Even that night in the basement when I was vile to her, she simply laughed. Or the night I dropped her from the sky, testing her, she had accepted it, trusting me more than anyone else ever had. To her I wasn’t nothing, not an experiment, not a mistake or trash...I was hers. She wanted me.
I still tested her, touching her and expecting her to cringe away, but instead I found the truth in her body—she really did want me. And when she looked at me, those eyes filled with need and kindness, I knew. I knew I would never leave her side, I would change fate, and not let the past dictate my future. I won’t lose her like I lost my mother, I’ll fight death itself to claim her back.
She is mine.
I can’t wait to watch her grow in this world, to see the true power she has hiding in that tiny, curvy body explode out and rain down on these fucked up people. They will regret taking her, she will make sure of it, and I’ll be by her side watching as she kills them.
Imagining her eyes black, her body covered in blood, has me hard. It’s a strange fucking time to be sporting an erection, but that’s just another factor with my mate. I want her all the time, but when I see her fighting? When I see her covered in blood and power? I want to grab her, throw her onto the nearest surface, and bury myself in her sweet little pussy as she screams my name and fights me.
My eyes pop, making me grunt, and then they open. They ache and the light is bright, causing me to wince as I flip over and get to my knees before pushing to my feet. I waver for a moment before blowing out a breath and straightening to my full height. I give the other men a haughty look. A dare to try it again. A man can only be pushed so far and they keep on pushing that same button.
“Where’s my bed?”
I’m pretending to sleep with my arms under my head and eyes closed where I lie on the ground. Apparently a mad bastard like me, a traitor, doesn’t get a bed. I get a square of flooring, but at least I don’t have to make it military neat like the others.
I’ve been here almost a day now and I’m feeling the itch, the one that’s always telling me to kill people, but now it’s telling me to find my mate, so with a sigh I get up and approach the head nephilim, who is sharpening his blade on his bed near the door. All of the ones here are waiting for orders while some are on patrol, some on other duties, and some are out on missions.
I stop near him and he pretends to ignore me, but his eyes flicker up to assess the threat before going back to watch the rhythmic movement of the stone against the metal.
“Give me something to do,” I snap.
He carries on ignoring me, so I narrow my eyes and grab his sword, cutting my hand on it. We both watch the blood mar the steel. “You want to punish me, fine, put me on a shit detail but use me. I’m fucking bored of watching you dicks wank each other off over who’s the furthest up the council’s arse.”
He jumps to his feet, his sword going to my throat as his nostrils flare. Oh, angel boy didn’t like that one bit. But then a strange smile melts onto his face. “You want a job? Fine.” He jerks his head to the left. “Follow me.” He doesn’t take me out the front door, but the one at the end, which opens to reveal stairs that lead down. Without bothering to grab a light he descends the stone steps, and I follow after him, my eyes adjusting to let me see.
It leads down to an underground corridor with cobwebs and old, melted candles on the wall. He strides away from me and I trail after him, taking my time just to piss him off so when he gets to the other end, he has to wait for me, his face crinkling in annoyance.
“Your face might freeze like that if you’re lucky,” I drawl, and with a snarl he turns, yanks open the metal gate behind him, and storms through. Laughing, I follow him and find another set of stairs, which open up into what I’m guessing are the dungeons. That gets my attention, and the thread that pulls me to Dawn seems to be tighter. She’s down here somewhere.
The nephilim stops in a long corridor filled with cells. “Behind you to the left is a janitor cupboard, you are on clean up duty. You can play bitch to the prisoners, make sure they don’t kill themselves and they get fed.” With that he walks away, leaving me here, but it’s the perfect job.
It means I can search for Dawn without being caught. I start straightaway, but over six hours later I realise just how big the dungeons are. The series of corridors make up a maze with thousands of cells. Other than the other poor bastards working down here, I can’t find her. I’m exhausted after all the fighting and healing, so I head back. I’ll get an early start tomorrow and find her.
I spend the next two days on meal and clean up duty, my eyes searching every cell for my mate until on the third day, I find her. I wrench open the cell door, ready to clean up the bodies they ordered me to. It chafes at me, so I’m annoyed when I storm inside only to freeze.
My heart slams in my chest, my eyes wide as hope flows through me. My mind settles instantly, the irritation melting away to something darker, something so much stronger. “Vasculo,” I whisper.
She lifts her head, blinking open her eyes, and when she sees me a smile curves her lips, like she had no doubt I would find her. Those blue depths lock onto me as she gracefully leaps to her feet and struts towards me. My eyes drop to her body, not just to satisfy my lust, but to see if she’s okay. There is blood here and there, but I don’t notice any wounds. That doesn’t mean there weren’t any, she could have healed.
Then the smell hits me.
Blood, sex...and fur?
I bristle and my eyes shoot behind her. I blame my excitement at finding her for not noticing the big fucking man leaning back against the wall, watching me with blazing red eyes.
I snarl, “Who the fuck are you?”
Dawn rolls her eyes and stops before me, tilting her head back to gaze up at me. “Really, cutie, that’s the first thing you’re going to say to me? Not even a hello kiss?” she purrs, running her black tipped nails down my chest and making me shiver as my cock hardens further, jerking in my pants to try and reach her.
“Who is that?” I snap, glaring at him…not that she cares. “Did he hurt you?” I demand, searching her eyes, but she giggles and shakes her head.
“Only in the way I like. I missed you,” she tells me, and I melt for a moment before shooting another look at the man. I tug her behind me and cross my arms as I glare at him. I know she fucked him, I can tell, and the possessive way he gets to his feet and steps towards me only confirms it. Hurt and jealousy surges through me. While I was being beaten, almost dying, she was fucking someone else?
I can’t tell what he is, but he’s massive, like a walking, talking tree trunk with a golden nose ring. What a prick. I hate him instantly, and not just because he has muscles where I didn’t know you could have them.
“Who are you?” the man asks, his voice thick and growly.
“Her fucking mate, tree trunk, who are you?” I fire back.
“Her mate, it’s minotaur to you,” he retorts, stepping closer to try and intimidate me.
I let my madness come out as I whirl to see Dawn grinning at me like this is the best news in the world.
“How many goddamn mates do you have?” I yell, throwing my hands in the air. “Is it not bad enough I have to deal with that snobby dragon?”