Page 43 of Claimed By the Sinful Dragon
“Fuck toy?”
“You think I don’t know why he comes to claim a new pretty girl every twenty or thirty years, when he tires of the old ones?”
An iciness spreads through my chest and finds its way into my words. “You sent me there to be raped.”
“I sent you there to be rutted. Raped implies you have ownership of your body. And I’d sooner you were fucked than the entire pack.” He scowled, and spat on the floor. “I should have let him tear them apart, fucking traitors.”
I tried to keep up but my head was already foggy from the blow. He thought Rook wanted girls to keep his bed warm, but he made a point of giving me my own room—my own bed—on my very first day. He’d never touched me, even when I’d damn near begged him to, and he was adamant he’d never touched his last servant, Alina. And I believed him, because why bother lying to a prisoner? He could have forced himself on me at any time, and there wouldn’t have been a whole lot I could have done about it. But despite what Landon clearly thought, that wasn’t what Rook wanted. Which was a shame, because when hewasn’t pissing me off, I could gladly have climbed him like a tree. Cooking, though? That was a whole other torture.
…and it seemed like neither of those things was my biggest concern right now. Because call me dumb, but I was about ready to admit Landon wasn’t here on some kind of rescue mission. And frankly, I didn’t know where to even begin with the shit he was dumping on me, but I figured talking wasn’t killing, and I was keen to keep us moving in that direction.
“What did they do?” I asked, watching him carefully.
“They had the fucking gall to turn on me. On me! Iamthe pack. They’re nothing without me.”
Fuck. The pack had turned on him? I couldn’t even begin to imagine how that had happened. The pack I’d known had been terrified of him. He must have really pissed them off to make them risk his wrath. What had he done to lose their loyalty…and what did it have to do with Rook?
“They were stupid,” I said, stepping carefully over a root. He twisted round to look at me through surprised eyes, and I forced a shrug. “You’re the alpha. You’ve led the pack my whole life, and you’ve always kept everyone safe.”
‘Safe’ being a relative term in my case, but whatever. It wasn’t like I believed a word I was saying, anyway.
Suspicion darkened Landon’s face, then he threw his head back and laughed. “That dragon must really have treated you like shit if you’re missing pack life.”
Except he hadn’t. He was an asshole, sure, and being a maid was hardly my life’s ambition, but he’d kept me safe. Fed, warm. He’d even given me a book, well, kinda. He’d also held me prisoner in his home, so there was that. Granted, he wasn’tabout to win captor of the year, but he wasn’t bad in the way Landon was suggesting, either. My powers of perception—and self-preservation—told me this would be a bad time to mention that.
“You’re not taking me back to Rook, right?” I asked as he started walking again, quickly falling into step—half a step behind, because old habits died hard—in the hopes of avoiding him dragging me again.
“Do I look like his fucking errand boy?” he snarled. I shook my head quickly, but I was pretty sure he didn’t see.
“No, Alpha Landon.”
“No. Fucking right. I’ve got something else in mind for you, girl.”
Well, didn’t that just sound like a barrel of laughs?
“You know I’m loyal to you, Alpha Landon,” I said. “I’ll do whatever you need me to.”
Up to and including stabbing him the second he wasn’t looking…and the moment I could get hold of something to do that stabbing with. But if he tried to lay a single finger on me, I’d find something. Because this was the man who’d let his pack make my life hell for years, and he didn’t get to claim another part of me. Not now, not ever.
“It’s not what you’re going to do,” he said. “It’s what you’re going to buy for me.”
A chill ran down my spine. I didnotlike where this was going. At all. “Alpha?”
“You’ve got no idea what you are, do you?” He laughed again, like it was some grand joke. Like I’d have been able to miss the fact that I was a null when it had ruined my whole life.
“I’m aware,” I ground out, before I managed to get control of myself and moderate my tone, but I couldn’t quite keep the bitterness from it. “The pack made sure of that.”
“Anull. Right. You’re the most valuable thing I own, girl, now that the pack is gone. But don’t worry, you’re going to buy me a new one. You were wasted on that pathetic lizard, anyway.”
And here I was thinkingIwas the one with the head injury.
“Move faster,” he said, yanking on my tethered hands. “We need to meet up with the others before dark. And no more talking, or I’ll knock you out and carry you. Clear?”
I nodded quickly. Landon had always been a tough bastard, leading the pack through a combination of strength and fear, but now he seemed unbalanced, and menacing as fuck for it. Wherever we were going, whoever we were meeting, I was going to need my wits about me, and that meant being conscious—and, preferably, avoiding any more head injuries.
We hiked for another hour, Landon yanking mercilessly on my wrists every time he thought I wasn’t moving fast enough, and I could feel the skin bruising and tearing. My hands were getting cold, but I wasn’t sure if that was from the ropes or the falling temperature as night crept in. I wouldn’t have minded some of that clothing Rook had packed right about now. Assuming, of course, it wasn’t an actual ballgown. Too bad Landon had made me leave everything behind when he’d jumped me—I could have done with some of the food and water, too. I hadn’t eaten anything since the awful revenge breakfast I’d made this morning, which I’d parted company with soon after,and hunger and exhaustion—not to mention the throbbing in my temple—were starting to catch up with me. If Landon wanted to go much further, he was going to be hauling my unconscious body behind him. Kinda made all my effort to this point seem like a depressing waste.
Landon yanked me to a halt unceremoniously, letting out a quick, low whistle.
