Page 1 of Claimed By the Drakarn Warrior Lord

PROLOGUE

Darrokar

A soundless roar rumbled in the marrow of my bones.

I stood under the endless blood-red sky of Volcaryth, our twin suns glaring down like molten eyes. Above me, the heavens tore apart.

A vessel not of this world hurtled downward, a silvery behemoth engulfed in flames and blackened smoke. It screeched through the fiery clouds, splitting the horizon until it struck the molten surface of a distant lava lake. The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the landscape, the ground beneath my feet trembling with the screams of the dying heavens.

Lava erupted in great, fiery arcs, showeringthe area in droplets of liquid fire that hissed and sizzled against the scorched earth.

Then, through the smoke and chaos,sheappeared.

She staggered from the wreckage. Her form was framed by twisting pillars of flame, long hair cascading like molten copper caught in a breeze I couldn't feel. Her eyes—striking emerald, impossibly vibrant against her soot-streaked skin—locked onto mine as though she could see me, despite the vast distance between us. It was impossible. And undeniable.

And her scent …

Gods above and below, her scent.

It was unlike anything I’d ever known, unlike the cloying sweetness of the forge or the sharp tang of battle. It was warm and intoxicating, like the first breath of air after emerging from the river’s icy depths.

It filled my lungs and settled deep in my chest, igniting some part of me I'd never known before. My fangs burned, sharp twinges sparking along my gums. My tongue … it ached, hypersensitive, as though begging to taste her, to confirm what my senses already screamed at me.

Mine.

Though she was an otherworldly figure surrounded by destruction, my every instinct roared with certainty. This stranger drenched in firelight and shadow belonged to me, and I …

I belonged to her.

The sureness was maddening.

I wanted her, not with the fleeting yearning of warrior lust but with something infinitely deeper, something that clawed at the core of my being. My claws flexed involuntarily, tips scraping against the rocky surface beneath my feet.

“Who are you?” The question tore from my lips though she was too far away to hear.

She looked at me as though she’d heard the words, understood them—felt them. Her lips parted, and though I could hear no sound, her voice resonated in my very blood. A single word formed in her breath—just one. I couldn’t make it out, but it vibrated through me, carving itself deep into my soul.

She raised her hand, pale against the encroaching flames, and reached toward me. My wings instinctively flared, as though they could bridge the impossible distance.

Mine.

The word burned through my mind again, sharpening as the air around me wavered, turning unbearablyhot, even for someone born of fire and heat. My scales—hardened and scarred from countless battles—tingled unbearably, as though anticipating her touch, her claim. My battle-worn body, carved and unyielding, ached for her in a way that made no sense.

This was no battle. This was no war. And yet I felt as though I’d fought for lifetimes, bled and burned, just for this moment.

For her.

The dream shifted.

She was closer now. Her scent crushed me, heady and overwhelming, setting every nerve in my body aflame. Her fingertips brushed against my chest, tracing the deepest of my scars with an intimacy that made me growl. Her touch was firm.

Possessive.

My head dipped, her breath mingled with mine, and all I craved was?—

Light. Blinding, burning light.

No, pain—searing, unbearable pain lancing through my fangs, my claws, my tongue—all the parts of me born to claim and devour. I snarled as the dream unraveled, her form dissolving before I could catch her, and then, abruptly, the world tilted, and I was falling.

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