Page 18 of Taken By the Naga King

Nowhere on Nirum was there a garden more beautiful, and certainly nothing on Noxxa could compare. He had a feeling this would become her favorite place on the planet.

But Azha was so silent on the way there that he forced himself to stop about halfway there. If she was not in the mood for it, he did not want her first time seeing it to be ruined.

“What is wrong?” he finally questioned her.

She turned to look at him. He saw anger in her eyes, and he was pretty sure it was directed at him. Yet he had done nothing but offer her kindness since they had arrived, so what could she possibly be angry about?

Azha’s mouth opened and closed. He thought she was going to refuse to talk, but then her voice rang out clear as day.

“I know what you’re planning on doing with me.”

She said it with such defiance, her voice laced with the same anger he saw in her eyes, but he had no idea what she was talking about.

“Azha, what do you mean?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb. I’m not some stupid, naïve human girl. I can put two and two together after spending all that time in the library.”

Now he was really confused. “I really do not know what you are talking about. Please, enlighten me.”

He was starting to get angry that he was being accused of something he was sure he wasn’t doing, whatever it was.

“I read about the fertility issues with the Niri. How the birth rates have been plummeting for years, and no one knows why. How the population is decreasing, especially the females. I know that most pregnancies end in miscarriage if they are even able to get pregnant at all.”

“Yes, all of that is true. But what does that have to do with you?”

“You’re going to use me for breeding! And I’m not going to let you!”

He blinked at her. Breeding? This was the last thing he thought he’d hear. “Azha… Niri do not procreate with humans. We have never even tried.”

“So you brought me here to experiment, not even knowing what it could do to me?”

“What? No, absolutely not. I did not bring you here for procreation. It was not even on my mind.”

She stared at him for a moment, processing his words. In the end, she seemed to believe him, her defiant face crumpling.

“I… I’m sorry. I read that stuff, and I was just so sure…”

“Why did you think this at all?”

She was silent for a moment. “Because I didn’t understand why you brought me here, and this was the first explanation my mind came up with. It made sense at the time.”

“So, this is why you stayed in your room all day?”

She nodded, avoiding his gaze. He reached out and lifted her chin up so those light brown eyes were forced to meet his.

“Would you like to know why I brought you here?”

She nodded again.

“Well, I was going to wait until we got to the garden to tell you, but I suppose this will do. Azha, you are my mate. Do you know what that means?”

Her eyebrows scrunched up. “I think so?”

She said it as a question, so he explained further. “It means our souls were destined to be together. It means everything lined up perfectly so the two of us would meet on my ship at that exact moment. It was fate. I knew it the second I scented you. You are mine, Azha.”

“I don’t understand. I’m a human.”

“It does not matter.”

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