Prologue
Levi's POV
Once upon a time... My people were prosperous and happy. We ruled the shifter people with compassion and mercy. We were revered for our strength and wisdom. Our ancient race was honored through the worlds...
Until one day, the humans found out what our hearts can do, and started hunting us down. They got very clever and built weapons to steal our lives from us.
Whole colony's were destroyed. Families torn apart by greed. Many went into hiding, but it did no good. They were caught and slaughtered, and now we are the very last to remain.
We've been searching for a cure... The way to restart our hearts, but time is running out. Our scientists have not come up with a solution and any time now we will be overrun with hunters, and that will be the end.
I know it won't be long now... And we must do whatever it takes to protect our species. What other choice is there? Perhaps I'm selfish in wishing our race to continue, or maybe I am just hopeful that some day down the road there will be peace and we can rejoin the world again.
I look at my queen and my heart aches. We have no choice. As the king, I know this must happen, but I wish there was some other way.
“Destiny, love, we need to send him now,” I whisper to my sweet mate. Even as I say the words I ache. I can feel her pain as deeply as my own. I know everything that is going through her head and heart and it echoes my own.
“Levi, I don’t want to leave him to grow up all alone,” she chokes on her tears. “He should be surrounded by his family and friends… What will happen to him? I can’t bear to think of him left in the world on his own…” She pulls his tiny form closer to her chest and presses gentle kisses on his sweet face. They baby coos in his sleep. It is one of the most beautiful noises I've ever heard. I want to memorize the sound before it's too late.
"Hopefully, he will survive and find a family of his own..." I sigh miserably... Because I honestly don't know what will happen to my young one. I can only wish for the best and pray to Fate that he will prosper in the future... But if he stays with us, he will not even have a future. This really is the only option we have. I can not be selfish and keep him here just so we can stay together as we get slaughtered by the hunters.
She looks up at my eyes with that beautiful blue I've memorized since the day I met her. I love those eyes, and I am so proud she passed them onto our son. He probably won't appreciate them as much as I do... But maybe some female will fall for them the way I feel for my Destiny...
I had always wanted a large family, but it was not meant to be. We barely had the time to produce one heir, and now we have to send him out into the world... I don't know if he will ever find a mate. I don't know if he will ever feel the magical touch of one that was created just to be by his side... But mate or not, I hope with all my heart he can find love.
She looks down at our newborn son cradled in her arms, born only an hour ago. His eyes shine with a deep sapphire, just like hers. He has midnight black hair, just like me. He is the perfect mix of the both of us… I wish I would be allowed to see him grow up to the man I hope he will be… But that chance was stolen from me, but I won’t be deterred from giving my son a chance at life.
I chuckle to think he might have young ones of his own... I wish I could have grown old enough to be a grandfather... As it is, I'm only 24 years old, and I've watched my entire race get slaughtered before my eyes. There was nothing any of us could do about it! With luck, the humans will never know my son exists, and he will grow strong and happy.
"I can't stand the thought of letting him grow up in a cruel world... I don't want him to believe we abandoned him..." Destiny sobs, and if I wasn't already broken at the moment, the tears in her eyes would have done it.
I hadn't even thought of that. Will he believe we cast him out? Hopefully, Erik will tell him exactly what happened. He needs to know his history of our race... Of our family. I look around our nest and sigh. Maybe one day he will return here and start his own family when it is safe? That is a foolish thought...
“I don’t either, but the hunters are coming, and they will kill all of us, we can’t let them find out about Jericho. He is our last hope to carry on our line,” I try to console my queen, but I know it won't work. Honestly, what else can I tell her? Nothing. Nothing will fix the ache in our hearts at what has happened to our people.
Our families had been destroyed. All my younger brothers were caught trying to protect us. My parents were captured and tortured before they were mercifully killed. What was the point of all of this? I still don't know why the humans decided to turn against us.
We have watched our people suffer for so long, and now we are the last. The pain has broken all of us little by little until we are nothing but a shell of our former fierce beings. We can't defend ourselves anymore. Even if we declared full-out war, many innocent humans would be hurt. We did not want that to happen! It was only the selfish and greedy ones that we wanted to get rid of.
“Why can’t we just kill them all?” She demands. My queen is quite fierce, and I love that about her. She made the perfect dragon queen, but now… We have lost everything... but him.
And I swear on my life they will not take Jericho! He will survive and grow up happy and healthy and loved... Even if it is only by Erik.
“We’ve been hunted to all but extinction, love. We can keep him, but you know what will happen to him once they find us. Their weapons are something we can’t protect ourselves from,” I try to calm her raging heart down.
There is no way for that to happen because, at the moment, my blood is boiling. They’ve hunted us for our hearts, and we don’t have long before they capture us. They won’t care that my son is only an hour old. They will steal his heart for the chance at eternal life.
Erik rushes into the room and bows to me and my queen. “I am sorry, my King and Queen, but they have been spotted not more than an hour away,” he informs us. He looks just as broken as we feel. He is one of my best friends and I trust him with my life.
Erik was my inside man. He is not a dragon but a human who served our family unfailingly. He was the one who had told us they were coming for us just last night. He could not give us an exact time but had been keeping watch. All of our spies have died, but no one knew about Erik, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
I was afraid they would be here before my wife could deliver our son. Fate must have been on our side. I will take this as a sign that not every one of my people will die.
Just then, our chief scientist, Blade, dashes into the room holding up a black stone. "We've done it!" he exclaims. His eyes are wild with excitement. "Well, it's a prototype, and it will only work once! But it should restart the dragon heart..." He huffs, handing it over to me.
My heart roars in excitement. We have it but there is only one. I know they didn't have the time to make more, or they would have, and we could have all been saved. But this one...
This is it. This is what we have been waiting for... I look down at my son. This is his only chance. It will do me no good because my mate will die and I won't want to live without her... But it may protect my heir. This will be enough to ensure his protection and the continuation of our race.
I hand the onyx stone over to the man I am trusting my entire race to. “Erik, take my son, and keep him safe! You know what this is. Make sure when he is old enough, he knows what this is,” I beg more than demand. I am begging for my son’s future.
This has been the plan since Erik told us they found out where our colony is. It doesn't matter that we have a steel door keeping us shut in... They will find a way to disable it and sneak in. And he can't be here when that happens.
“Yes, my King,” he bows low, then stuffs the rock in his pocket and watches my mate with a sorrowful expression on his face. There is nothing he can do to save us, but he can take our only legacy and keep him safe.
“My Queen,” he asks gently, bowing to Destiny. He has always treated my queen with great respect. "I swear I will take care of him and look after him like my own son. He will want for nothing and will only know love."
Tears dribble down her chin as she lifts her son to her lips for the last time and plants a lingering kiss on his small head. "I love you, Jericho. I pray you will find peace and happiness we were not able to bring you."
I can’t let him go without giving him a kiss on his nose. “We love you, my son. I hope one day you will understand what it is to love someone so much that you would give up your life for them,” I whisper in his tiny ear.
And with that, I hand my only son to the man I am trusting with the last dragon prince.
