Page 1 of Not a Tribute

Chapter One

Seline

“I’m done with this conversation, Seline,” my father says from behind his large mahogany desk. “You have been nothing but a fucking disappointment for this clan since the moment you were born. You will be part of the hunt, or I will have you thrown out of this fucking house.”

“You’re my father!” I exclaim. “You are supposed to take care of me, do what is best for your only child.”

I stand in his office, a place I rarely venture but today I have been summoned. I have had a bad feeling about this day since the moment I opened my eyes, a foreboding hanging over me, and now I know why. My father is going to force me to be part of the annual hunt. Each female that takes part is supposed to be a tribute, but everyone knows the truth. The Alphas are too violent and no sane woman would offer to be hunted and violated.

“I never wanted a child,” he says. His words are like knives hitting their marks perfectly. “Especially not some mewling, useless girl.”

I stare at him in disbelief, praying to wake up from the nightmare I find myself caught in. I knew the man wasn’t overly fond of me, but I never thought he hated me. It seems I may have been wrong.

His blond hair and green eyes have women fawning over him daily. Hell, my mother was the same before she died. It never mattered what he did, she loved him unequivocally and without falter. He abused her—physically, mentally, and verbally—fucked other women without ever trying to hide it, and used her however he saw fit.

I once asked why she stayed, and all she said was that she loved him. It didn’t make any sense then and it still doesn’t.If he wasn’t one of the ten most powerful dragons in the realm, I would have killed him in his sleep years ago. But the repercussions that would follow have stayed my hand. Now I wish I had done it the first time the thought crossed my mind. I would have spared myself all kinds of unnecessary heartache.

“You are eighteen now, an adult. You will take part in the hunt and allow the strongest Alpha to claim you,” he explains with a glare. “If we are lucky the dumb bastard will breed you. That is all you are worth. You will bind our clan to another in repayment for the fact I didn’t kill you the moment your whore mother pushed you out of her womb.”

“But…”

“And make sure he claims you. I don’t need you coming back here carrying someone’s bastard either.”

Rage swims through my veins. I don’t consider the repercussions of my actions this time, I simply draw my hand back and slap him as hard as possible. My father’s head doesn’t move an inch but he does lower his brows in an angry frown. A deathly silence envelops us before he is on me, his hand wrapped around my throat as he pushes me against the wall.

A framed certificate for some or other overblown achievement rattles beside my head before crashing to the floor. Glass shatters in the silence and I wish I would shatter along with it. At least then this nightmare would end.

My mistake finally hits me.

This man, my father, doesn’t care whether I live or die, I am simply an obstacle in his way, a means to an end. Just like my mother was. I should probably be grateful he hasn’t tried to use me to his advantage before now.

My feet dangle inches above the floor as I fight against his hold, struggling to breathe. My nails claw at his forearms but he doesn’t seem to care, his anger in control of his actions. My vision starts to waver and I feel like I’m looking at him fromunderwater.

“You know what?” he growls in my face, his dragon already pushing to the forefront. I watch the orange scales shimmer just beneath the surface. “I don’t care. I hope the Alpha hunters rip you limb from limb. After all, no one wants a damaged female.”

It’s only then that I feel the scorching heat, the blinding pain that radiates up my left side, as my blood boils and my skin starts to cook. I need to fight back, to defend myself, but already darkness is creeping in. The agony and lack of air rob me of my ability to think or act.

Panic sets in as the world around me fades to black.

****

Coldness seeps into my bones as I wake up. Clearly, I’m not dead, simply because I’m in too much fucking pain. Sitting upright, I look around and assess my surroundings. My heart rate accelerates as the truth hits me.

I’m in the fucking forest, the one place I don’t want to be, not now or ever, but especially not tonight. This is where the annual hunt happens.

Pushing to my feet, I pray I won’t pass out again as I fight to breathe through the pain. Looking down, I see the melted material of my red t-shirt fused into my skin, become part of the jagged edge of the burn that runs from beneath my left breast to my hip. I consider trying to remove it but I know I have bigger issues to deal with first.

I wish I was able to shift, draw on my inner magic, and find the dragon that is supposed to reside deep within us all, but I can’t. There hasn’t been a female dragon shifter in more than a thousand years. I would also need to find my fated mate. And that is something that hasn’t happened in the last five hundred years.

Fated mates have become nothing more than a fairy tale our mothers tell us to make us feel better about our roles in the world. We are here to satisfy the Alphas and provide them with heirs. The moment we can’t do those two simple tasks, we are either discarded or killed. As simple as that.

Shaking the dark thoughts from my mind, I do my best to focus past the terror gripping me in its vice. I need to make my way out of here as quickly as possible. Taking into account that I’m already hurt isn’t going to help matters. The fact that I can barely walk isn’t going to help me stay out of the hands of the Alpha hunters when they come for me, for us, for all the females in this forest tonight.

Darkness surrounds me, the trees blocking out even the stars. Every shadow has me jumping in fear that it could be an approaching Alpha. My nerves are frayed and I fear my heart might burst out of my chest like a cartoon, it is beating so hard. Panic threatens to overwhelm me between one breath and the next but I fight to remain in control.

I don’t know how long I was unconscious or how much time I have before the official hunt starts, but I need to keep moving. A loud alarm sounds, and the last bit of hope I have falls away. My feet are frozen, unwilling to carry me any further as the fear finally wins out and drowns all logical thought.

The hunt has begun.

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