Chapter 3: Claimed By The Dragon Commander

I grabbed the skirt of the dress and lifted it with one hand while using the other to shove branches out of my way.

I could hear horses thundering the forest behind me. I didn’t know where I was going and I didn’t care. Branches kept slapping against my face as I pushed through the trees. My lungs were already burning.

“Run!” someone screamed.

I looked over my shoulder. A woman was running a few feet behind me. She had tears streaming down her face, her long black dress bunched around her thighs as she struggled through the trees. A horse appeared behind her. The man riding it reached down and his hand closed around her waist. She screamed as he lifted her clean off the ground.

I stumbled but kept running.

“Come on,” I whispered to my wolf. Nothing.

I pushed harder. “Come out.”

Still nothing.

I tried to shift, but pain tore through my bones. I gasped and nearly fell. My legs buckled beneath me but I caught myself against a tree and forced myself forward.

“Please.”

I could feel my wolf somewhere inside me but she wouldn’t answer. I tried forcing my body to change again and another sharp pain ripped through my spine.

I prayed to the Moon Goddess that I wasn’t running in circles, back to clearing.

My feet were bleeding. I could feel the sharp sting every time they hit the ground. I didn’t know what waited at the end of these trees. I didn’t even know if there was an end.

The sound of another horse grew louder behind me, followed by another. They were coming from different directions, the pounding of hooves getting closer with every second.

I didn’t look back, although my instincts wanted me to. Everything inside me screamed that I needed to know my surroundings and how close they were.

But I kept running until something slammed into my back.

A firm hand wrapped around my waist and yanked me off my feet. I screamed and twisted in the man’s grip, kicking as hard as I could.

No, no, no. This couldn’t be how I went down.

I opened my mouth, ready to bite whatever part of him I could reach, when something whipped through the air and something thinner wrapped around my arms a few times.

The next thing I knew, the hand holding me disappeared.

I was dragged sideways so hard that I cried out.

The rope tightened around my body and pulled me away from the other rider. I hit something solid and warm, then landed hard against a horse.

I looked up.

The man sitting in front of me was staring down at me.

The first thing that registered was the familiar scar. The scar from earlier across the clearing. The one across his cheek.

The King.

The Dragon Commander.

His rope was wrapped tightly around my waist and I was sitting on his horse. I couldn’t move. He looked at me for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the path ahead.

“Let me go!” I screamed, twisting against the rope. “You can’t just take me!”

He didn’t answer.

I kicked against the horse’s side, hoping it would throw me off but the animal didn’t even flinch. It kept moving through the trees while I fought the rope.

“Are you deaf?” I yelled. “I said let me go!”

His hand came around and caught my wrist. I froze. He didn’t squeeze hard enough to hurt me, but there was no mistaking the strength in his grip.

“Stop fighting,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly.

I stared at his profile. “No.”

His gaze met mine.

“I appreciate you saving me from that man.” I pulled against his hand. “But that doesn’t mean you get to keep me.”

His jaw tightened but he didn’t say anything.

I stared at him, then I screamed. He didn’t react. I screamed again, trying to wiggle out of the rope but he caught the rope and grunted.

“Let me go!” I yelled.

“Behave,” he muttered as the horse came to a stop.

He climbed off the horse and reached for me.

I pulled away. “No. I'm not going anywhere.”

He grabbed the rope around my waist and pulled. I stumbled off the horse and caught myself before I hit the ground.

“You can't just push me around!” I shouted.

He didn't answer and just started walking, pulling at the rope like I was a camel.

I took in the view as I walked behind him.

The house we were approaching was big. It wasn’t a palace but it was still enormous with three floors, dark stone walls and huge windows that reflected the trees around and the sunset.

The front doors opened as we approached and he pulled at the rope to make it shorter so I wasn’t trailing behind him anymore.

The inside was just as modern, with tiled floors, expensive furniture and lights hanging from the ceiling that looked like they'd cost more than Ronnie's entire house.

But the walls were covered in old but clean paintings. Some of them looked familiar from books I'd read in school. There were sculptures on the tables and inside glass cases, old weapons mounted against the walls and strange golden objects I couldn't identify.

“Are those real?” I asked before I could stop myself.

The King didn't answer. Of course he didn't. He kept walking, bringing me with him. The rope was beginning to burn against my skin from all the tugging.

He stopped walking and turned. He started undoing the rope and it fell to the floor around me.

“Come,” he grunted.

I followed him down the hallway. If he tried anything unbecoming, I was ready to fight. I hoped my wolf would be cooperative this time.

We stopped in front of a large door and he pushed it open. I expected him to walk inside but instead he stepped aside.

A woman was waiting inside.

She looked to be in her thirties, with dark hair pulled into a neat bun. She was wearing a long gray dress with silver embroidery around the sleeves and neckline.

“This is Mira,” the King said, looking at her. “She’ll tend to you.”

Mira lowered her head. “My King.”

He looked at me for a moment before turning away.

I watched him leave, half expecting him to turn around and tackle me to the floor.

Mira waited until his footsteps disappeared before looking at me.

“Come with me,” she said gently.

I didn’t move. “Where?”

“To the bath.” She smiled.

I looked down at myself. My dress was covered in dirt, my feet were bloody and there was probably enough dried blood in my hair to make me look like I’d crawled out of a grave.

“Fine.” I could use a bath.

The bathroom was big with a tub in the middle of the room, already filled with warm water. There were candles burning around it, although there were also modern lights on the ceiling, which made the candles seem completely unnecessary.

Mira helped me out of the torn dress without asking questions. The last thing I wanted to be doing anyway was explaining how I ended up here.

She washed my hair carefully but I still winced when her fingers reached the side of my head.

“Sorry,” she whispered, immediately pulling her hand away. “What happened?”

Here we go.

“Nothing.” I sighed.

Mira frowned at me.

I looked away. “It’s really nothing.”

She didn’t push me. She continued washing my hair, slowly around the sore spot. The warm water felt good against my skin.

The dress she put me in was black and gray, like everything else I’d seen in Vaelryth, but this one was different. The fitted bodice hugged my waist before opening into a long skirt that fell around my legs. The neckline was low enough to show more of my chest than I was used to, while the sleeves were fitted against my arms.

It looked damn good on me.

I stared at myself in the mirror.

For someone who spent the last few hours being dragged around like merchandise, I looked annoyingly attractive.

Mira smiled when she caught my expression. “It suits you.”

“I look like I belong here.” I twirled a little.

She laughed. “You’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t plan on staying long enough to get used to anything.”

Her smile disappeared. She placed the Vaelryth jewellery back on the table, then looked at me through the mirror. “There is something you need to understand before tonight.”

I turned around. “What is it?”

She folded her hands in front of her. “The hunt is only the first part of the tradition. You were caught by the King, which makes you the Queen. There will be a ceremony for you. Your marriage is awaited by many. And the consummation, of course”

My mouth fell open. “You’re joking.”

“I’ve heard about how your people do things.” She raised a brow. “That’s not how it is here. But you can either enjoy it or cry through it.”

I stared at her.

After everything that had happened today, I honestly thought I already reached the limit of how insane my life could become.