a roar of agony fills my animal at being helpless, at being so far away while she suffers.
I leave my car on the road as I smash my way through the woods, following her scent. More animal than man, no rational thinking, only the need to hold my mate. To see that she is safe and to destroy the souls of those who dared touch what is mine. I break through the witches’ protective circle like its paper.
I. Am. A. King.
They dare hurt her?
They think they have seen power and pain, death and bloodshed, but they haven’t seen anything yet. I will burn this world apart until I find her, I will bathe in their souls and hear their screams.
My animal and I agree with that.
The once sunny forest turns dark with the spirits and powers leaving my gaping mouth. It blots out the sun, wrapping around the trees and ground like a mist. All noise stops as every animal cowers, feeling my immense power.
I reach the place she was last and circle, her scent, her soul more prominent in this location. She was here for a while, as were others, and then they left...but not of their own accord.
Tire tracks lead through the mud, as does the dragging of feet. But only one set.
Who was with her? Where are they now?
Just as I think that, I see a flash to my right, bright white cutting through the darkness. I turn my massive head, snout open and rows of teeth flashing in warning at any who comes too close. My purple eyes shine through my own blackness, like lasers seeking out a target. Anyone to take out my frustrations on.
My spine ripples as my spikes come out, my scales locking down like armour. Another flash comes, this time near one of my wings on my left. Spinning in a circle, I lash out with my tail when I hear movement, and a grunt follows.
“Fucking dragons, what the fuck next?” comes a snarl, followed by a snort and the flapping of wings.
“Fallen, remember why we are here,” someone growls from the trees, and I find a horned man—if you could call him that—standing there surrounded by animals.
The wings freeze and a grumble comes before another man joins the first, his hair down to his shoulders, his eyes flashing black, and his feathery wings spread out behind him like a warning. He glares at me, arms crossed and face snarling.
A fallen?
A forest man...only one I know exists in this country.
But what does a forest god of old and a fallen have in common?
My animal takes back over, overriding all rational thought. He doesn’t care who they are, just that they are not her. My mate...Dawn. He roars and flaps his wings, taking us up and flattening the grass and flowers around us. His mouth opens, ready to suck out their souls and kill them.
She grins at me, and she is so close I can almost touch her. Does she know who I am? Does she know what she is to me? The witches left me here to rot, they stopped coming in after I let my animal maul two of their people, and then out of the blue the door opened...and in came my mate. Tumbling into a graceful heap where she proceeded to pass out. I watched her the whole time, protecting her, my animal wanting to roar at having found her, but I wouldn’t let him, she needed her rest.
She is a tiny thing. I was sure during the time she slept and I watched that she would be terrified of me. Such a little body with long, golden hair the likes of the kings and queens of old. Her beauty unmatched throughout the ages, her eyes huge and blue and I wanted to see them again, craved those long lashes to open so those orbs could once again lock on me. Her body is curvy, and I ache to reach out and map each dip and flare.
But no, she was not terrified of me like I thought. What irony, I had thought, to give a monster like me a tiny mate who wouldn’t be able to fight. Yet here she stands, toe to toe with my animal. A feat no one else has ever managed...and lived. Those eyes as blue as the water near my home, unwaveringly focused on me. Her red, rosy lips pulled up in a smile that has my cock rock-hard even in this form.