Page 9 of Empire of Wrath and Ruin
I considered that as I continued feeding. The meat was rich and warm, satisfying in a way that went beyond mere hunger. There was something primal about the hunt, about taking life to sustain life, that appealed to the dragon side of my nature.
But if she's truly bonded to him...
Then we must accept,Sirrax finished, though I could sense his reluctance.Mate bonds are sacred-binding. Cannot break, should not try to break.
The rational part of me knew he was right. If Livia had found another fated mate, if the gods had decreed this bond, then I had no right to interfere. But the possessive, jealous part of me—the part that had been shaped by both human and dragon instincts—wanted to find this shadow-touched Talfen and tear him apart with my bare hands.
He's dangerous,I said, voicing my deepest fear.You said he was broken by his magic. What if he hurts her?
Then we hunt him,Sirrax replied with cold certainty.Bond-mate or not, harm to our female is not acceptable.
The simple declaration sent a surge of fierce satisfaction through me. Whatever complicated feelings I had about Livia's new bond, one thing remained clear: her safety came before everything else.
We finished our meal in comfortable silence, then took to the air again with the remaining meat secured in our claws. The flight back to camp gave me time to process what I'd learned, to try to make sense of the tangle of emotions the dream had stirred up.
Jealousy, certainly. The thought of another man touching Livia, claiming her body and her submission, made my dragon half want to roar challenges across the mountains until this rival appeared to face me. But beneath the jealousy was something more complex—a grudging respect for the bond itself, if not the man who held it.
In the dream, despite his roughness, he hadn't truly harmed her. She had submitted willingly, even if that submission was compelled by the mate bond. And the possessiveness I'd sensed from him, while disturbing in its intensity, came from the same source as my own feelings for her—the deep, instinctive need to protect and claim one's mate.
You think too much,Sirrax observed as we approached our camp.Bond will settle. New mate will learn to share, or we will teach him.
And if he refuses to share?
Then we fight,Sirrax said simply.Winner takes female. Is old way, good way.
I almost smiled at his straightforward approach to the situation. Dragons had never been ones for complex emotional negotiations. If two males wanted the same female, they fought until one emerged victorious. The thought had a certain appeal, especially given the violent energy still coursing through me from the hunt.
We landed some distance from the camp and shifted back to human form. I gathered the meat we'd brought back while Sirrax resumed his position by the dying fire. The others still slept peacefully, unaware of the revelations that had shaken my world.
As I settled back onto my bedroll, I found myself staring up at the stars and wondering where Livia was at this moment. Was she lying in the arms of her new bond-mate? Was she thinking of me, of us, or had his claim on her driven all thoughts of her previous lovers from her mind?
The dream had been disturbing, but it had also been a connection—a glimpse into her current reality that I wouldn't have had otherwise. If the mate bond was creating this link between us, perhaps I could learn more about her situation, about the man who now held her.
Sleep,Sirrax's voice drifted across our mental link.More dreams may come. Must be ready to see-learn.
I closed my eyes, though sleep felt impossible. The taste of fresh blood still lingered on my tongue, mixing with the memory of the dream-Livia's cries. Tomorrow we would continue our journey, moving ever closer to whatever confrontation awaited us. But tonight, I would lie awake and hope for another glimpse of the woman who owned my heart, even as she belonged to another.
The stars wheeled overhead, indifferent to the complications of mortal affairs. Somewhere beneath their light, Livia was learning what it meant to be claimed by a shadow mage. Andsomewhere in my bones, I could feel the approaching storm that would bring us all together in ways I couldn't yet imagine.
Let him have her for now,I thought, my hands unconsciously curling into claws.But if he hurts her, if he breaks her spirit with his darkness, I'll show him what it means to face a dragon's wrath.
The promise settled something restless in my chest, and finally, eventually, sleep found me again.
4
Iwatched her sleep in the pale morning light filtering through the carved windows, her dark hair spread across the furs like the ripples of dark water in a mountain stream.
Her breathing came soft and even, each rise and fall of her chest a reminder that she was real—not some phantom conjured by my desperate mind. My fingers ached to trace the curve of her face, to confirm the warmth of her skin, but I held back, unwilling to disturb her rest.
Last night still burned in my memory, raw and overwhelming. The way she'd yielded to me, her body responding to mine as if we'd been lovers for a thousand years rather than mere weeks. I had not expected such fire from an Imperial woman. She’d fought me, then returned my own passions with a fire of her own that more than matched mine. I'd claimed her body thoroughly last night, marking her as mine in ways that would leave no doubt to any who saw her. The bruises on her wrists, the bite mark on her neck, the mate-bond mark already settling into permanence. Mine. The word resonated through me.
Mate. The word echoed in my mind with savage satisfaction, even as shame twisted in my chest like a blade. She was mine now, bound to me by magic older than the Empire itself. I could feel the connection thrumming between us, a golden thread that tied her soul to mine. But the way I had claimed her...
She wanted it,the shadows whispered at the edges of my consciousness.Did you not hear her cries? Feel how her body welcomed yours?
I had heard. I had felt. But I had also seen the confusion in her eyes, the way she had looked at me as if I were a stranger wearing a familiar face. Because in those final moments, when the mate bond had snapped into place, I hadn't been entirely myself. The shadows had been there, guiding my hands, shaping my words, driving me to claim what they insisted was mine.
As it should be,they murmured now.No need for the old ways. She is yours. That is enough.
