Page 26 of The Lost Princess

My resolve hardened, the way forward clear: I would master this transformation of mine, then return home. I would demand answers. It was clear now I had changed irrevocably.

Deep down, I felt a connection to Nasi. I remembered how he’d pushed himself on me in his wildness, and how exciting it had been. I hadn’t been scared ofhim, just my own inexperience.

Calm down.Don’t be enthralled with the first man to get his hands on you.

I frowned. That wasn’t it, was it? I’d like to think I was a better judge of character than that. Yes, Nasi’s behavior while feral could only be described as brute-like. To be honest though, I liked it. Did that mean something was wrong with me? Since then he’d been nothing but a gentleman. more so than any of the men from court who were always trying to paw at me.

Which was its own separate, frustrating issue.

My court held pureness in women above most other traits. I’d always thought it strange since the men had no qualm wetting their own wicks whenever it suited them. Or at least, that’s what Selena had said to our cook that one time. I wasn’t entirely sure what it meant, but I had a fair idea.

Here though, there were no such qualms, and no one to spread nasty rumors or report back to my father. It was all ridiculous anyway.

Why had I been so keen to return earlier? Now the thought of returning to court didn’t seem so appealing. Jarrett’s accusations to my father hung in the back of my mind, waiting for my attention once other matters were out of the way.

Like turning into a creature.

Well, perhaps I didn’t have to return to my fatherimmediately. At the very least, I needed to perfect this form. I wouldn’t return until I had complete control over it.

For the next hour, I forced myself to shift between human and draken, over and over again. It hurt at first, my fangs and wings violently bursting through my human skin repeatedly, and my scales itching as they erupted over the softer flesh underneath. Eventually I went numb, ignoring it. Just as I ignored the fact that Nasi was still gone.

Because each time I shifted, it hurt less.

ChapterTen

NASI

Iflew for a long time, with no discernable goal in mind. Well, not quite true. I had to find food, and clothing. There was a purpose to this trip. I wasn’t going to simply fly off every time I got mad.

That was childish.

But I did need to work through my emotions. I didn’t trust myself not to react poorly to Kaida. I was out of practice dealing with others.

As I flew, I realized one major thing: I wasn’t angry. I was devastated. Perhaps part of it was the rejected mating bond—something my inner draken wouldn’t stop stomping and screaming about, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care what he said: Kaida wasn’t ready. I refused to trap a female into a mateship by taking advantage of her.

I wasn’t ahuman.

I tried not to be too angry with my inner draken. It was instinctual to want to mate. I couldn’t blame myself or him for how I felt.

So I flew until my muscles were stiff, then searched the land below me. Glancing over the landscape with new eyes, I realized I had no true idea of where I was. I was mostly sure my home had been an island. This clearly was not. I would have to ask Kaida where we were.

A painful twinge went through my heart at the thought of her ever leaving. I tried to ignore it, but it was like trying to ignore the creeping darkness in my mind. Eventually, it would rear its ugly head and demand to be dealt with.

A small farm came into view toward the northwest, so I headed there. I wished I remembered more from when I was feral, but there were only impressions of anger, lust, and Kaida moaning as her body writhed under me.

I jolted in midair. Where hadthatcome from? Likely it was my inner draken trying to convince me to mate her again. I shook my head frantically side to side as if I could physically drive away such tricks. I focused instead on the farm ahead, the smell of livestock, and the sight of a long line of brightly colored garments flapping in the breeze.

I dove in for a closer look, only smelling humans inside the small house. I quickly scooped down and snatched the first dress I saw off the hanging line, an off-white garment with a small yellow apron hanging on top. I threw it over my shoulder and turned to my next quarry.

The sheep nearby in an enclosed fence bleated at me in fear, and I grit my teeth. I wished they’d shut up. Too much noise, and the humans would come investigating.

I picked off one that was injured, its leg broken. Wanting to be quick and as bloodless as possible, I grabbed its soft neck with my hands and twisted without hesitation. I heaved it over my other shoulder and was airborne before it could even hit the ground dead.

“MALIK! IT’S THE MOUNTAIN MONSTER!”

I flinched, turning to face a woman standing at the back door of the house, screaming and pointing. With alarm, I realized she was talking aboutme. I hesitated in flying away, part of me wanting to try to explain and ask permission. But the other part of me knew it was fruitless. I’d likely been terrorizing this farm and its livestock for months, feral and aggressive. It could have even been years. There would be no reasoning.

Her mate burst through behind her, a longbow in his arms. That made up my mind rather quickly. Longbows were nothing to joke at. I hoped he hadn’t acquired it just for me.

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