Mine, I snarl. My Clau-dah. My mate. Not yours. Incensed, I drop to the ground across from the male. I might have known his name once. The drakoni were once a close-knit people. Now, it does not matter. He is an interloper. A mate-stealer. He is going to die for touching my Clau-dah. For frightening her. Even now, I can smell her fear, sharp and thick in the warm air. Her lovely scent is sullied by the pungent stink of my rival—young, heavily scarred from fights, and about to die.
He will not win. Never. I bare my teeth in a feral snarl as he blows out a plume of flame in challenge. Too close to Clau-dah and her cloud of soft hair. Does he not realize how dangerous our fire is to her? Furious, I raise my head and bugle my acceptance of his challenge.
We shall settle this between us, the male declares. I will have the female as my mate.
You will have to destroy me first.
Then come!
I tense as my rival uncurls his claws and sets Clau-dah down. She collapses to her knees, her hair falling in front of her face. I growl low in my throat, waiting for her to get up. To get out of the way. To get to safety. After a long, tense moment, she gets to her feet, legs wobbly. Her face is stark with fear as she looks over at me, then takes a few steps backward, retreating.
The moment she’s out of range, I spring, slamming my weight into the body of the other male.
My opponent never stands a chance. Though the younger male is heavily scarred and has obviously survived many battles, it’s clear that I will win. He knows to snap with his powerful jaws, but he’s not nearly as fast as I am. When his teeth lock onto my forelimb, I counter with a heavy swipe of my tail to his head to set him off-guard, and then claw at his remaining eye.
It’s almost too easy.
The male bellows in pain and immediately backs off, hissing. He retreats a few steps, tail lashing in anger and pain, and spreads his wings as if to fly away. He is already done with the fight.
But I’m not about to let him go free. He threatened Clau-dah, and for that, he will pay with his life. I go after his wing, my claws shredding the thick fibers from bone. My opponent screams in pain, and his head thrashes wildly. He lashes out at me, but his blows are glancing.
I move in for the kill, my jaws latching on the soft underside of his neck. With one fierce, exuberant move, I rip out my opponent’s throat. Blood pours into my mouth, and with it comes the madness. Darknesshungerkillanger—
I hear a choked scream somewhere behind me.
I whip about, spraying blood, and the body of my fallen opponent flops to the ground at my feet. I turn to see Clau-dah staring up at me with big green eyes. She leans against a skeletal frame of metal, as if her legs will not support her. Her wide-eyed gaze goes to the still-twitching dragon sprawled on the ground before me.
“Oh my god. You eviscerated him.” Her hands fly to her mouth, muffling her words. “Oh shit.”
I do not understand her words, but her tone makes me frustrated. Why is she upset? Darknesshungerkillanger Did I not show her that I can protect her? That I can care for her? Darknesshungerkillanger That she is safe with me?
Have I not been patient?
Darknesshungerkillanger
I reach out to her with my mind again and find nothing there. There is no connection, nothing to latch on to, nothing to hold to and push away the darkness in my mind that creeps at the edges. It feels like an affront. I have tried so hard to be understanding, but with the blood of my opponent rushing down my throat and the battle-lust coursing through my veins, it is hard to focus on Clau-dah’s green eyes and the calm there.
Darknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillanger
I close my eyes, fighting for control. It takes a moment, but I manage to cling to sanity. I open my eyes, slowly, and then catch a new scent on the air—Clau-dah’s fear. Instinctively, I lower my head and approach her, wanting nothing more than to comfort her.
She steps backward, fear in her eyes.
Something inside me snaps. Fury boils over. Not at her. Never at her. But everything else eats at my calm. The dead male at my feet. The stink of this awful place. The lack of a connection to Clau-dah. Because I had to defend her, she fears me again. Why is she not proud of me for defeating the interloper? Can she not see how fierce I am? How utterly devoted to her happiness and protection I am?
darknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillangerdarknesshungerkillanger
I reach out to her again with my mind, desperate to connect, to anchor myself to her.
But there is nothing to hold. Her mind is closed to me.
All because I have not yet claimed her.
If I had—if I’d given her my fire—the other dragon would have never challenged me. Her scent would be mingled with mine, and unmated, rutting males would not touch her.
But she will never let me touch her. It has been days and I am yet no closer. Now she looks at me with shock and fear in her eyes.
The rage is too much, the need for my Clau-dah too much. It chews up my mind and leaves nothing behind. Must claim her. Must own. Make her safe. Make it so that no one else can claim her.
I’ve been patient long enough.
Mine.
14
CLAUDIA
That mad black is swirling in Kael’s eyes.
My breath lodges in my throat, and fright makes my legs lock. I stand in the middle of a street, and there are things to hide behind—tipped-over buses, abandoned cars, nearby gutted buildings—but I can’t run from him.
Not when he’s clearly struggling for control.
I know he won’t hurt me. He’s had plenty of opportunities to do so, and he hasn’t before. I know when his eyes swirl black, all it takes is a few murmured words and they’ll go gold again.
It doesn’t mean that I’m not scared shitless, though. I’ve just seen Kael rip the throat out of another dragon. A freaking dragon. Bullets bounce off their damn hides and humans can’t hurt them. But Kael? He’d simply took the neck of the damn thing in his jaws and tore it out. I can still feel the hot spray of blood as it catches the wind and spatters my face, still hear his dying gurgle.
I’d nearly lost control of my bladder at the sight, especially because it happened right in front of my face.
I’m still staring as Kael stalks toward me, blood dripping from his fangs, eyes black as night.