Page 34 of Claimed By the Drakarn Warrior Lord

She was hiding something.

A thermal punched at my wings, and I corrected our course automatically, my gaze raking the merciless terrain. The desert was a predator, even to those of my blood. For humans? It was death.

Ten of my fiercest warriors shadowed us, their flight a testament to years of honed discipline. Rath was among them, his ruby scales flashing beneath the brutal sunlight. The volatile temper that usually simmered beneath his surface was notably absent, replaced by a focused intensity I knew intimately.

He, too, was on the hunt.

"There!" Terra’s voice, thin but clear, sliced through the wind’s roar. Her finger jabbed toward a jagged obsidian spire, a black fang tearing at the horizon. "That rock formation. It's the only shade for miles."

My wings stiffened, a prickle of unease tracing my spine. She was right, a certainty in her tone that scraped against my senses. It spoke of experience, of a familiarity that shouldn't exist. Unless …

"You know this place." It wasn’t a question.

Her body’s stillness against mine was an answer in itself. "No, but it's where I'd hide out if I needed to disappear."

The word hung between us, heavy with unspoken implications. From whom? From me?

Banking sharply, I angled towards the spire, a silent command for the others to maintain altitude, circle wide. As we closed the distance, the scent hit me, acrid and unmistakable—Drakarn. Asignificant number. And beneath that reek, the faint, metallic tang of humans.

Plural.

Involuntarily, my grip around Terra tightened, my talons flexing against her back. She gasped, a sharp intake of breath, but I couldn’t force my hold to ease. Every instinct screamed that she knew. Had known all along that more of her kind were out there.

She’d spoken of her ship, of the thousands aboard. Had she truly been ignorant of their fate? Or had even that been a carefully constructed lie?

We landed on a thin ridge, the twisted obsidian shielding us from immediate view. Below, nestled within a natural amphitheater carved by the wind, sprawled a rival clan’s encampment. Sentries patrolled the perimeter, their wings held half-spread, struggling against the scorching air. And there, tethered within a sheltered alcove …

"Six," I growled, the sound a low reverberation in my chest. "There are six more of your kind with your Vega."

Terra’s heart hammered against my scales, a frantic drumbeat against my own. She offered no denial, her silence a damning indictment.

"You knew." I released her, the physical act mirroring the desperate need to put space betweenus. The betrayal burned, sharper and more insidious than any desert sun. "All this time, you knew there were others."

"Darrokar—"

"Don’t." My tail lashed, a swift, violent flick that sent a spray of crimson sand arcing through the air. "Did you imagine I wouldn’t protect them? That I would ever bring them harm?"

Her green eyes locked onto mine, unwavering, laced with a fierce defiance that offered no apology. "I couldn't risk it. Not with their lives on the line."

Her words struck with the force of a physical blow, leaving me winded. My chest constricted, but it was the dull ache beneath the surge of anger that truly unraveled me. "But you could riskus? Risk severing the bond between us? The trust we’ve bled to build?" My voice dropped, the raw edges of my hurt scraping against the air. "I am your mate, Terra."

"And they're my responsibility." Her tone was clipped, every syllable precise, but a tremor ran beneath the surface. She took a step closer and lifted her hand.

Even as her scent—spiced earth and something uniquely hers, something that burrowed deep—enveloped me, my instincts screamed a warning. I recoiled, a deliberate step back that widenedinto a full extension of my wings, stirring the dust into a swirling vortex between us. Her hand froze mid-air, a fleeting flicker of something akin to pain crossing her features before her jaw tightened, snapping into that familiar soldier’s resolve I both loathed and admired.

"Don’t," I repeated, my voice a low, guttural rumble, barely leashed. My wings curved inward for a heartbeat, shielding me in an involuntary gesture before settling against my back. "You lied to me. Do you understand what you've done? Every fiber of my being is designed to protect you, to trust your word as law. You aremine."

Her lips parted, but before either of us could plunge deeper into this chasm of fractured trust, a shadow swept over us. I snapped my gaze skyward, recognizing the unmistakable shift of Rath’s broad wings, a stark silhouette against the harsh light, signaling movement within the camp below. A brutal reminder that our enemies remained, even as the world between Terra and me felt as though it was imploding.

I turned back to her, my muscles coiled, every nerve ending screaming. The urge to drag her close, to reassure myself of her physical presence, warred violently with the equally powerful need to thrust her away, to create distance. But beneath theconsuming anger, the relentless hum of the bond persisted, an invisible tether binding me to her in ways I couldn’t sever, even if I desired it.

"Stay here," I commanded, the order sharper than intended. "Thosekervashwon’t hesitate to use you against me if they see you."

Her shoulders squared, her entire demeanor coiling like a struck serpent. "I can fight," she spat, each word laced with iron and defiance.

I leaned in close, my words a near-snarl, the raw fury a mask for the agonizing vulnerability she’d exposed. "Do you think I question your strength, Terra? Do you believe me blind to it? But down there, strength alone is insufficient. I will not risk losing you."

Her gaze flickered for a fraction of a heartbeat, a raw, untamed emotion breaching the surface before she ruthlessly suppressed it, drawing down those impenetrable walls she so easily erected.

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