Page 55 of Brutal Alpha Dragon

My attention is drawn there just as the man’s menacing footsteps resound in the dungeon.

“You’re awake!” He sounds delighted—something that has my tummy churning with nausea. When he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he turns to me with a huge grin. Yellowing teeth cause bile to rise in my throat.

I’m so close to throwing up when his murky stench surrounds the air I’m forced to breathe.

“Who are you?” I blurt instead.

The man cups his chin as he regards me intently, drawing attention to the graying stubble on his face. Though I’d been carried here by a dragon—of which I’m certain—the man in front of me doesn’t appear to be a dragon shifter.

After all, the dragon shifters are immortal. They don’t age in human form. Not the way this burly man has seemed to age. Still, the gut-wrenching scent permeating from his presence indicates that he isn’t human.

“Who I am doesn’t really matter around here,” he chuckles, stepping closer to the cell.

I take a step back, dropping my arms on either side of me. Lifting my chin defiantly, I feel not fear but rather disgust.

“But if it matters to you, then I suppose we can make an exception.”

I gulp down the bile that rises when he wiggles his unkempt brows at me. Shivering on the disgust that rakes down my spine, I fight the urge to roll my eyes.

It’s more important that I find out where I am. Why I’m here.

“Where am I?” I ask straightforwardly, taking the man by surprise as he loses the ghastly grin on his face.

“You’re in a dungeon.”

“Where?” I ask more firmly this time, narrowing my eyes at him.

The vile man scoffs. “You’re on an island off the east coast of Asia.”

“A dragon island?” I ask, remembering that a total of four dragon clans exist across the world. One in each corner of the map.

“So you really are the dragon’s human slut, aren’t you?” He raises a brow; one corner of his mouth tilting with sadistic humor. “It’s a good thing they have me watching you, then.”

“You should watch your back, then,” I counter, my lips curling in a cynical smile. “My dragon master doesn’t like me speaking to other men.”

The man’s sudden intake of breath betrays him. Even though he glares at me, I can feel the fear pulsing off him when he realizes the magnitude of my words. Perhaps he doesn’t know much, but he knows enough.

Like the fact that I’m Draco’s human.

I can work with that, even if I’m surprised at myself for being courageous enough to bite back.

The man steps forward, dropping his head and glaring at me through hooded eyes. “Watch how you speak to me, slut…” he spits venomously. “I’m the only thing standing between you and what’s out there.” He points over his shoulder. “And if you have any chance of surviving in here, you’re gonna be respectful.”

He takes a step back, snarling as he removes a snack bar from his pocket. He throws it on the ground inside my cell before turning and marching off.

I flinch only from the sound of the door slamming when he’s out of the dungeon. Staring down at the snack bar he’d thrown on the floor, I snicker. It’s a control tactic; I know that much. I can recognize it as if my defenses have suddenly kicked in.

An innate ability to discern danger when I see it. It wasn’t present when Draco kidnapped me to Aurora Island. I frowned as I reached for the only food offered to me, realizing the stark difference between what I felt when I was on the Aurora Dragons' island.

And as I settle my rear on the cold, harsh floor, I wonder if I’ll ever see Draco again. I don’t know why I’m here, and I doubt Draco even knows I’m here at all.

Chapter 23 - Draco

“Brother!” Felix’s voice is urgent as he rushes into the surveillance room. “What is it?”

Pointing at the screen with my mouth agape, I’m struggling to find the words. The dragon who’d taken Lily from her bed was able to cloak itself with invisibility, masking the direction it headed in.

“Lily…” I gulp. “They’ve taken Lily.”

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