Page 8 of Claimed By the Drakarn Warrior Lord

Or dinner.

“What's that?” Vega moved closer as Kira turned the device over in her hands, inspecting it.

“Basic translators,” Kira said, offering a faint smile. “They’re not perfect—more like a rough filter of language patterns—but they should let us listen in. With some quick tweaks, I might even get them working both ways, but it might take some time.”

Vega was immediately wary. "We don't want them to know we can understand them. That gives away our only advantage. Better to keep it one-sided, use it to gather intel.”

Kira frowned but didn’t argue, her focus dropping back to the device in her hands. She knew Vega rarely argued unless she was absolutely certain she was right. She handed out the thin slips of metal and showed us how to attach them to the skin behind our ears where they'd be hidden by hair. Even if the aliens caught sight of them, they sort oflooked like scars. They wouldn't know we could understand them.

"They're powered by bioelectricity," said Kira. "No need for a power source."

When the translator powered on, I heard a faint buzzing in my ear, and my head ached for a second before the pain faded.

“We need to figure out what they want from us,” Vega said, leaning back against the wall again. “And then if escape becomes viable, we act.”

“Escape?” Hawk crossed her arms. “In case you didn’t notice, this place is built like an actual fortress. And even if we made it to the surface, this whole damn planet’s trying to kill us.”

“So?” Vega shot back sharply. Her gray eyes narrowed in the eerie glow, steel and fire beneath her calm, collected surface. “We've got people out there who have no idea what happened to us. Do you want to just leave them?”

“No,” Hawk's tone was grim, “I’m suggesting we don’t act out of desperation. Until we know what we’re dealing with, laying low is the safer play.”

“Enough,” I said, raising my voice just enough to halt the back-and-forth. “Both of you are right.” My gaze flicked between them, making sure they were listening. “We keep track of what options are on thetable. If an opportunity presents itself, we take it. But until then, we stay alive by keeping our heads down, assessing the situation, and not drawing unnecessary attention.”

Hawk’s shoulders eased slightly, and Vega gave a begrudging nod. It wasn’t perfect, but it would hold. For now.

Kira’s voice, softer but no less certain, drew my attention next. “For what it’s worth, I don't think they're going to kill us,” she said. “If they wanted us dead, they had plenty of chances already.”

None of us disagreed, though the unspoken doubt hung heavy in the air. Wanting something from us didn’t mean we were safe. It just meant we weren’t expendable. Yet.

The door groaned suddenly, massive and heavy as it swung inward. The sound reverberated through the room. My heart climbed straight to my throat, my senses sharpening as I braced for whatever entered next.

Him.

The heat I’d struggled to push down earlier rose again, coiling deep within me. His frame filled the entryway, larger-than-life and impossibly commanding.

Obsidian-black scales gleamed faintlyin the light, touched with crimson undertones that practically glowed. His wings took up the space around him like he owned it, folding close enough to brush the edges of his imposing shoulders. Behind him, three others followed in silence—two of them vaguely familiar from the crash site, though I barely spared them a glance.

No, my focus was locked entirely on him.

He stepped forward, steady and purposeful, and though the chamber wasn’t small by any means, it immediately felt too tight. Like he was sucking all the air from the room with his presence alone.

My pulse quickened, my body tense and alert for reasons I couldn’t fully explain. It was beyond just survival instincts now. This was something else.

His golden eyes found mine without hesitation. No scanning the room, no split-second hesitation. Just … me. Always me.

I hated the way that softened edge of his gaze hit me, vibrating down to my bones. I clenched my fists at my sides and forced myself not to step back—to hold my ground despite the almost suffocating pull of whatever unnatural gravity seemed to bind him and me closer.

One word fell from his mouth, low and resonant.

“Come.”

Even without the translator, the tone carried a layered command I felt as much as heard. There was no mistaking who he meant—even without the sharp, obvious shift of his golden stare boring into mine.

The others bristled immediately, their instincts screaming at them to protect me. Hawk rose to her feet fully, her jaw tight and her body stiff as a board. Vega stiffened, but wisely said nothing, though her dangerously calculating eyes flicked quickly toward me for a barely noticeable second. Kira tensed, balancing protectiveness with obscuring the translator still in her hands.

“You can’t expect us to let her?—”

I cut Hawk off with a sharp motion, tilting my head just slightly in warning. She quieted but didn’t move, and I adjusted my focus back to the towering figure in the room. He hadn’t spoken again yet, nor moved much closer, but the weight of his expectant presence left room for little else.

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