Page 36 of Kidnapped Plus-Size Mate

His solemn oath isn’t what I was expecting. Still, I can’t ignore the obvious—that he has me locked away like I’m some prisoner. It’s too much for my brain to comprehend. I have so many questions, but the bitterness I was aiming for just now lingers and hangs on the tip of my tongue, yelling to be set free.

“I wasn’t in any kind of danger before you came around,” I glower, realizing at that moment that what I just said couldn’t be more accurate. “My life was perfectly fine before you came along and ruined everything!”

Stryker’s eyes turn dejected. “Camilla, I—”

“No!” I echo his firm tone when he cut me off before. “It’s the truth! Take me back home right now!”

There’s a moment of hesitation before he says, “I can’t do that. Your life is in danger out there.”

I glare at him ferociously. “I really wish I didn’t meet you at all…” I grate disdainfully. “I hate you, Sterling! Or Stryker or whatever the fuck you are! I hate you!”

The abrasive way my harsh words roll off my tongue seems to do the damage I was aiming for. Stryker looks at me with sadness in his eyes but says nothing as he purses his lips in a heavy-hearted sigh. He nods slowly as if he’s taking in theresentful way I glare at him, then turns around and storms off without another word.

I let out the breath I’d been holding in as soon as he was gone. I’m so adamant about leaving, that I wouldn’t hear anything he has to say.

It’s not like any of it makes sense, anyway.

His mate?

It sounds so basic, so animalistic, that it sounds repulsive. I’m not an animal, I’m a human being with valid emotions and the desire to be loved and cared for.

This is not the answer to my loneliness.

Whatever this is meant to be.

I don’t want any of it. Even if I can’t fight the desire I feel every time he’s near me.

Chapter 11 - Stryker

“I really wish I didn’t meet you at all… I hate you!”

Camilla’s brutal words ring out in my mind as I stand outside the guest bedroom door and contemplate if I should go inside.

After she voiced her hatred for me, I don’t think she’d want to see my face right now.

If ever, I think glumly as I glance at the door. Though I hadn’t locked it this morning, she hasn’t come out. It’s as if she’s standing firm on her words, and is retaliating this way.

I saw a side of her I never thought I’d see, and it made me realize that I don’t know her as well as I thought I did. Maybe the whole plan to woo her wouldn’t have worked out in the end. She hates what I am and would have hated me even more if things went on longer between us.

The remorse I feel isn’t enough to compel me to take her back to the mortal world. My inner dragon, with its determination to protect its mate won’t allow me to do what she might consider the “right” thing.

All I can do for now is open the door enough to slide the tray of dinner onto the side pedestal before gently closing it and disappearing down the hall. My steps feel robotic as I head to the boardroom for the meeting.

***

The silence in the boardroom of the Aurora Dragon castle is deafening. It’s so quiet, we’d be able to hear a pin drop if we cared to listen for something as minuscule as that.

Thanks to our dragon nature, we already possess the ability to hear every little sound through our heightened senses. We don’t need to hear a pin drop; our species would be able to feel the slight movement in the air.

Perhaps I’ll hear the tectonic plates moving beneath the Earth’s surface with how still the air is. Awareness crawls behind my neck, the fine hairs prickling with attention.

I lift my eyes and scan the room. It’s probably just all in my head, and I have nothing to worry about. Father assured me that I wasn’t in any kind of trouble for kidnapping my mate.

It must be the residual shame from when Camilla yelled at me that has me sinking into myself as I face the two elders of the Dragon Council. I haven’t recovered from Camilla wishing she’d never met me at all. I want to hide myself away from the shame that gnaws on my conscience.

“Ahem…” Nova, the Fire Force elder, clears his throat deliberately to gain the attention of the room.

It’s not like there’s too much of us. With my older brothers away with their families, the Alpha and Beta of the Aurora Dragons—Draco and Aragon respectively—aren’t in attendance for today’s meeting.

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