Page 15 of Brutal Alpha Dragon

I can’t go through with this.

Shaking my head, I’m about to tear my gaze away when I hear a strange sound. The rumbling of her belly reminds me that she hasn’t eaten.

She must be starving.

My eyes flit to the brown bag that now lies on the ground. It’d fallen from my hands when she grabbed my sweater, the contents strewn from out of the packaging. Grunting, I pick the bag up and take one last look at the woman.

Lily Turner.

She has a name and a purpose here. Still, I cannot see beyond that she’s simply human. For now, she must eat. Lest she dies from starvation.

***

“I thought Kairo packed breakfast for her,” Mother frowns at me. Despite the questioning look in her eyes, she sighs and makes her way to the kitchen.

Usually, Mother hates being disturbed from her sewing sessions. Having taken up the hobby when she’d read everything the island’s library had to offer, she’s always to be found in her study.

And I’d come in to ask her to pack breakfast for the human.

“She did,” I admit tersely. “But I need more.” I don’t go on to explain why.

Mother nods as she prepares a new bag of breakfast, even if it’s nearing lunchtime. She holds the bag out to me.

“Will Lily be joining us for dinner tonight?” she asks as I take the bag.

I shake my head. “I haven’t told her what we are, Mother.”

Another frown flits across Mother’s face. “Why not?”

I only offer a dismissive shrug and reply, “I haven’t decided if I’m going ahead with this.”

There’s a pause, filled with tense silence, before Mother sighs. “You know the clan needs to expand, Draco. The twins were the last of our kind. That was—”

“Nine hundred and fifty years ago,” I concede. “I know.”

“And Stryder and Stryker are of age to mate too.”

Mother’s reminder only reinforces the weight on my shoulders. My youngest siblings—the twins—are eager to have mates picked for them from the humans. Having been the last of the dragonspirit children to waddle around the island, they hadn’t had friends to play with growing up.

Because this mating process is a trial, it’s left to me to see it through. If it’s a success, all of my brothers will have an opportunity to produce children of their own.

That burden makes my feet feel leaded as I drag myself back to Lily’s bedroom. When I enter, she’s still asleep. And I permit myself to gaze at her in deep thought.

I never imagined that I’d have to bring a human to Aurora Island. On all of my travels to the human world, I merely viewed them as a creation made to be weak. It’s why we, the dragon shifters, had been put on this world in the first place.

To protect the humans in times of great danger. Perils that have plagued the world in the past.

It’s why we suffered great losses to our kind, by protecting the humans.

Sighing discontentedly, I take a seat on the edge of her bed when she stirs. My only option is to gauge if she’s fit to bear children for me. Even if it pains me to do so.

She finally wakes up, pointedly avoiding lifting her eyes to me. However, I notice her throat working on a gulp as she lifts herself to a seated position.

“Who are you?” Lily asks, her voice bold now that she’d taken a nap. I suspect she’s putting on an act, especially after witnessing her trepidation when she pieced together the puzzle of my identity.

“My name is Drake,” I reply coolly, passing her the brown bag. “I brought you breakfast.” Giving her my human name only makes it easier if I decide against the mating process. She wouldn’t have to know what I truly am, then.

“Why am I here?” she asks, shifting back against the headboard and taking the bag from me.

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