Claws and Kisses

*Trigger Warning*

I stumbled through the mountain, the acrid scent of smoke and death hovering in the air. On every face I passed, there was that same look of dread. Of pain. The throne room was filled to the brink, with both dragons and humans pouring out the door and into the maze of halls beyond. Nurses and doctors dressed in white were running up and down the makeshift aisles that had been erected, trying to help as many people as possible.

Aamon trailed behind me as I stared, awed and horrified at the damage that had been done to the horde. Hundreds of people, male and female, old and young, human and Drachen, had been caught in the crossfire. Many sported bloody gashes and burn marks. The only kind that could be inflicted from Drachen Fire.

“Wendy!”

I turned and saw a familiar mop of black braids and amber eyes before a body was crashing into mine. The girl tilted her head up and I instantly recognized the beautiful face of my best friend from the south. “Lily!”

My arms were like iron bands around her, gripping her so tight and fierce that she had to desperately slap my back a few times to make me release her. Once I did, she grabbed both my hands and beamed, her smile heartbreaking in its despair. “Oh, Wendy, how I’ve missed you. The stories I’ve heard about you and the Dragon Lord . . . are you alright? Hurt? Were you injured in the attack?”

“Am I hurt?” I shook my head in a daze, not quite believing that my friend was standing before me after weeks of separation. The last time I had seen her, she had been behind bars beneath the mountain. At once, a rush of guilt and exhaustion flooded me. I’ve failed her too.

“Am I alright?” I echoed. Taking her by the shoulders, I scrutinized her body and face, noticing the soft curves and healthy features I found there. “I should be the one asking you. How are you? Are you hurt?”

She shook her head, a sad smile tilting her lips. “No, darling. I was in the lower levels when the Drachen Warriors came. They say it was one of them lords from the south.”

Tears filled my vision as I looked down at her. Gods, how could I be so stupid? I had already made one awful choice today, why not add another to the list? “Lil,” I whispered confidentially, pulling her close. “I’m going to get you out of here. Today. It’s not safe anymore with the Drachen Trials coming up. Besides, I should have helped earlier and I’m sorry. The shit that has been going on lately—”

“Wendy, stop.” She pressed her hand against my cheek, her eyes earnest and full of unshed tears as she gazed up at me. “You don’t get it. You already have helped. In more than ways than one.”

I blinked, confusion clear in my eyes.

She rolled her amber orbs and patted my cheek before letting go. “The day after I saw you in the base of the mountain, our master came down to tell us that we had all been given a choice by your Dragon Lord to either leave or stay.” She looked away with a chuckle. “Obviously, some of the older kids immediately booked it, saying they were going to try roughing it out on their own.

“The younger kids obviously couldn’t leave, so most of us stayed to look after them.” She turned back to me, her smile genuine and much welcomed among the sea of people in the background who were screaming or moaning in pain from their wounds. “We were all given new rooms, new clothes, new everything. A woman—Ellie? Laura?—came down to talk to us.”

Elora.

“She apologized the way that we had been treated, saying that if we had been released earlier, than some of the nobles who had a hand in capturing us in the first place would stage a coup and the Dragon Lord would have a revolt on his hands.” She shook her head again, another small laugh escaping her. “Anyways, we all knew she was talking about Valentina. And then I did some snooping around and found out that you were the one to end that she-devil’s life.”

Lilly kissed both my cheeks, like how Mama Baya use to, and then gave me the hug of a lifetime, squeezing me with all of her slender might. “Thank you, Wendy.” She leaned away so that I could see the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “I knew you could change the world. I’m just glad I was here to see it.”

Disbelief colored my eyes, and I gripped her arms tightly as I studied her once more. Unable to believe that they were all okay. “Avel never mentioned any of this. I thought . . .”

She shrugged, that beautiful smile still on her face. “Like you said, you’ve been busy. And from what I’ve heard, you’ve been through quite a lot, Miss Thing.”

Suddenly, her eyes snagged on the lingering figure behind me. She quirked her brow and jerked her head at Aamon, snapping, “Who’s that?”

“Uh . . .” I turned to Aamon, remembering that the warlock was still there. His shoulders were tense and his eyes were constantly roving over the room. If I had to guess, he was looking for a certain, broad-shouldered, brooding, midnight-blue Dragon Lord.

As if summoned by magic, my mate appeared at the end of the Throne Room, his eyes ablaze with an emotion I could not pinpoint. Through the sea of people, his violet eyes found mine in a heartbeat. A bolt of lightning shot through my core, and I did not at all mind the pleasant shivers that rocked my body from his heated gaze.

His eyes soon left mine, however, as his gaze rested on the warlock by my side. His nose flared softly, as if he was sniffing the air or something. His purple orbs darkened, and—moving faster than I thought humanly possible—he appeared by my side and pushed me to the side. Rough enough to have me tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs and skirts.

Shocked, I looked up just in time to see my mate cock his arm back and slam his fist into Aamon’s face. As if he weighed no more than a feather, the Drachen-Warlock flew back from the utter power of Avel’s punch. His body rocketed through the air before crashing into the wide, double-oak doors that stood at the opposite end of the room. The resounding boom echoed through the room and caused tremors to shake the floor.

Lily rushed to my side, her hands going to my shoulders as I struggled to stand. There was murder in Avel’s eyes, and I knew nothing in this world could stop him if he decided to end Aamon’s life.

Not even me.

“Avel!” I shrieked, watching him stride away from me with long, purposeful steps that rumbled through the room, his blood red cape waving behind him as threatening and as promising as a war flag. “Avel! Stop, please!”

Either he did not hear me or he chose not to, because he kept advancing until he was out of the Throne Room and in the antechamber beyond. Every soul in that room watched as he descended on the warlock, not making a move to stop their lord from tearing the boy to shreds.

My mate disappeared from sight, and I scrambled to follow after him. Lily did not dare follow as I sprinted past the cots full of wounded civilians and healers in my mad rush to stop Avel. I did not know whether he was upset that the warlock was simply in his mountain or if he had somehow found out about our deal. Either way, he was on a warpath and if someone did not do something soon, than Aamon would be the one paying for it.

The doors were completely demolished as I stumbled past the wreck and into the hall where more dragons and humans were watching the scene unfold before them. Aamon was wrestling with himself on the floor of the hall, trying to stand, as Avel slowly sauntered towards him. In one heartbreaking sweep, he reached down and wrapped his fingers around the warlock’s neck. The Dragon Lord lifted Aamon’s bruised and battered body from off the floor so that he dangled helplessly from Avel’s Herculean grip. His fingers tightened, causing the veins in Aamon’s face to bulge and the blood to rush to his face in an unnatural shade.

“Avel!” Without hesitation, I ran up to my mate and grabbed at his bicep, not sure what it would take to get him to release his prey. “Avel, enough! You’re going to kill him!”

With the mere flick of his elbow, he shoved me off and caused me to stumble back a few feet, into the waiting arms of a pair of Drachen guards. Avel nodded distantly at them, not taking his eyes off Aamon. With his blessing, they wrapped their arms around both my arms, keeping me from sprinting forward once more.

Desperation and fury clashed violently in my chest at the act, and I began to struggle wildly in their inescapable hold. My eyes never left Avel’s emotionless, cold face. “Avel!”

“Get her out of here,” he roared, his features devolving into pure, unfiltered rage as his hold tightened impossibly further on Aamon’s neck.

My screams mutated into incomprehensible shrieks as I was dragged from the room, back into the Throne Room and up the set of side stairs I had been led through the first day of my arrival. A twisted, dark sense of deja vu flooded my mind as I was left in the middle of my room, enraged and shaking all over.

A trip to the door just revealed that the guards had locked it, and from the scuff of boots and the occasional cough from outside the door, I knew they were standing there, hellbent on keeping me in the room.

A few minutes, maybe hours, passed before the door snapped open. The guards were gone, and only Avel’s dark silhouette stood in the light of the threshold. I was standing by the window, looking to the outside as I tried not to punch something. The way he had treated me down there was unacceptable, and there was no reason to slaughter Aamon simply because of his magic.

Avel slammed the door shut before thundering to the armoire in the corner of the room, shucking his armor off. His deep, melodic voice resonated through the chamber as he said, “I am not going to apologize for what happened, Wendy.”

A bitter, dry laugh bubbled up my throat as I smiled sardonically to the glass. “Why would you?”

He did not reply as he ripped off his arm guards, followed by his golden chestplate.

Furious, I whipped around to face him, indignation in my eyes as I strode toward him. “How could you? Aamon was here to help. You killed him because you hate his kind and hate that he can protect me in ways that you can’t.”

Avel froze. I couldn’t help flinching as he turned to face me, his eyes darkened to the point of a complete, all-consuming black. His hand snapped out to knot around my bodice and yank me forward. I tripped into his chest, and placed my hands on his bare chest as he glared down menacingly at me.

“What did you just say?”

Despite the lethal gleam in his eyes, I still found the will to draw myself up to my full height and spit, “You heard me, mate.” Baring my teeth, I lowered my voice to a cruel whisper and said, “Maybe you should think about the consequences of killing one of my friends before you decide to choke him to death.”

With a snarl, he thrust me aside as he went back to yanking off his armor. “Foolish girl,” he snapped. “I didn’t kill your precious warlock. He’s rotting in the cells beneath this mountain until his public trial before the Drachen Court.”

I stumbled before sinking onto our bed, confusion and relief mixing in my chest. “Trial?”

“Your friend,” he drawled coldly, placing his armor in the armoire before knocking it shut. “Is a member in the Inner Circle of the Dragon Lord who attacked this horde earlier today. Lord Phoenix.”

I shook my head, my brows creasing as I tried processing his words. “No. No . . . that can’t be. Romeo—”

“Romeo just received the news that he might no longer be allowed in my Inner Circle.” He shrugged nonchalantly, as if the thought of banishing his second-in-command and childhood friend was no big deal. “Lying to me and letting one of our enemies sneak past out borders is more than reason enough to send him packing.”

He brushed past me, and headed toward the fireplace, which was billowing with dancing flames in the center of the room. I watched him, as if this was all just one long, horrible nightmare. Romeo was just trying to help, and now he might be disowned by his lord. His friend. Aamon was in the dungeons, awaiting execution, but if he died then there would be no one to look out for Avel during the Drachen Trials.

“Avel,” I whispered, rising slowly to my feet. One step towards him. “Don’t do this.”

He did not turn away from the fire. His gaze was sealed to the burning wood, the glistening embers. Still, he spoke in that soft, deathly-quiet voice of his. “I wouldn’t worry too much about Romeo and the warlock.” His purple gaze flickered. “We have something else we need to discuss.”

Now, the Dragon Lord faced me. He crossed his arms with his feet slightly widened. With the flames at his back, I could not make out his features. Only the luminescent glow of his predatory eyes, seized upon mine. In the dying light, he looked more monster than human in that moment.

“How did you get back to the mountain?”

I drew no closer to his towering frame, but remained standing stiffly in the middle of the room. Lifting my chin, I said, “You know Aamon flew me back.”

“Uh huh.” He prowled a step closer, his eyes intense and knowing and deceptively calm on me. “That’s the thing, though. I thought I told you to remain at the haven?” Another step closer. “You know. The one I built for you with my bare hands.”

The way he said it sounded off. The next step he took towards me, I took one back. Suddenly on guard. What did he know?

“What are you getting at?”

In an instant, he was in front of me, forcing me harshly up against the wall. I cried out in surprise and fear as he lowered his face to mine, our noses almost brushing with the close proximity.

“I couldn’t really believe it, at first. Because I thought my Wendy, my little tiger could never do that to me. Especially now, when we are so close to being fully mated.” His lips crested my cheeks, my nose, my forehead, his voice a soft purr. My heart beat wildly as he brought his mouth to my ear and murmured, “But then again, the evidence is just so damning.”

Horror like no other clouded my eyes, my head as I began shaking my head wildly, realizing what exactly he was thinking. “Avel, wait—”

He crushed his lips against mine, his tongue plunging into my mouth. A strangled, surprised yelp escaped me as he pressed his body impossibly close to mine, ravishing me for the second time in one day. I sucked in a breath once he pulled away, and felt a sinking feeling of dread when I saw the devastated, infuriated look on his face.

“Gods, I can still taste him on your lips.”

A sob worked its way up my throat as I tried to find the right words to say. This can’t be happening. This can’t be fucking happening. “Avel—”

Suddenly, the hands that had been wrapped in my hair turned to steel chains as he pulled me by my hair off the wall and in a stride toward the door. A pained cry lept from my lips as he dragged me across the room before almost ripping the door off its hinges in his haste to open it.

As he yanked me out the room and down the stairs, with me crying and struggling beneath him, he spoke. His voice thunderous and savage. “You don’t know how badly I wanted to kill him earlier. Gods, the scent of another man on my mate nearly shattered my resolve. But I kept myself in check.”

He did not stop at the door to the Throne Room, but continued the descent down. The entire way, I writhed in his grasp and wailed, my cries nearing an unholy pitch. He just kept talking in that strange, empty voice of his.

“Over and over in my head, I just kept asking myself why. Why I wasn’t good enough for you. After everything we’ve been through together, I thought maybe I had actually found the person I could spend the rest of my life with.”

We reached the bottom of the stairs where a dark, menacing steel door waited. He wrenched it open and yanked me in after him. Rows upon rows of those same steel, barred doors line the hall. Doors to dozens of cells. I cried harder upon seeing them, choking on my sobs as I tried to tell Avel that it wasn’t what he thought. That I had been faithful. That I was trying to save him, not cheat.

“The real blow was the man you picked.” He dragged me by the hair to the end of the hall where one massive cell laid. No bars. Completely bordered by metal and steel and darkness. No light entered the cold, hollow interior of the cage. My mate kept speaking, even as he took a moment to kick the door open. “A warlock, no less. I think I’d rather you cheat on me with a gremlin than a fucking warlock. But hey, I guess that’s the irony of it all, right?”

Without hesitation, he threw me into the cell. I landed on the ice cold floor with a grunt, blinking the tears out of my vision to see Avel in the doorway. Despite the apparent humor in his tone, there was nothing funny about the emotionless look on his face.

“If you are wondering what I’m planning to do with you, I’ll lay your curiosity to rest right now.” He took a step inside the cell, kneeling next to me. I whimpered as he caressed my cheek with one finger, his touch sending unwanted tingles through me. A cruel smile curved his lips at my response. “I thought for a minute about banishing you along with Romeo, but I know I wouldn’t be able to stand it. I would end up committing suicide or doing something equally stupid to be by your side again. However,” he drawled, standing back up and twisting for the door. He paused in the threshold to look back at me. “I don’t tolerate infidelity. Not now, not ever. So, I’ve decided that I’m still going to take you as my mate.”

I grappled with the floor, trying to rise but too shaken to stand. “Mate . . .”

“Except, we’re going to be doing things a little different than I had planned.” As he walked out, his last, ringing words echoed with deadly promise in my ears. “I’m going to make you mine, Wendy. In whatever cruel, twisted, horrible way that I need to, just so that you can get it through your thick skull that you belong to me.”

The door slammed shut.

“And nobody else.”

I can already hear the sound of hundreds of readers screaming my name in fury.

Hello, loves. I know you all hated the last chapter, and thought, there's no way this can get any worse.

Well, you were wrong.

In all honesty, I love each and every one of you guys. I am so thankful to have all of you readers voting and commenting and reviewing, but if you don't like my book or the plot of this novel, you do not have to continue reading by any means. And while I love and appreciate each and every one of you guys, this is my book. I'm going to write it the way I want to.

I get y'all were pissed bout the last chapter, but that scene had been planned for awhile. I don't want to say too much, but that deal is a key component of this story. It is staying. I am not changing a single thing I wrote.

And I know you all probably hated this chapter, but all of this is building up to the end. Please just trust me and go along with it. I promise you you'll (end up) liking it. Please, please trust me.

Anyways, that is all for today folks. Don't tank my comment section, and I hope you all are ready for the upcoming smut--I mean, adventures. I meant adventures.

;)

~Elaine