Page 42 of Brutal Alpha Dragon

Only this time, they haven’t turned a few shades lighter. They’re still hazel—his natural color. And once again, I’m drawn to drop my defenses.

“I agree, it wasn’t exactly ideal,” he says remorsefully. “But I have people I have to answer to.”

“But you’re the Alpha. The leader, aren’t you?” I contend with a frown.

Draco nods with pursed lips. “I might be the leader of this clan, but we have a Dragon Council with an ex-Alpha from every other clan that makes the rules.”

“There’s more like you?” I inquire, my interest genuinely piqued.

He nods again. “Four other clans, to be exact. One on each corner of the Earth.”

“Wow… Kai didn’t mention any of that.”

Draco raises a brow. “How much has my sister told you?”

I begin telling Draco everything that Kairo has told me so far. It’s not much—just pieces of the puzzle that make up my reason for being here. He listens intently, nodding as I explain everything I know so far.

“So she hasn’t told you about the Cube of Knowledge?” he asks when I’m done explaining.

I shake my head. “Cube of knowledge? What is that?”

Draco chuckles nervously. “It’s a form of dragon tech,” he explains. “It’s much more advanced than any technology in the human world. It allows us to pick human mates based on their DNA.”

“That’s how I was picked?”

“Yes,” he relents with a sigh. “By using my DNA, yours was a match with mine.”

The knowledge sends a shiver of awareness down my spine. The pieces of this puzzle seem to be tying together, and my dreams of Draco suddenly make sense. Not entirely, since I don’t know the full extent of what the Cube of high-tech is capable of.

Perhaps it can interfere with my dreams.

But it’s not something I’m ready to question Draco about. Doing so would lead me to admit that I’d dreamt about him for weeks before he arrived in my life.

“What if the human you’ve chosen doesn’t want to be your mate?” I ask instead.

Draco shrugs. “The dragon-shifter race doesn’t need to ask the humans permission for anything. After all, we were created for the sole purpose of protecting you.”

“Protect us?” I frown. “I don’t see how any human would agree to this.”

Draco raises a brow, looking at me expectantly. “What if you were offered immortality in exchange?”

I realize he meant this with his parting remark the other night. Trust me, when you’re not a weak, pathetic mortal anymore, you’ll know why.

“What if I don’t want that?” I argue as the thought of becoming immortal frightens me.

“It’s your loss, then.”

“That’s only because you don’t know what it means to be human,” I retort with a scoff.

Draco folds his arms across his chest, tilting his chin up with pride. “And you don’t know what it means to be immortal.”

“Let’s just agree to disagree then,” I offer with a diffident shrug.

“Fine,” he huffs nonchalantly as he turns his face away. Not a detestful action, but one that appears bashful. I can tell by the way his ears turn a blushed shade of pink. “I’ve decided to take you out of this bedroom.”

I’m about to reach for the soap when I pause. Frowning, I ask, “You mean this prison cell?”

“Yes,” he admits with a sly nod. “It’s time you met the others.”

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