Page 5 of Held By a Monster

Drym’s head tilted toward me, his ears pricked forward. “Is hunting human women legal?”

I laughed, the sound so rusty it startled me. “You have an excellent point.”

A massive wyrfang entered the cave, and although I felt comfortable around the others, this one was different. More menacing, deadlier. His red eyes glowed, and when they lit on me, they narrowed in anger. I shrank and Drym moved to block me from him.

“Report.” That was Kragen. He had an air of confidence and control about him that branded him as the leader.

His growl was so deep, I could barely understand him. “Tracked them to a house. It looks nice until you look into the basement. One tiny window with bars. It’s a gods damned prison in there.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s where they kept us.”

“Us? There are more females there?” Drym’s ears were flat against his head.

I blinked to stem more tears. “There were. I was the only one left.”

I was suddenly smooshed against Drym’s soft chest, his skin like velvet over steel. His fur was shorter here, showing off the sculpted muscles in his chest. I sank into him.

I should have been screaming and running as fast as my legs would carry me, but I felt … safe. For the first time in a long while. They were weapons, Drym had said as much. They certainly looked like they could rip me in half without breaking a sweat. But I wasn’t afraid of them.

“And the men?”

Roul’s eyes seemed to flare darker, brighter, a blood-red glow that made him seem even more dangerous than before. “The house was empty.”

“Fucking cowards ran.” I was angry they weren’t all dead.

Quin stepped around so he was facing me. “Is there anyone we can call?”

“No. We figured out none of us had families that would file missing persons reports. They were careful, calculated.”

“Oh, thank fuck.”

The two closest to him slugged him none too gently in each arm.

“Ow! What was that for? You know as well as I do we would have had to tie Drym up if she wanted to leave. Either that, or figure out real quick how we were going to break our existence to the entire human populous.”

The gigantic newcomer grumbled at him. “Shut up, you idiot.”

“What? At least I asked. None of you other imbeciles thought to see if she had people worried sick about her.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to sound so happy she didn’t.” Cavi said as he packed away his first aid kit.

Kragen’s voice cut above the rest. “Drym, maybe you should take her to a room and let her rest?”

I couldn’t tell if the rumble beneath my ear was humor or irritation.

“That’s probably best.”

He scooped me into his arms with ease, so careful not to rub any of my scrapes or the bandage covering the cut they’d sutured. The kindness and care I was getting from these beasts—these wyrfangs—was more than I’d had in months.

I swiped at his chest, smearing my tears over his skin. He leaned over me and I felt his muzzle against my back. His body almost completely enveloped me and I’d never felt more cherished or protected.

four

We found this caveby happenstance. And when I say happenstance, I mean Quin was walking backwards while running his mouth and dropped into a hole when the ground gave way beneath him.

It was an extensive cave system, with the large chamber that fit all of us comfortably, and smaller offshoots where we could have our own space.

We’d never had our own space before. There’s no privacy when the walls are glass, and the eyes of cameras always track you.

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