Legion: Alpha Dragon Shifter Romance (Dragon Rules Series Book 1)

opposite of the rhetoric you read in that book.”
She sat up. “What is it?”
“Never doubt a druid’s heart. Her love can kill you.”

Chapter 10
Mara’s heart stuttered. The way his eyes flared when he spoke those words conveyed more than the words themselves. “What does that mean? Did a druid betray a dragon, one she loved?”
Legion walked to the window, gazing towards the clouds. His size eclipsed the light outside, casting shadows around the room. The tattoo on his back rippled as he rolled his shoulders, appearing to stretch out, reaching for her through the canvas of his skin. She grabbed her chest when her heart squeezed. It took a moment to realize the pain was not her own. It was Legion’s.
His voice was low, causing her to lean forward. “I told you my father was a green dragon. We’re all predatory by nature. But he was more of a scholar than a hunter. He was wise and kind. My mother was a druid of mediocre power, but she could make any plant flourish around her. She was beautiful, so much so, my father tripped over his tail the first time he saw her.
Mara’s smile lit her eyes. “I guess men and dragons share a love for beautiful women.”
Legion turned. “For a dragon, there is only one woman.”
“It sounds like he loved her.”
Legion smiled. “He worshiped her, as he should. My mother was more courageous and cunning, than any of us could have suspected.”
Mara frowned. “How so?”
“We were at war with the mage lord, and they were winning. A dragon does not shift until he is in his teens. It would be unsafe for a dragon child, without mastery of his magic to fly around in the human world.”
Mara’s eyebrow went up. “Unsafe for humans, you mean?”
“Yes.” He returned his gaze to the window, as if he couldn’t face her. “The mage leader was powerful and cruel. He destroyed our future and forced an unspeakable act. One that shaped both our species for all time.”
“What did he do?”
“He attacked our dragon leader’s mate, Solara. She was strong, as was Magnus, our clan leader, but the mage lord sacrificed his own minions, to infect Solara with a death spell. Within two months, she informed the Rule clan that she would not survive the winter. Magnus called for all the adolescents, to begin the trials.”
“What are the trials?”
“When the reigning Gold dies, or is near death, the dragons that have not shifted yet, must fight in human form for the right to be leader of the Rule clan.”
“Wouldn’t an adult be better suited?”
“A dragon’s magic cannot be modified. The vessel of the new Gold, must be empty of all power. A shell that the magic of our species inhabits.”
“How old were you?” Mara asked.
“I was the youngest dragon in combat. Only fourteen. I was barely old enough to enter the trials.”
“But you won? You somehow beat the other dragons in combat?”
Legion huffed. “Hardly, I was the most inexperienced dragon on the field. Thantar and I are the same age, but his father was a warrior. He had me on the ground in seconds.”
“You lost?”
Legion sighed. “The trials are not to find the most efficient warrior with a blade. It’s to expose the dragon with the heart, the will to put his people first. I lost all my fights in human form. When I raised my sword that final day, there wasn’t a spot on my skin that was uncut or bleeding. Many dragons fail the trials. They cannot endure the pain in human form. When they fall, they cannot get up.”
Mara leaned forward, feeling like she did when her mother would tell her fairy tales before bed. She prayed for a happy ending to the engaging story. “What happened next?”
“The last trial is to force our dragon’s emergence.”
“How do you do that?”
Legion took a long breath. “You must fight to the death.”
She gasped. “What? You killed your friends?”
“No. The moment a dragon realizes its human counterpart will die if it does not emerge. It forces the shift, prior to our magic being mature.”
Mara blinked. “So normally, you mature and shift when your dragon is ready?’
“Yes. The trial occurs only when we need a new Gold, to house the magic of our species.”
Mara rubbed her forehead. “What does that mean?”
“There are a finite number of dragons alive in the world. When too many are killed, then the leader of the rule clan holds the power of his fallen until bestowing it upon the next generation.”
“You have baby dragons inside you.”
Legion smiled. “I never thought of it that way, but yes, when a new male is born to my species, I give them a spark of magic, that grows and matures when they do.”
Mara winked. “How many sparklers have you given out?”
Legion’s smile fell away. “None. No child has been born to a dragon since my reign as clan leader.”
“I don’t understand. There are no mated couples?”
He nodded. “There were many dragons and druids then. Many were mated.”
“What happened to them?”
Legion stared out the window. She feared he wouldn’t continue with his story. “The fight between me and the three other combatants lasted for two hours before Tokor shifted to blue. We bowed our respect to him as he left the fighting ring. He was large and powerful, but he was not gold as is required of our leader.”
“He lost because he was blue?’
“Yes. A Gold emerges in the time of transfer. Had none of us been gold, then Magnus would have held on without his mate until the younger dragons were old enough to enter a trial.”
Mara cleared her throat. “What happened next?”
“Thantar shifted next. He is a large dragon and a deep purple color that is rare for our species. Admittedly, we were all shocked by his emergence. Though he sleeps, he was one of my childhood friends and is a great warrior. We assumed he was the one.”
“That left you and another dragon?”
“Yes, his name was Dakon. He was a