Page 18 of Naga Warrior's Mate

Fed up with trying to fall asleep, Dernin slithered off his sleeping mat.His muscles twitched with restless energy.The training center’s artificial lights cast long shadows across the equipment as he entered, the familiar scent of leather and metal filling his nostrils.

He wrapped his hands with strips of cloth, his movements slow and measured.The punching bag swung slightly as his fist connected—once, twice, three times.Each impact sent vibrations up his arms but failed to clear his head.

Red hair.Blue eyes.The way her spine straightened when she was determined.

His tail lashed out, striking the weighted post.The crack echoed through the empty room.

“Focus,” he muttered, moving to the climbing ropes.His powerful arms pulled him upward, his scales gleaming with sweat.

But even as he pushed his body through the familiar exercises, memories of Alaysia’s scent invaded his concentration along with the excited look in her eyes when she’d proposed helping him escape.

Dernin dropped from the ropes, disgusted with himself.“What’s wrong with you?”His voice bounced off the stone walls.“She’s not for you.She’s not even your kind.”

He moved to the weight station, loading plates onto the bar.The metal clinked as he added more weight than usual.

“You’re a warrior,” he reminded himself, positioning his body under the bar.“Act like one.”

The weights strained his muscles as he pressed upward.One rep.Two.Three.Each one accompanied by thoughts he couldn’t suppress.

The curve of her neck when she’d looked up at him.The way her presence made his warrior instincts surge with the need to protect, to possess…

The bar slammed back into its cradle.Dernin’s chest heaved as he stared at the ceiling.

Six months of fighting had hardened him, stripped away everything but the drive to survive.Then one human woman walks into his life and suddenly he’s...what?Swooning like some untried youth?

His tail coiled in frustration as he sat up.Tomorrow’s match demanded his full attention, yet here he was, distracted by soft skin and fierce eyes.When had he become so weak?

But even as he berated himself, he knew.She wasn’t his weakness.She was his strength, his reason to fight harder.

Dernin sat up on the weight bench and let his heated muscles cool down.As he stared ahead at the wall, trying to push Alaysia out of his mind, his thoughts drifted to Nirum—the crystal spires that caught the twin suns’ light at dawn to the sacred training grounds where he’d earned his warrior marks.The familiar ache of homesickness suddenly twisted in his gut.

The metallic tang of the training equipment faded as his mind conjured the sweet scent of jurla flowers that bloomed along the temple paths.He’d walked those paths countless times, proud in his warrior’s uniform, never imagining he’d end up in an underground fighting ring on Jorvla.

“Careless fool,” he muttered for what seemed like the hundredth time.

And then, without fail, Alaysia’s determined face flickered through his mind.The way she’d looked at him when they’d made their pact, her blue eyes blazing with purpose.For the first time in six months, possibility stretched before him like a path through darkness.

His muscles swelled with renewed energy.Working together, they might actually succeed.The thought of freedom—of returning to Nirum with his honor restored—sent a surge of power through him.

Dernin’s tail whispered across the floor as he headed to the barracks, his muscles still humming from the workout.The bracket board caught his eye, its metal surface gleaming under the dim lights.His finger soon traced the progression of names, confirming what he’d suspected.If both he and Bariv won their matches, they’d meet in the finals.

The memory of Bariv’s crude comments about Alaysia made his scales bristle.The way that slime-covered excuse for a fighter had looked at her, like she was meant to be devoured.

“Going to be a pleasure putting you in your place,” he muttered, studying Bariv’s upcoming matches.The Jorvlen had raw power, but Dernin had seen some flaws in his technique.

The thought of Bariv’s filaments anywhere near Alaysia’s skin made his warrior blood boil.No.That wouldn’t happen.He’d make sure of it.

Dernin’s eyes narrowed as he memorized the rest of the bracket.Five more matches stood between him and Bariv.Five chances to prove himself worthy of the warrior markings he’d earned on Nirum.Five steps closer to ensuring Alaysia’s safety.

Chapter 10

Alaysia

Alaysiapacedthelengthof her narrow bunk, her bare feet silent against the cold stone floor.The underground quarters pressed in around her.The air was thick with the breathing of other slaves trying to sleep.A single lamp flickered in the corner, casting shadows across the cramped space.

She twisted a strand of her red hair around her finger.Her mind raced.Dernin’s words echoed in her head: “We’re both prisoners who deserve freedom.”

“Six days,” she whispered to herself, climbing onto her bunk.“Six days to figure this out.”

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