Childhood

The time before Thistle was captured and Tate's mom has gone somewhere. Yup, that adult female next to Nikaya is Tate's mom named Kalina. She was a normal, good dragoness but she was a bit complicated because her mate (Tate's dad) left her. Everything was fine until Kalina disappeared and didn't come back. Tate was never the same after his mom has gone but he was old enough to live on his own. 
A fun fact about Thistle is that she was the one Tate liked more in their childhood (in a friendly way). But then when they all got older, Nisha and Tate became a couple while Thistle was simply a good friend to him. 

Art, characters (c) me