Page 18 of Brutal Dragon King (Nayara Dragon Kings #1)

Gazing at Althea while we stand on the top of the special mountain that holds many memories for me while she just confirmed my suspicions that she’s pregnant with my child has me overcome with intense emotion.

I’d been so afraid that I’d lose both her and our baby, terrified that I’d lose the chance to live a life with her as my mate while we raised The Spine’s heir together, that right now, all I feel is relief washing over me in waves like the gushing waters flowing down the tip of the cliff.

I got to her in time to save her from the Wyrm vines in the forest. If I hadn’t been quick enough to find her, she would have faced deadlier attacks from creatures with snapping, sharp teeth, and a thirst for blood.

The vines were only the tip of the iceberg, and I was lucky enough to get to her in time.

As I stare into her eyes, my mind replays crucial moments since she came into my life. From the day she stumbled into me in the human village while I was in disguise, to her defiance in the palace courtyard and all the other times she proceeded to defy me, like earlier tonight when she called herself a slave and declared that she would be the end of me.

She has been the end of me, but not by using the Dragonclaw Dagger. Just by being herself, she’s softened this stone-cold heart, made tough the day I stepped up as the King of The Spine of Nayara.

I’d lost myself somewhere along the lines, lost the true essence of life in the beautiful realm of Nyxoria when I was weighed down by duties. The responsibility of a king had me quickly forgetting what it was like to be carefree, and perhaps that’s why Althea tried to kill me. Because I'd become cold and heartless.

“All those innocent human lives you took…”

Her words ring out in my mind, and I pause my momentary daze. What was that about when she had the dagger pressed to my throat?

Though I’d been basking in the news that she was pregnant with my child, I couldn't help but wonder why she tried to kill me.

Was it some vendetta to avenge her kind when she thought I would have killed her if she wasn't pregnant?

Were my words that morning so brutal that she'd become determined to end my life?

Althea appears startled by my question, eyes widening as the flushed color of blush seeps from her cheeks. She stares at me bewilderedly, her bottom lip worrying as she slides her hands out from mine.

I know there's something she isn't telling me, and I don't use force to get the truth out of her. I'd been using force all along with Althea, and it's always been met with resistance.

After suffering the thought of almost losing her, I want to hear from her and give her a chance to speak without being the cause of her resistance to me.

“Talk to me, Althea…” I gently coerce her even when she turns around, hugging her chest.

“I—” she pauses, her shoulders lifting and falling, and I'm guessing she just gulped as if the truth is too painful to speak about.

I reach out instinctively, wanting to offer her comfort, when her timid voice squeaks, and she continues.

“I never wanted any of this, King Haid?n… Especially after my parents died because of you.”

Suddenly, I pause, retracting my hand with a frown growing on my face.

“Your parents died because of me?” I murmur in confusion.

Althea suddenly snaps around, her eyes gleaming pits of fury.

“Your men killed them! My parents died at your hands, King Haid?n!” she yells, the rage in her eyes growing to fiery heights as her face contorts with her anger. “Their blood is on your hands!”

Althea's chest heaves rapidly, with anger coursing through her and breaking our moment of tenderness. I see the manic shift in her eyes and recognize the look from the one I saw when she had the dagger pressed to my throat.

The innocent lives she spoke of were her parents…

“Althea, I don't think—”

“No, Haid?n!” she roars with the very same aggravation that's driven all her previous defiance. This time, it seems to have reached boiling point, and she takes a bold step forward, lifting her chin with much more than defiance when she prodded an accusing finger between my chest.

“My life was ruined the day they were murdered on the outskirts of The Emberlands!” she accuses. “Your men killed them and left me as an orphan to face the malice of the villagers. They called me a bad omen for being an orphan, ridiculed me for how I looked, and hated me all because my parents died!”

Her eyes gloss over with stubborn tears that she clearly refuses to shed, overcome with intense emotion. She exhales an exasperated breath, and I know she's done saying everything she needs to.

It's my turn to speak, but it isn't anger I use in my tone when I gently wrap a hand over the wrist where she has a finger pointed at my chest.

“What were their names?” I ask in a steady tone, to which Althea's frown deepens.

“Why would you care?!”

“What were their names, Althea?” I repeat calmly, measuredly, as I tighten my grip on her wrist to let her know that I'm serious, but not upset.

A moment of silence passes as Althea glowers at me as if trying to read my intention of the simple question. “M-Magdalene and Andrew Waters…”

I begin frowning as I mull over their names, and soon, it strikes me that I've heard their names before.

Nothing in the kingdom occurs without my knowledge.

“They were murdered twenty years ago…” I whisper with careful consideration.

“Y-yes…” Althea murmurs.

I nod slowly as I sigh. “It wasn't my men who killed them, Althea. It was a group of thugs from the Wyrmwood Forest. Mutated panthers, I believe.”

Althea tugs on her hand, and I don't apply any pressure to keep her in my grasp, releasing her at once. She takes a tentative step back, staring up at me with confusion.

“You're lying…”

“As the King of The Spine, there's nothing I do not know…” I declare as I pinch the skin on my neck honorably. “... And as The Spine's king, I swear that the kingdom was not responsible for the death of your parents.”

Another moment of silence stretches in which Althea digests what I've just told her. The heated fury in her eyes slowly subsides, and they soften and return to the natural shade of hazel.

“It wasn't you…” she whispers, batting her eyelids like soft wings of understanding, acceptance of the truth.

“No,” I shake my head firmly. “Not me, nor my men. Your parents were plotting to flee the village and take refuge in Wyrmwood Forest. They had no idea how dangerous it was, or how conniving the panthers were. They made a deal with the devils and paid with their lives for it. Back then, I didn't care to dig deeper. I didn't know they had a daughter…”

“What about the human you slayed the night I arrived at the palace?” she asks.

“A filthy criminal who not only stole from a local vendor but murdered a fellow human in my brother's village,” I respond bitterly. “I do not go around killing humans for fun. I do not hate your kind, Althea, even if I think poorly of them.”

Althea gulps, her head tilting to one side as she regards me differently this time.

I decided to ride the wave of this moment by stepping forward and voicing all the things I have in my mind. I understand her better, and somehow, she's helped me understand myself better ever since she came around to turn my world upside-down.

“I may have thought poorly of humans, but you've changed my mind, Althea Waters…” I profess as I take her hand in mine and press it to my chest. Somehow, having it there feels like it opens me up to her, exposing me as the little boy who used to fly up to this spot before leaping off the cliff in his carefree nature.

“... You've shown me what it means to be brave, even without powers.”

“You're-you're not upset?” she asks tersely, to which I shake my head slowly.

“Far from it, actually,” I admit with a lighthearted chuckle. “I have to admit that your attempt to slit my throat was rather amusing. You do realize that if I wanted to, I could have shifted and overpowered you?”

Althea giggles nervously, her cheeks flushing cutely. “But you didn’t.”

“I let you have your moment,” I continue chuckling, reaching out to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. “I let you have all your moments because I admire you for who you are, and I—” I pause as a lump forms in my throat, becoming so overwhelmed with emotions I’ve denied myself from feeling before.

While Althea’s eyes glitter from what I’ve just told her, I take one final step forward to close the distance between us, staring deeply into her eyes when I recognize the precise emotion I’m feeling.

“I love you, Althea Waters,” I declare, and it’s a weight that’s lifted off my shoulders, a weight that’s been hanging there since the very first time I saw her.

“I’ve loved you since the very first time I saw you. I just wasn’t sure what I felt,” I continue. “There in the village, when you tossed your token into the pot, you crashed into me and turned my entire world around.”

“You…” Althea breathes in surprise, her eyes widening. “The man in the hooded cloak was you?”

Chuckling, I nod. “Yes, that was me.”

Althea gasps, recognition twinkling in her eyes as she remains speechless. She finally breaks her silence when she begins telling me, with teary eyes, how the reaping draw had been fixed to ensure her token was picked by Aerwyna, and how she’d faced so many challenges in the village when she became an orphan.

“ I swear I had no idea what they’d been planning. But when my token was chosen in the draw, I thought I’d get my revenge for what I thought you did to my parents,” she says in a timid whisper, a stray tear escaping her eye as she gulps. “I didn’t anticipate that I, too, would come to love you.”

Despite all the revelations she’d just given me, I was only focused on the last bit of what she said.

“You love me?” I ask, and for the first time in three hundred years, I’m nervous when speaking.

Althea nods eagerly. “I love you, King Haid?n Nayara,” she confesses, and I immediately wrap her in my arms, so gleeful that all I can do is hold her close to me while I feel our emotions unifying at that moment.

For the first time in my life, I’d let someone in and share something so profoundly personal and special. I let the tall walls of my coldness drop entirely, letting Althea in on my deepest feelings and thoughts while she has her cheek pressed to my chest.

Projections of my past play in my mind, and Althea’s stillness indicates that she’s seeing through the mind link I just allowed her into, seeing everything, hearing my thoughts, and feeling my emotions.

All those times I denied what I felt, resisted her, and kept away, were only because I was falling in love with her.

She finally gasps after what feels like an eternity, lifting her head to stare deeply into my eyes. Hers twinkle with tears, and she reaches out a hand to cup my cheek, rising on her tiptoes to meet my lips in a gentle, soul-touching kiss.

My lips curl into a warm smile when I break the kiss, stroking the apple of her cheek with the pad of my thumb. She’s slightly flustered, eyes twinkling when she says,

“This spot is special for you, isn’t it?”

I nod gently. “Do you trust me, Althea?” I ask when an idea comes to mind.

Althea nods in return. “I trust you, Haid?n.”

Smiling purely, I wrap my arms protectively around Althea as she closes her eyes, putting her complete trust in me. I close my eyes, too, holding her tightly before throwing us both off the edge of the cliff.

It’s a trust fall, but I no longer have to do it alone.