Page 4 of Claimed By the Drakarn Warrior Lord

“Mine,” I murmured again, the word barely audible but thrumming with intent.

And she flinched. Not visibly—not to anyone who wasn’t watching her as closely as I was—but I felt it. A flicker of something in her challenging gaze.

Recognition? Fear?

Impossible. The distance between our worlds was greater than the void of stars she must have crossed to fall here.

Yet … she knew me.

I was certain of it.

I stepped closer, ignoring the warning hiss of her blade scraping against the stone. The air between us crackled, alive with tension. The heat of Volcaryth paled in comparison to the fire she ignited within me. Still, I curved my claws inward, forced my wings to lower slightly. Despite everything, I didn’t want to frighten her more than I already had.

“Who. Are. You?” I demanded, my voice a low rumble that trembled with the weight of a thousand battles fought and won. This was a different kind of war—one I wasn’t sure even I could win.

Even as her staff rose in defiance and her companion shouted something unintelligible, I prayed she wasn’t an enemy I’d have to put down.

Because killing her would destroy me.

TWO

TERRA

This was bad. Really bad.

Worse than any of us could have imagined.

The feral roar of the alien’s voice rumbled through the air just as Vega ducked a perfectly timed swing of a serrated, glowing blade. I could barely hear myself think over the clanging of makeshift weapons and the reverberation of Vega’s curses alongside Kira’s sharp orders.

Every fiber of my body told me to keep fighting—to plant my boots firmly in this hellscape of molten debris and give everything I had to protect the others. And yet …

I couldn’t.

Not because my body felt weak—it didn’t.Despite our ship's crash and the oppressive heat and the boiling haze of this hell planet threatening to pull me under, I had strength left in my hands, surging through my muscles like a coiled snake ready to strike.

But when the alien male stalked toward me, his massive wings flaring wide like a predator closing in on cornered prey, I hesitated.

My chest burned as though something fiery and alive had been ignited beneath my ribs. My mouth felt as dry as this red desert while, weirdly, watering at the same time, a sensation that left a metallic tang on the back of my tongue.

And then, there was the scent.

Hot, sharp, masculine—it seared through the chaos, cutting through the smoke and sweat. It should have terrified me, should have sent me scrambling backward in retreat. Instead, every nerve in my body tightened in reckless, traitorous awareness, dragging me forward towardhim.

This wasn’t just awhat the hell is going onmoment. This was an entirewhat the hell is wrong with me.

“Terra, move!” Vega’s sharp voice yanked me back to reality. My head whipped around just intime to see her block a blow with what was left of a metallic railing, the impact sending sparks skittering across the heated stone.

Adrenaline surged.

“Vega, fall back!” I barked, my voice hoarse but steady, even as my gaze slid traitorously back toward him.

He wasn’t just watching me—I could swear he was freakingclaimingme with just his eyes.

Golden irises pinned me in place, holding me as solidly as if his claws had already locked around my neck. The intensity there didn’t match the mess of the scene around us. This was something else entirely.

Something wild.

A flash of movement had me pivoting, avoiding a sidelong blow. Another alien, large but leaner than mine—no, notmine, what the hell—angled in my direction with his blade raised. His scales shimmered faintly with the planet’s fiery light, but I barely had time to register his features beyond the immediate recognition of him not beinghim.

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