Generally, Riley enjoyed hearing about revelations as a certified busybody. In fact, when given a short break, he would play story gas, watch scandalous series, or read a book that forced him to stay awake at night.
But apparently, it was a whole different experience when the life being unraveled was his own.
Riley slowly raised a hand, as if trying to reaffirm that he was not simply hallucinating.
"Mom, are you really a drake?!" he asked.
It was a question that should have been obvious by now. But even he, who literally turned into a dragon earlier, had not exactly been obvious about anything, so who was to say that was all there was to his mother?
"Yes," Renee answered gently. "I am sorry for not being able to tell you, but in truth, I have not used this form for a very long ti. Long enough that I almost forgot what it felt like to be one."
She rested a claw lightly on the table, careful not to damage anything. Not that it would be a problem, considering who the furniture was initially made for.
"But yes, I am actually a full drake. And before I married your father and beca a Hale, I used to be a Calden. And our family had long been loyal caretakers of the Iltheran clan."
Riley stared at her, taken aback, unsure what to feel about any of it.
Did they know from the very beginning?
So their parent-son relationship... was it all a lie?
His stomach twisted at the thought.
However, Renee’s expression softened even more, as if she could read every frantic question racing across his face. She was still his mother, after all. It would be impossible for her not to sense his unease and frustration.
"Like you," she said quietly, "I didn’t actually know about any of this at the start. My parents and my ancestors kept most of the secrets from until after I married your father."
"What?" Riley blurted.
Now that was surprising, even for him. Was everyone just as confused as he was?
Well, apparently they were. And if anything, they might have been even more confused based on how his mother began recounting her own story.
While she grew up knowing she was a drake, there really hadn’t been anything unusual about her childhood. Except, perhaps, how her family had never been big on socializing.
Which, in truth, was an understatent, as back then she felt like they were akin to hermits. And the only real reason why it didn’t imdiately beco so obvious was that there were several of them, so there was at least soone to talk to.
But then, soon enough, she realized that there were other drake clans scattered across the mountains, but instead of living near them or visiting often, the Caldén family chose to stay far away. Isolated. Quiet. Almost secretive.
As a child, Renee always wondered why.
And because she was curious and far more sociable than the rest of her clan, it probably wasn’t that surprising to anyone when she eventually announced she wanted to study in the capital city.
She could still rember how nerve-racking that mont was.
The decision was hers alone. For soone her age, it shouldn’t have been difficult. If she had been able to find part-ti work, she would have been able to save up and pursue further studies.
But work in the mountains? Where there was pretty much only her family?
Just who was she supposed to work for?
So the trembling young drake had to convince them. Properly. She had to hope they would help her until she could stand on her own.
What she had not foreseen was how easily they agreed.
Provided she would co ho the mont she was called. No questions asked. No explanations required. No resistance allowed.
Renee had not understood the weight of it back then. In her mind, of course, she would co back if her family needed her. And if they allowed her such grace now, she’d obviously pay it back in the future.
So with more than enough financial support that honestly should have raised at least ten red flags, she headed to Drakemont to study.
And that was where she t Lawrence Hale.
In her drake form, the mother watched her son gasp dramatically like a true gossiper, and while it would have been nice to recount how she t and fell in love with soone so stoic and opposite of her, she decided they could save that part for later.
And later sounded good to her. Because it ant she would still have sothing to tell her son, whom she hoped would understand more once she finished explaining.
She knew everything she was revealing might change the nature of their relationship. But as soone who had experienced sothing similar, she also knew that only after learning the truth could soone begin to grow proper roots. She had long prayed for that clarity for Riley.
So she continued.
She told them how she and Lawrence fell helplessly in love. How she eventually told him she was a drake.
"Imagine how miffed I was when he did not look surprised," she said, smiling at the mory.
"But then I learned what it ant to be a Hale, and suddenly it made sense. He did not see as strange or majestic or frightening because his ancestors had long been around actual dragons."
She chuckled at the old embarrassnt. All those nights she spent imagining how he would react to her great revelation, only for him to take it in stride because to him, it was normal.
And she also rembered how relieved she had felt. There was comfort in knowing that being a drake did not bother him at all.
From there, everything seed to fall into place.
They continued their studies, survived all the awkwardness of dating, the misunderstandings, the good days and the bad ones, and eventually decided they wanted to take the next step.
It sounded easy now. Smooth even. But back then, they had clashed plenty. Two very different personalities trying their best to understand and support each other.
Yet because they had weathered all those bumps, she beca more confident.
So when Lawrence asked if they could visit her family to ask for their blessings, she agreed.
She had blocked the idea every ti he asked before. But now that they had decided to move forward together, she could no longer run from reality.
Honestly, she had been a complete ss back then. She kept imagining everything that could possibly go wrong. But when she looked at the man beside her, she rembered sothing important.
Lawrence could handle anything.
He was calm. Patient. Stable. He had been trained to support beings with the worst tempers in existence. Sure, he had not worked formally yet, but even she was confident in his ability because he could actually withstand her.
Her. A dramatic drake whose mood swings could crack a table.
That alone helped her calm down.
She reminded herself that when she was younger, she once overreacted to a similar situation, only for it to turn out anticlimactic. She clung to that thought.
And so, they went to the mountains to see her parents.
Her family had been guarded, as expected, and she had warned her fiancé about it long before they even reached the foothills. But aside from being cautious, they had been surprisingly accepting of him.
After all, with soone who toiled the land, carried heavy things wordlessly, and did everything with quiet diligence even as a human, it would be hard to complain. Lawrence could do everything and more.
It was just that she never imagined what would co next.
Because when her parents realized Lawrence was a Hale, their entire deanor shifted.
Suddenly, she was called aside.
Suddenly, she was told flat-out that there was no way he could be accepted into the family.
Suddenly, she was instructed to send him back to the city imdiately.
Riley’s mouth fell open as he listened, and Renee had to add, "You can imagine how I reacted back then."
"What? Mom, did you actually break up with Dad?" the busybody asked, eyes darting to his father.
But much to his shock, the answer ca from Lawrence Hale himself.
"No. Instead of sending back, she threw clothes into a bag, ran out, and dragged back to the city so we could register our marriage."
"I am sorry, you did what now?!" Riley nearly shot to his feet. The sa people who lectured him about doing things in the proper order actually eloped?
He almost choked on his own disbelief.
Before he could even voice the scandal properly, his father added in his calm, grounded tone, "Why do you think we never said anything when you ended up as mates? It would not be proper to be hypocritical when we ourselves got married without fully understanding what was happening."
"???"
"!!!"
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