Chapter Three

Seline

I wake up wrapped in heat. Not the kind where you want to kick the blankets to the floor, just enough to keep the cold out and make you want to burrow deeper into your bedding instead of waking up. It takes me a moment to remember what happened before I fell asleep.

My body flies upright, my eyes open wide as I take in my surroundings. Where the hell am I?

Sitting with my back against the headboard, I pull the covers over my exposed chest and stare at the room around me. Soft white bedding covers my naked body as well as the expanse of the massive bed. The furniture in the room is stained a dark cherry color and contrasts beautifully with the grey walls and carpet. A large, floor-to-ceiling window takes up the space directly in front of me, showcasing the city outside. And the sun has just started rising.

The door to my left opens drawing my attention. Liam stands there, dressed in nothing but a pair of low-slung gray sweatpants, holding a cup of coffee. His gaze runs over me while I do the same. It is hard not to admire a virile Alpha such as himself. The outline of his cock is visible beneath the waistband and I remember vividly how it felt to have him moving inside me mere hours ago. It takes a moment but I am able to shake the lust from my mind.

"What am I doing here?" I whisper.

Liam doesn't reply, instead crossing the space until he is beside the bed. Taking a seat on the edge, he places the coffee on the end table before taking my hand in his. An electric shock runs through me, and a gasp falls from my lips.

"There is a lot we need to discuss. But I want to see your wound first."

My wound? Pulling the blanket away, I stare down at my side where the painful burn mark my father inflected used to be. Now, there is only what looks like a big red bruise. What the hell is going on here? My hand caresses the skin, feeling the roughness against my fingertips. I know that wasn't part of whatever hallucination I had in the woods last night. I know the burn was real because the pain was too real.

My head whips in Liam's direction, a confused frown marring my features.

"What? How?" I stutter, not able to form an entire cohesive thought.

"It's the bond," he says with a small smile. "Since the hunt you have been healing."

"The hunt?" Everything is a little confusing now. "What bond?"

I remember waking up in the forest, the all-encompassing fear I felt when the Alpha cornered me before being saved by Liam's dragon. And the sex. Dear God, the sex was incredible. But after that, everything is blank.

"Last night," he offers trying to clear things up for me.

"I know that part," I say with an eye roll. "What I don't understand is why I am here. I should still be in the forest."

Anger crosses his features. "You are exactly where you should be," he growls, leaning over me.

"I need you not to act like an Alpha asshole for five minutes so I can figure out what the hell is going on!" I snap.

Shock scrolls across his features before he grins at me. He dips his head low before pressing a quick kiss to my lips.

"I like your fire, little female. You will be a perfect mate for me."

"Mate?" I stare at him in confusion. "Are you drunk or something? Nothing you say makes any sense."

"Let me explain," he says. He lifts me from the bed before shifting his body to rest against the headboard and settling my nude form on his lap. "You're my fated mate. It's the bond I spoke of earlier that is helping you to heal."

Shock courses through me before uncontrollable laughter shakes my frame. He watches me with a soft look in his gaze until my laughter peeters out.

"First, fated mates is a story mothers make up to let their little female daughters feel better about the shitty hand life has dealt them," I say, rolling my eyes. "Second, even if it was a possibility, and I still say it isn't, my luck doesn't work that way."

"Luck?" Liam asks with a frown.

"If it wasn't for my shitty luck, I wouldn't have any at all," I reply sarcastically. "Nothing good ever happens to me. So this is impossible."

He nods, a thoughtful look on his face. Flipping me off his lap, he pins me to the bed, hovering above me.

"There are three things that make me sure you are my fated mate, Seline," he says. "My dragon has never bowed for anyone, no female can orgasm without her fated mate, and I have never, never knotted inside any female."

A shiver of anticipation works its way through my body as he rubs his covered cock against my sex. "You're being serious?" I ask, my voice husky.

"More than you know," he says before licking down my neck. "My dragon has already claimed you, my mark rests on your shoulder for everyone to see."

Through the haze of lust, his words shake me to the core. "We can't be fated mates."

Sadness burns through me, chasing away the last of my arousal. This is the best thing to happen to me and can be ripped away from me in the same instant.

"I can smell your sadness," he murmurs, running his nose along my neck. "Tell me what is wrong and how I can fix it."

Sighing, I say the words that will break my heart. "We can't be fully mated until my dragon can claim you. And there hasn't been a female dragon in over five hundred years."

****

Liam

I hear the words, but I know in my heart, as does my dragon, that she is meant to be ours. Forever. We have already claimed her and even if she can never claim us back, it won't fucking matter. We are keeping Seline. Forever.

Mine.

"Regardless, you are mine." The finality of my words ring out through the bedroom we now share whether she likes it or not.

"Excuse me," she gasps, struggling beneath me.

"Don't fight me on this, Seline. You knew there was a possibility you would end up claimed the moment you volunteered to be part of the annual hunt."

"If you say I volunteered one more time, I will stab you in your sleep," she hisses with a glare that would flay a lesser man.

She is a feisty little thing. I always thought if I ever chose a female of my own I would select someone soft and demure, but I find that I like her fire. She will keep me on my toes.

"You keep saying you didn't want to be there," I reply, shifting off her so we can have an actual conversation like adults. "It's against the law to force a female to participate in the hunt."

"Yes, well, so is abusing a female. And tell me you didn't see my wounds when you found me in the forest," she counters. She pulls the covers to her chest and hides her body from my view once more, something I instantly hate. "Besides, virgins are not allowed to offer themselves up as tribute. The experience is too harsh for someone without experience."

I want to grab the blanket from her and tell her never to hide from me, but this discussion may be easier if she is covered. My dragon is irate, rampaging in the corners of my mind at the words she has spoken. Could it be true? Are there Alphas out there with so little respect for another person that they would do this?

"Who is your father?" I ask.

"Why?" she counters, fear in her gaze, the scent tainting the entire room immediately.

"Because he hurt you and I need to know whose head I am going to rip off."

"You believe me?" she asks, shocked.

"Why would I not? I can smell the fear you have for him the moment he is mentioned. And even if he didn't send you to the hunt against your will, he still hurt and scared you. And I won't have someone treating my mate as anything less than a queen."

"You're insane."

"That might be a valid point. But aren't you glad I'm on your side, though?" I grin at her.

Her laughter rings through the room, filling my hear t— which I could have sworn I didn't hav e— to the brim. I want to hear her make that sound every day for the rest of my life.

"You can't go against him," she says, sobering after a moment. "He is too powerful."

This makes me laugh. "There isn't a single person walking this world that I cannot take down. I am the head of the most powerful clan in the realm. I feel no fear and if I must kill your father to prove that, I will."

She stares at me, looking to find any hint of deception. She takes so long I fear she won't tell me. My dragon is impatient, trying to force me to shift. He wants her to see him, his size and ferociousness. He wants her to know that h e— w e— can protect her against anything and everything.

"Gregor James," she says on a breath, so soft I would have missed it if not for my supernatural hearing.

I know him. I have always felt a darkness whenever I was forced to be near him. He is one of those Alpha Nobles who believe an accident of birth gives him dominion over everyone else. He wields his Alpha status as a weapon, and I know, without asking, he has hurt Seline more than just physically. And more than once.

"Do you have anything at his house you cannot live without? Not clothes or shit like that, Seline. Something important, irreplaceable."

"My mother's locket."

"Grab a shower while I get you some clothes to wear. I've had things bought for you," I say as I walk to the door. "We are going to see your father."

Already, my phone is in my hand. I have calls to make before I get to Gregor James's house. There is no way he is the only Alpha out there abusing females. But he will be the Alpha I will make an example of. Every Alph a— Noble and otherwis e— will know there are repercussions for their actions.