Treasure Of Dragons, Royal Dragons Book 1 Chapter 104

Drago

You could have heard a pin drop after what my mate had just said, “I’m sorry, sweetheart, can you say that again?” 

She looked at me blinking, like she was trying to decide if she was seeing what she thought she was, or if she was hallucinating, “That man, right there, is my father.”

The man in question, I think we had been told earlier that his name was David, and he was Pyre’s brother who was an archaeologist, and was just back from a location, and Elizabeth hadn’t met him yet, stepped towards us. We weren’t supposed to bring up mates with him because of some tragic circumstances surrounding his mate and child from years ago. Now, my mate is saying he is her father. 

“Why do you think so baby?” again with the look like she was lost.

“I grew up looking at his pictures, my mother had them, she slept with one, she wasn’t surrounded by his pictures, even after she married Braun, I’ve seen his face thousands of times, he’s who I was told was my father.” She’s trying to convince herself as much as all of us.

Then David stepped up and looked into her face, “What was your mother’s name?” 

“Collette Dragoi, was the name of my mom.” 

David actually stumbled back, like he’d been punched, and he lost all color in his face, and his eyes grew huge. I knew then that something very big was happening.

I took a close look at him, especially now with him standing close to Ria, they both had a similar shade of auburn hair, and similar pale complexions. Of course, those weren’t really good markers of relation, but there was her nose, it was just like his, and the shape of their chins was the same. There were subtle similarities that screamed it was very possible.

Kova stepped up to all of us, “How about we retire to another room, and that way we can all talk without having such a large audience for all of this. Would that be okay Ria?” 

She blinked up at him and nodded, but wasn’t really saying anything. I looked at my brothers and Ash stepped up, “Take her with them, we’ll stay here with the kids, just you, Ria, and him, that should be all that’s there right now.”

I nodded, “Ria is that okay, just the 3 of us go and talk somewhere quiet?” I looked at David out of the corner of my eye.

She nodded and then I looked at David, he nodded, “Yes, that sounds like a good idea, it sounds like we really need to talk.” 

I kept hold of Ria’s hand, and we went to the area where we had stripped off our outdoor gear, and we all put everything back on, with me helping Ria. Then Kova led us to his house. Once we were there we all went into the living room.

“I will leave you 3 here to talk. I will make sure no one leaves the meeting cabin and disturbs you. Take all of the time you need. Feel free to make coffee or get whatever drinks or snacks you guys need.” I shook his hand as he left the house.

I got Ria to sit on the couch after I helped her remove her outdoor gear again. She sat there just staring at him, like she wasn’t sure he was real, and that look broke my heart. Knowing her history I could imagine all of the horrible things that were running through her head about why her father would be sitting in front of her. David looked to be having issues as well.

I sat next to Ria and got everything started, “David, we were told earlier today that we should be sure and not ask you about mates or families as a dragon because of a tragedy that occurred which claimed the life of your mate and possibly your daughter.” 

David blinked and focused on me rather than Ria, “Yes, it was almost 40 years ago now. Our daughter was only about 10 months old. They were going shopping. My mate was with my daughter and there was a horrible accident. The huge truck that hit them fled the area, and their car rolled down an embankment. It caught on fire, but the actual accident and being basically crushed in the car was what killed my mate. Since the car rolled, and her car seat was found thrown from the car, it was believed, and reported that my daughter died as well. Since there was no body, and nothing came from the search, I refused to believe that. I spent years trying to find my daughter, but to no avail. Collette Dragoi was my sister-in-law.”

Now, it was my turn for my jaw to hit the ground. The woman whom Ria believed was her mother, who raised her, who married Braun, was the sister-in-law of this dragon. 

“Wow, okay, so there’s most definitely a connection, and you guys do look similar. I don’t actually know how to process this and I know you two are reeling, but we need to figure this out. Can you talk about it, baby?” 

“I was told my father died when I was 1 year old. I remember my mother was so incredibly sad all the time, she pined for my father, and I thought it was because of his death. She had pictures all over the house, she clutched one in her hand at night. I used to try to make her feel better but it never worked. I was 4 when she met Braun Zavitnik, he was a monster.”

David grips his fists tight and I see his jaw tighten with gritted teeth, “She had an issue with me choosing my mate, Nicoletta, her younger sister over her, but Nico was my mate, I loved her more than life itself. Collette was jealous and made comments often. We actually tried to distance ourselves from her because she was so toxic, and was constantly trying to get me to leave my mate and take her instead. She had supposedly moved down to Mexico shortly before the accident. I did call her and told her about it. She again tried to say it was a good thing, that now we could be together because Nicoletta was out of the way. I was so angry I spouted off all sorts of stuff, and told her I hated her, and I would never speak to her again. I never did. I never imagined in a million years that she could have been the one responsible for the accident, or the one who took my daughter.”

Ria lowered her head into her hands, and I saw her shoulders shaking. I went to her and pulled her up against me, just holding her close, this was going to get very messy.