Page 54 of Her Tortured Beasts

I exchange a happy grin with Eugene. “Don’t worry,” I call out through the coverings. “He hates everyone, not just you.”

Francesca makes a rude sound before storming into the bathroom.

This night, when I dream, it’s not like the other times when my serpentine magic draws upon the memories of my mates. This time, it has the feeling of something that’s being given to me.

Chapter 30

Xander

10 years ago

There was a storm the night my mating mark appeared. The type of storm that sends rain lashing at the windowpanes, the glass trembling under the force of the thunder. Lightning illuminates my room, creating long shadows. I sit bolt upright, rubbing at my chest as a strange sensation glimmers within it.

That’s when my body starts burning.

It’s not my skin that feels agony, nor a superficial sensation that makes me grimace. It’s a visceral, deep-seated fire that consumes my body, the sheer force of it ripping a scream from my throat.

I tear the covers off and my feet hit the floor, running,runningaway from the pain, running towards the feral pull I’ve felt since I was a child.

Towards the open sky.

Light and heat erupt from me, licks of flame dissipating off my arms, legs, hair. I reach the flight tower of Drakos Estate, andas my dragonfathers before me, I open my mouth and let out a cry.

Only it’s not the cry of a human boy that leaves me, but a cavernous, guttural roar that rivals the sound of the thunder and pounding rain. My body changes, gaining colossal size, muscle and tendons ripping through my shoulder blades and elongating into something I’ve obsessed about since I saw my father shift for the first time at four years of age.

My powerful body unfurls in the way of newborn dragons, my head rising to meet the sky, my wings stretching out to feel the wind. Huge claws grip the dragon perch that runs around the perimeter of the open tower.

I am nothing but lethal magnificence.

Something in my mind explodes at the same time that I do. With one bend of my knees and a powerful thrust, I’m in the sky, the rain but light fingers upon my thick hide, my wings catching the current of the air, keeping my enormous body aloft.

Master of the sky, of the wind, as the land becomes insignificant below me. I snap my jaws, feeling the powerful bite force, the need to rip and tear and shred. My vision turns red and I wheel around, searching for the enemy. My power spans outwards, new and volcanic.

Beating my wings, I propel through the air. Soon, I will face my enemies. Soon?—

I’m aware of someone shouting in the far distance. “He’s heading towards the town!”

Then something huge slams into me, tackling my body in thin air. I bite and kick and roar my fury, but the bigger beast proves stronger and more skilled. Grasped in his claws, sharp tips dig into my sides as I thrash, we spear towards the grass.

I’m shocked enough to shift back, shrinking smaller and smaller until I am insignificant.

But no less deadly.

Back on my feet, I cry into the oncoming rain, swinging my arms, looking for my enemy. People rush about; someone cries my name. My feet are lifted off the ground and I shout in frustration, my arms wheeling. I’m thrown into the castle’s entrance hall, slammed against something soft.

We land on the tiles with a thump.

“Sweet baby dragon, down by the sea…”

A soft singing falls into my ear, warm arms encircle me, and despite the madness, the need for blood, the lullaby soothes my body and it relaxes along with my mind.

“Mother?” I whisper.

Her mouth forms a smile as she sings softly into my ear. “Sweet baby dragon, down by the sea. He frolics in the waves, happy as can be…”

I smile up at her and she stops singing. “Better, my love?”

“He is a grown beast now.” Father wrenches me up to standing by the bicep. Water drips from his long hair onto my shoulder, his naked body towering over me. “And he’ll act like it.”

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