A Female Dragon is Here?

Chapter Four

Enzo POV

The moment I entered the study, Betty’s mum pounced on me. Yeah, I worked out her name as I listened to the boys talk at the little party. She was a charmer, all the boys loved her, and her great cooking.

‘Why do you want to take my little girl from me?’ she was full of tears and my heart broke for her, but I could not leave without Betty, not now I had found her, so I thought the best way to handle this was with the truth.

‘I need you to promise me you won’t breathe a word of this until it is made official.’ I demanded their silence first. If they refused, then I would take their girl and not give them a reason. I could do that, being a prince of the realm.

‘You have my word.’ The girl's mother said, and I looked at her father and he nodded to him and placed his hand over his heart, in a gesture of giving his word with all his heart.

‘Betty is my mate.’ The woman squealed. Then she burst into tears again. The man sat staring at me with a calculating look and I wondered what he had on his mind. He looked to be a man holding a secret or two of his own and was debating whether to divulge it or not.

‘Whilst we are being honest you should know what we do about our Betty.’ He started and the woman looked up at her mate, her mouth open in shock. This was going to be interesting; they looked torn about whatever they wanted to say, and it wouldn’t matter to me. Betty is my mate and nothing can stop me from claiming her at some point.

‘Betty is not our biological daughter.’ He started and the woman interrupted, ‘Don’t.’ Her hurt was clear in her voice with that one word.

‘Hush woman he needs to know.’ He consoled her while looking up at me, his eyes soft and sad.

‘Go on.’ I urged, wondering where this was going.

‘We found her wandering the streets. She would only have been three, we think. We don’t know. We have had her birthday each year on the day we found her, but I think her real birthday is about two months before that. We thought a traveling vendor may have left her behind, but everyone we talked to did not know her, or where she came from. So we have raised her the best we can. She is special, kind and well spoken, quick to learn and quick to laugh, she has been a blessing to our community.’ The man would not elaborate on what he meant by that, and I assumed it was because she was special to them.

‘Wow, poor kid, did she settle in quickly?’ I asked. Betty seemed to be a well-rounded girl, not a flirty girl. Who often tried to get my attention. If anything, she ignored me entirely and concentrated on the party. That drew me closer to wanting to know more. Most girls would have tried to gain my attention if they could.

‘Betty had never been a bother, always kind and helpful, quick to join in and never needed to be reminded to do her chores, top of her class at school and had helped the boys with their studies. You could not ask for a better daughter. I am going to miss her.’ The woman said kindly, and I knew she meant every word she had just said.

‘So, my mate, she is someone with no heritage. She could be anything, like a witch or something?’ I had to be sure what I was getting into, a witch as my mate might be a bit tricky.

‘No, she is no witch, I am sure we would have picked up on that, and we have not had any witches here in our town, since long before I was born.’ The man said, and I understood when he meant by that, witches more or less left our kingdom many years ago, I do not understand it all, but something to do with greed and power, and we gave them neither.

‘But if she came via a trader, then she could be?’ I pushed harder, to see how they would react.

‘Not likely, no witch has traded with us, and I did not think any had lived near this part of the country. We are a very unforgiving area, and the witches preferred the south. They never even ventured this far from us up here in the north. We have little to nothing that would interest them. We sent word to all the nearby towns, and after five years of nothing, we stopped trying and just loved the girl as our own.’

‘She is eighteen? By your reckoning?’ I asked. She seemed to be of age.

‘Yes, we believe so, about three weeks ago if I am counting correctly. She has been with us fifteen years and, well, she had a change come over her and that is why we think her birthday was that day.’ The woman burst into tears again and I watched the man comfort her.

‘When will you take her?’ She sobbed out softly.

‘Now, I cannot leave without her, my dragon won’t let me go without her by my side. He had waited too long for her.’ I had no idea what happened to them to think that whatever it was marked her birthday, and with how the woman was crying, I did not have the heart to push for more information.

‘How long?’ The father asked, kindly, his eyes twinkling with interest.

‘I am one hundred and fifty-one on my next birthday.’ I stated proudly, though I am still considered a young fledgling, it was beyond the life of most humans, and many other shifters live to two hundred at the most, whereas our kind can live for a few thousand years.

‘That is a long time to hunt for your fated mate. Many give up before that.’ The man said softly, his eyes roaming my body as if to see me as that age, but I don’t look that old, I have not aged above twenty-five.

‘Don’t hurt my little girl, please.’ The woman sobbed again; geez, this woman could cry and she was pulling at my heartstrings, hard. I was tempted to pull her into my arms and comfort her myself, she was so sad.