We were always fed and clothed. He played with us and kept us safe. Sometimes he would even save his money and buy us something special on our birthday. For some unknown reason, this kind man loved us. We loved him dearly too.” I say as I meet her gaze. I watch as Maximus has fallen to his knees as the memories of our younger year play through our mind. His eyes water and I know that these are tough for him to handle.

“One day ended our happiness. It started off as any other day with Howard reading to us and playing tag. He was called to a commotion that some of the others in the camp were having. We knew that he was not only responsible for us, so we were used to when he sometimes left. When he didn’t come right back Maximus went looking for him when he had made him promise not to leave the tent when he was going to handle a problem. To this day, we wish that we had of listened that time” I pause as too many horrifying images fill my head. Needing to gather myself I take a few deep breaths before continuing.

“When we found him he was standing in between two men who were already blooding. From the looks of things as I peeked through the crowd he had broken up a fight. Just when it looked like the men were going to walk away a man walked into the center of the circle clapping. He approached the group of men and took out his wallet as he handed the two men who were fighting papers. Howard was standing there, and you could see his confusion which was barely hidden by his anger. He watched as the man walked up to his side and said something to him. I couldn’t hear his words, but I saw how they made Howard even angrier.”

“The people in front of me started shuffling when the shouting started. My view was blocked as one of the older woman blocked me from seeing more. She was telling us to leave but we didn’t listen. Maximus pushed his way through the others until once more he could see, and he froze. The man that raised him was on the floor and the other guy towered over him. When we met Howard’s gaze he was already looking at us. He was shaking his head and mouthing NO. We couldn’t understand what he meant but couldn’t stand to see him like that, so we ran forward. We were angry at the bad man for treating him like that, so we hit his legs. We hit them as hard as we could for hurting Howard until someone dragged us back” I pause trying to catch my breath. I know that my breathing is heavy now.

“I remember the pain in my head from where someone hit us. Our vision was blurred, and it turned red as Howard yelled. He yelled for them to leave me alone. He looked at the others in the camp yelling for them to take me away. No one listened. The very people he had cared for and helped didn’t step in to help him when it mattered. I saw when he was defeated. It was like watching a light go out as his body sagged. The awful man finally paid attention to me. When he got close to me I lunged at him wanting to fight as two men held me back. He crouched in front of me, and I met his evil gaze for the first time. I stopped fighting at what I saw. One of his eyes were brown and the other was a ghostly shade of blue. What made me fear him was all the scars on his face. One of them stood out from all the others as it slashed over his eye, his nose and his lip making his figures look distorted” As I describe him I watch the expression that comes over her face. I hear the audible gasp she makes as she remembers.

“I knew as I looked at him that he was a monster. I watched as that monster tried to make Howard beg for his life as he beat him. When he wouldn’t beg he turned to me. To stop him from hurting me Howard begged. I tried to close my eyes, but he had the men holding me make me watch. When Howard grew quiet he stopped and asked someone for some water. He stood their drinking it as if he were taking a break from a normal job. When he was finished he pulled a knife from his pocket and walked back toward Howard. I started screaming as he grabbed him by the hair. As I met the gaze of the man that raised me he whispered. ‘Be strong.’ It was the last thing that he ever said as the monster slit his throat.” I jump when I feel the tingles of the mate bond as she grabs my hands. I look back at her not even realizing that I had looked away. Tears stream down her beautiful face and I feel a pang in my chest.

“Don’t let her cry. Please. Her tears are tearing me apart” Maximus begs with his head down. Pulling her into our arms I rub them gently down her back. Heat rises all over our body where we are touched. The sensation this time is calming instead of sexual. The tension in our body slowly relaxes as out mate leans into us and her tears stop.

“Maximus does not like it when you cry. I agree that it is something that we never want to see you do” I tell her. She chuckles over me and shuffles a bit getting more comfortable.

“Tell him that I will try not to cry. Sometimes it can’t be helped” she says as she settles. Her head leans against my bare chest and her hair tickles a bit. I find it to be a strange feeling but wouldn’t change it. “Is he alright in there Martell” I tense against her not quite knowing how to answer. She feels it, however. “I only ask because I saw you two struggle earlier” she rushes to say.

“He will be fine. He is simply taking a hiatus from being in charge” I tell her.

“If you call this me doing fine, then I would love to see what your version of not fine is” Maximus huffs.

“Are you okay with us staying out here for a bit longer or did you want to return to the cabin” I ask her. I know humans don’t always like to be outside.

“We can stay for a bit longer. If we stay too long I will get sun burned though” She warns. Knowing that I don’t want that I take a deep breath ready to tell the rest of the story.