Crown of Thorns and Sins Book 1

Hunted by the Dragon

Meg Xuemei X

Hunted by the Dragon © 2023 by Meg Xuemei X

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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Edited by Emily Nemchick

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Books by Meg Xuemei X

MONSTERS AFTER DARK SERIES

UNDERWORLD BRIDE TRIALS SERIES

HALF-BLOOD ACADEMY SERIES

DARK FAE KINGS SERIES

THE WAR OF GODS SERIES

OF SHADOWS AND FIRE SERIES

SHIFTER’S WITCH SERIES

Table of Contents

Hunted by the Dragon

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

Excerpt of Underworld Bride Trials

Books by Meg Xuemei X

About the Author

HUNTED BY THE DRAGON

I fall into the monster realm, and a wild band of hunters captures me, their gorgeous, ruthless leader making me his personal prisoner.

Ryder doesn’t believe I’m a storm chaser but deems me the reincarnation of some femme fatale who seduced his entire team and murdered his BF. Unfortunately for me, I look just like her.

While the demigod dragon hates me with a passion, he also burns for me.

I shouldn’t crave the fireworks whenever we’re together—it always ends in disaster. Especially after I learn the dark truth—the vengeful gods cursed Ryder to hunt endlessly until he finds his fated mate and slays her.

I have one goal—to escape the perilous realm and the heat that makes me want him every second. Should I fail, I vow to bring Ryder to his knees he ruins me.

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CHAPTER 1

“Wait,” I called, a sense of peril blaring a warning in my head, my shoulder blades tingling. Chills raced up my spine.

I lashed out, grabbing Oliver’s wrist with sudden strength I hadn’t known I possessed and stopping its eager movements.

His elegant hand was palming my pussy, rubbing it up and down. His two fingers had brushed my folds open and thrust in through my slit. They were probably two inches in already. My walls clamped down on them.

I didn’t feel comfortable. In fact, I didn’t feel any pleasure. It was nothing like what the romance books described. It shouldn’t be like this, right? I loved Oliver, and I for sure wanted him. Yet all I felt was a light pain that rippled over my nerve endings.

“You’re so tight, June!” Oliver said between pants.

He wasn’t complaining. Thick lust coated his Celtic-blue eyes. I could tell that he wanted me more than anything in the heat of the moment, but he didn’t push further into me. There was a reason he’d earned my trust, mostly.

“It’s okay, June. Just relax. I’ll take care of you. Now let’s get you loosened up a little.” He leaned over to brush a tender kiss over my lips before he continued to coax me in his cultured voice with an Oxford accent. “I’ve waited for seven months. I can’t wait any longer. It’s killing me, June.”

I swallowed. No other man would do that for me and wait for me that long. Most guys would’ve moved on to other women already while cursing me for being a prude.

I wasn’t exactly a prude; I wasn’t someone who vowed not to fuck before marriage. I’d just never felt like fucking anyone.

Oliver had remained faithful to me, even though I’d guarded my virginity like a dragon hoarding her treasure. It wasn’t like there weren’t plenty of college girls throwing themselves at him. He had boyish good looks with honey-brown hair, a hot body toned by playing tennis daily, and a great family background.

“I’ll be tender. I promise to make your first time enjoyable,” Oliver continued. We were in a deadlock: I had his wrist in my grip, and his fingers were still half inside me. “Trust me, baby.”

“Oliver!” I said urgently while trying to calm my rapid heartbeat. My ears pricked, listening attentively to the distant noises no one else seemed to be able to pick up. “The storm’s coming right now, and we’re in its path!”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Oliver chuckled, tension leaving his shoulders. “Our Doppler radar says the twister will cross Houston at 0500 hours tomorrow. I can guarantee you that we’re in the safe zone. You just need to trust your boyfriend.” He arched an eyebrow to tease me. “I’m not as good as you are at tracking storms, but I’m damn good at what I’m doing.”

I could sense storms, better than the radar. It was as if storms were in my blood, which was one of the reasons Professor Nicolas wanted me on the team, though Oliver had brought me in initially. With the scholarship and some extra pay, I no longer had to wait on tables. I’d also escaped sharing a crowded basement with five other students and even got myself a shared off-campus studio.

Tonight at sunset, before the storm arrived tomorrow, I’d give my virginity to my boyfriend.

We were storm chasers.

“I do trust you, Oliver,” I protested. “That’s why I want to do this with you. And I’m confident in your ability as I know how accurate you are at calculating a storm’s path and speed, but—”

He wasn’t listening to me as lust rode him hard.

He removed my hand from his wrist, gazing at my bare pussy. His fingers resumed their activity and thrust deeper into me, testing my limit.

I gasped at the increased pain.

“I’ll never hurt you, June. I love you,” he said, and I nodded. “I know you’re more conservative than other girls, but don’t worry about Professor Nicolas and Steve.” He grinned at me. “They’ll be busy monitoring the storm, and we won’t be too loud…”

“Oliver!” My voice rose, laced with a sudden power.

My boyfriend halted and blinked at me. I hauled my ass away from him, leaving his hand hovering in the air. Somehow, the absence of his fingers in me brought me a breath of relief.

I rolled off the airbed and fumbled for my clothes. “We need to get out of here. Now!”

“You’re overreacting, June—”

The air became very still in the tent. I sniffed.

“Sex is clouding your judgment, Oliver,” I pleaded. “Don’t you remember the saying about calm before the storm?”

As if on cue, a violent gust blew open the flap of our tent, sending in a whirl of dirt and weeds. The wind increased. The temperature plunged. Our tent trembled in the wind. Any second, it might be blown away.

“What the hell?” Oliver cursed, his cock still hard, jutting up between his athletic thighs, unsatisfied and frustrated.

“Hurry! We need to leave!” I shouted, a dark feeling sweeping over my chest.

I shrugged on my sapphire shirt and thrust my legs into a pair of washed-out jeans. I had no time to locate my socks, and one of my sneakers was nowhere to be found.

I righted my thick black-rimmed glasses on my nose and lurched out of the tent, one foot bare.

The rumbling hit my eardrums before a cloud of debris swept toward us from the horizon. The roar was similar to that of an approaching freight train.

Professor Nicolas and his assistant, Steve, scrambled out of the main tent ahead of Oliver, who stumbled out of our shared tent, still zipping up his fly.

My boyfriend froze, his eyes widening as they fixed on the vast funnel shooting up from the ground.

Professor Nicolas sent Oliver a chiding look before running toward the equipment, which was under a large canopy Oliver and Steve had set up earlier on the grass beside those gardenia bushes. Nothing would be left when the twister arrived.

Steve darted a knowing grin at Oliver and me, then gave Oliver a thumbs-up and jogged after the professor.

The wind picked up.

I moved, faster than I thought I could, and blocked both men. They blinked at me as I blurred in front of them.

“We don’t have time to move the equipment, Professor!” I called urgently. “We’ll have to leave it behind!”

“We need to check the wind speed on the anemometer and calculate the new traveling path of the storm,” Professor Nicolas insisted. “This twister is most unusual. It shouldn’t have arrived this soon. Our radars have never been wrong before. We plotted the latitude and longitude according to the storm’s pathway. This is a great opportunity to observe its abnormal behaviors and gather data. Now, get out of my way, June, before you’re fired.”

“Fame isn’t worth our lives, Professor,” I said. “We need to depart while we can! If I’m wrong, you can still return here and fire me afterwards.”

Professor Nicolas reached out to remove me from his path, but I grabbed his arm and Steve’s and dragged them toward our vehicle. They protested yet were surprised at my strength. I assumed that I was running on adrenaline, which probably pumped extra strength into me.

“June’s right.” Oliver sprang after us and shouted over the approaching rumble. “We gotta get out of the way.”

Thunder boomed overhead. Lightning speared half of the sky. A full twister formed, heading our way at a terrifying speed. A violent barrage of hail whipped at us.

Professor Nicolas and Steve no longer resisted me. We raced toward our truck and threw ourselves into the vehicle. Oliver took the wheel, I rode shotgun, and the professor and his assistant huddled in the backseat.

In the blink of an eye, the twister reached our camp, tearing the equipment from the ground and tossing it into the air as if it were a child’s toy.

“Go! Go!” the professor screamed. Oliver rammed on the gas.

The truck jerked, speeding away from the storm.

Then the freakiest thing happened—the storm changed its path, as if it was consciously chasing our vehicle. A potent smell of sulfur, damp earth, and burning wood slammed into my nostrils, along with the pungent scent of brimstone. Mom had once said that brimstone was associated with dark magic, but she’d stopped herself from talking further about magic, as if the mere mention of it would conjure up something terrifying.

“What the fuck?!” Oliver cursed.

We turned to look at the rear window, wide-eyed, watching the twister chase us like a living thing. It tore through the truck, tossing us into the air. I bet we were all screaming, but all I could hear was the roaring wind and thunderous rumble of the storm.

In front of our horrified eyes, the storm ripped our truck apart.

It seemed that Oliver was shouting my name. Then he had to shut his mouth. He struggled to reach for me, and I tried to grip his hand. A current tore us apart, flinging me into the center while spitting Oliver, the professor, and Steve to the edge.

Then I was alone, spinning in a circle along the eye of the storm. Rain, wind, and debris spun alongside me, lashing at me.

I flailed my hands and kicked blindly, trying to push in the direction where Oliver had vanished. If I could “swim” to the edge obscured by hail and dark fog, I might still stand a chance of getting out of the storm.

I was like a fly contesting against the storm, futile and pathetic, and I felt every second of horror at being trapped in a thunderstorm. I screamed. Rain poured into my throat, down to my lungs, nearly drowning me and choking my shriek.

I coughed violently, then gasped for air. The storm lashed pain into my every cell. I had no doubt that it was going to rip my flesh from my bones, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Tears streamed down my face. What had I done to deserve this? Mom had drilled the warning into my brain—never to bring attention to myself. She was terrified that I wouldn’t live to old age.

I’d followed her strict rules and always wore this pair of thick eyeglasses. Thinking about my glasses, I fumbled my hand over my face and let out a breath of relief as I felt them. What a miracle that the storm hadn’t blown them off. Then my heart sank as my fingers felt the crack on the left lens.

I’m sorry, Mom, I murmured a silent apology, but who would expect a freaking storm to pay attention to me?

There was no escape. No one could survive this. The horror of being torn apart froze me all over again. I conjured up the last of my courage and roared, “Just kill me already! Fuck you!”

“Who the fuck is there? Show yourself!” A powerful, harsh male voice let out a series of profane curses that would make anyone cringe.

But I’d never been happier or more hopeful in my entire life than when I heard those curse words that penetrated the howling wind, even though they were unsympathetic and even menacing.

“I’m here!” I shouted, waving my hands frantically, and then coughed hard.

A giant male loomed in the center of the storm, unconcerned. As soon as he showed up, the thunderstorm quieted, humming in the background while its impenetrable walls wheeled around us.

He stalked toward me, lightning flashing behind him and silhouetting him.

The shirtless male was nearly seven feet tall with a taut golden-brown chest. Even as I was flailing in the storm, I couldn’t help but wonder if any woman was lucky enough to lick that delicious hard chest, which showed how obscenely attractive he was.

I forgot my dilemma, suffering, and terror for a full second.

My wide gaze then fell on his eight-pack. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. What did he eat and how many hours did he spend at the gym to look like that? If he came closer, maybe I’d ask him if I could squeeze his muscled arm just to test its hardness, like a fangirl.

Then I remembered my manners.

I shouldn’t ogle a man just because I’d never met anyone this hot. I dipped my gaze only to find myself staring at his powerful thighs that stretched his leather pants, which hung low on his V-shaped hips. A trail of gold hair crept down, only to be concealed by the front of his pants that did nothing to hide the huge bulge between his powerful thighs.

I flushed furiously while my mind debated if he was aroused or naturally huge. But one thing was sure—this male was built to fuck. I was out of the pool of females who might benefit from his prowess though, since I already had a boyfriend.

Yet my body responded to him in a way it’d never reacted to any man before—but then, I doubted any woman would react differently to such a gorgeous specimen, who exuded potent sexuality.

Power rolled off him, so much so that even the storm opened a path for him.

While I flailed in the air, pinned like a fly, he walked through the storm as if it were solid ground. As he strode closer without a care in the world, his features came into focus. I sucked in a breath, feeling like I’d been punched in the gut.

His golden-blue eyes trained on me, shining with starlight. Part of me instantly wanted to shrink back, not wanting to be noticed by the baddest predator. Yet the other part wanted his sole attention, demanding he acknowledge me as a woman.

I cursed my reaction to him. I’d never believed that male beauty could have that kind of devastating effect until this second. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. All I wanted was to memorize every perfect line of his face and body etched with sensuality and brutality. His curvy lips promised dirty, wicked pleasure, his long dark lashes were spells of seduction, and his strong cheekbones drew out every woman’s fantasy.

My fingers itched to thread into his thick golden-blond hair, twist its locks, and pull his head down toward my hungry lips…

What the fuck was I thinking?

I blinked, jerking awake from the haze of heat and instantly shoving down the inappropriate daydream, awash with shame.

This couldn’t be me. I’d never had those kinds of thoughts toward any man, not even toward my boyfriend. Then it dawned on me—the giant man with a cocktail of raw sexuality and power wasn’t just any man.

A mortal couldn’t command the storm.

He must be a god.

I’d been swept into the eye of the storm and met a god. I hoped he wasn’t a malevolent one.

CHAPTER 2

I stared at the giant god through my broken glasses, still dazed.

His power washed over me, and then I found myself able to move.

Tentatively, I stepped forward to test if I could walk like him. Instead, I free fell, howling wind whipping me. I screamed, then a hand plucked me out from the whirlwind until I found myself pressed against a hard chest.

“Thank you. That was close,” I murmured and righted my glasses before I gazed up at my rescuer. It was like gazing at the sun; his beauty hurt.

At such close proximity, my breath shortened, my heart pounded wildly, and my blood raced. Heat radiated from him to me, expelling the chills from the storm. Then, heat kept rising and spreading, sinking into me. Before I knew it, liquid fire started to lick my pussy.

I’d never been so wet in my entire life. It was beyond embarrassing. For the first time, I wanted to fuck. I wanted to fuck this male whom I thought was a god. Then I felt mortified by my inappropriate ambition.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked again, his voice velvety and rough at once. Even the menace in it stoked my lust.

The part of me that functioned on common sense and logic cried out, This isn’t happening! You do not just see a man and want to screw him! Get a grip on yourself!

But I was only getting wetter. My body went haywire. A stream of liquid trickled down my thighs. Yet I had the presence of mind to realize the god was still waiting for my answer. Well, he might not be a god. A god would’ve known my name without needing me to tell him, right?

“Uh, I’m June Winters.” I cleared my hoarse throat then volunteered the next piece of information. “I’m human.”

Maybe I shouldn’t tell him everything now that his godly status was in doubt. He hadn’t earned my trust yet. But it was hard not to throw myself at his feet and spill out everything to please such a superior being.

I grew desperate with the need to distract him from noticing how hot I was for him while fighting not to squeeze my thighs as my core ached for him.

“I’m from Earth,” I blurted out. “I’m a second-year student from the Meteorology program at Florida State University. In case you don’t know, sir, it’s the largest and most complete program in the southeastern states.” I tried to add a little more pride into my voice but failed, considering my dilemma. “Professor Nicolas, Steve, my boyfriend, and I were chasing the storm, and I ended up here alone. I don’t even know what happened to them. I’m worried about them, especially Oliver.” I bit my lip. “I hope they’re okay and doing better than me.” Then, when he narrowed his eyes, I added in a hurry, “Uh, how are you?”

He sniffed, his nostrils flaring. Then he flashed me a wicked grin. “You’re wet.”

Did he mean—?

I decided to go with option two.

“Of course I’m wet,” I said, trying not to sound a bit annoyed while sweeping a hand in front of him to stress my point. “I’m inside a storm, obviously.”

“You’re wet for me, sparrow,” he added. “Your pussy is aching to be fucked badly.”

What the—?

My face flushed. For all the merits of his looks, he wasn’t a subtle male.

It was my turn to narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t think so, mister.”

He no longer deserved to be a sir.

“You can’t lie to me,” he said confidently. “No one can. And you’re a bad liar.”

“So you’re a mind-reader?” I tried not to sneer, but my voice was less polite now. “Also, I might not be pretty in your eyes, but I’m not a sparrow. Please don’t call me that again.”

Mom’s rule number six was: manners matter. But look where they got her. Agony tore through me at the image of our temp cabin being burned to the ground with Mom in it. They’d never found her remains, since the fire had been too terrible.

“I don’t need to read your mind.” The giant male chuckled darkly. “Your arousal is so fucking thick that even the storm can’t cover it up. You’ll have an easier time just admitting your needy cunt is weeping for my cock—”

“Stop. Stop!” I shouted, throwing up my hands, my face burning red like a ripe tomato and anger shooting through me. “That isn’t the way to talk to a lady from Earth, mister! And I don’t even know where you’re from, not that I care anymore at this point. So, let’s rewind and erase what you just said. To save face, please consider that I heard it all wrong.”

“You didn’t hear it wrong, little sparrow,” he said. “The primal part of you is giddy to hear the truth in my words. You should feel lucky that I also want to bend you over and fuck you.” He chuckled in amusement. “Our lust is mutual.”

To emphasize his statement, he propelled his hips toward me, letting his thick, hard erection press against my belly. Just from the feel of it, I bet I would need two hands to wrap around its girth.

Then I noticed that I’d wrapped an arm around his neck. I for sure didn’t remember clinging to him like that. Cursing under my breath, I instantly unwrapped my hand from his corded neck and staggered back, even though my body protested vehemently.

“You’re a pretentious little thing,” he said, arching an eyebrow. “Let’s see how hard you can resist me. We can play your games if you want; we have all the time in the world.”

“I’m not playing games!” I said. “I’m not a player!”

I almost blurted out that I was a virgin, so I wasn’t in his league.

“Can we not focus on the…uh, the inappropriate and unnecessary flirting?” I said, then made my voice firmer. “I need information from you, so let’s have a normal conversation.”

“I’m not interested in information,” he said arrogantly. He carried a certain accent that I couldn’t quite place it, but I didn’t think it was German. “I’d prefer to fuck you, and believe me, you won’t get a second fuck even if you beg. I’m a one-night stand guy. Always have been and always will be. I’m offering you this rare opportunity mainly because my cock hasn’t reacted to any female like this for a while. I don’t even know why the fuck it digs you, as you aren’t my usual type.”

Despite his good looks and seemingly otherworldly power, he was a narcissistic asshole. However, one couldn’t really argue with an asshole, just as one couldn’t argue with crazy. The best way was to use their flaws to trick them and never feel sorry about it.

So I suppressed my rising anger and ignored the heat in his golden-blue eyes that made my pussy ache and weep. I fought the need to throw myself at him and beg to be fucked as I sank my nails into my palms, making them bleed, and let the pain clear the haze in my head.

His sexual power beat in my bloodstream, aiming to make me do stupid, regrettable things that would only benefit him, with me ending up with nothing left if I succumbed to him.

I needed to stick to my goal, which was to get him to help me reach safety, since this male could command the storm.

One thing that kept me grounded was the stark contrast between him and me. While that knockout could stop traffic and cause a riot, I was nothing but a plain June, especially with my nerdy look—my thick glasses parked on my nose, my eyes wide, and my shoulders hunched due to a lifelong habit.

I was your average girl through and through.

The only feature that stood out was my brilliant flaming hair. Mom had treated it like a fault to be corrected and tried numerous times to tone it down by dyeing my hair dark brown, auburn, and dirty blond, among others, yet none of the colors stuck. My hair always returned to my natural fire color as soon as I had a shower.

My figure was slender, my breasts round, not too big and not too small. Nothing to brag about. But Oliver praised my shape, saying that I could be a supermodel if I dropped my eyeglasses.

That wasn’t going to happen, since I’d promised Mom never to take them off. I was only glad that the storm hadn’t blown them away.

With the glasses, I saw everything like a normal human. Without the glasses, the world shifted to a different perspective. It became too sharp, too intense, with depths no other people were able to see. And the brutal onslaught of sounds became unbearable. It was like a rug being pulled from under my feet, and there was no safety net.

I didn’t need Mom to tell me that I wasn’t born right. I got it. So I tried my best to fit in and never stand out like a sore thumb. I never questioned Mom again after I stumbled into her crying in the kitchen at midnight. It was never easy to be a single mom.

I’d celebrated my good luck when Oliver chose me. No way would this insanely hot man truly want to…fuck me.

He was using filthy language to mock me and throw me off balance. I might be an insect in his haughty eyes, yet I had my dignity. I’d hold on to it, as it might be the last thing between me and this being.

And I’d pretend that I didn’t get his ridicule, so the joke was on him.

“I’ve introduced myself politely,” I offered, no longer calling him sir. “Now’s your turn.”

He sneered.

Oh my gods, I’d never seen someone sneer like that. Yet I insisted on taking the high road while he went low.

“You seem to have some power over the storm,” I said, keeping my voice mild, though my pulse spiked, as I still hadn’t gotten over my nervousness around him. “Are you…uh, something close to a god? Where are you from?”

Hate suddenly blazed in his eyes, so fierce and menacing that every cell in me screamed for me to run. My legs wobbled. But where could I run?

“You insulted me, sparrow,” he growled. “I kill fucking gods for sport. They’re cowards, so they only dare to torment me from a distance while sending their brutes to do their dirty work. Are you their fucking pawn as well? Is that why you’re here?”

Well, he’d offered some intel at least, but it was useless.

“I’m no one’s f-fucking pawn!” I finally snapped. I seldom lost my temper, and I wasn’t the cursing type. Not that I had anything against cursing; I just didn’t do it well like others. “I have no idea how I even offended you. I only asked you a question. Ever since you popped up, you’ve been insulting me!”

I swallowed as I surveyed the raging storm that still surrounded us, though it was more in the background now. Worries wove knots in my stomach as the sinking feeling that I might not get out of the storm in one piece grew stronger.

I couldn’t depend on this half-mad, powerful asshole for a happy ending.

“If you have any quarrel with those gods or whoever, it isn’t my business,” I said, trying one last time to get on his good side, if he had any. “As you can see here, I was swept into this storm merely because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. So, uh, could you do me a favor?”

“I do no one favors,” he snickered.

There was no need to play nice anymore.

“For all I know, you might be the one who caused the abnormal storm,” I accused, “since not even the national radars detected it. I have no idea why our radar picked it up, and I wish it never did. Now’s your chance to make it right. I demand you get me out of here and send me back to Houston, Earth! My team might still be waiting outside the storm, and I need to find my boyfriend!”

To show my toughness, I puffed up my chest, and his heated gaze instantly landed on my nipples. They were taut, begging for attention. That hadn’t been my intention.

“You command me?” he growled, staring at my boobs a little longer before he brought his gaze back to my face. “You dare?”

Now I was very much tempted to kick him in the nuts. Yet my body was still drawn to him like a moth to the flame. It urged me to press my nipples to his chest and rub my pussy against his massive erection to ease the ache. I clenched my teeth and turned away from the jerk.

I was determined to break into a run in the direction where he’d come from, which could be an exit. I might just get lucky and be spat out of the twister.

I readied myself for a sprint, praying that I wouldn’t plunge to my death. My throat parched and my heart pounding, I charged toward the edge of the storm, only to hit a hard wall.

It took a second for me to realize that the wall was the giant’s chest.

“Easy, little sparrow.” He chuckled in amusement. “I see that you’re desperate to get fucked, but I didn’t expect you to be that desperate.”

He royally pissed me off.

“Fuck off, dick,” I hissed, my hand lashing out to push him out of the way, but it was like shoving at a truck.

I glared at him. I’d better remove myself then, since I couldn’t remove him. Before I could retreat, he snaked his arm around my waist, unbelievably fast. His other hand threaded into my hair, pulling my head back and pinning me there.

“Since you insist on being pretentious,” he offered, “I’ll help you out this once. But don’t expect more favors.”

I gazed up at him, my annoyance turning to gratitude. Finally, he was going to get me out of the storm, which was the only favor I needed from him. After this, I had no intention of ever seeing him again.

“Thank you,” I said sincerely.

“You’re welcome,” he mocked, then dipped his head and slanted his mouth over mine.

What the f—

His kiss was bruising and demanding.

All thoughts left me, my lips tingling with a divine sensation. His scent of burning sandalwood and powerful male and dirty sex blanketed me, trapping me. I inhaled a lungful and wanted more.

His lips molded over mine. There was no gentleness in the act, only searing male need and raw domination, which offended me yet made me crave more. Instead of pushing him away or kneeing him in the nuts as I’d planned, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my torso along his.

Part of me was surprised at my aggressiveness and didn’t understand this wild side, part of me scolded myself for letting a random man have his way with me, yet the last part of me wanted more of this male, for he brought me the carnal pleasure I’d never believed existed.

My pussy had been slick with wetness as soon as he’d come toward me, and now it was on fire. Need swirled alive in me. For the first time ever, I wanted to fuck. I wanted to fuck this male so badly that I had no care for shame, guilt, or anything else.

This unnatural sexual need brought physical pain I didn’t think possible, and I was afraid it wouldn’t leave me unless I had his cock buried deep inside me.

He hadn’t even gotten his tongue in my mouth, and I was already burning.

Involuntarily, I lifted a leg and clamped it around his lower back. I wanted to climb onto him to stake a claim on him, then tackle him to the ground and ride him hard.

He thrust his hips toward me roughly, his rock-hard erection rubbing my belly. I moaned against his mouth in approval.

He pulled away suddenly and smirked wickedly, his eyes hooded with thick desire. “Didn’t I say that you wanted to be fucked badly, sparrow?”

I drew my swollen bottom lip between my teeth, my eyes bright and glassy with lust, reflected in his.

“Who are you exactly?” I whispered. “Are you even real?”

“Of course I’m real.” He growled. “But I could ask you the same thing: if you’re real, or merely a warm-blooded female I dreamed up for my own amusement. I’m Rider, but I go with Ryder now.”

His tone was dismissive and cocky, as if he expected his name to be a household one.

“Sorry. Never heard of you,” I said.

“If you’re from Earth as you claimed, you should’ve heard of me,” he said. “I’m the famous lost prince.”

“Lost?” I blinked. “From where? There’s no famous lost prince where and when I grew up.”

His sensual lips tugged up in displeasure, sudden rage and sadness flashing in his eyes.

He might be the best kisser the universe had ever gifted to women, but he was certainly unstable.

“So they’ve forgotten me?” he grated. Then he pondered for a second. “They must’ve thought I was dead.”

“Who are they?”

“Never mind,” he said, his attention returning to me, his heat radiating to me and making my back arch for him.

His gaze fell on my swollen lips that still buzzed with pleasure. I even pouted a little, ready for another kiss. But I also remembered my sole mission—I needed to get home.

“You were supposed to do me a favor,” I said.

“I did,” he said. “I kissed you. I’ll fuck you next, and that’s a double favor.”

Oliver had never talked to me this way, so rude and offensive. Despite my anger at this male, my pussy throbbed in urgent need at his dirty words; my body was so turned on.

“You call that a favor?” I hissed, my face flushing with new anger and desire.

“You doubted me?” He narrowed his eyes. “Women throw themselves at me, and I have to turn them down all the time, like swatting away fucking annoying flies.”

Oh my god! Was he for real?

“Don’t do me any favor like that ever again, please!” I said, even though my body protested, wanting that second favor more than anything. “The favor I need from you is to get me the hell out of this fucking storm!” I was starting to lose it. “I need to return to Houston or any civilization on Earth!”

I’d been inside the storm for a while. At this rate, who knew where the storm had traveled. According to Oliver’s calculations, the twister was supposed to pass through Houston before vanishing into the Gulf of Mexico.

“I’m sorry to have to disappoint you, sparrow.” He grinned at me viciously. “This isn’t exactly a storm. It’s a stage set up by the fucking gods. I don’t know what they think they’ll achieve this time by sending you, since you don’t look like much. However, I didn’t expect my body to react to you, but it does. That’s something.” Over my glare, he added, “Let’s bet—if your pussy isn’t that wet, I’ll find a way to get you out of here. But if your pussy is wet for me, we fuck.”

“My pu—” I stopped just in time. “The state of my vagina is none of your business! You aren’t my type either. I’m just not into you! I was about to give my virginity to my boyfriend before the storm changed its path and sped up and then hit our truck. If I’m w…wet, it’s for Oliver! We didn’t finish our lovemaking.”

“You’re a worse liar than I thought,” he said.

“Who cares what you think!” I yelled at him, hating that my body reacted to this male unnaturally while it showed only mild interest toward Oliver.

I’d felt relieved when the storm interrupted Oliver and me from going any further, then I’d felt troubled at the truth and my real reaction toward my boyfriend. Everyone said I was so lucky that Oliver had chosen me.

“Oliver is a good boyfriend,” I continued, boosting more pride into my voice for this asshole’s sake. “He’s kind, considerate, intelligent, and—”

Ryder smirked. “And he has a small dick.”

“How dare you?” I snarled.

His grin grew wider, obviously having fun riling me up. “What are you going to do then, sparrow?” he taunted.

“I have two words for you,” I said.

He arched an eyebrow. “Which are?”

My heart skipped a beat and my blood raced. It was so unfair that the asshole was just so hot. He didn’t deserve it. Those good looks should go to a nicer guy.

“Fuck off. Now!” I told him. I meant every word, yet my body still purred as his delicious heat wrapped around me, muddling my mind.

“That’s three words.” He chuckled. “And I’m shaking in fear at your harsh command.”

His hand lashed out.

I expected him to strike my cheek, since assholes like him wouldn’t take no for an answer. I flung up my forearm to defend myself, and my leg kicked out at his knee.

But I was a beat slower, or more precisely, I hadn’t expected him to be that damn fast, much faster than any opponents I’d faced in my judo class, and I held a black belt.

Instantly, I realized that I had made two mistakes. First, I should’ve kicked him with the foot in my sneaker instead of my bare foot. While pain radiated through me, he didn’t even blink. And second, I should’ve protected my glasses.

He hadn’t come for my face. He grabbed the center of my glasses and tore them from my nose. I lunged at him to get my glasses back, but he’d flung them into the storm wall behind us.

“Motherfucker! What did you do that for?” I’d cursed more in these last two minutes than in my entire life. This asshole brought out the worst in me.

He regarded me with a smirk, heat and curiosity sparkling in his golden-blue eyes. “I see. Those glasses were hiding you from the world. What are you afraid of, little sparrow? What are you hiding? Who are you hiding from?”

He had the nerve to sniff at me after what he’d done to me. I swung my fist toward his cheek and scored. I even made him jerk his head back a little.

He blinked, not expecting me to be so fast. I hadn’t expected it either. I’d never picked a fight before. I was a pacifist. But after being with him briefly, I’d resorted to violence and attacked him twice.

Yet I’d never been so turned on. My pussy was burning for him. He didn’t need to know that, but somehow, he knew. He’d meant it when he said that he could smell my arousal. Too bad I hadn’t brought deodorant.

I glared at him. He only smirked.

I gasped as my perception shifted without my glasses on.

Everything around me—colors, shapes, lines, sounds, and smells—all intensified tenfold. Ryder’s beauty became even more breathtaking with my new sight.

His powerful male scent blended with burning sandalwood and flame slammed into my nostrils, calling me not just to fuck the male in front of me but to mate with him as if he was my destiny.

Being exposed like this was a lot to take in, as I’d been shielded for twenty-one years. Panic coursing through me, I grabbed Ryder’s arm to anchor myself and shut my eyes for a second to train my mind to get used to the sensory overload.

“That’s more like it, sparrow,” he said, pulling me to him.

I had no more will to resist him, as my desire for him had also intensified. It seemed to affect him as well, as he inhaled my scent.

He growled, his lips falling on mine again. His kiss turned even more brutal than last time.

I no longer minded.

I arched my back when his large hand snaked between my thighs and palmed my hot pussy.

I moaned against his lips. His chest rattled, and something that wasn’t exactly me purred within me. At the moment, I couldn’t care less. Everything was stripped off me except the need to fuck and be fucked.

I didn’t stop him when he yanked down my jeans, which fell to my ankles. Then I felt his massive cock nudging between my plump folds.

He lifted my leg and thrust into me.

I screamed in pain and unbelievable pleasure.

CHAPTER 3

A blink and the storm was gone. Ryder also vanished without a trace, as if he’d never existed.

An ache thudded in my chest, and I shoved it down.

Harsh wind howled, a wave of red sand assaulting me. When it passed, I found myself crouching in a rocky landscape, my hands planted on dead blades of grass. I glanced down. I had my jeans on; they weren’t piled at my ankles. My skin still buzzed with his heat, my lips felt swollen, and my tongue still held the intoxicating taste of him.

I’d never felt so confused about what’d been real and what’d been an illusion. As I surveyed my new environment, I was sure that I wasn’t in Houston or any city near it.

On the far horizon, a wide span of mist surrounded a ridge of black mountains. I was in rocky terrain adorned by dead grass and thorny bushes. Other than that, there was no landmark to offer me orientation. It might take days to walk through this endless barren land, and if I went in the wrong direction, I wouldn’t survive.

As I assessed my situation while trying to remain calm so I could come up with the best plan, the rigid wind brought with it the yowls of beasts.

A sense of danger sent a chill across my shoulder blades, a dark feeling making my chest tight.

Where on earth was this place?

Without my glasses, my senses sharpened unbearably. Wind rushed through my head. The beasts’ howls full of hunger and rage and misery rose and fell in horrible waves. The whole terrain echoed with their wails, pounding in my ears.

Icy dread pumped into me. There was an armada of beasts on this bloody land.

Please don’t smell me. Don’t smell me.

The wind blew from every direction, so I couldn’t even tell where downwind was.

Mom had designed survival courses for me since I was a child, but she never told me why I had to go through such rigorous training when I wasn’t even a morning person. Mom had always been paranoid and constantly looked over her shoulder.

I gave up on asking her things, since I didn’t want to see her sad and angry, but I remembered she said that words had power, and if we ever whispered secrets, our enemies would hear them, and then they’d come for us. I didn’t even know who our enemies were. But she said that they were extremely powerful, and they killed my father when he tried to stall them to give Mom a chance to flee when she was pregnant with me.

And so Mom once left six-year-old me in a jungle for five days to train me to survive on my own. I hadn’t done well, and I hadn’t moved far from the original place where she dropped me. When she finally came to get me, I was napping on a branch after finishing a crying session, a heap of banana peels under the big tree and my face stained from eating blackberries.

I’d been so ashamed seeing the disappointment in her eyes. No matter how hard she’d tried to toughen me up, I just wasn’t cut from tough material.

I didn’t even like to go to the gym. I was more of the kind of girl whose idea of a good time was to watch shows while eating popcorn with her boyfriend, when we weren’t chasing storms, which had been the biggest thrill in my life.

Despite Mom’s foresight, none of her training could prepare me for the valley of the beasts.

I straightened up as I decided on a direction, only to find moving shadows surging toward me. The yowls of the beasts chilled my blood.

I closed my eyes, willing the storm to arrive again to dump me in any place other than here. Ideally just transport me back to Houston, where our team and Oliver must be trying frantically to locate me. Oliver wouldn’t give up on me easily. He hadn’t gotten laid yet. He still wanted me. No guy who had waited for a girl for seven months would give up at the first roadblock. And Oliver wasn’t a douche but a decent guy.

I replayed the scene of us wrapping up collecting data from a minor twister in Sinaloa, Mexico before speeding toward Texas. While Oliver was driving the truck with me riding shotgun, I’d psyched myself up on giving him my virginity at sunset.

The approaching beasts’ yowls made me snap open my eyes and tremble in fear. A horde of monsters moved like the dark wind, less than twenty yards from me now.

“Go away! Leave me!” I thrust my hands at them and screamed, as if that would do any good. “I warn you!”

Mercifully, they halted as one, regarding me, strings of saliva drooling from their fangs.

They hadn’t attacked me right away, but not because they heeded my command. There were simply too many of them and one of me. So who had the privilege of having the first bite?

Was there a hierarchy among their ranks? Did they have a pack leader?

Most of the beasts shared the same black fur, enormous jaws, and yellowish eyes. I’d never seen these types of wild animals on Earth’s database. Some of them were over twelve feet tall if they stood on their rear legs.

Threatening growls rumbled from the beasts’ chests. I tried hard not to look at their deep throats and open jaws; their fangs that dripped with strings of saliva were longer than my forearm.

I told myself to dart my petrified gaze somewhere else. If this horde of beasts were like wolves, making eye contact might be perceived as a challenge and would quicken my demise.

Yet I couldn’t look away.

I had nothing on me to fend them off, and even if I had a weapon, it wouldn’t help much. Still, my eyes scanned the ground for anything I could use. Maybe I could pick up a few rocks and throw them at the beasts, but that would be a joke.

I resorted to begging.

“Leave me alone, will you, nice monsters? Please?” I said in my friendliest voice, though it trembled, which couldn’t be helped. “I’m willing to negotiate.” I knew the beasts wouldn’t understand me, but talking nicely to them might calm them or buy me time. But then buying more time might be pointless.

Anxiety filled my stomach. Cold sweat dampened my armpits.

The beasts howled, then charged straight toward me as one. Doubtless they’d stomp me to death before tearing me apart. They didn’t seem to have a weak link where I could break through. So I did the only thing any cornered being could do—I shrieked and charged toward them blindly. What did I have to lose?

Then I did something that surprised myself.

By pure instinct and primal drive to survive, I leapt high into the air and landed on the first beast’s back, his wide-open jaws missing me and biting into the empty air. He was a bit shocked, but he got over it fast and tried to shake me off.

A few of his brethren lunged at me, intending to knock me off the first beast’s back. They weren’t concerned about mauling their friend in the process.

I kicked a beast in his hard jaw with the foot that had a sneaker on, then bent my knees and jumped onto another beast’s back.

How could I even do this? I might be a black belt, but this didn’t sound like me. It was as if I had become another June—the daughter Mom had always wanted.

I had no time to dwell on my new athletic ability. All that mattered was survival. Yet I knew I wouldn’t last long in this new sport. There were literally thousands of beasts on the plain, and they were everywhere, competing to rush toward me, howling and wailing with hunger.

I’d be torn to bits in the end, and my body parts would be buried in the beasts’ stomachs, digested and assimilated, which suddenly turned my fear to rage.

I thrust my foot into another beast’s eye while ducking to the left as a leopard-like beast jumped over the brown beast I perched on, determined to knock me down. Then a red-horned beast nearly got me with its long horn.

Cold sweat dotted my forehead. I dared not blink as sweat streamed into my eyes, making them sting.

I jumped from one beast’s back to another, watching where I was landing, heading for a less crowded area. Even running on adrenaline, I felt fatigue start to kick in. My speed slowed, and I stumbled a couple more times than I liked.

I might’ve reached my limit.

When I leapt onto a red-furred female beast’s back, I lost my footing. The other beasts rammed into each other violently to get to me; the impact threw me to the ground.

The fall knocked the air out of my lungs and sent pain radiating through me. I stared at the glowing, intelligent eyes above me; these beasts weren’t normal. They didn’t just want to eat me. They wanted to toy with me first.

“You little piece of shit!” I pulled my lips back and snarled. “I know I’m done. I admit defeat. It’s just my bad luck. So what are you waiting for? Eat me then!”

Yet several ideas ran through my mind. The beast closest to me had long horns. Perhaps I could grab its horns, use them as an anchor, and land on its back before it could maul me. When an opportunity like this presented itself, I wasn’t going to pass it up.

The beast plunged his left horn toward me. I rolled to the side at the last second, avoiding its path and narrowly missing being sliced open. I lashed out, faster than I thought possible, and grabbed its horn while kicking hard at the jaw of another beast that came for me.

I had half mounted the back of the horned beast when a piercing sound whistled in my ears. The beast was dragged backward by a force then cut in half along the middle before I registered what had transpired. I tipped over and fell to the ground for a second time, shocked as the beast’s warm blood splashed over my face.

Before I could get off the ground, a flare shot into the sky. The horde of beasts froze as the flare exploded overhead. A barbed, flaming nine-foot-long whip appeared in my sight. It spun in a circle, slashing and forcing back the beasts around me, and soon cleared a path.

A giant male rode a giant horse that was actually half-horse and half-beast. He kept brandishing his whip to keep the beasts at bay, cowboy style. Only his speed and strength were more incredible.

The beasts snarled, but they withdrew from the lethal flaming whip, waiting for an opening to attack me again. Their glowing eyes darted between the warrior and me. Evidently, they were afraid of him, but they were determined not to let him take away their snack—me.

I quickly rolled to my feet. The lone cowboy might need my help. I could ask him for a weapon, and then perhaps we could press our backs against each other to battle the horde of beasts.

The cowboy turned, and our gazes met.

My heart skipped a beat.

It was the asshole Ryder whom I’d had half-sex with in that storm. I’d assumed I’d imagined him in my distress, and now he was here in the flesh and my rescuer no less.

I stared at him. I wouldn’t say that I wasn’t pleased to see him.

He looked a bit different. Instead of a bare chest, he had a leather jacket on, though it was pretty much worn out.

He narrowed his displeased gaze on me while shock flitted in his golden-blue eyes.

“You!” he spat.

He recognized me, so we’d indeed encountered each other in the storm and possibly had done the dirty deed.

The image of him thrusting into me brutally wheeled in my mind, and I was suddenly mortified, even in the middle of such danger. I’d cheated on Oliver. I hadn’t exactly thought Ryder was real, so I hadn’t considered fucking an imaginary character as cheating. Didn’t we all have dark fantasies once in a while to escape the boredom and mundanity of life? I’d been trapped in the storm, nearly having a mental breakdown, so I hadn’t resisted too hard when confronted with a little temptation, a little fun, and a little comfort.

While guilt slammed into me, scorching lust also came alive in me at the sight of Ryder. My pussy throbbed with raw need, flames rising within my tight channel. My panties were soaked once again.

Though there was a hint of disdain on his gorgeous face, he looked like he wanted to fuck me more than anything as well, even as we were surrounded by an armada of beasts in the rocky terrain. The rising heat and anger in his eyes only stirred my flesh and stoked the flame in me.

What the—?

I bit my lip in frustration while need pounded my flesh. This wasn’t only crazy; this was the most fucked-up situation I’d ever been in.

This had to stop! I’d find a way to get back to Oliver. I was in a committed relationship with him that would lead to marriage and kids after our graduation.

Even if sex with Oliver might not be spectacular—I didn’t know it yet, as I’d been too nervous when we were doing it and then the storm had interrupted us—I was more practical than most girls. Sex was overrated anyway. Who lived only for sexual satisfaction? There was more to life than fucking. In reality, millions of married couples didn’t even have sex anymore after a decade together, and they carried on!

“I just couldn’t get rid of you, could I?” Ryder said.

I blinked. He was still an asshole.

“Unfortunately, you—you’re real.” I straightened my spine and lifted my chin. “I wasn’t supposed to be here!”

“I’ll weep for you, princess, if I have tears,” he snickered, his flaming whip snapping and pushing the beasts further back. “But you’ll need to come with me if you want to live.”

I wouldn’t argue about that. While I decided to cooperate and brainstorm with him to survive in the valley of beasts, I also told him, “I don’t like you.”

“I’ll hug myself and cry,” he said, his rich, rough voice dripping with sarcasm.

I ignored it and asked the practical question instead. “How are we going to get out of here? There’re endless beasts around us.”

I hadn’t even seen how he’d gotten here. Maybe he had a way. He was probably a native. I’d have no choice but to put my life in his hands while watching him like a hawk. Then I spotted a team of four—one woman and three men, each on a monstrous horse. The good Samaritans cleared an opening and raced toward us.

Hope buzzed in me. I wasn’t alone anymore. The cavalry had arrived. A relieved breath left my dry, cracked lips.

Just as I was about to spring toward Ryder—I’d decided to go with him and his team—the wall of beasts behind me parted. A new path opened.

Another team of a dozen men charged onto the scene, bellowing. They were led by a giant male who was just as gorgeous as Ryder but appeared more cultivated. Ryder was all golden locks and golden eyes and tanned skin while emitting menace and raw energy; the newcomer was more polished with only a hint of wildness about him.

And the new guy was trendier, his dark hair cropped short. It made me wonder if there was a salon in the land of barbarians. My hair was due for a cut.

Dragging my stray thoughts from haircuts, I had a hunch that the newcomer wasn’t a friend of Ryder.

While Ryder rode a black monster horse, the new guy rode a red one; both horses were the largest and meanest among the other horses. While Ryder brandished a long, flaming whip to keep the beasts at bay, the new guy and the team that flanked him wielded four-foot-long plasma blades that gave off crimson and purple light.

The beasts seemed to fear the light sabers more.

“Ryder Nightstar,” the new guy crooned. “What you got? A new squeezing toy?”

“Fuck off, Cypress!” Ryder growled, his golden eyes burning like a tiger’s.

“As you wish.” Cypress chuckled, but he didn’t look like the backing-off type.

If this was going to be a gangster war, I’d better stay out of it. Then I saw my lost glasses, one lens cracked, on the ground. It was a miracle that they hadn’t gotten stomped to pieces by the beasts.

I dove toward my glasses and snatched them up. Just as I straightened, I saw Cypress’s horse shoot straight toward me. Oh shit. Why did he come after me? I thought he had a quarrel with Ryder. The war horse was going to stomp me to a pulp, since its hooves were bigger than my skull.

My eyes widened as I ducked instinctively.

These motherfuckers were all ruthless and had no regard for life. I’d come to the Wild West at its worst, where there were no rules except the strong ruling the weak.

Ryder hacked his whip at Cypress from the side. For a frozen heartbeat, I looked on in horror, believing that he was going to cut me in half to get to his rival, considering me acceptable collateral damage.

Cypress slammed his light saber up against Ryder’s whip. At the same time, he leaned down from his horse to grab me, reaching me in a blink. He lifted me and deposited me roughly in front of him, my stomach pressing against the fur of the monstrous horse, my legs kicking.

“She’s mine!” Ryder roared in rage. “Give her back now if you don’t want war!”

Cypress’s minions threw some homemade grenades at Ryder, who tossed throwing stars at the bombs. Explosions boomed across the terrain, a cloud of dust and fire and smoke swirling into the sky.

Cypress whistled loudly and charged back, his team retreating in the opposite direction of the band of thick dust that made me cough.

I heard Ryder roaring and cursing behind me, chasing us. Cypress veered from his path, the clouds of dust obscuring everyone’s sight; the beasts were everywhere.

If I shouted for help, Ryder would find me, but I wasn’t exactly sure who the bad guys were here. Judging from how Ryder had treated me in the storm and briefly here, he didn’t have a shiny resume either.

Plus, I didn’t feel comfortable about my body’s stupid reaction to him. So putting some healthy distance between us could be a good thing, at least for me.

I squeezed my eyes shut to avoid the flying dust, grabbing the fur of the horse as it raced at high speed, clomping on the rocky land and jarring my bones painfully.

I really wanted this day to be over.

When I no longer felt the dust slashing into my face but felt only the harsh wind, I finally opened my eyes. Half a dozen riders had cleared a path, and the other half dozen covered our rear and sides, their light sabers keeping the beasts away. Yet hundreds of them still chased us. They really hated seeing their snack get away.

A black beast leapt toward us, but a rider shot the beast in the head. I wiggled on the horse’s back, trying to sit, since it’d be less likely a beast would bite my head off. They’d have to tackle down the monster horse first, and I’d seen how these equally bad-tempered horses kicked the beasts coming at them.

As I struggled to sit up instead of letting myself be treated like a sack of potatoes, Cypress didn’t bother helping me out. When I finally got myself sitting sideways and managed to stay on the horse, panting from my effort, he chortled behind me.

“You’re not all useless after all, doll,” he purred.

Another asshole then.

“I have a question for you,” I said, putting on my glasses and turning to narrow my eyes at him.

My perception zoomed back to normal. The wailing wind ceased to howl in my head. The colors and sounds of the world dulled to a familiar, comfortable level.

“What will I get out of it?” he asked half-arrogantly and half-curiously.

“What is this place?” I asked. “Assuming you know. From my observation, I bet this is the valley of beasts and camp of assholes.”

He laughed. “You got a mouth on you, doll.”

Without asking, he wrapped an arm around my middle. A shiver passed over me. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t exactly desire, yet it was something that I couldn’t put a name to. But I wouldn’t say that it was unpleasant.

The sensation was foreign and undefined. And one thing was sure—the male was as powerful as Ryder.

“I’m not your doll or anyone’s doll,” I said. “Ryder called me sparrow, and I expected you to be better than him.”

He regarded me, a cynical smile making his full lips even curvier.

“I’m better than him in every way,” he said.

“I mean when it comes to respecting a lady,” I said.

“Ryder has no regard for any lady, man, or god,” Cypress said, narrowing his eyes in disdain. “He respects nothing. He doesn’t even have self-respect.”

“That’s sad,” I said. “Back on track. What is this place?”

“Pandemonium,” he said with a shrug.

“A nickname?”

“No, this is the Pandemonium, the one and only.”

I frowned. I could never get a straight answer from these alpha-hole males, could I?

“Where are we going then?” I asked, prying his hand off my waist. “Don’t tell me we’re going to Pandemonium. The joke is getting old fast.”

“We’re heading toward the camp of assholes, as you call it.” He winked at me, but he didn’t insist on wrapping his arm around me again.

To my relief, despite his good looks and power and interesting personality, my sex didn’t ache for him as it did for Ryder, which was an absolutely poor choice.

“I don’t need to go to your camp, sir,” I said in a rush. “I’d appreciate it if you could just drop me off someplace that monsters don’t frequent, or better yet, at a place where storms might happen a lot.”

If I could catch a ride in a storm again, I might get back to the States, or any place but here.

“I’m afraid that you aren’t seeing the situation clearly, doll,” he said. “I caught you. I took you from Ryder, so you’re my slave instead of his.”

My jaw dropped. So Ryder hadn’t been trying to save me either. He’d meant to capture me as a slave, like his property.

What the fuck was this place with all these horrible men and wild beasts?

At my shocked look, Cypress chuckled in delight. “You can thank me for sparing you from that notorious high demon. You’d suffer a lot more in his hands.”

My heart sank into a pool of icy water.

“Demon?” I asked with a gasp. “Is that a figure of speech or a cursing word here?”

“I don’t do figures of speech,” Cypress said. “There’s no need. Ryder Nightstar is a demon and a terrible one at that. Even Hell rejected him two centuries ago and spat him into the Wild Hunt, where he deserves to be hunted again and again.” He sighed unhappily. “I just didn’t expect him to last this long.”

That was a lot of information to process.

Ryder was a high demon, like an archdemon from the myths. I’d sensed his power in the storm, unlike anything I’d ever felt. My body had basically begged to be fucked in his presence. He might be a sex demon then—a more accurate term was incubus.

I started to string things together from a vague memory.

I’d read somewhere about a demon prince being stolen from the Underworld two centuries ago, but I’d dismissed it as a mere legend like everyone else. Could Ryder be Lucifer’s grandson?

I shook my head. It was too much for my mind to wrap around.

“What is this Wild Hunt?” I fished for more information. I’d need to be up to speed with this new world if I wanted to survive.

Cypress stared at me, his indigo eyes so cold that chills slithered up my spine. “I’m not sure why you’re part of the hunt. Your arrival isn’t foretold, but I intend to find out. No one can hide their secrets from me.”

“I have no secrets,” I said. “I’m June, a nobody, from Earth. I stumbled here by mistake. I’m not from here and I don’t belong here.”

“Nice try,” he snickered. “I sensed something in you, but somehow, I can’t make you out. I’m the kind of male who never leaves a puzzle unsolved. And I don’t mind using extreme measures, like tearing things or persons of interest apart, in order to figure it out.”

I knew he meant every word. This was a male who had no mercy whatsoever. He was even worse than Ryder. Getting on his bad side wouldn’t be a smart move.

A scream rang out behind us.

“They got Quinn, my lord! The beasts tore him in half!” A full-bearded rider in armor rushed to our side, still shuddering. “The light sabers are losing effect.”

Cypress waved a hand dismissively, an annoyed look on his face.

“We’re almost at the edge.” That was all he said.

Another man fell and screamed as a group of beasts got to his horse first. I watched both the horse and the man disappear amid a swarm of beasts. The rest of the team yelled and kicked for their horses to go faster.

Cypress didn’t bat an eye at losing two of his minions. Some people regarded everyone as a tool, and he was one of those people.

“We’ve put enough space between us and Nightstar,” he said, turning his head toward the full-bearded rider. “His pride might hurt a little, but he won’t come for a mere pussy.”

The rider nodded as if pondering something profound. “It’s not his style. He treats pussies like dirt. Losing one is no fucking big deal.”

I’d been giddy that I’d gotten away from Ryder. Now I turned my head to look behind me. The dust settled, revealing a sea of beasts between Ryder and me. A sense of loss rose in my middle, but I snuffed it out before it could sadden me. I should be thankful that at least my body wasn’t on fire anymore. Even at this distance, I had this strange feeling that his eyes were zoomed in on me, searing with rage and desire.

“I have business to attend to,” Cypress said to his men. “I’ll be back when I’m back.”

“Yes, sir,” answered his men. “We look forward to your return, my lord.”

“And Halfdan,” Cypress told the full-bearded rider. “If she tries to escape, break her legs.”

Fear and rage knitted together in me. Before I could do something or say something to the dark lord, Cypress flung me from his horse toward Halfdan. I yelped, but Halfdan caught me.

So Halfdan was his second-in-command. He looked like a giant Viking. He wore an armored vest, leather shorts, and hunting boots. Two armguards wrapped around his bulky arms. His dirty-blond braids and beard were greasy. His lips were so fat that he gave off a greedy, lewd vibe.

“With pleasure, my lord,” Halfdan said as he parked me in front of him and shoved me forward so he could have more room.

I’d been dumped in a bad land full of bad men and bloodthirsty beasts. Reasoning with them would be stupid, and escape must be precisely timed.

In a flash, Cypress vanished, the scent of ambrosia and ice lingering in the air.

Did he possess a teleporting device? Ryder had also appeared and disappeared in the storm. If I wanted to get out of here, I needed to get one of the teleport gadgets or steal one. At this stage, I decided to abandon my moral compass and the rules that had guided my whole life.

Good girls never got to the finish line.

“How?” I stuttered. I must know. “Your lord just disappeared.”

I turned to study Halfdan’s forearms to see if a teleport device was fused to his armguards. He’d be my target if he had one. Then I immediately regretted it. His breath that stank of raw garlic blasted into my face.

“If you’re any smart, pussycat,” he said, pinching my cheek hard, “you should worry about how to please me when we get to the compound instead of digging your nose into his lordship’s business.”

I swatted his hand away, and he chortled. He grabbed my breast and squeezed it for the hell of it, daring me to defy him again. If I did, he was looking forward to inflicting more pain on me. I bet a motherfucker like him got off on abusing women.

I also did a reality check and knew that I wouldn’t be a match for these brutes who battled for a living. I might get myself killed if I wasn’t careful. So I swallowed my humiliation and restrained myself from making a sound as he kept squeezing my breast painfully.

This lot raced ahead, bellowing and kicking their beasts to get them to run faster. In no time, they put more distance between them and the horde of beasts.

I had to act now. I was a firm believer in kidnapping 101—never let the kidnappers drag you to their lair. I’d have a better chance with the beasts than with these bad men.

Ryder had forced me to see another reality when he tossed away my glasses that’d been shielding me for decades. The glasses had been dulling my abilities.

But this world was nothing like the one I knew. Here, the only language was violence.

To survive, I couldn’t be a normal good girl. I needed the raw version of me to take charge. I took off my glasses and carefully inserted them into the pocket of my jeans.

My perception shifted. Everything became clear and focused. I could see the far end of the terrain. Strength bubbled up, gathering in my middle.

Ignoring the rushing wind in my head, I turned, grabbed Halfdan’s hand, and twisted his wrist, unbelievably fast. While he howled in pain and shock, I wrapped my arms around the neck of the monster horse and lifted my torso, my feet kicking into the Viking’s chest with all I had.

He fell off the horse and bellowed in fury and pain. My heart skipped a beat at what I’d done, but then, I no longer gave a fuck. I nodded, telling myself that environment could change a person fast. Once I was in survival mode, I switched.

It was better him than me, and who knew what he and his pals had planned for me in their camp. I wasn’t going to take the chance.

I had no experience riding a monster horse, but I squeezed its sides with my thighs to make it run away from the Vikings, who turned to chase me.

A dart blurred past my ear. Letting out a curse, I crouched low against the horse’s neck, shouting for it to go faster.

Just as I turned to see how much distance I’d put between myself and the Vikings, a loop dropped over my head, settled around my middle, and bound my arms to my body.

A shaved Viking yanked the rope, tearing me off the horse’s back.

The men closed in on me on their monstrous horses. The shaved Viking dragged me behind his horse, not slowing down.

I had two options—keep up or die with my limbs and body parts littering the plain.

So I ran and once again surprised myself at my new speed.

Halfdan caught up with me, murderous fury in his eyes. Even his beard trembled in rage. He was on the back of another monster horse, the side of his face still bleeding. Well, he shouldn’t be that mad. He survived, didn’t he?

Yet there was no doubt in me that he’d retaliate. My future just got dimmer.

One step at a time, I told myself.

Right now, I’d better keep running until I couldn’t keep up with their speed.

I stumbled a few times. Halfdan and his gang laughed, enjoying the entertainment, though they all seemed surprised at my speed since I looked delicate.

A walled compound with a thirty-foot-tall watchtower loomed ahead. Two Viking guards stood on the platform with their bows and arrows ready. Three heads hung on the gray stone wall beneath them.

Despite the dread that filled me, I no longer had the strength to keep running.

I collapsed to the ground, my face planting into the hard dirt. The bald Viking and his monstrous horse dragged my weight through the gate.

Pain, exhaustion, and fear blanketed me, and then I blacked out.

CHAPTER 4

Pain sank into my consciousness, and I found myself inside a rusty iron cage that could accommodate two people if they bent at the knees.

My shirt was torn, half of the buttons gone. The skin on and beneath my elbows was mostly peeled off, and my arms were coated with blood and dirt. My bare foot that had no sneaker on was in the same condition.

I might have other wounds that I hadn’t realized, as my entire body ached, my muscles screaming, my bones bruised. The Viking’s horse had dragged me all the way here from the gate. If I hadn’t kept pace with the horse before we got to the gate, I might have lost a limb or two.

Shoving the pain to the edge of my mind, I took in my surroundings while trying to stay still and not make a sound. The last thing I wanted was to draw the barbarian Vikings’ attention to me in this hostile establishment.

The compound didn’t seem that big. My cage was placed in the center of the courtyard, hanging in midair from a pole. The watchtower was at my three o’clock, and now only one Viking was guarding it, bolts hanging from his shoulder.

At the back of the courtyard was a large stone flophouse. There was no refinement about it, and there was no greenery.

The wind howled, carrying the wails of the beasts from outside the walls.

It was dusk, deep pink splashing across the horizon. Then I noticed faint twin moons overhead. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach, which was already churning with apprehension.

This wasn’t Earth. The storm had brought me to another realm. Cypress called it Pandemonium.

My gaze crept to the firepits not far from my cage. The Vikings were telling vulgar jokes around the fire, laughing rowdily. Some of them were sharpening blades. Flames leapt from the pits. I could use a fire, as I was trembling in the cold, yet I wouldn’t dare make a move.

I counted eight of them perched on the chipped benches, drinking from their goblets. I sighed forlornly. I’d been dumped in a medieval age on an alien planet.

Stop being a whiner, June, I told myself. No one here would take pity on me anyway. I sucked in a pained breath, my mind running five miles a second, calculating my odds of escape.

“The pussycat is awake,” one of them said.

“She pretends to be sleeping,” another guffawed.

“She knows what’s coming for her. I hope she likes cocks.”

The Vikings laughed, clicking their goblets and drinking their brew.

The air smelled of dust, alcohol, urine, and men’s sweat.

“I can’t wait to study the flesh beneath her ridiculous clothes. I bet she bites. I prefer a pussycat that has good teeth.”

“The last one you had was missing a few.”

They laughed more.

“If Halfdan hadn’t been wounded, he’d have wanted the first pounding. It’ll take him a couple of days to recover.”

“That’s good for us. I haven’t had a cunt for two fucking months.”

“Here’s how it’s going to work. We draw sticks.”

Ice coursed through my veins. They were discussing gang raping me.

As the Vikings gathered to draw sticks, I studied the locked cage. Even if I could escape it, I wouldn’t get far. Not only was I wounded, but I was weaponless. I could probably take a weapon from the Viking who came to drag me out, but then they’d overpower me. They wouldn’t kill me right away, as they weren’t the merciful types, so I’d end up being raped while having a few more holes on my person.

The best plan was to refuse to leave the cage and stall for time.

Somehow, in the back of my mind, I bet that Ryder would come for me. Not that I was dear to him, but I counted on his pride. Arrogance poured off him from a mile away. His pride wouldn’t allow him to let his rival take me right from under his nose.

I’d hold on as long as I could.

When Ryder came and conflict broke out between the two gangs, I’d find my opening to escape.

A Viking stalked toward my cage, tattoos of an alien woman with three boobs stretching over his bulky forearms. He must have won the first right to rape me, since he grinned like an ape, his eyes so lustful that revulsion rippled over me.

My heart rammed into my ribcage. The nightmare was getting real.

He got close and flashed me a yellow smile.

“I’ll fuck you, pussycat, and my brothers will watch,” he offered, rubbing his crotch. “You’d better be wet so it won’t hurt too much.”

The men watched, still drinking, lust twisting their faces.

The Viking with bad-taste tattoos bent his head as he focused on unlocking the bolt on the cage.

“C’mon, Gorm, hurry up,” a man called impatiently from the fire pit.

I’d fight to stay in the cage, the only safe place for me at the moment. They couldn’t gang rape me in this tiny space.

My legs kicked out, my foot connecting with his jaw, sending him flying. The shocked look on his face mirrored mine, since I hadn’t expected I had such amazing strength in my legs.

Gorm sprawled on the ground before sitting up, his fingers touching the back of his head and coming away covered with blood.

“Fucking whore!” he spat.

A stunned silence was followed by the men’s laughter.

“We got a vicious pussy this time.”

“I hope she lasts longer than the other pussies.”

Three Vikings swaggered toward the cage. When the second man tried to unbolt the cage, I duplicated my move. He ducked, expecting my kicks. The element of surprise wasn’t on my side anymore. As he came closer again, I kicked wildly at him, the cage swinging back and forth.

Another Viking got his arm into the cage and wrapped it around my neck. I bit a chunk out of his arm. He howled in pain and let go. His fist rose to punch my head between the bars. I ducked. There wasn’t enough room in the cage; his next punch grazed the side of my cheekbone.

Panic rose in my throat. Tears flowed out of my eyes.

“Don’t fucking hit her head.” The shaved-head Viking grabbed Tattoos’ fist and snarled. “You want to fuck a corpse?”

More Vikings joined them, surrounding my cage, their hands thrusting between the bars. It was now a sport for them. While I was busy fending them off, Gorm got his hands on the bolt again and opened it. Two men grabbed my arms and pinned me against the cage.

I kicked. A Viking grabbed my feet and started to drag me out. If I was out of the cage, it’d be over for me. They’d rape me to death.

Rage boiled in my blood, and I opened my mouth and screamed.

The world froze for a second, and a shockwave spread.

The Vikings let go of me, dropped to their knees, and pressed their hands to their ears.

My scream had power! It could hurt them!

I blinked. Even if I was a human, I wasn’t normal. That was why Mom had moved us around a lot and insisted on me wearing the glasses and never drawing attention to myself. All those years she’d tried her best to shield me, so no one would know I was different and bring danger to our door.

“Fuck, we got a banshee!” Gorm said. “She’ll bring death.”

“We must kill her before she can do more harm!”

I screamed louder, and the Vikings started to bleed from their eyes and ears. Now was my chance to flee. I kicked the cage door open.

“Incoming threats!” the Viking from the watchtower shouted and started to shoot arrows outside the compound.

A returning arrow pierced him in the forehead, and he plunged from the tower.

An explosion erupted, and the gate tumbled down with a loud bang. Ryder led a team charging in. He sat tall on his black monster horse, his furious gaze falling on me right away. I was still screaming as I climbed out of the cage.

His men flanked him on their horses, regarding me and wincing at my scream before charging toward the Vikings. Some of them were suffering nosebleeds from my screaming as well.

Ryder narrowed his eyes. “You can stop shrieking now, sparrow. The sound is fucking unpleasant.”

I screamed more, since I didn’t trust him and his team either. I’d use my newfound sound weapon to disarm everyone and make my escape.

But then the sound died in my mouth, as if I had no more juice. My throat felt like it had been poked by a hot iron rod.

“We’re going to take a banshee with us, seriously?” asked a hazel-eyed man to Ryder’s left.

I gave him the evil eye. After what I’d gone through, niceness was no longer in my book.

He was also big and packed with muscles, but not as big or hard as Ryder. He had beautiful dark skin though. It appeared harsh weather and time hadn’t left a mark on him.

I rolled my eyes when he grinned at me, and he laughed.

Just another bunch of psychos. The world would be a better place without them.

Halfdan stepped out of the stone building, dragging a light saber behind him. He’d been bandaged up. Ryder didn’t seem concerned, and a flaming sword appeared in his hand out of thin air.

I’d come to Disneyworld, the Hell version.

“What is this, Ryder?” Halfdan shouted indignantly.

“What happened to you, Halfdan? You don’t look so hot when you’re all banged up,” said the hazel-eyed male.

A brown-haired male to Ryder’s right gave me a cool onceover before he turned to the Vikings. “He got beaten up by a girl.”

Halfdan ignored the taunt, though a muscle twitched under his left eye, which indicated his anxiety level.

“You want to start a war, Ryder?” Halfdan demanded. “We have a truce! Lord Cypress and you reached a temporary agreement five months ago!”

“Yet your lord broke it,” Ryder said lazily. “He initiated this conflict, and I merely answered it. He should never have taken my prize from me. Where’s Cypress? Call him out and let’s fucking settle this.”

I narrowed my eyes. I was no one’s prize, but I understood where these barbarians were coming from. They didn’t have much going on in this godforsaken place, so fighting over some nobody chick like me might be the highlight of their day.

“Lord Cypress isn’t available at the moment,” Halfdan said.

“Where did he go then?” Ryder asked, his face darkening. “How did he get out of this realm? One of these days I’ll dig out his dirty secrets, and he’s going to regret it.”

“It’s none of your business,” Halfdan said defiantly, but he took care with his tone. And when Ryder stalked toward him, he backed off, waving his light saber in front of his chest. “You want the banshee? Take her back.” He sneered. “But don’t blame me when she brings death and bad luck to your door. In her first hour here, she’s already brought trouble.”

His outlook on the world was vastly different from mine. But was I indeed a banshee? That didn’t sound flattering. My face burned with anger and humiliation while fear still pounded in me. Any woman would scream when they were about to be violated. And I hoped my shriek could kill all these bastards. I probably needed to practice my screaming and sharpen my weapon once I got out of here.

“I eat trouble for breakfast,” Ryder said, sending me a warning look, yet there was undeniable heat in his eyes.

My body responded to it right away; liquid flame started to lick my pussy, and I hated it.

“Bring her with us, Ink,” Ryder said, and the hazel-eyed male swaggered toward me.

The left side of his face and neck were covered with black tattoos of triangular waves.

Everyone trained their eyes on me, which made me uncomfortable and full of worry. This wasn’t the outcome I’d expected. I couldn’t believe this bunch of Viking scumbags had tried to gang rape a helpless woman and manhandled me so roughly, but they instantly cowered when the big predators came calling.

I’d planned to sneak away in the chaos when they engaged in a fight, so I needed to escalate their conflict.

I put up a hand and shouted at Ink, “Halt,” and turned to Halfdan. “Mr. Halfdan, I refuse to go along with Lord Cypress’s and your plan. I get that you guys want Ryder’s head, but I’m not exactly qualified to carry out an assassination mission. You both tried to convince me that I needed to appear as a damsel in distress and let them rescue me from the cage. Then as soon as your foes let their guard down, I should follow Lord Cypress’s instructions and slit Ryder’s and his men’s throats. Lord Cypress even tutored me to sleep with Ryder and then murder him in his sleep.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Halfdan demanded. “Shut the fuck up, little whore!”

I couldn’t be a whore when I was still a virgin, could I?

“Let her talk. What are you afraid of?” called a male who perched on the horse behind Ryder.

He had pale skin, dark hair, and sapphire eyes. As he pulled his lips into a snarl, I blinked. He had fangs. He looked like the bad vampire in Twilight.

“This happened before,” the vampire-looking guy added. “Cypress once planted a female spy among us and did us harm.”

I winced. “Lord Cypress demanded I report to him after you rescued me. This scene was a setup—me being in the cage and your brave men charging in to save me. They even advised me to drop a few tears.” I darted an angry, disdainful stare at Halfdan and his men, their faces turning purple at my accusation. If I crossed paths with them again, I’d knife every one of them. I’d figure out a way to kill them, as none of them deserved to live. “Lord Cypress told me that Ryder and his goons are very bad men, and Ryder is a terrible demon that even Hell doesn’t want.”

Dark fire burned in Ryder’s golden-blue eyes. I’d hit a nerve.

“You lying bitch!” Halfdan shouted at me.

“Nope,” I rebuked him. “And you’re disrespectful. Have you ever brushed your teeth even once? No one cares about hygiene here?”

I might sound ridiculous, but I was dealing with paranoid psychopaths, so I might’ve planted discord successfully. And when the two rival teams faced off, I counted on reasoning not being their strongest suit.

“Going with Lord Cypress’s plan is a suicide mission, and it’s my neck on the line, so I’m not okay with it. I don’t like to stab people in the back or cut their throats in their sleep, because that’s not the right thing to do. I’ll just shoot them in their faces, and Halfdan, will you and your men help me even the odds?”

I’d picked up the crossbow the fallen archer had dropped when Ryder broke into the compound. I’d handled weaponry plenty of times, thanks to Mom, so it was a no-brainer for me to use the crossbow.

I notched an arrow swiftly, held my breath, and shot Ink in the left thigh, though I didn’t use full force, so the arrow buried itself shallowly in the edge of his leg.

His eyes widened, and he cursed. “Lass, you shot me!”

“Sorry,” I said, smiling sweetly at him. “So sorry.”

Then I turned, raised the bow, and let another arrow fly. It pierced Gorm’s chest. He’d gotten the right to rape me first. Too bad it had just expired.

I’d just killed a man for the first time, but I killed a bad man.

I heard that once you took a life, everything changed. But I didn’t feel a thing, except the righteous fire igniting in my chest.

“Kill the banshee bitch!” Halfdan shouted.

“I decide who lives and who dies,” Ryder snarled.

Suddenly, he was in front of me, wielding his flaming sword to shield me.

The two sides crashed into each other.

I grinned. That was more like it.

I sprang toward the gate, then turned to blow a kiss in Ryder’s direction as he hacked at Halfdan as thanks for breaking down the door and taking out the Viking archer.

I tore through the gate and ran for my life and freedom.

CHAPTER 5

I ran, not caring where I ran to as long as I could get away from Ryder and the bad men’s compound.

The wind carried the faint sound of battle from inside the walls.

Amazing! Keep fighting to the end of the world, I prayed.

The blood-chilling yowls of the beasts also came this away. In cold panic, I changed direction.

Hunger and exhaustion turned my limbs to lead, but fear of being caught by either gang pumped strength into my legs.

I ran blindly until I spotted a temple-like structure against a darkening sky in the distance. There was no other landmark. I needed shelter before I collapsed. Without a second thought, I sprinted toward the temple.

My bare foot that was coated in dry blood hurt so badly. Why, why hadn’t I at least tried to find the other sneaker in the tent? One minute would have saved me a world of pain.

“Where are you going, sparrow?” a rich, husky voice taunted me.

I froze, my wounded foot slowly landing on the dead grass, and I turned to face Ryder.

How had he caught up with me so fast? I didn’t even see him coming. It was as if he’d just popped out of thin air. I eyed him wearily, cursing my luck. But at least he was alone, and he wasn’t on a monster horse. Maybe I could take him?

A girl gotta dream big.

“Shouldn’t you be busy fighting your foes and vanquishing them?” I asked, not hiding my irritation.

He arched an eyebrow. “And let you get away in the meantime?”

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” I said. “Just pretend you never met me!”

“But I did meet you, unfortunately,” he said ruefully. “You entered my territory without permission.”

“When did you claim this land?” I challenged then gave up. “Well, no need to answer. How about you escort me out of your land, or better, point me in the right direction so I can get out of your hair?”

“There’s no place you can go in this realm that isn’t mine,” he said.

“In that case, I bet Lord Cypress has also claimed the land. Perhaps you should take up your argument with him first.”

“That asshole isn’t around. He’s been very secretive lately. But haven’t his minions given you up easily?” He smirked and mocked me. “And you’re still a bad liar, sparrow. Trying to sell lies about Cypress getting you to slit my throat in my sleep to create a conflict so you could get away? You aren’t as smart as you think.”

I thinned my lips. “If you’re done with your insults, I have places to go and things to do.”

He chuckled. “What places? What things to do in this shithole? Where can you run? It’s an endless wilderness, the arena of the Wild Hunt. The temple you’re heading to? It’s my base.”

I gave the distant temple a longing and devastated look. It seemed to be the only haven. And I’d never return to Cypress’s compound. Now that I knew the temple belonged to another group of assholes, I just had to pick a third location. I would figure it out.

“Goodbye,” I said, turning in another direction.

“You’ll never make it out there,” he said confidently.

“That’s not your concern,” I said, not turning back or even looking at him over my shoulder. “May we never meet again!”

“Oh, you want to meet me over and over again, sparrow,” he said, and then he was in my face again.

He was toying with me. Life must be too boring with only his team, the lowlife Vikings, and the horde of beasts. So finally a woman—a virgin, actually, although he didn’t need to know that—had dropped out of the sky onto his lap, and he wouldn’t give up this opportunity to play with me. He was like a mutt with a bone. I had to get rid of him before his gang joined him. I still had a couple of advantages facing a lone hooligan.

I raised the crossbow and trained it toward his chest. “Move,” I said, pumping confidence I didn’t feel into my slightly trembling voice. “Don’t make me do this. I don’t want to hurt you, but if you push me, I’m afraid that I’ll have no choice. And believe me, it’ll hurt like a bitch when the arrow sinks into your well-proportioned torso.”

“Well-proportioned, really?” He smirked.

He didn’t take me seriously, and he took joy in insulting and toying with me. The Viking team was obviously composed of rapists, murderers, and psychos, but they were at least straightforward. This asshole wanted to play first before putting me down.

Despite the heat in his eyes, I also felt his vicious intentions toward me. But I couldn’t mark out what exactly those intentions were. I never liked confrontation, but today, I’d been forced out of my comfort zone again and again.

While I put on a brave facade, I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, hoping I’d be transported back to my familiar world. After this, I’d appreciate my life with Oliver even more. I’d be the best girlfriend. I’d give him my virginity, and I wouldn’t hesitate.

I regarded Ryder, his perfect torso clad in a leather jacket, his powerful legs, and the bulge in the front of his pants. My face flamed. My eyes darted away from him. Heat radiated in me, and in no time, my pussy throbbed for him.

I hated this reaction. I glared at him, and he smirked at me, waiting for my next move.

I bit my lip. I needed to end this soon and be on my way.

“Get the f—fuck out of my way!” I tried to sound vicious, but I might not achieve the effect I wanted as a soft-spoken girl. “This is the last warning.”

“You’re all bark—no, all chirp and no bite.”

I went to pull an arrow out of the quarry only to find there was no arrow. Frustrated, I tossed the crossbow at his face.

He caught it easily. I had no intention of engaging him further, so I ran.

He lunged at me. I fell, my hands flailing to try to slow my fall. He caught me before my face hit the rock and rolled me above him. The next second, I was beneath him, his weight on me, caging me.

He laughed, like a cat having fun with a mouse.

My face burned with rage, yet my desire for him skyrocketed, especially when I felt his hard length against my belly. It took everything I had not to writhe and wrap my legs around his waist.

“Neanderthal!” I hissed.

“Big word.” He smirked. “What else do you have to throw at me, sparrow?”

“I have nothing to say to you,” I said in disdain.

He bent down to sniff my neck, as if he liked my scent, or he wanted to figure it out.

I turned to bite him, but he lifted his head out of my reach. I thought about banging his nose with my forehead. He seemed to read me, vicious delight dancing in his golden-blue eyes.

“You’ll only hurt yourself,” he offered.

I bet he was right. So I gave up that move but gathered my strength to throw him off me, only to have him press into me.

My pussy was so wet that it was utterly humiliating. It was happening all over again like in the storm. I still couldn’t tell if he’d truly fucked me in that storm, but even if it had happened, it wouldn’t happen again.

I had a better grip on myself.

And I still had one more weapon to use. I opened my mouth to scream.

It was a good scream, all right, but it didn’t carry power. It sounded dry and pathetic and forced.

“Are you done?” he asked.

I shut my mouth, cutting off my scream.

Over my confused, outraged look, he offered, “Even if you’re a banshee, which I doubt, your power doesn’t work on me. I’m a dragon. My roar is louder than your shriek. Your scream only irritates me, and I’d have to knock you out and save us both some trouble.”

“Now you’re a dragon?” I snorted. “Cypress told me that you’re a demon.”

“That too,” he said derisively. “And not just any demon.”

The demon prince. Lucifer’s grandson. If such a fable was real.

Many eyes suddenly looked down at me. Ryder’s minions had caught up with us. The escape plan was impossible now.

Ryder rolled off me, and I struggled to sit up, still dazed. My face still flushed as if I had been caught, even though I didn’t do anything wrong.

“I have no quarrel with all of you,” I said. “Let me go my way. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Everyone says that,” the fanged dude said, showing me his fangs again.

I flinched.

“She shot me!” Ink complained.

“Settle that with her later,” Ryder said. “She’s here for a reason. She’s just another game piece, so we’ll need to take control of the situation.”

“She does look like the doppelganger of…”

“Could be a reincarnation,” another one said.

“We’ll deal with it. No one plays us,” Ryder said coldly. His demeanor changed completely. I felt his sudden hatred for me, cocooned with heat, which was even more dangerous. “It won’t happen again. She might act differently, but she could be Eva’s reincarnation.” His brutal gaze landed on me. “One wrong move and you’ll be sorry.”

Even though he was as cold as ice, my body still burned for him.

“Alistair, carry her. She can barely walk.”

“Let me drink her first,” the fanged male said. “I haven’t had fresh blood for a while.”

Cannibal and vampire?

“That’s not going to happen, Alistair,” Ryder said. “We don’t even know what’s in her blood.”

“Poison,” I offered. I really didn’t want the vampire taking a sip from me.

“I’ll carry her, even though she shot me,” Ink volunteered.

“You’re a shameless flirt,” Ryder rebuked. “You might be the weakest link among us, and she’ll work on you first. I don’t want history to repeat itself!”

“She looks fine,” Ink protested.

“She might look like a sweetie pie,” Ryder said. “But believe me, it’s all an act.”

Wasn’t he a sweetie pie himself?

“I’ll carry her then, and she shall ride with me,” said a male with a deep baritone voice.

He had light brown eyes and dark brown hair that fell to his broad shoulders. If one looked closer, his eyes kind of glowed. But somehow, I didn’t know why, I trusted him right away. In my bones, I knew that he might be the only one who would protect me in this place. I just hoped my gut feeling wasn’t wrong.

“I’m Fang.” He turned to me. “I’m a wolf shifter.”

He had manners, and I remembered mine.

“June Winters from Earth,” I said. “I’m human.”

He smiled at me. “That remains to be seen, June Winters.”

He stretched out a hand, and I took it. Swiftly, he brought me to his horse, and I perched behind him easily.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Humans aren’t this lithe.”

“I’m not a banshee!” I protested.

He chuckled, and so did Ink, who rode by our side.

“I think you’re my kind, June,” Fang said, then sniffed and shook his head. “But I can’t make out your animal. This is interesting. She’s either dormant, or something is preventing your animal from manifesting.”

“I’m a plain human girl, sir,” I said. “I have a life on Earth, a good life. And I intend to—”

Suddenly Ryder was in our faces, riding on his monster horse, which looked meaner and larger than the other monster horses. His horse gave me a hard look and shoved Ink’s aside.

“Asshole,” Ink murmured.

“Trying to gain my men’s sympathy?” Ryder growled. “Think you can pull that stunt again and seduce them, so they’ll eat from your palm?”

What the fuck was that?

“I’m seducing no one,” I said, my face red. “I don’t even know how! I’ve never done that to anyone, not even to my boyfriend. Oliver picked me. And all my life, I’ve had only one boyfriend, and we’ve only been dating for seven months! I’m not an expert in the art of seduction, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“See how good she is?” Ryder sneered, then turned to Fang. “She’ll ride with me. Her tricks won’t work on me.”

He grabbed my arm roughly and lifted me. Before I could kick him, I was parked in front of him on his horse. His breath, warm, clean, and minty, tickled my neck. I lost my train of thought for a while.

The horses shot toward the temple, faster than arrows, kicking up dust behind them.

A sea of beasts gave chase. In the movies, it would look spectacular, but in reality, it was terrifying.

Without intending to, I leaned back against Ryder to feel safe, and he instantly wrapped an arm around my waist, as if he couldn’t help it.

“Is this really Pandemonium, Fang?” I called. “It’s like a place of horror plucked out of time and space.”

“Welcome to Pandemonium,” Ryder answered with a cold, mocking tone. “The original arena of the Wild Hunt. I hope you like it here, sparrow.”

CHAPTER 6

I pried his arm from my waist and edged my butt toward the front to put some distance between us and to show him how I felt about his proximity to me. My body protested instantly at the lack of contact; it especially liked his erection pressing against the small of my back. I clenched my teeth and scolded it.

How could it feel so right and delicious to be in his arms while he was so deranged? There must be something fundamentally wrong with me. And despite his dislike of me, his body responded to me differently.

“Do you want to fall off the horse?” he snorted.

“That’s not your concern.”

“Oh, it is my concern, since you’ve become a game piece.”

“What’s your deal?” I said. “I’m not a game piece or any piece. You mentioned Eva or Eve. Whatever she did to you or your men, it has nothing to do with me. I’m not her! I’ve done nothing wrong to you or your men! I have a boyfriend, and I don’t intend to cheat on him. So you and your men should not worry about me being a seductress. I’m not even good at people skills.”

“So you say,” he said.

“You’re crazy.”

“You have no idea.” He huffed.

“Why don’t you put me back on Fang’s horse?” I demanded.

“Already getting cozy with Fang?” He sneered, yet there was a hint of jealousy in his voice. “Nice try, sparrow. He might have a soft spot for you, but I don’t. Mark my words. I’ll be watching your every step so my men won’t fall for your stunt this time around. You need to tread carefully if you don’t want to get on my bad side.”

“I’m already on your bad side.”

“You have no idea what it’s really like to be on my bad side,” he said.

Anger pulsed in me. “If you’re so worried about me, why don’t you send me back to my world, so you’ll never see me again, and the temptation will never take place?”

His arm wrapped around my waist again possessively, as if he couldn’t bear the prospect of me leaving. My mind was furious, yet my body purred. It urged me to sit on his lap and feel his erection up close and personal.

“You don’t tell me what to do,” he sneered. “You’re at my mercy, and you’d be better off remembering that, sparrow.”

I wanted to snap at him, but my attention turned to the broad terrain as I tried to memorize the landmarks for my future escape. To my dismay, we were crossing one chasm after another. No way would I be able to cross this plain on foot. My heart was halfway in my throat as I watched the monster horses leap in an arc and land on the other side of each chasm. One mistake and we’d fall into the abyss. Yet none of the riders seemed concerned.

I’d have to learn to ride a monster horse in Ryder’s camp, so I might have to stay on his good side by not talking back, lowering my eyes, and playing meek until the day I had all the skills I needed to get away.

I hadn’t been prepared for this life, but this was my reality now, so I had to deal with it to the best of my ability.

As the temple loomed ahead amid the ruins, the monster horses slowed down to an easy trot.

“You don’t have walls?” I whined in a high-pitched voice. “The beasts can swarm over us easily!”

“Complaining again?” Ryder retorted.

“I’m just a little concerned.” I then asked, “So this is your home?”

Cypress had mentioned that Ryder had been trapped here for two centuries to be punished. I wanted to ask him about it, but I bet he’d give me attitude.

“We have no home,” he snapped.

“Oh, that’s sad,” I said without much sympathy since he didn’t deserve it.

“Why do you care?” he sneered.

“I bet you don’t have much to do here,” I said. “So, at least you should’ve bettered your defenses and built walls or something, so you can sleep a little more peacefully at night.”

“There’s no peace in this land, sparrow,” he said. “But we sleep just fine. If you think you can sneak up on us and slit our throats, you should forget that idiotic idea right now.”

“You know,” I tilted my head, “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“I’m one of a kind,” he bragged.

“Who has a hearing impairment and is addicted to listening to his own voice,” I said.

Ink roared with laughter while Ryder growled.

“We implanted sensors around the perimeter that can detect intrusion,” Fang chimed in.

“Good for you,” I said. “And then you’ll run when danger comes?”

“Who said anything about running? We don’t run from anything,” Ryder rebuked me.

“It’s amazing that you never stop being delightful,” I said.

Even Fang chuckled.

A silver-haired male riding behind us remained silent. During the whole journey, he hadn’t said a word. He was even more graceful than Alastair and also more aloof. When I glanced at him, I noticed his turquoise eyes and pointed ears. If this lot was made up of supernaturals, then he was probably a fae, which fit the descriptions in an old book about supernatural profiles I’d read a long time ago.

“I hope you’ll still be so mousy after you know what’s waiting for you, sparrow,” Ryder purred viciously.

At his words, his men suddenly looked sullen. My heart sank as anxiety brewed in my middle.

“Don’t worry, sparrow,” Ink offered, using the demeaning nickname Ryder had given me. “We have electronic devices embedded in the ground that can drive away the beasts. We bought them from the off world. Cost us an arm and a leg.”

I perked up immediately. This barbarian world was a blend of cavemen and futuristic style. They had advanced tech that even Earth didn’t possess.

“Please call me June,” I said. “June Winters.”

If you kept reminding psychopaths that you were a person, they were less likely to harm you.

“Were your born in summer or winter, June Winters?” Ink asked flirtatiously.

Ryder growled.

Ink rode a pace behind us to the left, and Fang did the same to the right.

I turned to offer Ink a smile. This group hadn’t shown any interest in raping me, and I’d keep it that way. Women might be in short supply in this land, so I’d need to constantly remind them that I was just like their little sister, if they had any.

“Good question,” I said. “Yes, I was born in June, though my last name is Winters.”

Ryder growled again, not pleased at me beaming at his team. He turned his horse to block my view of his men, especially Ink.

It wouldn’t stop me.

“Did you say off world, Ink?” I shouted my question over my shoulder. “Where is it?”

For the first time, I got my hopes up. Even if the storm didn’t come my way again in this godforsaken place, I still had a way out.

“On another planet,” Ink shouted into the wind.

My eyes brightened, and a plan formed. If I could get to the other planet, I might be able to initiate contact with Earth, and I’d be the first one to discover and make contact with alien life forms from another planet. Think of the significance—this was bigger than chasing storms!

“How do you get there?” I shouted another question, trying to sound casual. “You trade there? It must be nicer than this place, right? Why did you return here?”

“No one leaves the Wild Hunt,” said Fang gloomily. “We’ve all been bound here for over a century.”

Cypress hadn’t been joking when he said Ryder had been here for two centuries. So the rest had been trapped here for over a century. How could they stand it? And the men didn’t look one year over thirty and were all hot as fuck.

Maybe this place was truly out of time. After what happened with the storm, any bizarre phenomenon was possible.

I felt sorry for them, but I wasn’t bound to this place. I just needed to go with them to the off world and then take off. Maybe I could send word to their loved ones if they had any?

“When will you go to the off world next time?” I pursued.

“Thinking of escape already, sparrow?”  Ryder said sourly. “There’s no escape for anyone from Pandemonium.” He let out a low, vicious chuckle, intending to see me crushed at the news. “Not for you either.”

This time, he sounded threatening.

He made me want to hit him, but I breathed in and out to calm myself. I’d try to interact with him as little as possible. It wouldn’t do me any good to get into constant fights with him. This dude was a ticking bomb.

I’d get everyone’s story as to how they’d landed there. I bet everyone came from somewhere. And even if they’d given up, I wouldn’t. I’d fight with my last breath to find a way home.

“So you say,” I said dismissively. I’d prove him wrong.

Ryder wasn’t going to be of any help, so I wouldn’t waste time on him. It was easier said than done though, since my body burned for him. This treacherous body had never craved my nice boyfriend, but I vowed to make it surrender to Oliver when I got home.

My body didn’t respond to Ryder’s men either, even though every one of them was smoking hot. I just didn’t get why my body was so shameless and stupid. Ryder treated me the worst in the group, and he despised me.

As if answering me, Ryder’s arm around me tightened, sending a pleasant buzz down to my toes, making me crave more. I realized that his body burned for me just as much as I did for him, and he didn’t like it either. So, we were both at war with our bodies.

As we rode into the ruin, I noticed several red beams along the perimeter flaring before turning green after we passed through the boundary.

So, those were the defensive sensors that Ink had talked about, and Fang had said that they were like a force field. My nerves eased a little. I hoped it held for all of our sakes.

A movement drew my attention as the dark red door to the temple flew open and a gorgeous woman stepped out as if she owned the realm.

CHAPTER 7

She was the most stunning woman I’d ever seen, even though I was looking at her through my cracked glasses I’d put on while on the ride. Thank God the glasses were still with me. I still wasn’t used to the world being so brutally intense, and the glasses dulled any overwhelming sensation.

This knockout could be named the queen of the supermodels or the sexiest woman alive according to Earth culture. She was tall, graceful, and with curves any woman would envy. But I didn’t feel jealous of her beauty. It might have something to do with my upbringing. Mom had always wanted me to look average, so I could blend in. At an early age, I’d also learned it was useless to envy others for having things I didn’t possess.

She wore a red gown with a plunging neckline that showcased two-thirds of her perky breasts. It also had high slits that displayed her shapely thighs.

I didn’t understand why she dressed like that. There was nothing going on in this land, other than the five hot dudes in this camp and the Viking rapists from the other camp. Maybe she was dressed up for the off world. My pulse spiked at the idea of going there.

I would behave and try to gain favors from the men, so they’d let me tag along next time they traveled to other planets. Only then would I make my grand escape, assuming no storm came along in between.

My gaze darted to the woman again. She was a sight to behold. Other than her great body, she had the finest creamy skin and most sensual, full lips. Her eyes were like pure green gems. Her blond hair flowed to her ankles, not one lock out of place. That was amazing!

How did she even manage that? Compared to her, my red hair was wild, and I couldn’t exactly blame the storm. No one could really tame my hair. I used to wear a baseball cap just to get it under control, and with my thick eyeglasses, I looked like a total nerd. Well, I was a nerd.

If I were a guy, I’d have stuttered while staring at her, “Fuck, who’s that?”

I smiled at her, happy that I wasn’t the only female in this land of barbarians.

I turned around to see the other guys’ reactions toward her, and they all appeared apathetic. Now I felt sorry for them. They no longer possessed the ability to appreciate beauty after being stranded here for so long.

I was dying to see how Ryder reacted to that beauty in red. Was she his girl? At the thought, a sudden stab of jealous rage shot through me.

What the fuck?

He wasn’t even mine, and he despised me. I’d vowed to have nothing to do with him as well. He hadn’t offered me one single kind word other than trying to control me so I “would do no harm to his men.”

So where did this ridiculous possessiveness come from?

The woman swept her green gaze over the returning team with a tinge of haughtiness before fixing her eyes on Ryder again. Heat, longing, and annoyance seared her beautiful eyes.

She was hot for him, and everyone could see that. But who could blame her? When women looked at Ryder, the first thing they thought about was dirty sex. I’d done the same. Yet it irked me to see this woman act possessively toward him, and I was even more upset that it bothered me.

Her gaze fell on his arm that was wrapped around my waist, and her eyes flashed with venom.

Had I just made an enemy?

I didn’t intend to. I’d like to form a sisterhood with her. We girls should stick together in this wilderness ruled by men, right? I’d find a chance to tell her that she never needed to worry about me taking her man since I wasn’t that kind of person, and Ryder hated my guts before he even knew me, and it wasn’t going to change.

I was dragged here, and I had no interest in competing with her. She could have all the adoration and attention. I just wanted to go back to my world.

Let her get into his pants for all I care—well, maybe she had already.

Yet bile rose to the back of my throat at the image of her and Ryder tangling beneath the sheets.

She descended the stairs, her hips swaying. Her gown swished around her legs as she glided forward. Only then did her gaze flicker to my face for a second, then she dismissed me altogether. Sure, I couldn’t hold a candle to her, and I was okay with that.

“You brought a girl here, Ryder,” she said, her voice musical and her chiding tone seductive. “Is that wise?”

“Why wouldn’t it be wise, Lilka?” Ryder asked roughly, staying on his horse, but he loosened his arm around me. To my surprise, that disappointed me.

“We don’t want history to repeat itself,” she said. “Remember Eva!”

“That’s for me to worry about,” Ryder grated. “And it won’t repeat itself. I won’t allow it.”

“Yet you ride with her, and she looks just like that bitch Eva,” she said.

Here it was again: Eva. Ryder tensed behind me, and the men quieted.

“I don’t know who this Eva is or what she did to you guys,” I said, “but I’m not her.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Lilka hissed. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“You referred to me,” I said. “I’m right here. Look up.”

I might be a timid person who hates confrontation, but I’d never backed down from a bully. My plan of befriending her vanished. It was unnecessary being mean to me since she obviously didn’t regard me as a threat. It wasn’t my fault that I also had tits. She was just one of those women who considered anyone who had tits her rival.

“How dare you?” she demanded, a blade suddenly coming out of her knuckles.

My face paled a little. Maybe I shouldn’t piss her off.

“Back off, Lilka,” Fang said before Ryder opened his mouth. “We didn’t go through the trouble of retrieving her just for you to slay her.”

I swallowed. She really meant to kill me if Fang hadn’t stopped her. I needed to keep her at arm’s length, and I needed to practice with a sword again soon.

“Then you should’ve just left her in the green dragon’s lair,” she said. “Let those bear shifters have some fun with her.” I blinked. Those lowlifes weren’t Vikings but bears. “And we could’ve taken them all down while they were at it.” A wicked light glinted in her eyes. “But you had to bring her here, even though you knew it’s not the right thing to do. Oh, I get it. Ryder won’t touch her since she isn’t his type, and she doesn’t look like much. But she still has tits, and you boys haven’t had a bitch for a while.” She cocked her head to the side. “Are you planning to share her? I can watch. As I said, it’s been a while.”

Rage charged through me, making my chest burn. I wanted to jump off the horse and kick that bitch in the jaw and knock out some of her teeth to ruin her beauty.

Mom taught me to control my anger and never act on it no matter how provocative my opponent was.

Lilka happened to ask a tough question that I wanted to know the answer to. I needed to know Ryder and the men’s true intentions toward me, so I held back and waited. While I tried to relax my body and rein in my anger, I felt a rumble vibrating from Ryder’s chest. I wasn’t sure if he was upset about her suggestion of the men sharing me or that she wanted to watch, but I was more concerned about my fate in this new camp. Whatever came out of the men’s mouths would decide my next move.

I had a feeling that Fang would help me, but if the men intended to rape me and drink from me, I’d have to scream to disable them, then stab them, and then get the hell out of here like I’d done in the other camp.

“We don’t do that in this establishment,” Fang snapped. “And you know better than to insult us, siren.”

Siren? No wonder she was gorgeous. Seducing men was part of her resume, so why didn’t Ryder get on her case instead of accusing an inexperienced virgin like me?

My heartbeat evened. At least no one would rape me.

“Testy, wolf.” Lilka clicked her tongue. “It’s not like you guys have never shared a woman before. Actually, it happens often. Am I right, Ryder?”

“Quit your games, Lilka,” Ryder said acidly. “My brothers might have shared a few women in the past, but they never forced anyone.”

“I bet that mousy bitch will open her legs wide for anyone who wants her.” Lilka trained her hard green eyes on me. She really hated me at first sight.

“Speak for yourself, c—cunt,” I snapped. I’d never used the c-word before. It sounded so awful, but it seemed fitting to use it on her. “You’re being unnecessarily nasty.”

Ink let out a low chuckle. Men in any corner of the world loved to see a catfight. But I believed that he was laughing at how awkwardly I’d tried to force out the curse.

“Don’t forget that Eva happened,” Lilka said, ignoring me as if I wasn’t worth her breath and looking straight at Ryder. “I might come off strong, but all I want is to protect all of us. Eva acted exactly the same way when she came to our humble home, and she turned our world upside down. You all know that! She easily manipulated everyone, including you, while getting your men to fight over her. She maimed me when I tried to stop her. I warned you back then, but you refused to listen. If you’d listened to me and gotten rid of that whore earlier, Bo, who was more than a brother to you, would still be alive today.”

Somehow, I could sense Ryder’s guilt turning to hate, then his hatred poured off him, aiming at me. Lilka excelled at manipulating him and evoking his anger, and I was out of my depth in every aspect in this hostile land.

“I haven’t forgotten a thing and never will,” Ryder spat, letting go of my waist.

My body whined at the lack of contact and the coldness it suddenly brought. He shoved me forward roughly, and my face smashed into the neck of the horse. The rough fur pricked at my eyes and made them water.

I raised my head and wiped away my tears, only to see Lilka looking at me with vicious satisfaction.

“I won’t let the same harm come to any of you,” Ryder said, his voice hard as ice. “The last thing I’ll do is let Jules—”

“It’s June,” I corrected him, my jaw clenched.

I hated people calling me Jules.

He grabbed my shoulder hard to warn me. “I won’t allow June, Jules, sparrow, or whatever she calls herself this time to cause harm. She’ll pay for her sins here. This is another nasty game the gods initiated, but I’ll show them how I treat their puppet. She’ll regret that she’s ever come here, and she’ll find out what cruelty truly means.”

“Game on then,” Lilka crooned, her red lips tilting up in a sexy smile, which only turned my stomach, as I now knew how nasty she was. “Let’s beat the gods this round and turn their games against them. We’ll have the final laugh.”

Early on, I’d heard mention of the Wild Hunt several times. I didn’t know what it was other than it sounded bloody and violent. I had no idea what Lilka was talking about and why they kept bringing up the subject of games, but I knew she was speaking to Ryder in his language, which must have sounded like music to his ears. She knew exactly how to make him dance to her tune.

That was how a siren seduced, wasn’t it?

She pouted her enticing lips, as if waiting for a kiss. “When it’s over, Ryder, what reward will I get?” Her green gaze glued to him, simmering with heat. She looked at him like he was her whole world.

I balled my fists as a sudden hotness burned my chest. I didn’t want him to go to her, even though I told myself that I wanted nothing to do with him.

“You’ll finally be free, just like everyone else in my team,” Ryder said. “That’s my vow to every one of you, and it hasn’t changed.”

He swung his leg over his monster horse and alighted lithely on the ground. Lilka glided toward him eagerly. Before her fingers could reach to trace his cut chest, he turned to me, his golden eyes merciless and cold.

“Don’t ever think you’re a guest here, Jules, or that you’ll have my men eating off your palm. You’re a slave here. You’ll cook for us and clean up after us to earn your keep. If you cause trouble like that bitch Eva did, I’ll not just end you. I’ll make you beg me to end you.”

“I have no doubt that you’ll be all charming, chivalrous, and delightful,” I said, my voice laced with sarcasm. “I have no other opinions concerning you after being in your presence for merely two seconds. But on a second note, why don’t you save yourself some trouble when it comes to me? Toss me out of your keep and let me survive on my own. I’ll probably perish sooner than you expect. Doesn’t that satisfy you more?”

“Want an easy way out, sparrow?” Ryder snorted. “You won’t get it.”

“I’ve obviously been sent to hell,” I murmured. “How much worse can it get?”

“This will be worse than hell for you,” Ryder said.

“Certainly,” I snorted. “You’re an amazing chap, truly one of a kind. Do you know that?”

I wanted to yell, “Bring it on, bitches,” but I was afraid he might strike me.

The men had all gotten off their horses.

The silver-haired fae glanced at me, then at Ryder, and said without emotion, “There’s one person who actually doesn’t fear you one ion.”

That was the first sentence I’d heard him say. He then led his monstrous horse toward the back of the temple without looking back.

“She hasn’t learned to fear me yet, but she will,” Ryder said in disgust. “Get her out of my sight.”

“I’m gleeful to be out of your sight,” I offered. “You don’t need to yell.”

I peeked at the ground, pondering how to get off the horse that was over six feet tall. There was no saddle, reins, or stirrups. And I doubted I had any power left, especially with my glasses on. With all eyes on me, the last thing I wanted was to take them off and reveal something about myself.

I hugged my arms around the horse’s neck. It turned its head and snapped at me, seemingly wanting to bite me.

“Nice monster,” I crooned. “Very nice monster, you don’t want to bite me. Your hilarious leader will tell you that I have poison in my blood, sweetie. So be careful.”

Ryder glared at me.

I let go of the horse’s neck, moved along on its back, and slid down. The horse jerked away, and I nearly fell on my ass, but then Fang was there, holding my elbow.

Embarrassed, I murmured my thanks. When I steadied myself, Ryder was nowhere to be found. It was like a blink and he was gone.

Unfortunately, Lilka was still in my face. She focused on me like a vulture on a bunny, seeking my weakness and ready to pin me down any second. Well, with my glasses on, all she could see was my weaknesses. I didn’t mind even a little bit that she already underestimated me.

“Come, June,” Fang said. “I’ll take you to your room. You must be hungry.”

“Thank you, good sir.” I nodded, my throat tightening with gratitude. “I’m very thirsty too.”

I didn’t remember when I’d last eaten a meal. I was running on fumes, and I’d soon crash if I didn’t have food in my stomach or get some sleep.

I only hoped that Fang wouldn’t turn out to be a psycho later on, as he was the only one I could probably count on not harming me.

In a place like this, I was in dire need of a friend.

CHAPTER 8

I woke up to the baying of the beasts, some even sounding like infants crying in the middle of the night. I could almost understand them, as if they longed to return home but there wasn’t one.

They were as trapped as me, as all of us.

Chills slithered up my spine, especially when I realized that they were close—so close it felt like they were right outside my room.

I took in my surroundings. I was on my back on a rough hay bed in a corner, an old blanket tugged over my chest. There was nothing else in this small stone-walled room.

This must be the servant room.

My body had failed me and given in when Fang said he was going to bring me to my room. He must be the one who had carried me here.

I’d wished with all my heart that when I woke up, all this would be a bizarre, bad dream, and I could laugh at it with Oliver then completely forget about it. I’d keep Ryder and all things about him in a box buried deep within the earth and hope never to remember how my pussy throbbed for him.

A tear fell from the corner of my eye as gritty reality swept back to hit me in the face. My sole purpose here was to keep breathing and try to survive another day.

I sat on my knees, listening to the yowls outside. I could never get used to this. The room had no window and no door. As the beasts’ howls quieted a little, I picked up the sharp sounds of blades crossing and men cursing and shouting.

Had the Vikings—no, bear shifters—come to raid already?

Where was I supposed to hide? I studied my hay bed. It wasn’t thick enough to hide under. Plus, I couldn’t really hide here. Trouble would find me. Even a storm had singled me out.

I moved to the ground. Someone had taken off my sole sneaker, and now I was completely barefoot. I checked myself quickly. My wounds seemed better, but I really needed to get myself cleaned up.

I stood on the icy ground, trying to orient myself, trying to figure out what I was going to do next. My mind came up blank; hunger and thirst dominated my thoughts. I straightened my shoulders, pushed the glasses up on my nose, and stepped out of the entrance.

The stone temple was evidently battered by weather and time, but it still stood strong. Outside the room was a stone stand. On top of it was a man’s gray shirt, folded and apparently clean. It must be for me. Had Ryder left a shirt for me? I shook my head. Not in a million years would he do even a small nice thing for me. It must’ve been Fang.

I urgently needed to get out of my dirty clothes. Holding the clean shirt, I kept walking down the corridor as quietly as I could, which didn’t take much effort as I wore no shoes. I just needed to suppress my gasps as my bare feet hit the cold, rough ground.

Soon, I heard the faint sound of water, nearly drowned out by the beasts’ howls. That was why I hadn’t heard it in the first place. Following the sound, I came to a small conclave.

So far, I hadn’t bumped into anyone, and I was glad of that. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this—I could only imagine how dirty and bedraggled I looked.

I traipsed to the end of the conclave, the sound of water growing louder. I descended the winding stairs. As I stood at the bottom, I stared at the open space in awe. A small waterfall made a natural pool in the cave.

This place made no sense, but I wasn’t going to complain about this small miracle—this natural bath chamber. I rushed toward the pool, swiftly peeled myself out of my filthy clothes, and jumped into the water. It was icy, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I was still thankful though.

A smile curled on my lips when I spotted a bar of soap placed on the bank. I didn’t even care who had used it as I grabbed it to lather up my body. In another place and another time, I’d never use a soap used by others. While I trembled in the icy water, I quickly snatched up my dirty clothes. After I washed them, I laid them on a large rock by the pool. I’d have to wear them again, especially my underwear.

I also needed to study where the water came from; I could probably follow it out of here. But from what I could see, there was just a waterfall cascading from the cave wall. It was as if magic or some kind of power had put the cave, waterfall, and pool here.

The water was heavenly, but it was chilly. Suffering from exhaustion and hunger, I didn’t have enough body heat to keep me warm, so I didn’t linger in the pool.

There wasn’t a towel around, so I shrugged on the shirt. Its hem draped only a couple of inches below my ass. Then another gritty reality hit me. I bet that I was the only servant here, so the task of laundry would fall on my shoulders. I doubted this bunch had a washer and a dryer. This place didn’t even seem to have electricity.

As a city girl, I’d taken everything for granted in my modern world.

The temple proved to be bigger than it looked from outside. I paced along another corridor.

Four rooms lined up on one side, their wooden doors closed. I wondered if those rooms belonged to Ryder and his team. Four rooms for six of them? But at least they got doors.

This section appeared better maintained. It was no surprise that I’d been tossed in the worst room as a servant. In fact, the term slave was more proper, since I didn’t suppose Ryder would pay me. Even if he had a conscience—I sneered at that—and he paid me, where would I even spend the money? His currency was as useless as a piece of paper. To add salt to the wound, I was also their prisoner.

I fought the urge to push open a door and see for myself if the others had a mattress. It was awfully uncomfortable sleeping on a pile of hay. But I didn’t want to be caught snooping around. I’d always been a good girl who followed every rule. Poking around and going through other people’s things made me nervous.

The beasts’ renewed howls pounded on the temple’s stone walls, setting my heart beating wildly. I darted my eyes around and found a crack between the layers of stone. I rushed to the spot, pressed my face against the stone to get a better look, and peeked outside through the fracture.

Just as I’d feared, a host of beasts surrounded the temple. A few bold ones inched closer and breached the perimeter. A ray of crimson light flared, and the beasts that tried to get into the ruins were flung away by an unseen barrier.

Thank god the force field held. But another dark thought crossed my mind. What if the beasts kept throwing themselves at the force field and overloaded it? Everything had an expiration date. I swallowed, worry sinking into me. I only hoped that I could escape this realm before that happened. I needed to have a conversation with Fang. Perhaps we could find a way of leaving together, even though they’d all said that no one ever escaped Pandemonium, the origin of the Wild Hunt.

Wind blew in through a side wall, and I noticed a bigger gap in that wall. I scrambled toward it and peeked outside.

Holy shit!

The men were training, and they were all topless and hot as fuck!

Ryder was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Ink and Alistair. He hadn’t bothered introducing any of his men to me. The men didn’t bother either. I had a hard time thinking of myself as a servant, but I was one in their eyes. While they enjoyed being my masters, I’d spit in their food in the kitchen before I served them the dishes!

Thinking of spitting in their food made me feel a bit better, but then I felt awful. I was going to be stripped of everything that I was in this place. I might become a very bad person if and when I returned to my own world.

Ryder booted Ink in the left knee while twisting his torso, ducking a blow from Alistair, then feigned a punch and threw the vampire at Ink. His opponents crashed into each other, unable to stop the momentum.

Then Ryder punched both of them in the temples.

“You cheated, Ryder!” Ink called in outrage, and Alistair hissed, baring his fangs at Ryder.

With my glasses on, I had a hard time following them, since they all moved much faster than normal speed, and I wasn’t willing to take the glasses off. I knew they had become my crutch, but they were also the only thing I had that connected me to Mom. Everything else had been burned in that cabin fire that had also taken Mom. I should never have tried that sleepover at Emily’s house, but I’d been so desperate to make friends.

If Ryder thought he was the only one who knew about guilt and pain, he had no fucking idea. And they never got better and never went away.

I let the familiar ache run through me, watching coldly as Ryder taunted his opponent.

“Don’t expect fairness in any games,” he said. “Think the gods will be fair to you, to us?”

“This is a warm-up training, jerk,” Alistair said. “Not everything is a game.”

“Everything is a game to Ryder.” Ink chuckled darkly. “We thought he’d relax a little in time, but he got even more paranoid.”

I nodded in agreement. Like how he’d accused me of things I’d never done and warned me not to cross the line when I didn’t even know where the line was. Even his buddies knew he was certified crazy. Too bad the good looks and hot body were wasted on him. They should go to someone who was nice and sane, someone who deserved them.

“Especially with the new girl here,” Alistair added drily.

I jerked back as if I had been slapped. Why me? What did it have to do with me? The vampire was nuts as well. Fang was probably the only one who still held it together.

A few paces away, Fang and the fae male were parrying with broadswords. They should probably use a blunt practice blade for safety’s sake. Even then, it’d hurt like a bitch to take a hit.

I’d prided myself as a black belt, and Mom, who had been an excellent swordswoman, had trained me in swordplay for a decade, but I’d never liked using a sword. I’d mostly played with a spear or sanjiegun.

Now, looking at the men lunging at each other with that kind of strength and speed on the training field, I realized I was lacking. Mom had pushed me hard, but when she urged me to go a mile, I moved an inch.

And now, I was so unprepared for this world.

Fang brought his ebony broadsword up to meet the fae’s wide swing. The two blades, one silver and one black, clashed midway.

The beasts were only a few yards away from them, right outside the perimeter, yet none of them paid the beasts any mind. They might be great fighters, but weren’t they a bit too arrogant? I wouldn’t be that close to the beasts if I could help it. All right, there was a force field protecting them, but nothing was absolutely failsafe.

I was raised in a culture where nothing was built to last, so consumers would have to keep purchasing replacements, and then the rich and the big corporations only got richer.

The fae twisted away, made a move I failed to catch, and the tip of his blade sliced off a strand of Fang’s hair.

Fang jumped away and cursed.

“You still aren’t into swordfighting, are you?” the fae said. “Some things never change, even after a century.”

“I prefer claws and fangs,” Fang said, flexing his muscles.

“Shifters.” The fae rolled his eyes. “Even vampires are more evolved than your kind. But then, despite practicing for over a millennium, they are no match for fae warriors in swordplay either.”

“Humble much, Silver?” Fang said. “There’s no glory in defeating Alistair either. Why don’t you pick someone like Ryder?”

“You keep forgetting Ryder is fae,” Silver snorted.

“One-fifth, from his mom’s side,” Fang corrected him.

“Queen Tessa,” Silver sighed.

I perked up. I needed to know every little thing about Ryder so I could find his weakness. But then the men started to talk about something else.

I tried to focus on their moves, but the flex of their muscles was getting distracting.

All the guys were shirtless with their trousers hanging low on their hips. Their skin colors presented various shades, and every one of them was well-built. They were hotter than any college boys I had met and any movie stars I saw on the screen. I was afraid if I was stranded here for too long, I might become one of those horny women who liked to lick a man. These men were too lickable, especially Ryder.

My gaze darted back to him.

Ryder swept down in a crouch and kicked Ink’s shin. While Ink leapt away with a curse, Ryder dashed behind Alistair, cutting his palm toward the vampire’s middle. Alistair turned just in time and jammed his fist into Ryder’s. Then they broke apart again.

They fought like a well-oiled machine.

I regarded the thin sheen of sweat glinting on Ryder’s golden chest, thinking of licking him again. Muscles stretched on his massive shoulders, showing off his brutal strength as he pursued Ink for another powerful punch.

I was sure when he stopped punching, his shoulders could be a nice pillow to rest my head on right after…

I blinked away the image of him thrusting into me in the storm, hating that it was making a constant appearance in my mind. Yet I couldn’t control where my eyes went as they appreciated Ryder’s powerful physique and glued themselves to the sensual V above his trousers. My heated gaze traced the trail of golden hair going all the way down—

A trickle of shame crossed my mind. I had a nice boyfriend! But I wasn’t going to do anything behind his back, I defended myself. I was just looking, and who didn’t look? Plus, it wasn’t like I was going to look my fill for long.

Suddenly, Ryder snapped his gaze in my direction, as if he could see through the stone wall. It was like he could sense me, but I dismissed that thought.

“What a sneaky mouse,” a voice sneered behind me; it was musical yet so malicious.

I nearly jumped out of my skin, a scream tearing out of my throat before I could muffle it.

I straightened myself and wheeled toward Lilka, who stood three feet from me, her green eyes regarding me as if I were indeed a mouse that she was done playing with and was about to stomp on.

She wore a leather top that hugged her generous breasts, a sheer panel exposing her midriff and leaving nothing to the imagination. Her stretchy leather pants highlighted her enticing hips.

Of all the gorgeous outfits she had, I only envied her pair of sleek high-heeled boots, not because of their style but because I had no shoes. I’d love to have something under my feet to protect them from the cold, rough ground.

This woman must have a large wardrobe, but I doubted that she’d lend me anything. How she managed to acquire all those fine things in this wilderness was beyond me.

I glared at her as I tried to calm my wild heartbeat. “Why would you sneak up on someone like that?”

I heard a heavy door nearby being kicked open, then all the men barged in, gathering behind Lilka like her goddamn bodyguards, their swords in their hands.

I stood opposite all six of them.

The beasts’ incessant yowls hadn’t bothered them while my brief scream brought all of them charging into the temple. And they were damn fast. One second, they’d been parrying. The next, they were staring at me in the hallway.

Lilka turned sideways to let them admire her beauty while still keeping her eyes on me.

“What the fuck is going on?” Ryder demanded, his eyes alighting on me, flickering to my bare thighs.

It wasn’t my fault that someone gave me a shirt that wasn’t long enough to drop further. But then, I bet he’d seen plenty of women’s legs—not only Lilka’s, but women from the off world. Compared to other women, it was safe to say that I was already modest!

He probably should stare at Lilka’s ass instead of my thighs since it was closer to him and screamed for his attention. She shifted her position, trying to block me from his sight, but it was a sad effort. She was a tall woman, but he was still nearly a head taller.

“I was just—” I stuttered.

“The little slutty mole was spying on us and ogling—” She gave the guys a quick onceover and pointed at one of them. “Ink.”

“I did not ogle Ink,” I snapped as he grinned at me.

“What a liar you are.” She smirked, enjoying toying with me, as she saw that I was out of my element here. “I caught you moaning his name while touching yourself.”

Ink grinned so hard that I bet his face hurt.

“What?!” I squinted, shocked. How could she lie about things like that to my face and in front of everyone? “Ew.”

Ink’s grin dropped a little, and he looked hurt. “I’m not that gross, June.”

“It’s not you,” I said, spreading my arms to try to explain. “It’s—”

“You called for our demon boy to fuck you while you squatted there, touching your cunt.” Lilka continued to deride me and smear my reputation. “It’s disgusting. Then you called the others’ names, panting, fantasizing about all of them getting in your dirty hole at once. You want them to fight over you and fuck you.”

One thing she hadn’t lied about was that I’d been checking out the guys and I got caught, but I wasn’t thinking about fucking. Well, maybe a little when I thought of Ryder. The image of his massive cock buried inside me suddenly swirled back, so vivid and intense and erotic that my face burned furiously.

If I had more time to rehearse this confrontation, I’d have fared better, but witty back-and-forth wasn’t my forte.

“You must know all the dirty tricks, lady!” I said indignantly.

“I don’t mind being checked out by you, June.” Ink winked at me, trying to soften the blow. He flexed his arm muscles for my sake. “And if you ever want to test its hardness, feel free—”

Ryder glared at him. “We vowed not to touch any woman in our camp, asshole! And Jules is a prisoner and a servant. For fuck’s sake, have some standards!”

What?!

He turned to me with distrust while his displeased gaze skimmed over my breasts. My hair still dripped water. My shirt was a bit wet, which wasn’t my fault either. There hadn’t been a towel in that cave.

My wet shirt clung to my skin, making it easy for everyone to see the shape of my breasts. My taut nipples chose this moment to prick against the fabric at the attention.

I was about to fold my arms over my chest to preserve whatever decency I had left when a gust of wind blew in. Remembering I wasn’t wearing underwear, I rushed to grab hold of the hem of the shirt to prevent the wind from blowing it up.

While I was thankful that I’d prevented another embarrassing disaster, Ink chuckled in delight, his hazel eyes bright.

I was growing more and more uncomfortable, like a bunny caught in headlights, so I raised my chin and glared at everyone in defiance while holding the hem of the shirt. I only hoped that I didn’t look too ridiculous.

My tits pressed harder against the front of my shirt, aching. There was no way to explain or hide my arousal.

Even Alistair and Silver sniffed the air as they stared at me, their eyes glowing a little in the dim light. My vulnerable gaze darted to Ryder. He looked furious, heat and disgust warring in his eyes, brightening the golden circles and darkening the blue hue.

I didn’t deserve to be humiliated like that.

“This isn’t what it looks like,” I said, my face hot. “I have absolutely no intention toward any of you, so you don’t need to worry about me making sex—sexual advances toward you. Not in a million years will that happen. I don’t even know how to make a move like that. And to ease your minds, I can tell you this,” I blurted out. “I am—I’m still a virgin.”

All the guys stared at me, utterly and darkly fascinated.

This wasn’t going well.

“The thing is,” I hurried on, words pouring out of me unfiltered as I tried really hard to explain myself and get out of this bad situation. After all, I’d been caught like a Peeping Tom. “Oliver, my loving and caring boyfriend, waited for me for over seven months before we finally decided to give it a go. Just when we were about to do the deed—we were kind of between second and third base,” I offered, my eyes glassy and my face growing hotter, “the storm came out of nowhere, changed paths, and chased us. It spat out Professor Nicolas, Steve, Oliver, and our truck, but it swept me into the eye. I tried—I tried really hard to fight the storm and find a way home, but it was impossible. And he—” I eyed Ryder, who watched me, his expression unreadable now. I averted my eyes to focus on the men in front of me again. “And then I was in the realm of the beasts before you guys came along. You gotta believe me.”

No one said a word, as if they’d never had such a conversation with a woman before. A gloomy thought flickered in my mind, a suspicion forming. What if my being here was some dark design?

“So, you’re a virgin?” Alistair asked, suddenly perking up.

“I told you already,” I said in a shrill voice. I’d had enough. Did all guys develop a hearing impairment when you told them you were a virgin? “Must I shout out my humiliation again?”

“Virgins rarely come across our path, darling,” Ink said.

“I hope this land doesn’t practice the ritual of sacrificing virgins,” I murmured. “I heard you talking about your gods.”

“They aren’t our gods,” Silver cut in, a sudden rage searing his turquoise eyes. “They’re our eternal sworn enemies.”

I wanted to inquire who those gods were and what they’d done to Ryder and his men, but it didn’t seem like the right time.

“It’s okay, June,” Fang said. “You don’t have to tell us all this. You didn’t do anything wrong. Even if you’re interested in some of us or all of us, it’s not a sin.”

They’d all missed my point.

I threw up my hands in exasperation. “I—” Then I instantly brought them down to grab the hem of the shirt.

The men’s eyes brightened; they’d all caught a glimpse. In contrast, Lilka was fuming, her face darkening.

“Will you let her wiggle her way out of this, Ryder?” she demanded. “This is only the beginning. She’ll do more harm than Eva—”

The heat in Ryder’s eyes blended with hate. I could no longer tell where one ended and the other started. “June’s not your concern,” he said coldly, and Lilka’s lips thinned. He ignored her and narrowed his eyes at me. “You’ve been here less than a day, and you’re already stirring shit.”

“What shit?” I shot back. “I was dragged here as a prisoner plus slave, and I’ve been blacked out most of the time. When I was woken up by the beasts’ cries, I found myself in a dump. I was just trying to check out the security of this place!”

“By spying and lusting after my team members,” Lilka sneered.

“Back off,” I said. She’d marked me as her prey or enemy, so why bother being nice to her? I knew this type even in the civilized world. All you could do was fight back as hard as you could. “If you think you can bully me, you need to get in line. You’re beneath my notice.”

“How dare you talk to me like that, stupid whore!” she cried.

“I haven’t had breakfast, or I’d puke on you,” I declared.

She stalked to me, and I bent my knees, ready to kick her and defend myself. But Ryder was there, his arm around her waist, yanking her back. She immediately leaned on him, pressing her long body against him, as if she couldn’t stand on her own feet without him. Her arms sneaked around his neck.

A bolt of rage shot through me, and I glared at them both.

He pried her arms from his neck and pushed her aside gently, but impatience brewed in his eyes.

Now it was my turn to give him a piece of my mind.

“If you’re the leader you think you are,” I drawled, “you should not let that lying tart lead you by the nose. It looks bad on you.”

“Shut the fuck up, Judas!” Ryder barked at me right away, like a knee-jerk reaction. “Did I ask your fucking opinion? Tell me why the fuck I care that I look bad. And who’s looking?”

I clenched my jaw. “You’ve just admitted you’re a sociopath.”

Ryder laughed at me. “That’s your best comeback? I’m disappointed and utterly bored.”

Lilka snickered.

“You’re too kind for calling Ryder a sociopath, summer girl.” Alistair chuckled, then he licked his fangs. “Your blood smells like summer sun and winter flame.” Then, over Ryder’s warning look, he shrugged. “You should’ve listened to what the gods have been calling him so you might be able to get under his skin next time.”

I remembered Ryder’s blaspheming against the gods, so I narrowed my eyes, knowing what I said would for sure piss him off. “So you’d better behave since the gods are watching. The universe is a big place.”

Hate poured off him. “They sent you here, and they’ll be fucking sorry. As for you, sparrow, your expiration date is coming if you think they can fucking protect you.”

“Since the summer girl’s going to expire soon, Ryder,” Alistair crooned, his sapphire eyes brightening with craving, “Give her to me. Let me have a drink of her. I haven’t had—”

I suppressed my shudder. He really wanted to drink my blood. What were these people?!

“Go drink your fill on the off world next time, jerk,” Ryder snapped. “I have other uses for her.” He turned to me with a warning. “Learn your fucking place, June. Your only use is to serve us. We don’t need you to make our beds, and you aren’t allowed to enter anyone’s room. If you’re caught, you’ll be whipped. Lilka will be more than happy to do that.” Lilka preened at hearing that and beamed at him. “If you try to seduce my men, you’ll be killed. You’ll clean this place and take over the cooking.”

But I was terrible at cooking, and I didn’t plan to stay here long. I was only waiting for the next storm to come or to go to the off world.

“You might’ve deemed me your slave, but I don’t agree,” I said, lifting my chin. If I let him establish the dynamic now, I’d never get out of it. I decided not to go down without a fight. “Show me the contract and let me see where I signed on to be a slave. I didn’t step into your territory. You kidnapped me. Also, ever since we met, you’ve done nothing to earn my respect. You dumped me in a hole in the wall and tried to boss me around. No, I won’t take it! And I haven’t even had breakfast.”

He narrowed his eyes, an incredulous look on his handsome face. He didn’t think I had it in me, did he? I stared back in defiance, not dropping my gaze, though I felt like my knees were going to tremble.

“You want breakfast?” he demanded.

“I’m starving!” I said, wanting to cry, since my stomach really hurt at my mention of food. “I can’t even remember the last time I had a meal. One moment, I was with my nice boyfriend, then—”

He glared at me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was jealous. “Keep mentioning that nice boyfriend of yours and see how much he can do for you.”

I’d been using the idea of Oliver to shield myself and fight off my unnaturally intense attraction to that Ryder asshole.

“—then next, I was shot straight to hell,” I said. “I don’t even know how many hours have passed or days have gone by. At this point, I won’t discount a time travelling or a portal theory—”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Ryder growled. “You want breakfast? Come and see.”

In a blur, he was in my face. I tried to lean back, but my back was almost against the wall.

“Don’t you understand personal space—” Before I had a chance to finish my sentence, he grabbed my arm.

Fury made me sizzle. I would never let anyone manhandle me. I swung my fist up toward his face. I no longer cared that such a punch might knock out one or two of his perfect teeth. Let’s see how handsome he looked when he had a gap between his front teeth whenever he opened his mean mouth. I didn’t believe there was any dentist in this barbarian land to fix it for him. And then let’s see how good he was at seducing women, including Lilka. They wouldn’t enjoy his kiss that much if he had a hole in his mouth!

I was super fast, but before I knew what was happening, he’d grabbed my wrist before I could reach the target. He pinned me down easily, then half-dragged and half-carried me toward the entrance.

“Ryder!” Fang warned. He’d been quiet this entire time. Even though he probably felt sorry for me, Ryder was his alpha. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret!”

“I won’t regret this,” said the asshole. “But she will.”

I tried to stomp on his foot, but again he moved too fast. While I was angry and afraid, pleasure buzzed all over me at the touch of his skin on mine. I was furious that my body was so fucked up that I was giddy at the abuse at Ryder’s hands.

Serves you right, I told my body.

Yet when I glared up at Ryder, I noticed the same heat mirrored in his eyes. He glared down at me, but his eyelids grew heavy, and his lips twisted sensually with pure male lust.

If gods indeed existed, they must be toying with us and enjoying every second, because while Ryder hated me at first sight and I had grown to hate him even more, our bodies were drawn to each other like two magnets that didn’t want to be torn apart.

“I’ll fight your spell, sparrow,” he whispered with fury and lust.

“Fuck off!” I said. “Even if I knew any spells, I wouldn’t waste them on you.”

“Ryder, I can drag her and toss her to the beasts.” Lilka rushed after us, obviously not liking how Ryder responded to me. Well, I’d be more than glad to let her take my place. “You don’t need to dirty your hands with her.”

“She’s mine,” Ryder snarled. “My prisoner. Mine to torment and punish.”

I tried to keep pace with him so the rough ground wouldn’t hurt my bare feet too much. In seconds, I was carted out of the temple, almost stumbling on the threshold. Then he half-lifted me and carried me down those stone stairs.

The harsh wind slammed into me, and while I was facing this bigger threat, I couldn’t care less that it blew up the shirt I’d borrowed and exposed my bare bottom.

In mere seconds, we reached the clearing where the men had parried earlier. I struggled in his hold, kicking and stalling. I’d never met a man with such unbeatable strength.

Hundreds of beasts surrounded the ruins, growling and snarling, their fangs dripping long strings of saliva as they stared at me with longing.

He was going to throw me to the beasts and watch them stomp me before tearing me open.

My mind shot to a state of numbness before pure panic washed over me. I’d need to pull my previous stunt and get on the back of a beast the moment Ryder tossed me out.

I would remove my glasses and welcome the roaring wind in my head, which was kinder than this world.

I would survive.

I would escape.

And then I’d come back and get my revenge on this fucking psycho.

CHAPTER 9

“What are you doing, Ryder?” Ink demanded first. “Throwing the new girl to the wild beasts isn’t the answer! It won’t ease your pain. And they’ll eat her in two bites!”

The men had followed us out.

“Don’t treat her like that, Ryder,” Fang called, on our heels now. “She isn’t Eva! If you toss her out, I’ll just pick her up. That’s enough!”

“Don’t let the gods play on your anger, Ryder,” the fae chimed in coolly. “Think, man. Think.”

“Why are you guys so blind when it comes to a new pussy? She is Eva reincarnated!” Lilka shouted. “They not only look alike, they act in the same fashion. She’s obviously trying to fool you by batting her eyelashes with her fake, innocent looks. If we’d tossed out Eva when she first came into our midst, Bo would still be alive, laughing with us!”

Ryder paused at the brink, regarding me and waiting for me to beg. His large hand grabbed my wrists, his other arm wrapped around my waist. Heat throbbed in my pussy at the touch and his close proximity, and rage ran through my every fiber.

I stared at him with hate, my eyes on fire, my heart pounding a mile a second.

His eyes grew even more hooded, as if he couldn’t decide if he wanted to fuck me or just feed me to the beasts and be done with me.

I planned moves in my head. As soon as he flung me, I would grab his arm, using it as an anchor, and rake my fingernails across his eyeballs. I’d leave my mark on this asshole before I leapt amid the beasts and took my chance with them.

“Not going to beg, sparrow?” he said.

“Fuck you!” I said.

He chuckled darkly. “You’ll have to get in line. I’m picky.”

My face burned hot with humiliation and rage. A storm coursed through my head even before I took off my glasses.

“I’d rather take a chance with the beasts than stay here one more second with you!”

Seeing the unfiltered hatred in my eyes, he seemed to pause for a second.

“You aren’t getting off the hook so easily, sparrow, not on my watch.” He suddenly shoved me back, away from the host of beasts. Before I could go for my glasses or raise my hand to scratch Ryder’s perfect face, I slammed into Fang’s hard chest as he lunged forward to catch me.

“Easy, June,” he said. “I gotcha.”

Ryder hurled himself at the beasts, walking among them, a flaming sword appearing in his hand. The beasts rammed back toward each other, snarling at him but giving him a wide berth. They recognized him, and they weren’t fans.

Ryder leapt high, raising his blade. When it fell, it plunged into the skull of a brown beast similar to a wild boar but much bigger.

The wild boar stumbled and dropped in a heap.

Smelling blood, the beasts all around bellowed chillingly. They swarmed toward Ryder and the wild boar, and my heart jumped into my throat. Despite all that had happened, I hoped that his team would go to his aid.

Ryder kicked away the beast closest to him, sending it flying, then picked up the boar as if it were a puppy. He slashed his flaming blade left and right to drive off the surrounding beasts and strode back into the clearing, as if he’d just gone for a stroll in the park.

I stood beside Fang, still controlling my trembling.

Ryder’s golden gaze locked on me as he tossed the boar in front of me. I involuntarily jumped back with a yelp, but a splash of blood stained my bare feet and thighs.

“You want breakfast, Jules?” Ryder asked in a sadistic, self-satisfied tone.

I blinked at the dying beast. My face paled. He wasn’t joking. He was certified crazy. There was no doubt.

“Take up your role,” he added, enjoying watching me squirm. “Skin the beast and cook it, then you can eat it as well.”

I stared at him incredulously. “You want me to skin it?”

“And gut it properly,” he said. “Don’t tell me that you’ve never done it before.”

I had never done it before? Of course I’d never done it before!

“You’re crazy!” I couldn’t take it anymore, so I just blurted it out. “I’ve told you numerous times that I’m not from here. I’m not a native.”

“Too bad. You’re here now,” he said. “So put on your big girl pants and blend in with the locals.”

He knew that slang? I shook my head. It wasn’t important. What was important was that I had to shed this horrid responsibility. I was out of my depth here. I had to own it and admit it to avoid being dragged further down the rabbit hole.

“I—I can’t skin animals,” I said. “I’m averse to animal cruelty, even though this animal is a wild species.” I pushed my cracked glasses up my nose, wringing my hands together, since the guys were all staring at me like I had two heads. “I’ll puke all over if I have to see the insides of an animal and ruin your dinner. I don’t like seeing blood either, though I won’t faint at seeing it like some people.” I licked my lips nervously, and Ryder stared at my mouth. “I’ll have more nightmares. I’ve already had my share of bad dreams since I was a kid. Mom said it might be my genes.”

“Who gives a fuck about your nightmares?!” Lilka said snidely.

I ignored her and continued to present my case. “I know you are brutal men, even psychotic, and I don’t blame you. You’re but the products of this harsh environment. I won’t pride myself as an educated, civilized woman in contrast to you, but I’m not that far gone like you either. I’m sorry if I offended any of you by saying this, but I’ve decided to come clean, so you’ll know what I can and can’t do. Even if you force me to be a slave, I’ll do a poor job. I just don’t fit in with you lot, and I won’t bother trying.”

Ink chuckled. “Did she just politely insult us?”

Alistair nodded. “She called us cavemen without saying the word.”

“She has a point,” Silver said.

“Think you’re too good for us?” Ryder narrowed his eyes, drawing a conclusion. “Think you’re a princess on a high horse?”

Lilka snickered. “She looks more like a peasant who pretends to be a princess. A pig pretending to be an elephant. That’s just pathetic.”

“I’m no princess, Ryder,” I said. “But for your benefit, you might want to consider that if I have a mental breakdown, it won’t do anyone any good. I would be a burden. I think that I’m already on the edge of a nervous meltdown. My chest feels so tight. Even my mom had to give up after trying to toughen me up. If I don’t get out of this realm soon, I’ll be a mad hatter.”

“I can’t stand her!” Lilka said, her voice dripping with utter disdain. “She’s so weak and useless. Why do we insist on having her here? She’s a liability. End her. It would be a mercy. Or just kick her out. I don’t mind skinning the beast and making us a nice lunch. We just can’t have her here.”

Contempt for me also showed on Ryder’s face. He’d despised me right from the start, no matter what I said or did. So why should I care? Yet I felt a hammer slamming into my middle. I didn’t mind anyone looking down on me because of my nerdy look with my thick glasses, but it did hurt my pride when my strength and character were in question.

I’d never felt more humiliated. I had no choice but to expose what they considered a weakness.

“Only psychopaths take empathy as weakness,” I said. “I don’t slaughter animals for sport, yet I haven’t judged any of you. Sneer at me all you want. Just know this, I also don’t eat meat, though milk and eggs are totally fine! So no,” I pointed at the body of the dead beast, “this won’t be my breakfast. I’ve been a vegetarian all my life, and I’m not going to change my lifestyle for any of you, especially not for Ryder!”

“She’s actually entertaining, if anything,” Alistair murmured, still staring at me with hunger, which made me shudder.

The servant room they put me in didn’t even have a door. I’d have to set up a trap at the door before I went to bed. He’s the one I needed to watch out for besides Ryder and Lilka, since he craved my blood. Who knew when he’d lose it.

“The girl is on the brink of a nervous breakdown, as she said,” Silver said, his long silver-blond hair flowing over his shoulders.

“Just cut her some slack,” Fang said. “I’ll help her ease into this life.”

“I’ll skin the beast,” Ink offered. “If we wait for the summer girl to do it, we won’t have dinner until next week.”

“Thank you all. I really appreciate it,” I said, gratitude swelling in my chest.

“Nicely played, sparrow,” Ryder said darkly.

“What games can I play?” I said, getting prickly again. “I’m at your mercy!”

“Then remember it,” he said. “Ink will skin the animal, but you still need to cook the meal.”

“Fine,” I said. “But be warned that I’m not a good cook. I usually just make sandwiches. I’m familiar with three kinds of sandwiches—peanut butter, egg and cheese, or tofu.” I ran my teeth over my bottom lip for a second at the thought of my old life. “I’d kill to have a peanut butter sandwich right now.”

Ryder was staring at my lips again.

“We can’t trust her, not even as our prisoner or a slave,” Lilka said, laying a hand on Ryder’s bulky arm that was all hard muscle. She tried to turn his attention to her.

He shook her off but narrowed his eyes on me again. “What good are you if you can’t cook?”

This pair was a match made in hell.

“I didn’t say I couldn’t cook,” I said. “I’m just not good at it, but I’ll try my best. In the end, if you hate my cooking like you hate everything about me, you’re welcome to toss me out and let me face my own fate in the wilderness, as I suggested earlier. I have nothing to lose at this point.”

“That’s the spirit, June,” Ink said with approval.

I had to admit, I didn’t have people skills, but with this lot, people skills were the least of my worries.

“Go cook then, Jules,” Ryder said in a dismissive tone. “I’m hungry. And do not burn our last pot.”

Fang gave me a nod, picked up the wild boar, and walked back into the temple. I sprang after him, as I couldn’t wait to get away from Ryder, Lilka, and the yowling beasts. I forgot to grab the hem of my shirt, and a sudden gust blew it up to my waist, its coldness kissing my bare bottom.

Giving a desperate yelp, I caught the hem and dragged it down to press it against my bare thighs, my face flaming. Ryder chuckled in dark amusement behind me. While he meant to rile me up, I also heard thick desire in his voice.

I thought of flipping him the bird, but then, I wasn’t the badass type, and I’d only embarrass myself with an awkward, vulgar gesture.

CHAPTER 10

“So, you’re really a virgin, little June?” Ink asked, trying to sound casual.

All I’d said, and he’d only remembered this.

He was skinning the beast on a long table not too far from me, the black triangular wave tattoo flexing on his muscled forearm. His entire left side was covered in tattoos. I still blushed every time my eyes fell on any of the guys when they were shirtless.

Ink wore only a pair of green boxers. Fang, who’d shown me how to light a fire, at least wore loose trousers.

Both Fang and Ink had offered to let me borrow their shirts that would at least go down to my knees, but Ryder wouldn’t have it. He was micromanaging and saying something ridiculous like he didn’t want his men’s scent on me. He might as well just tell his team to avoid me at all costs as if I were a plague. But it wasn’t practical, was it? This walking plague had to cook for them. And why did he even bother with a servant!

So he managed to find some women’s clothes. Now I had a pair of pants on that looked like yoga pants. I only hoped that I didn’t have an allergic reaction from wearing those pants. My own clothes should be dry tomorrow.

I sighed. Even on the run for years with Mom, I remained a city girl. I was good at falling back on a relatively comfortable lifestyle. I was sorry for not meeting Mom’s standards, but I wasn’t the kind of person who would change myself to meet anyone’s expectations. I set the bar low for myself.

“I’m not going into that topic again, Ink,” I said as I waited for the water to boil. “I’ve spilled enough and humiliated myself.”

“Do females from Earth flush a lot?” he asked. “I like shy maidens.”

I rolled my eyes.

“So,” I said, sprinkling salt into the water, “what’s Lilka’s deal? She really wants to get rid of me.”

“You should add salt after the meat has been cooking for a while to keep it tender,” Fang instructed.

“Sorry,” I said, dumping the rest of the salt back into the jar. “I’ve done nothing bad to her, and she knows I’m not Eva.”

“Don’t put it back,” Fang said. “Your fingers are wet, and the rest of the salt will be wet, and the whole jar of salt will lose its flavor.”

“Sorry again,” I said. So many rules, but I wasn’t sure that I agreed with him. He didn’t look like a great cook either.

“Lilka has been the only female in this realm for a long time,” Ink said. “Now she isn’t. You suddenly get all the attention. She doesn’t like the shift in the balance.”

“The balance hasn’t shifted,” I said. “She’s gorgeous. And look at me, guys.”

They all stopped what they were doing and looked at me. I hadn’t meant to draw their attention to me. “Look at me” was just a phrase.

I gestured at my body and my ridiculous attire before waving at them, motioning for them to go back to their tasks. “I’m not in competition with her, in case you wondered. Anyone who has eyes can see that I’m not even in her league. However, I don’t feel less confident, even though I don’t have her beauty. A woman should not be judged by her looks. The sad news is, looks fade.”

“My good looks haven’t faded.” Ink flashed me a smirk while pulling out the beast’s innards. I winced, trying to breathe in and out through my nose. The smell was too much. “I look exactly the same as a century ago.”

I eyed him before darting a glance at Fang. “So you all are like immortals?”

“We are immortals,” Ink said. “We don’t die from diseases or sickness, but we can be killed.”

“That’s worse, isn’t it?” I asked. “You’re all trapped here as immortals.” At their grim looks, I bit my lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—” But I meant it. “Anyway, my point is that a woman or a man should be judged for their character and intelligence instead of looks.”

“I don’t mind being judged by my looks,” Ink said.

“Because that’s all you have,” Fang said.

I let out a giggle, and Ink flashed a smile at me. A dark head poked in, then Alistair strode into the kitchen.

Fang raised his gaze from the pot and gave him a look. “Shouldn’t you be on sentinel duty?”

“Silver took over,” Alistair said. “Ryder won’t let me drink from the summer girl, so I want some entertainment. She talks funny but smells delicious.”

“You stay away from me, mister vampire,” I said, wielding a big spoon in front of me. “I’m no one’s donor. And I’ll eat a lot of garlic.”

“Toss in the vegetables, June,” Fang said.

“Fine,” I said and poured a bowl of herbs into the boiling water.

I didn’t recognize most of the herbs and some of the veggies, but I was happy to see carrots and mushrooms, which were three times the size of the ones on Earth.

“Put all the carrots in the soup,” Fang said.

“I’m keeping a few for myself if you don’t mind,” I said, hugging three of them to my chest. “I’m cooking for you guys, but I need to eat too. I can’t eat them once they mix with the meat.”

“You can throw them in and take some veggies out for yourself before we put the wild boar in,” Fang suggested.

“Right, thank you,” I said and dumped the rest of the carrots into the pot. They were too big for me to chew raw.

I wanted to ask the guys where they grew the vegetables, but it could wait. I was more obsessed with Lilka, or more accurately, I wanted to know the history between Ryder and Lilka and if they were together. She was obviously hot for him.

“She outclasses me,” I said.

“You don’t look bad either,” Alistair offered.

I raised my head and darted a surprised look in his direction. Then I dismissed his courteous comment. Guys would say anything to get into a girl’s pants, and that vampire would say anything to get his fangs near my veins.

“I’m a nerd,” I continued. “Guys usually don’t dig girls like me. I got really lucky landing Oliver. You know, even Professor Nicholas vouched for him. He’s going to be one of the best meteorologists one day.” I paused in stirring the pot. My old world seemed light years away now I was stranded in Pandemonium, even though it had probably only been a couple of days. I cleared my throat. “My second point is, I have a boyfriend, and we get along well. If things continue like that between Oliver and me, we’ll get married after graduation. Mom would like to see that.” Pain passed through my middle at the thought of Mom. What would she think if she saw me like this from the other side? I took a deep breath to recollect myself. “In a nutshell, I’m not going to steal her man, if any of you is Lilka’s man.”

“We’re not her men,” Ink said with a stony face.

“Whatever,” I said, resuming stirring the pot. “I’m just saying that I’m not a threat. Instead, I can contribute. And you see, I’m learning cooking and am getting better at it, tutored by Sir Fang.”

Ink chuckled. “Fang isn’t a sir. He’s a bastard born.”

Alistair also chuckled at Fang’s expense.

Fang cleared his throat, not appearing the least bit offended. “Don’t feel bad that Ryder called you a servant. To a degree, we’re all slaves here, made by the gods. We’ve been put here for their bloody entertainment for centuries, and we can never get out of the Wild Hunt. Ryder feels responsible for all of us. All he wants is to beat the gods at their games and set us free. But the gods leave no loopholes. We no longer care about going home. There’s no home anymore, and where Ryder is has become home. We owe our survival to him. He’s the uncrowned king, our alpha. Actually, it’s true. His kingdom still waits for him. He was thrown into the Wild Hunt when he was only a toddler and killed a wild boar with his bare hands.”

I fought the urge to point out the plot holes, but I wanted to hear the whole story first without interrupting Fang. I’d give him my two cents at the end of the tale.

“Bo looked after Ryder,” Fang continued. “He became a surrogate father after Ryder was torn away from his real one. Ryder loved Bo. And then we were added to the Wild Hunt one by one. Bo looked after us as well. We lost a few though. After half a century of being trapped in misery and fighting for every breath just to survive, Eva came. We thought she was the eternal sunshine to our darkness, and Bo fell hard for her. That wasn’t enough for her, so she played us against each other. She wanted Ryder the most, even though Ryder was involved with Lilka at that time. Their relationship didn’t last either, because Ryder’s Ryder, and he didn’t do relationships with any woman. So there was a hot mess between Ryder, Eva, and Lilka.

“Then the next Wild Hunt came, and Eva got Bo killed. We didn’t see how it happened, as we got separated, but Lilka saw the whole thing. She threw Eva off a cliff to preserve herself. Bo’s death changed Ryder and made him even more cynical and ruthless. He thought he’d failed us. He then set a new rule to prohibit anyone in the team from getting involved with any woman in the camp. He can’t handle losing any more of us. We can’t be what Bo was to him, but we’re still his brothers.”

“That explains why both Ryder and Lilka hated me at first sight,” I sighed. “I look like Eva. Do you think maybe I should cut my hair really short and make myself look like a boy?”

“Don’t cut your hair,” Alistair called. “The last thing we want is more men in the house.”

Was he joking? The vampire was like an abyss I couldn’t see to the bottom of, except that he wanted to drink my blood. I shuddered again.

“I like your hair. It’s like wildfire,” Ink also offered. “Anyway, to Lilka, it’s more like a territory thing. Ryder rejected her over and over. She’s impossible, but he’s gotten her under control, so there’ll be no woman driving a wedge between him and us. He let her know a long time ago that if she tried to cause trouble like Eva, he’d end her. She still craves Ryder, but she can’t have him, which only makes her even more obsessed with him.” He paused for a second to give me a once-over. The intense gaze almost made me squirm, so I stirred the soup harder to diffuse the self-consciousness of being watched. “At first, I thought your uncanny resemblance to Eva brought out the worst in Ryder, but I was wrong. Ryder never showed any interest in Eva, and not just out of respect for Bo. But he reacts differently toward you than any other woman. It’s the first time he’s displayed a possessive side despite his hostility toward you. Lilka can see that too, and she likes it less. So she marks you as a threat who has invaded her territory.”

“I didn’t invade anywhere or anyone. I’m not an aggressive person.” I raised my voice, and now I sounded like I was barking. “She can have him! And I wish her good luck, since she’ll need it dealing with him!”

I kind of got the whole story of where Ryder’s hatred for me came from, but I didn’t need to accept his mistreatment and acid words. So the best plan was to stay out of his way.

“You respond to him and to him alone as well,” Ink said quietly.

“What?” I blinked, surprised at Ink’s insight. But then who liked to hear the hard truth, so I pretended that I didn’t hear him and turned to Fang.

“I respect you the most in this settlement, Sir Fang,” I said. “But I have to point out that your narrative earlier had two plot holes big enough for a truck to drive through.” Over Fang’s arched eyebrow, I gave a friendly nod to show him that it wasn’t a personal attack but merely a fact check. “Let’s backtrack and address the second point you guys made. Your ringleader, Ryder, has only disdain and hate toward me. There’s no attraction there. He already mentioned that I wasn’t his type more than once. And don’t you remember what he called me?”

They waited for me to spill the beans.

“Sparrow!” I hissed, and Alistair blinked twice.

When I first saw Ryder in the storm, I’d thought him a god. I might be plain, but I wasn’t a sparrow. Oliver found me attractive enough!

“Ryder only wants to use me as a punching bag,” I sighed, no longer hissing. What was the point? “If Lilka understands that I won’t stand in her way, maybe she’ll get off my back. I’d appreciate it if one of you can get the message across to her causally when you converse with her, like we’re doing now.”

“What’s the other plot hole, June?” Fang asked.

It seemed to bother him that I thought his story had a logical issue.

“You said that a toddler Ryder killed a wild boar with his bare hands,” I said. “My question is: was it a toy? Did you mean the toddler Ryder threw a tantrum and damaged a teddy bear when he didn’t get his way? Apples don’t fall far from the tree, just thinking of his temper.”

I wasn’t trying to discredit Fang. I was discrediting Ryder. I hoped that he knew the difference.

The men stared at me incredulously, wearing identical displeased looks, as if I’d just told a terrible joke.

“He killed a real boar with his bare hands because he was very mad about being taken away from his parents,” Ink said, and Alistair nodded solemnly. “Bo recorded it.”

“Show me the recording then,” I said with a shrug. “Bo probably did the killing and then took a picture with the toddler Ryder posing and smiling like a fiend in front of the big boar’s corpse. You know what I mean?”

The men stared at me. Fang gave me a disapproving look.

“This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in years,” Alistair said.

“Right?” I threw a thumb at Alistair. “Even he agrees.”

“I meant the words coming out of your mouth, summer girl,” Alistair said.

“At least I’m not delusional,” I said. “But I understand where you’re coming from. You’ve all been isolated for so long and facing danger every second. I’m afraid I’ll have the same cabin fever if I don’t get out of here soon.”

“If you’re from Earth,” Fang drawled as if I was finally testing his patience, “then you must’ve heard of the King of the Underworld. The earthlings also call him Demon King.”

I frowned. “Lucifer or Hades from the mythology?”

“Neither,” Ink chimed in. “Ryder’s father is King Loki of the Underworld, and Loki Nightstar is Lucifer Morningstar’s only son.”

My heart skipped a beat. An ember sparked in the foggy depths of my mind.

“It happened in the era of the Great Merge two centuries ago, didn’t it?” I asked.

Lucifer had forced Hell onto half of Earth, and four powerful demigods ruled the other half. Then Loki Nightstar rose, allied with the demigods, and banished his archangel father. He formed a close tie with the demigods since their shared mate, Marigold, was his beloved stepsister.

After he became the new King of the Underworld, Loki hosted the infamous Underworld Bride Trials and found his queen. They had a son soon after. He was said to be the most powerful infant in the universe. But the baby was stolen at two years old.

Hell had closed itself off from Earth since then. A few years later, the demigods and Marigold also abandoned their kingdom and left Earth. No one knew where they’d all gone.

Rumor had it that the demigods and their powerful mate created a new realm between Hell and Earth, and all the supernaturals went with them. There was an unbreakable veil that separated their realm from ours.

Earth returned to the humans, and thus our technology and civilization rose once again.

I read the tale in the restricted area of a private library a long time ago, even though New Earth culture had tried to erase every trace of the demon king, demigods, their supernatural army, and every record of the supernaturals.

“It’s unpopular to talk about that era,” I said. “The supernaturals are a faint echo and a whisper of nightmares in humans’ psyches. Besides, Earth is very much divided. Where I come from, North America is no more. The Federals are no more. I’m from the Seven—the United Southern Seven Alliances, which includes Texas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Supernaturals aren’t welcome on Earth. The Demon King is but a story now. Besides, Ryder isn’t exactly a balanced male, so I’m not sure if I can trust his tale.”

“He really riled you up, didn’t he?” Fang asked, studying me.

“That asshole is unbalanced for sure,” Ink said, “but he has every right to be. As the descendent of five powerful godly and archangel bloodlines, he was already extremely powerful when he was only a cell in his mother’s womb. The gods hate him and fear him at the same time. If it wasn’t for their curse that binds his power—”

“Ink,” Alistair warned.

The men traded a look.

“What curse?” I pursued. “Not that I believe in curses.”

Well, I believed in curses. I bet I was cursed.

“We should not talk about it again,” Alistair said glumly. “Especially not in front of an outsider.”

I didn’t blame them for not trusting me. I didn’t trust them either, so I focused on stirring the soup while my mind wrapped around Ryder and the curse.

“June has come among us,” Fang said. “She won’t be an outsider.” To me, he said, “You aren’t a human either, June.”

Tell me I’m a banshee again, I’ll shriek for your benefit, I vowed silently before letting out a low laugh. “I get it. I truly get it. You all need the role-play to overcome many adversaries in this place.” In my bones, I knew they were supernaturals, but I was trying to do this backward thinking. That was what a human mind did when we couldn’t handle the hard truth. As if by denying, the bad things would just go away. “I can even find an explanation as to why you all look in your late twenties even though you all claim to be over a century old. Time flows differently here, which is possible, since not all realms apply the same laws of physics. No one stuck in this place for so long can be right in the head—oh, that didn’t come out right. What I meant is that Ryder isn’t exactly right in the head. Anyway, you gave each other an animal call sign, like shifter, fae, vampire, etc., to cope with this difficult life any way you could.”

The men stared at me, unblinking.

“Well, I said my piece,” I offered.

“You’re talking shit, summer girl,” Alistair concluded.

“My mind is wired to accept only reason and logic,” I said. “I’m a woman of science—”

“Is this good logic for you?” Fang asked.

A flash, and in his place stood a massive gray wolf, its fur thick and beautiful, its eyes glowing silver.

I gave a loud yelp; seeing was a whole lot different than knowing.

I fell on my butt.

“What the fuck?” I cried out, thrusting my big spoon toward the wolf as it towered over me. Good thing I still had my spoon.

“Back off, bad wolf! I warn you,” I shouted in panic. “If you attack me, I’ll thrust this spoon into your left eye.” I’d poke it in its right eye. War was all about deception. “You aren’t Sir Fang! And I ain’t a sheep. I hope you understand me!”

Alistair roared with laughter. Ink followed suit and pounded his bare chest, a tear leaking out of his eye.

Don’t make an abrupt move, I told myself. Animals don’t like drama.

My ass inched backward, away from the massive wolf. I also had Ink and Alistair in my sight, in case they tried any monkey business and turned into some kind of animals as well.

“Are you just going to stand there?” I shouted at them. “Do something!”

“Fine, summer girl. See this?” Alistair pulled his lips back and exposed his long fangs. “I’m a vampire, and it’s not a bedtime story.”

“You’re a fake, dude!” I called as panic kept rising in my throat.

Ink bent over with laughter then rubbed his tummy as if it hurt. As he was doing so, two horns protruded out of the sides of his head. His skin turned a dark shade of red.

Shit! He was indeed a demon, and demons ate souls for lunch, from what I’d read.

How naïve I was. All this time, I was amid the real monsters.

“Let me bite you, summer girl,” Alistair crooned. “And you’ll find out if my fangs are fake or not.”

“I’ll spoon out your front teeth if you come near me, and I’m not joking,” I said, waving the spoon in front of me wildly and utterly forgetting I was a black belt.

The gray wolf growled, and something snapped in me.

I pulled my lips back and snarled back, instantly shocked at the beastly sound tearing out of the back of my throat.

It wasn’t me. I couldn’t make a savage sound like that.

I took off my glasses, my teeth still bared, ready for a battle.

The gritty world rushed at me, unwelcomingly sharp. Wind roared in my head, as if trying to tell me something, but I was beyond listening to it. I wheeled toward the door as my hypersensitive senses picked up another dangerous vibe—the biggest, baddest predator was approaching.

While my skin buzzed with a dark warning and the small hairs on my nape stood on end, my nipples tingled, painfully taut as my breasts grew heavy. My pussy began to throb.

Only one person could make me react like that.

Fear, frustration, and confusion whirled in my body and mind, then rage and lust took their places. I threw my spoon at Ryder, who stepped into the kitchen. He snatched the handle with two fingers, as if catching a fly.

“What’s taking so long?” he complained. “I’m hungry!”

That was what he was worried about when we were having an identity crisis here?

His gaze fell on me. “I told you to cook, sparrow, not to fool around. And why do you look like a feral feline?”

“They—they—” I pointed at all three of his men, my finger trembling as I swung it toward him. “You!”

“Use your words,” Ryder said.

“I thought the monsters were outside!” I said in a high-pitched voice, tears flowing down my face. “I guess I’m in shock. I haven’t really had time to process all this. And now I’ll die in this place. Oliver won’t even know what happened to me. The mystery is going to kill him! He deserves closure. He’s a good man.”

The massive wolf shifted back to Fang, who looked at me with warmth, concern, and intelligence, which only brought more tears to my eyes.

“When the storm took Dorothy of Kansas, she met the amazing Oz and the wicked witch.” I sobbed. “But when the storm took me, I got the nightmare version of the fairytale. This wild west in the twisted alternative reality has no rules, no morals, and no empathy. In the end, I’ll be eaten, either by the monsters outside”—I swept a hand over the men, who all stared at me—“or by you before the next storm comes…”

I fainted for a third time, not sure if Ryder had caught me or hadn’t bothered.

CHAPTER 11

Ryder

I wanted to fuck her at first sight.

It was more of a primal need than a want. I’d never had that urge toward any other woman before. It was an addictive drug that flowed in my bloodstream, infusing my every fucking cell. It was the siren song echoing in my powerful heartbeat, calling me home.

The need was so unbearably strong that I started to resent her.

When she was close to me, I had to hold my breath for fear that if I inhaled more of her intoxicating scent I would lose control and fuck her right then and there, not caring who was watching.

No caring if she fought me.

She also smelled of divine flame, though veiled, for reasons I’d yet to find out. How could a human girl have a powerful magical scent? She’d insisted that she was a mere human and sounded sincere, and I’d thought so when I encountered her in the storm.

Whatever happened between her and me in that storm was surreal, somewhere between reality and fantasy.

My cock had never been so hard for any female before her. When she’d taken off her glasses, everything about her changed. It was as if a thick veil within her had been lifted, and everything in her called me and my beast.

I couldn’t help it, so I buried myself deep within her core. Yet as powerful as I was, I also knew that it happened, yet it didn’t exactly happen. It was hard to explain, and the gods had played a hand in twisting reality in the storm.

So I’d fucked her, yet not really fucked her. And that one taste had nearly undone me.

I’d thrust so deep into her, feeling alive for the first time in a very long time. Then next, she was gone—only to reappear in the valley of the beasts.

Panic had risen in my chest when I watched the beasts swarm her, drawn to her as one. I’d been terrified that I wouldn’t reach her in time, yet she’d prevailed. I had fought with everything I had to get to her.

I’d acted on pure instinct and the need to preserve her, and I hadn’t had time to think things over, until now.

June wasn’t what she seemed. She called herself plain, yet she had no idea how stunning she was. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever laid eyes on, and that was before she even took off her glasses that veiled her beauty and her essence and her scent.

Yet she was royally pissed when I nicknamed her sparrow. An amused smile stretched my lips before it dropped. She wasn’t exactly innocent either, not as innocent as she acted. I felt it in my bones that the gods had sent her here, probably the last piece in their game.

She could be a queen disguised as a pawn, yet she was a pawn nevertheless.

For two centuries, Hera, the Queen of the Olympian Gods and wife of Zeus, had failed to break me, though she and her minion gods had done a number on me, maiming and killing my men, or using women to get to my men in order to get to me.

So, despite what’d happened in the storm, I wouldn’t really fuck June, no matter how much I wanted to, no matter how hot I burned for her.

My gaze fell on her face, her eyes closed, her long lashes casting shadows on her creamy-golden face. I tried to hide the possessiveness in my eyes from my men, glad that I’d caught her when she fainted. I couldn’t stand it if any of my men held her.

She looked fragile in my arms, but underneath it, her fierceness pulsed.

She hadn’t even blinked when hopping on the beasts’ backs, which was a brilliant move. She hadn’t seemed terrified inside Cypress’s cage, but she had fainted after seeing Fang’s massive wolf, and of course, Alistair’s fangs, and then Ink’s horns.

The boys had been naughty.

June’s lips were parted, inviting me in. I thought of kissing her, or better, thrusting my cock into her mouth. I’d been fantasizing about how it would feel to have her full lips wrapped around my hard length. She’d declared that she was a virgin. Had she even given a man pleasure with her tongue and teeth? White-hot rage shot through me at the mere thought of her suckling another male. I’d kill him, whoever he was!

And that nice little boyfriend of hers? I’d snuff him out.

This ferocious obsession and possessiveness surprised me, nearly overpowering me.

“I can carry her to the common room, and she can lie down on the sofa,” Ink offered.

I pressed June against my chest and growled at the demon. He blinked twice, as if to make sure I’d meant it, and backed off instantly.

“But you don’t even like her, Ryder,” Ink whimpered.

“I don’t want any of you to handle her,” I said, my expression stony. “She’s dangerous.”

“Sure, she’s very dangerous,” Alistair said. “She passed out after I flashed my fangs.”

The vampire ran his tongue over his fangs, pleased with himself. An undeniable hunger darkened his sapphire eyes when he looked in June’s direction. He’d mentioned more than a couple of times that her blood smelled divine, sweeter yet spicier than any blood he’d scented. I needed to have a word with him to warn him again to scratch the idea of ever drinking from her. Alistair was an asshole on his best days.

I pulled her closer to me to shield her from my own men.

“It isn’t a coincidence that she dropped from the sky into our laps,” I said. “She’s the last game piece sent by the gods. All these centuries, they’ve tried everything to undo us.”

“Fuckers caused great harm, but they didn’t win one single game,” Ink said, his chest puffing up with pride. “They’ve never defeated us.”

“So you’re saying,” Alistair drawled in a thick Aussie accent, yet he’d never been to Australia, “now they’ve sent a woman whose blood makes me unbearably thirsty to do their dirty job?” I gave him a dark look, and he pondered. “I can see your point. Even Fang responds to her as he’s never responded to anyone like that.”

My sharp gaze fell on Fang, studying him and evaluating him. He was awfully friendly with my sparrow. I hoped the shifter wouldn’t be a problem.

“Fuck off,” Fang hissed. “I have no intentions toward June, not the way you fuckers think. I sensed that she’s my kin, though her animal is dormant. She doesn’t know she’s part shifter. And my wolf considers her our pack.”

“I haven’t scented her animal,” I admitted. “But I feel the flame in her blood.” I gave Alistair another warning look. “It’s as if…” I then shook my head. It couldn’t be.

“The demon boy wants her too,” Alistair said, then shrugged at my glare. “But Ink flirts with everything that moves. It’s his base nature.”

“I don’t flirt with everything that moves, asshole!” Ink shot back. “I like pretty females. What’s the harm in looking at beauty?”

“Silver likes her too,” Alistair said. “More than Eva.”

“Are you saying it’s Eva all over again?” Ink demanded. “I don’t think so. June is different. Eva was weak in her core, but June has steel within, even though she fainted a couple times. She’s a nerd, as she says. I like nerds.”

“You don’t even know what nerd means,” I growled.

“The summer girl looks like Eva’s doppelganger.” Alistair sent everyone a meaningful look. “We know Eva is dead, but we never saw her body.”

“She’s not Eva,” Fang said. “They smell different, and my wolf can detect lies. Also, Ryder never responded to Eva, no matter how hard she tried to get into his loose pants, but he reacts strongly to June.” He chuckled in amusement. “And June often dismisses Ryder, regarding him as unhinged.”

I frowned. June didn’t have a high opinion of me.

“The summer girl might just be the last game piece,” Alistair said. “The gods sent a woman who can affect Ryder.”

“And they’ll be sorry,” I grated.

I scooped her up, not so gently after the talk of the fucking gods, and strode out of the kitchen. My men followed, Ink right at my heels.

“Why are you all following me?” I paused to growl. “I’m just going to dump her in the servant room. She’ll have a list of duties at hand as soon as she wakes up. She can’t just faint every time she’s got a job to do!”

They halted their steps, looking disappointed. Somehow, they liked to be near her.

“Just think about how you’ll handle her, Ryder,” Fang called behind me. “You’re illogical when it comes to June. Don’t go too far. Once you cross the line, she’ll burn the bridge down.”

I snorted. This sparrow in my arms wasn’t going to spew fire like a dragon. Not in a million years. To test my theory, I tossed her into the air like a doll, then caught her, then tossed her up again, chuckling to myself.

The men groaned behind me.

She didn’t stir.

Even when she was unconscious, my cock was still hard for her. Didn’t she know that she could be in mortal danger, passing out like this, lying vulnerable in the arms of the male who wanted to fuck her? Any bad man would’ve violated her. At that thought, my chest tightened, rage swelling in me.

Though I vowed not to fuck her, I’d kill anyone who dared to try. I’d make sure she stayed a virgin.

And I’d have a strong word with her as soon as she woke up. She couldn’t afford to faint like this again, not in this perilous realm.

I strolled through a maze of corridors and reached the worst room in our lair. The room had only a pile of hay in the corner. I should just drop her on the hay bed, not so gently, and leave her be before I sent someone to wake her up and make her do her job, like cleaning, since the cooking was almost done.

I was Rider Nightstar, heir of the Underworld and beloved son of King Loki and Queen Tessa. My grandfather was the notorious Lucifer Morningstar. I’d once been the most powerful toddler in all the realms, and I’d had a weakness for shiny things. I’d loved to collect valuable things at a very young age.

The gods had learned about my penchant. Hera had the powerful gods of all realms combine their powers to lure me into a trap and thus captured me. They then cursed me to endure endless hunts, all because my parents killed the Frost God, and my powerful Titan hybrid aunt and her four demigod mates trapped Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon in the Void prison. The gods had never feared any forces more than my family, and they were terrified that I’d be even more powerful when I grew up.

I’d been sent here for two centuries, my men stuck with me. My power was bound by the curse the gods placed on me. I could use only a drop of what I had for the hunt.

Even so, the gods had still failed to break me.

They were obviously out of options, so they had sent June, seemingly the least likely person in the Wild Hunt game, to disarm us, and I responded to her. She was the only female who ever made my beast peek out, and he never wanted to lie down again after that.

Her scent enticed him; now he constantly wanted to see her, nagging me.

I wasn’t my beast, and I couldn’t be easily swayed. If she thought skinning an animal and sleeping in the servant room was cruel treatment, she hadn’t seen anything yet. She’d suffer much worse, and she had only herself to blame for being the gods’ fucking game piece. I’d get to the bottom of those fuckers’ dark scheme and shove it back up their asses. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t be too kind to their pawn.

I’d taken precautions. We had rules. They might like to be around June, but none of my men would fuck her no matter how hard she begged them. I clenched my teeth, my blood boiling in jealous rage at the possibility of her begging them to fuck her.

That bitch, Eva, had used her pussy power to turn my men against each other. She’d failed to charm me, so she’d tried to use Bo to come after me. She’d never had a chance. My beast hadn’t even been remotely interested.

Yet my men had fallen for her after being stuck in this miserable shithole for a century, and I had turned a blind eye, not believing that one woman could be such a threat. My arrogance cost me Bo, who was like a second father to me.

Before I could end Eva after I’d learned what she’d done to Bo to get back at me, Lilka had tossed that bitch off a cliff. I still resented her for depriving me of the revenge I owed Bo.

I was prepared this time and knew exactly how to counter the gods’ moves, even though they had sent a much better candidate, who was sweet, fierce, and damn stubborn. Her lovely storm-gray eyes contained both fire and innocence, and they were so expressive.

I wouldn’t let June drive a wedge between me and my men, even though they were taken by the beauty she didn’t even know she possessed and her nerdy charm that was able to soften any battle-hardened man. I would treat her like a rattlesnake, as should my men.

The gods were using her to make me weak. I’d play, but I’d never play fair. In the end, I’d deliver the gods’ pawn and champion’s head on a platter and send it back to those fuckers.

As soon as the very thought of snuffing out June’s life formed in my head, my beast surfaced and growled, his mighty tail lashing at me, knowing that he could inflict a certain degree of pain.

I sank into a black mood. He’d never acted like this before and had never taken an interest in any female. This could be the gods’ malicious plan—using June to invoke my beast’s base need and put us at odds with each other. Then they’d have an easy time picking us off one by one.

Once I could no longer control him, all bets were off. And what could make my beast lose his shit? Using a female to enchant him.

My beast had already started to nurture the idea that June was possibly his fated mate, and he’d been desperate for a mate for a long time.

I’d have to prove to my beast that he was wrong, yet something nagged at the back of my mind. It felt foul and wrong even thinking of using June as a sacrificial lamb, even as the thrill of the hunt caused by the curse coursed through my veins.

I might call her sparrow, but she wasn’t prey.

It also felt wrong to leave her on the pile of hay.

I was merciless and brutal, and I didn’t treat women well, so why couldn’t I toss her there and be done with her? I clenched my teeth and straightened.

Maybe just this once I’d show her slight mercy and let her sleep in the warm and comfy common room. When night fell, she could always return to the servant room of her own volition after she cleaned up this place.

I would not develop a soft spot for her, and I’d warn my men to do the same, especially Fang.

Cursing under my breath, I turned around with June in my arms, hugging her to my chest, needing the contact. I retraced my steps along the U-shaped corridor and stepped into the common room.

The spacious room was furnished with couches, tables, and chairs. Three shelves packed with books and souvenirs that we had raided from the off world were pushed up against the walls.

I laid June down on the long sofa. There was a blanket draped on the arm, so I grabbed it and covered her. On second thought, I growled and tossed away the blanket.

I wasn’t supposed to take care of her; I was supposed to be her tormentor, putting her to death if she ever became a sure threat and danger to my men. Any wrongdoing and she’d be done.

She was still out cold, oblivious to my unkind thoughts and actions. Her sweet full lips pouted, as if begging for a kiss. My thoughts went to a dark, erotic place again, picturing how it would feel to have her lips around my cock.

Alone with her, I took time studying her features.

Her brilliant flaming hair framed her creamy golden face and spilled around her elegant shoulders. I could picture threading my fingers into her hair while fucking her mouth. Her full pink lips would wrap around my cock tightly.

She was delicate, which only made a harsh man like me more excited. Everything about her incited an uneasy feeling, a raw need, and a burning lust that I didn’t appreciate.

My gaze traced down her long neck to the swell of her breasts. Her shirt couldn’t hide the outline of their perfect round shape. Her nipples pressed against the fabric as if wanting to come out to play. I wondered about their color. I liked a deep cherry color. Pink was fine as well. What would her moans sound like if I sucked her delicious nipple into my mouth?

She was so sensual, especially because she wasn’t aware of it at all. It couldn’t be faked. That was probably why the gods sent her here, to disarm all of us, especially me, before she struck us down from the inside.

Fucking try, I snickered coldly. You’ll lose.

June would regret that she’d ever come here. She seemed to already regret it, but it could be an act. Women were more conniving than men. I’d seen every trick Lilka had pulled to be in my bed again. I’d managed to keep her at arm’s length, and she knew that if she harmed any member of the team, I’d banish her or even end her.

The men had gotten used to her, so her seductive power no longer had an effect on them. Her mother was a royal siren, and her father was a powerful incubus. If Lilka tried her power on June…

June’s eyelashes fluttered before stilling beneath her eyeglasses.

Right, the ugly glasses. I narrowed my eyes at them.

I remembered how her stormy gray eyes had drawn me in as they burned with fury, shock, and innocence the moment I’d flung the glasses away from her face. Somehow, she’d found them, but one of the lenses was cracked.

What was she hiding under the glasses?

My knuckles traced her high cheekbone, her skin so soft and silky. I turned my hand to snatch the glasses off her nose.

Instantly, her scent changed.

Her scent of pure and potent female perfume, burning blossom, and brimstone igniting in the hottest flame slammed into my face.

I bit out a growl.

It didn’t stop there. Raw need awoke in me with punishing force. Lust swirled to life, ten times stronger, raging in my bloodstream.

My beast surfaced, roaring possessively and wanting to mate.

Fuck, her undisguised, undiluted scent had awoken his primal need that cared for nothing else other than mating and claiming the female in front of us.

Driven by a powerful, mystic force, I slid my gaze to her perfect hips, her long legs, then fixed on the most enticing spot between her thighs.

She’d put on a pair of tight pants without panties. The shape of her pussy was so lovely, her clit so clear that I wanted to spread her legs wide open and shove my cock into her depths right there.

I sniffed again, as I couldn’t help it, and her scent only thickened, responding to my roaring need. Lust raged in us like a tidal wave.

Let’s bury our big cock in her molten core, my beast urged, perking up. She’ll enjoy it too when we claim her.

He urged me to yank off her pants and nudge our cock at her entrance, getting ready to pound into her with one forceful thrust. Consent wasn’t a concept he understood. He only went for primal instincts and needs, like mating and violence and survival.

Fueled by his unbridled desire, I wanted to fuck her right there more than anything, while she wasn’t even aware of where she was. My cock throbbed painfully, and I knew the ache wouldn’t ease until it was sheathed deep within June and penetrated her again and again until it found its release.

I stumbled back, shocked by the very thought of violating her, which was fundamentally wrong. Shame burned in me, yet my lust didn’t recede an inch.

Her scent, now as saturated with arousal as mine, crashed into my nostrils.

My beast lost his shit and fought to come out, but he couldn’t since he was as trapped as me. He roared and clawed at me, as her scent kept calling him. It was as if even in her unconscious state, she could sense my dragon and responded to his mating call.

She’d be the death of my dragon.

I held my breath, turned, and fled the room.

Behind me, June stirred just as I slid out of the door, my cock pricking against my trousers, wanting to spring free.

“Where are my glasses?” she murmured in panic and shuffled around.

Then she sighed in relief, her pheromones watering down, their effect on my beast and me dulling.

She’d put on those fucking glasses.

“Why am I so wet?” she whispered to herself, and I risked a peek from the door and inhaled sharply.

She was touching her slit through her pants, aroused and utterly confused.

“This damn place,” she murmured.

CHAPTER 12

Fang brought me a steaming bowl of veggies. He was so considerate that he’d boiled them and saved some for me before tossing the beast’s meat into the soup. I’d said I was a vegetarian, and he’d remembered.

I almost poured the soup down my throat since I was starving.

He laughed. “Take it easy, June.”

I nodded gratefully, using my sleeve to wipe the steam from my glasses. I wanted to ask him who had carted me to this room, which looked so much nicer than my servant room, but at the same time, I didn’t want to know the answer. Deep inside, I hoped that Ryder had brought me here. But he wouldn’t, would he? He’d just order one of his men to dump me on the pile of hay, telling them that was where I belonged.

“Why don’t you take off your glasses while having your soup?” Fang said. “The steam is all over the glasses, and the left lens is cracked.”

He pulled up a chair beside the sofa to keep me company. He probably wanted to clear the air since I’d fainted after seeing his wolf. The memory made me blush with embarrassment.

“I’m fine,” I said, pushing up my glasses, peeking at him through the thick lenses apologetically and with gratitude, not inching away from him. I accepted him as he was now, even though he was a massive werewolf. Fang had been nothing but kind to me. I couldn’t say the same about Ryder and perhaps the others. “I’m going to lose my mind soon in this place, Fang.”

“You won’t, June,” he said. “You’re stronger than you think. You just need to give it a chance.”

“What chance?” I whined, though I hadn’t meant to. “I might not have a chance.”

“You need to set your animal free,” he said.

“I’m a human, and I prefer to stay that way.”

I didn’t want to say that he’d probably lost it already out of politeness, but it comforted me that he was talking to me. At least, I didn’t feel so alone amid hostile hosts. Ryder’s hostility toward me could roast a baby pig.

“I’ll coax your animal out and guide you, if you let me,” Fang said.

I smiled at him, but I wouldn’t take what he said seriously. In this realm, I would soon lose my sanity if I took everything too seriously. I had to develop coping mechanisms to deal with this life until I returned home, then I would reset. I’d draw my strength from a sole purpose—doing everything in my power to return to my world.

I gazed at the bowl of soup that was nearly empty. I wanted to ask Fang if it was too much to have a second helping, but I swallowed my request. From what I had seen here, it was a barren land. I should be thankful that I even got a bowl of veggie soup. I doubted that they could go to the off world often to get their supplies. They might all be on rations.

“Where did you get all these vegetables?” I asked instead. “I didn’t see any farmland.” I couldn’t help a little hope shining in my eyes. “Is there a town on this land where you can go and trade other than the off world?”

“There’s just endless desert, dead sea, mountains, and barren plains in this damned realm,” he said, “with Cypress’s compound and our camp in their midst. But every time we had a chance to go to the off world, we got as many supplies as we could.”

My heart sank, even though it was what I’d expected.

“Do you go to the off world often? Where is it?”

“We’re only allowed to venture into the off world right after the game—that is, if we survive it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s the curse,” Fang said with a resigned sigh. “It’s hard to explain. You’re one of us now. You’ll experience the same soon.”

I didn’t want to experience the same, and I didn’t think Ryder would ever consider me one of the team, but I didn’t want to say anything to darken the mood.

I quietly finished the soup, didn’t ask for a second helping, and went to help clean the kitchen.

The night came hard and swift, the wind howled, and the beasts yowled chillingly. No one, not even Ryder, demanded I return to the servant room and sleep there while my heart pounded half a mile a second. Anxiety churned in me. I was worried that Ryder would throw me out of the room that they called the common room.

There was no bed here, but the sofa was spacious enough for me, and there was a blanket. So I considered it a small win. All I needed was to stay out of Ryder’s way. When I saw him next time, I’d drop my eyes. I didn’t mind acting meek and I was good at it, as long as he didn’t push me too hard. As he’d bragged, I was at his mercy.

The problem with the common room was that there was no privacy. Anyone could barge in. The guys had come in late at night, having a drink and sharing rowdy jokes. I had to pretend to be asleep, turning away from them and covering half my face with the blanket.

Somehow it comforted me that the guys were here in this strange, scary realm, especially since the beasts hadn’t stopped wailing.

Everyone except me seemed to be able to block out their cries, which grated on my nerves. It made me jumpy every time the beasts changed their pattern of howls. I could discern all the differences with my sensitive hearing.

When I dozed off, the beasts’ wails still haunted my dreams.

In my waking hours, my mind kept drifting toward Ryder. A deep, unknown part of my psyche yearned for him, and it started to create an aching hole in me. Whenever my thoughts drifted to him, I immediately forced myself to think of Oliver.

My boyfriend must be worried sick about me. He should know that I survived the storm since there was no body. A future with Oliver would be normal, safe, and promising. That was what Mom had wanted for me.

I never dreamed big. I knew I was different than others, though I’d never dwelled on it long enough to make myself uncomfortable. I always pushed away the deep loneliness and restless craving when they swept over me. I didn’t even know what I was craving. Just that it was there, lurking and making my soul ache. I was afraid that if I ever faced that part of me, I might never be the same.

This unsettled feeling grew stronger when I reached eighteen, as if there was a hungry, ferocious beast inside me, roaring and pounding against her cage. Was that what Fang had said about my animal?

I shook my head. I couldn’t be a shifter like him.

Mom was nothing supernatural, other than her fierce temper. I’d never truly learned who my father was. She’d once mentioned that he’d died for us, but I could sense the lie in her shaking and fearful voice even as a child.

Mom wasn’t like any other moms I’d met.

Maybe being dumped in this harsh land was a punishment for me, as I’d been discontented, and I’d never shown any gratitude for what I’d had in front of me.

I get it now. I whispered a silent prayer to the universe. I’ll make sure to be double grateful if you make the storm come again and send me back.

A sudden ache surged in my chest, as if a deep part of me couldn’t bear not to see Ryder again. I was sure that stupid emotion didn’t even come from me.

I couldn’t be that cheap. I wouldn’t pine for someone I didn’t know, especially since he was incredibly mean to me. That just wasn’t me, but why did my fucking body always respond to him and my stupid thoughts pivot around him?

Maybe I was born fundamentally wrong.

The men were playing a card game around the table, bantering with each other and drinking homemade booze. I wondered where Ryder was. He was their alpha. He didn’t need to be on patrol duty, did he?

I narrowed my eyes. Why should I care?

While I was biting my lip, busy expelling any thought of Ryder, the men in the room suddenly tensed, their laughter dying in their throats.

The tension spread to me, tingling along my shoulder blades. My senses spiked, telling me that danger was coming.

I threw off the blanket that half-covered my face and sat bolt upright, my eyes darting around wildly. A gust of wind invaded the room, and Ryder strode in, his face grim and furious, sweat gleaming on his bare torso.

Lilka rushed in right behind him, dressed in a low-cut sleeping gown that revealed most of her boobs and thighs.

They’d come together. Had they…?

My mind went blank for a second before my face burned.

He wore only a pair of trousers, hanging low on his hips, exposing a trail of golden hair. She seemed to have shrugged on her flimsy gown at the last second.

Fang had said Lilka had tried to get into Ryder’s pants. Congratulations, she’d made it!

But why was a bitter rage I’d never known I even possessed pounding in my chest? My body grew hot at his presence, yet my fury was stronger.

He wasn’t even mine!

Ryder’s eyes found me right away as I glared at him and Lilka. Then I noticed that I’d thrown off the blanket, forgetting that I should stay low, not drawing the attention of the predator.

I pulled my chest in and let my shoulders hunch, but my nipples still pricked hard against the front of my shirt to get his attention. As if on cue, his gaze flickered to my breasts and lingered for longer than was appropriate, as if he couldn’t help it. Then he realized it as well. His face darkened in anger, and he flashed me an irritated look, as if it was my fault, before he tore his gaze from me and settled it on his men.

Lilka shot me a death glare.

Bring it on, bitch!

I wasn’t trying to seduce anyone. She was! Just look at her slutty dress!

I squared my shoulders, bracing for any challenge she was going to throw at me, even though I was shaking a little inside.

In all my years of facing bullies, I’d never enjoyed confrontation. I’d never felt the thrill of battle, only dread of it, even though I’d always come through and never backed down from those bullies.

“The fucking phoenix is coming,” Ryder said, his golden eyes flashing with dark fury checked by a fleeting undercurrent of worry.

What was he worrying about? I could understand his rage, since he was an angry man. But worry? He was light-years from being a tender, caring person. The worry was more like fear. But he didn’t fear for himself.

His gaze flickered to me again before darting somewhere else and narrowing as if he saw something no one else could see.

The men collectively drew in a sharp breath.

“It’s been two months since the last Wild Hunt call,” Silver said dispassionately. “I thought they were finally cutting us some slack.”

My mind went back to the phoenix. Why would Ryder worry about a mythical bird? And why did I also feel danger approaching? I rubbed my shoulder blade.

He couldn’t really mean a literal phoenix—

A trail of sparks flew through the air, forming a ring of flame.

“Fire!” I shouted a warning, ready to put out the fire with the blanket clenched in my fists.

Colorful feathers materialized inside the circle of fire. A pair of wings spread wide and flapped like a hummingbird. A long tail the color of a rainbow spun in the air, showing off the apparition’s beauty.

“A bird?” I blurted out.

The bird alighted on the high beam on the ceiling of the common room, a ring of fire twirling around her.

“Wait a minute,” I murmured to myself as I stared at the gorgeous bird. “Is that really a phoenix? Are we in a Disney movie now?”

“I can hear you, June Winters,” the phoenix sang. “I’m offended, but I forgive you. Good to see you here.”

I’d seen Fang transform into a wolf, so it wasn’t too shocking hearing a bird talking, but my jaw still dropped. Then I noticed the men’s guarded eyes fixed on me, and Ryder glared at me, his suspicious gaze traveling between me and the phoenix, as if trying to find a connection.

The phoenix turned to preen her feathers.

Wicked delight glinted in Lilka’s eyes. She was gleeful that the bird had called me out.

When Ryder announced that the phoenix was coming, he’d sounded more than annoyed. The men also stared at the legendary creature warily. I didn’t know their history, but obviously there was no love lost between the phoenix and the men.

I might be young, but I wasn’t naïve. The phoenix was setting me up. But to what purpose? I was already at everyone’s mercy as an outsider and a wild card. I needed to clear the air before the bird flew off and left the bad kind of suspense that would lead Ryder to distrust me more.

“Pardon me, Phoenix?” I screeched. “I don’t think we’ve met before. Maybe you can shift to your true form and talk like a person? Fang is the first shifter I’ve met, and you’re the second.”

“Sadie isn’t a shifter,” Fang murmured.

Sadie, the phoenix, giggled. “Aren’t you cute, June? You’re fun, just as the gods said you would be.”

She’d seen through my intention and was now playing with me.

“What gods?” I narrowed my eyes in displeasure. “I only know Jesus, not that I go to church on Sundays.” I recalled the hatred burning white hot in Ryder’s eyes whenever he referred to the gods. I was not going to be a scapegoat. I turned to the men, raising my hands as if I was about to swear to tell the truth in front of a jury. “I don’t know any gods, in case you’re wondering. I’ve never met this bird before. I didn’t even know that phoenixes were a real thing, and she looks nothing like the phoenix in Harry Potter!”

Everyone stared at me with various levels of doubt. I sighed and hurried on. “I’m not a spy for anyone. I’m not even qualified as a spy. Even that one time I sneaked around the hallway to check out the security, I got caught! Believe me, I did not come here to sabotage your lives, which do not need to be sabotaged if you ask me, since there isn’t much to sabotage.”

Now the men looked offended.

“You know what?” I threw up my hands in exasperation. “Now I think back, I bet the storm that brought me here was no ordinary storm! This whole thing is a setup!”

“You’re as adorable as they said, June,” the phoenix said.

“Don’t look at her, Sadie,” Ryder said coldly. “Look at me. What’s your business here?”

“Ryder! You’re no fun, and you haven’t changed one bit in two centuries.” Sadie yawned, and a stream of fire flowed out of her mouth. I jumped back, but none of the men seemed concerned by her flame. “Maybe your June will work on you since she’s here now.”

“I’m not anyone’s June,” I shouted furiously. “This has nothing to do with me, and I’m not amused! So, please, don’t make it about me. I’ve watched a lot of cop shows. I can smell a trick a mile away, and you’re a bad actor!”

“I’m not an actor. I’m a messenger.” Sadie giggled some more. “And since our dear June is here, I’ll deliver a gift. The next Wild Hunt starts—right now!”

A throwing star appeared in Ryder’s hand, and he hurled it at the phoenix. She phased out, avoiding the strike, then reappeared in a new ring of fire.

“You try it each and every time and get the same result, Ryder love,” Sadie sang again, fire swimming in her blue eyes. “Don’t you ever get bored?”

“I won’t be bored until the day I murder the gods and then you,” Ryder hissed.

“Oooh, promise?” Sadie said. “You’re almost as adorable as our June. I can’t wait to see the fireworks between you two.”

“There’re no fireworks and never will be,” I growled. “He isn’t even my type!”

Ryder scowled at me.

“Lover’s quarrel, how delicious,” Sadie called. “Ta da, and here comes the game. May the odds favor you, my darlings!” The phoenix vanished for real this time, the ring of fire she created forming a heart in the air before it dissipated.

A horn blew, then three stallions in their phantom forms appeared in the room, driving a phantom carriage. I inched backward from them and fell onto the sofa butt first.

Ryder cursed, as did the men.

I had a very bad feeling.

“Fang, Ink,” I shouted and bolted toward the exit, “we have to get out of here!”

The phantom wind swept over, seized me by the middle, and tossed me into the air. Before I could kick and scream, I was being deposited in a translucent carriage, standing on solid ground.

Then, to my rueful relief, Ryder and his team were there too, standing like angry statues in the front of the carriage as the stallions phased out of the temple and passed through the stone walls, taking us with them.

CHAPTER 13

The stallions flew the carriage over a sea of howling beasts. We passed endless chasms, the wind assaulting us with dust.

“This is a bad dream,” I murmured in dismay, yet my companions didn’t seem fazed. In fact, they appeared bored. “This must be another bad dream.”

“It’s not a dream, Judas,” Lilka snickered. “This is as real as it gets, and you’ll be hunted soon.” She used the name Ryder called me to remind him that I couldn’t be trusted.

Fang and Ink stepped back to stand on either side of me as if to guard me while gazing at the horizon. I reached out and grabbed their arms to stop myself from shaking.

Despite their nearly identical jaded expressions, their tense poses said that they were on high alert.

“Please tell me this isn’t a normal scene to you,” I asked hopefully. At their expressions, my heart sank further.

“This is the ride to the Wild Hunt,” said Fang. “The phoenix is Hera’s messenger. Before each hunt, she comes to deliver the message.”

I blinked. “Who’s Hera?”

I’d heard the name before, but I was so dazed and afraid that my mind wasn’t running at normal speed.

“Queen of the Olympian gods and wife of Zeus,” Silver answered me without turning his head.

Ryder stared ahead, not sparing me a look. I could feel intense heat and rage rolling off him.

“The Olympian gods have stepped out of the myths then,” I murmured unhappily.

The gods were never benevolent in the stories. Civilization had always tried to erase every trace and influence of the gods and the supernaturals, though religions were gaining more footing as Earth was so divided.

“They roamed in all realms before humans came into existence,” Fang said. “Humans like to think they’re the center of everything. They’re but dust motes in the universe.”

“What exactly is this Wild Hunt? What are the rules?” I asked, my heart beating fast. I’d heard the term several times now, and every time it sounded more menacing.

“We’ve been target practice for centuries,” Ink said, hate turning his hazel eyes the darkest shade of green. “Bo and Ryder have been hunted a century longer.”

No wonder Ryder hated me. Bo had been killed because of Eva, and I looked like her twin. What were the chances! Even if reincarnation was real, I didn’t bear any of Eva’s past memories. I prayed that I wasn’t her.

“When we reach the hunting ground the gods have chosen,” Fang took over the explanation, “the carriage will drop us. The gods from all realms take turns to hunt us or send their champions to battle us while they watch and place bets. It’s a sport to them. Last time, it was the mutant aliens’ turn to be in the arena, and they nearly took out Ink. It took that tough demon a month to recover.”

Ink spat into the wind. I let go of his arm and ducked behind Fang.

“In the beginning, the gods tried to get us to fight each other,” Fang continued, “but we refused no matter how they manipulated and threatened us. We’ll never turn on each other. We’re brothers. In every game, our goal is to make sure we don’t lose anyone.”

“How did they trick you into agreeing to the hunt?” I asked.

“They’re gods,” Alistair chimed in from the front row, as if he also needed to vent. He turned to glance at me while sniffing the air. The wind must’ve brought my scent to his nostrils, and I bet he was thinking how delicious my blood smelt. I shuddered. I needed to watch out for that one at all times. He might use today as an opportunity to hunt me. “They do whatever the fuck they please regardless of anyone, anything, and any consequences. We’re all bound to the curse that they put on Ryder. None of us can leave the games unless we’re dead.”

“Perhaps we need to brainstorm on how to end this curse,” I said.

Ryder snorted from the front row as if I were stupid, and I glared at the back of his head.

“Judas brought this hunt on us,” Lilka said, turning her elegant head to give me a venomous look before sidling closer to Ryder. “She’s probably Hera’s handmaid in disguise. Haven’t you noticed how cozy Sadie was with her?”

“Get off my back!” I shouted.

Ryder turned to narrow his eyes at me, and I glared back at him. In order to gather my courage and defy him, I thrust out my chest to overcompensate for my usual hunched posture, which only brought his heated gaze to my breasts again.

Lilka noticed the same and shot daggers at me, but I wasn’t exactly advertizing!

The stallions increased their speed. Beneath the carriage was an endless dead sea. The harsh wind brought up the foul smell, assaulting my nose. My hair flew all over my face, and I tried to spit it out of my mouth.

Ink chuckled at my antics. “Need help?”

Thunder boomed all around. The carriage swung to and fro. Lightning speared the sky, outlining an icy land surrounded by jagged glacial mountains in the distance.

I spotted seven giants perching on the apex of the mountains like ice statues, illuminated by the lightning. I called out in alarm as they moved.

“What’s that?!” I asked, my voice high-pitched, my fingers sweeping from one giant to another. “They moved. The giant ice statues can move!”

“They’re the Frost Giants from one of the godly realms,” Silver said. “They’re the hunters.”

“Who can fight those beings?!” I shrieked. “They are over ten feet tall, and there are seven of them against seven of us. Oh my god. How can this day get worse?”  At my companions’ apathetic expressions, I tried to get a grip on myself by failed miserably as cold panic seized me. I had a hard time breathing in and out. “I don’t mean to be a whiner, but I’m not cut out for this. My top achievement is the ability to predict the arrival of storms. That’s all I’m good for. I’m not a warrior. Look at the broadswords those giants carry, man. They’re going to cut me in half! That one has a spear. It’ll be a horrible death to be speared and pinned in midair. If I don’t die instantly after being pierced, I don’t know if I can take the excruciating pain.” My eyes went round as I watched the giants draw their blades from behind their backs. I swore that although they all looked the same to me, one of the giants locked his eyes on me in hunger, as if he planned to have me between his teeth and bite me in half.

Fuck, I was his target!

The vampire said that I smelled delicious. I hoped those giants had a different opinion if they ever smelled me.

My pulse spiked erratically as terror froze me. I breathed hard, a frosty stream escaping my trembling lips.

“Coward!” Lilka hissed in disgust.

“Fear is actually a healthy emotion!” I protested. “I just don’t understand why I should be included in the hunt. I’m not part of the original team. I’m not even a member of the team, since your ringleader deemed me a servant. A slave doesn’t fight her masters’ battle. However, those giants might not understand my dilemma. This is royally fucked up. Mom said that if I avoided attention, I’d be safe. All my life, I hunched my shoulders and wore this pair of ridiculous thick glasses so no one would glance in my direction twice. But Mom’s trick isn’t working now, is it?”

“Shut up, June, and let me think!” Ryder snapped.

Then I realized that I’d said my thoughts out loud.

“I’m sorry, sir,” I whimpered. “Fang, please, I need to go to the edge of the carriage to bend over the rail and throw up. I can’t help this physical reaction. You might want to grab my legs to prevent me from falling over the carriage.”

“Get her into the cage, Fang,” Ryder ordered, “before she gets in the way and gets us all killed.”

“What cage?” I asked frantically, my eyes darting around.

“I’ve never met anyone more pathetic,” Lilka said, enjoying watching me have a panic attack. “Just toss her into the cage.”

Now, everyone had seen my true colors and worth. I bet they all held disdain toward me, but I just lost it. I was a civilian!

“Please, I don’t want to be put in a cage!” I shrieked.

Ryder strode toward me. I lashed out, shoving at his chest as he got into my personal space, but it was like hitting a rock. Fang sighed, standing by. He might sympathize, but his loyalty was always to Ryder.

Ryder moved in a flash and grabbed me before I could kick him. Spinning me around, he pushed me backward. The shimmering curtain behind me opened, revealing a translucent cage with solid bars. I pushed back, my ass crashing into his groin, and Ryder groaned. Encouraged by the score, I rammed my elbow into his ribs, but he proved much faster than me. He shoved me into the cage and slammed the door shut.

“You insisted on not being a fighter. Why did you fight me so fiercely, Jules?” he asked, regarding me with a derisive smirk from outside the cage.

“Don’t call me Jules, you ape!”

“Calling me names again, sparrow?” he taunted.

At that moment, I wanted to maul his handsome face more than anything. So I pretended to be subdued and dropped my gaze. Through the corner of my eye, I watched him nod and go to secure the lock.

My arm shot out between the bars, lightning fast.

I got him!

My fingernails found their mark, leaving a thin trace of blood across his left cheek.

He jerked back, and I instantly stepped out of his reach, afraid of his retaliation, knowing that it’d be coming. Now the cage was protecting me from him.

His golden-blue eyes were on fire, as were mine. My jaw clenched so hard in fear and anger that my teeth hurt. To repel him, I pulled my lips back in a snarl. He stared at my lips, heat rising to his eyes. Even in this fucked up situation, he couldn’t stop his body from responding to me.

He shook his head as if to expel a thought. Then he touched his cheek where I’d left a thin trail of blood and stared at the smear of blood on his fingers.

“What the fuck?” he murmured, his expression incredulous.

His men stilled behind him, then sucked in a collective breath.

“You left me with no choice, asshole,” I said defiantly. “I’m a peaceful person and I’ve never hit anyone before, but you deserved it since you started it! Remember, no woman would appreciate being manhandled! So I had to teach you a lesson on behalf of all women.”

“Wow, what a speech.” Ink whistled. “And we know only gods and goddess can bleed you, Ryder.”

“The summer girl isn’t even an immortal, is she?” Alistair studied me from behind Ryder’s shoulder with renewed interest. Actually, his interest hadn’t waned. “I’ve never smelt anyone who has her type of blood. If you allow me to take a sip from her, I can probably detect her heritage and solve the mystery for you, Ryder.”

“Quit it, Alistair,” Ryder said roughly. “You’ll never take her blood.”

“A mere mortal bled you,” the vampire challenged him. “What does it mean then?”

“As I said, she isn’t a plain Jane as she claimed to be,” Ryder said. “The gods dropped her into our laps for a reason, and not a good one.”

“She’ll be the doom of all of you if you don’t end her first, Ryder,” Lilka said chillingly.

“Cut me,” Ryder said.

Lilka blinked. “Ryder?”

“I need to know,” Ryder said roughly.

Lilka produced a dagger that was strapped to her thigh. She held Ryder’s hand and turned it around, her thumb caressing his palm. It was such an intimate gesture that I wanted to turn my head to avoid looking at them, yet I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I swallowed back a growl, which I was sure didn’t generate from me naturally.

“Just slice it,” Ryder said impatiently. “Or I’ll have Fang try his claws.”

“I don’t want you to be vulnerable,” Lilka said. “You know I always watch your six.” She raised the tip of the dagger and cut a line along the heel of his palm.

No blood came out. His skin remained intact, even though I could see Lilka put pressure on the cut, and the blade was sharper than an ordinary dagger.

“Other than the gods, the archangels, the mutant beasts the gods bred to fight you, and Cypress, since he possesses a blade gifted by an archangel,” Silver said matter-of-factly, “June is the fifth element that can harm you.”

That didn’t sound good, and I didn’t like where this was going. I’d been vindictive when he handled me roughly. Now I regretted it. Every action had consequences. I should’ve just sucked it up and taken the punch since I wasn’t in his league when it came to battle and other stuff. But sometimes, my stubborn and impractical streaks surfaced at the most inconvenient time.

I didn’t think that even Fang would help me if I was a threat to Ryder, and I wouldn’t blame him.

“It was an accident,” I called urgently from the rear of the cage. “I was angry at the mistreatment. I usually wouldn’t even stomp on a cockroach. When I shared a basement with five other financially challenged students, there was a mouse that frequented our basement, and I couldn’t even bring myself to hurt it.”

“Kill her now and eliminate the threat, Ryder!” Lilka urged.

“June isn’t a threat, Ryder,” Fang growled.

“Look how dangerous she’s become. She’s blindsided all of you!” Lilka hissed. “I’m the only one who still sees the threat clearly. Ryder, end her. If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, I’ll do it for you. You know I’d do anything for you.”

I pressed against the back of the cage, my breath short, my eyes wide with fear as I saw death coming closer.

Don’t worry, June. I tried to ease my fear. Death would be an escape in this barbaric life.

However, a survival instinct also surfaced, stronger than anything I’d known. It was as if something else inside me was deciding for me and didn’t like my submissiveness one little bit.

Ryder’s golden-blue gaze locked on mine, dark fire twirling in his irises.

“We don’t have time for this now,” he said, his voice brimming with an alpha’s authority. “But remember this: June’s mine, my personal prisoner and my prize. No one is allowed to touch her except me. I alone decide her fate. I’ll be her executioner if and when the time comes, but the time isn’t today unless she poses a mortal danger to any of you.”

I blinked in surprise. I would get to live another day then. Or not. Anxiety returned twofold. Ryder might allow me to live for the time being, but the Frost Giants would cut the men down, then they would come for me. The only possibility for me to survive this hunt was to get away while the two parties clashed.

Ryder and his team might be cursed to endure the Wild Hunt, but I’d never signed any contract to be included.

I pounded my fists against the bars and howled. “Let me out! I don’t deserve this!”

Everyone turned their backs on me, except Lilka, who winked at me viciously.

I hated this weakness of mine, but I couldn’t help the tears streaming down my face.

Today, I’d die in a cage.

My eyes widened as everyone suddenly changed. Like some kind of magic, armor formed around their bodies like a second skin. Broadswords appeared in the fae and vampire’s hands. Lilka snapped a whip similar to the one Ryder had wielded. Fang grabbed twin axes in his claws.

Ryder had his flaming longsword in his left hand.

The phantom stallions brayed eerily and stilled in the air, the carriage hovering twenty feet above the icy land—the hunting ground.

The Frost Giants, seven altogether, bellowed, which chilled my blood. The mountains echoed with their bloodthirsty cries. Before the sound died down, the giants sprang down the mountains, faster than rolling balls, their weapons glowing with menacing light.

This was getting real, and shit was going to hit the fan.

Ryder roared in challenge and leapt from the carriage. Fang, Ink, and Silver gave a battle cry as well and followed suit. Alistair bared his fangs with a hiss and jumped from the other side of the carriage.

My blood iced over.

The men landed lithely, as if those twenty feet were nothing.

Lilka stayed behind in the carriage, enjoying the view from the front row. She wasn’t the slightest bit afraid, I had to give her that. I wished I could be like her, but fear and anxiety churned in my stomach.

I grabbed the bars of the cage, my trembling fingers shaking them to test how strong they were. I needed to get out of here. The cage wouldn’t stop the giants from getting to me.

But then, movement from beneath the carriage caught my eye. My worried gaze darted to Ryder and the team, my own fear forgotten. I didn’t want any of them to get killed. I cared about Fang a great deal. I even liked Ink. Silver showed me courtesy, and even though Alistair fixed his longing gaze on my neck a lot, hoping for a sip of my blood, he’d never laid a hand on me or gotten his sharp fangs near me.

Ryder’s team wasn’t like the bear gang at all. I was actually safe with them. I might hate to admit it, but I couldn’t bear the thought of Ryder’s demise either.

The warriors formed two triangular formations, their backs pressing against one another, and waited quietly. The hunting ground was suddenly silent, but drums beat in my veins.

Something strange and powerful stirred in me, as if I craved to be on the battlefield with the men, as if I’d been born for battle, only I’d never realized or elevated my potential.

Lilka turned to me; at the same time, her whip lashed out at me through the bars. I ducked, the sharp tip of the whip missing my head by an inch. She wanted to finish me off while the guys were on the battlefield. It was the best opportunity to get rid of me.

She pulled up her whip then snapped it toward me again. I dropped to the ground, rolling to avoid being slashed open. She narrowed her eyes.

“Lilka, we need you!” Ryder shouted harshly from the battleground.

That murderous bitch licked her lips, giving me a look of annoyance before she turned. I bet she’d thought she could finish me off quickly, not expecting me to be able to evade the strikes.

She had to go now.

She coiled her whip and leaped off the carriage easily.

My heart rammed into my ribcage as I realized how narrowly I’d brushed off death. I needed to get out of here.

I kicked the cage door, but it wouldn’t budge. I moved closer to inspect it and spotted runes on the lock.

Battle cries jerked me back to the icy land beneath the carriage. The Frost Giants had reached Ryder and his team, seven against six of them.

The giants’ faces were more beastly than humanoid, their eyes glowing icy blue. Their bodies were built like ice marbles with unnatural bulky muscles. Blues veins throbbed under their skin like snakes.

“We’ll have your head on a spike this time, Ryder!” bellowed the giant with a red cape draped over his massive shoulders.

Maybe he was the captain?

“Go suck your small dick,” Ryder said, “if you can reach it.”

The men chuckled, and the giant bellowed in rage. He didn’t seem to have a sense of humor.

Ryder raised his flaming sword to meet the giant’s dark one, the clash of blades sounding harsh and terrifying to my sensitive eardrums.

Ryder’s team crashed into the giants’ rank.

The men lunged, cut, hacked, and withdrew in a seamless formation. They might have practiced this a thousand times.

Both parties’ movements blurred together, their speed formidable.

Blood flew in an arc in the air, some blue and some red, then rained down. The icy ground was slick with blood.

I’d never seen such a brutal battle.

The seventh Frost Giant, an extra, went around to aid his brethren to attack Lilka. They might regard her as the weakest link.

Ink fought beside her, but he couldn’t help her, as he was barely holding on against his opponent, who towered over him by three heads.

Ryder leapt up several feet and slashed his blade across the captain Frost Giant’s monstrous face. The captain snarled, took the cut, and sliced across Ryder’s left shoulder. Their blades weren’t the kind that mortals used. I could hear the sizzling sounds as the blade cut though Ryder’s armor and left a gash on his flesh.

Ryder’s men had been so shocked at seeing my fingernails leave a thin line of blood on his cheek and said that only the gods could bleed Ryder. These Frost Giants were gods.

The battle was so lethal that one error would lead to death. My heart leapt to my throat every time a man took a hit. I wished that I could do something, anything, to help them, yet I was trapped here. I now kind of understood why Ryder had locked me up here. He might actually have been trying to protect me.

The battle went on for another minute, which felt like a lifetime, and my mind still had a hard time wrapping around this brutal reality. Everything happened too fast.

Do not think. Do not process. Just be, a voice called to me from deep within me.

I swallowed, my throat parched. I did not know how to be. I wasn’t wired that way. I was conditioned to think logically and to analyze.

Lilka stumbled as two giants ganged up on her. A giant grabbed the middle of her whip like it was a toy, and before she could let go of the hilt and pull out her dagger, the giant lifted it with her on the other end and hurled her away. Lilka flew into the air, flapped a few times like a fish, and crashed onto the hard ice, then slid a dozen feet away.

Two spare giants breached the circle through the opening vacated by Lilka. They shattered the team’s formation. Now two giants were fighting Ryder while two other giants boxed Fang in.

Fang slammed his sword into a giant’s spear, his claws coming out and slashing at the other giant. The other giant ducked away, faster than anything. They were so big, yet they could move superfast. But then, they were gods.

The giant raised his blade. A flash of light passed, and the blade fell, slicing off Fang’s sword hand. Fang roared in pain and fury, blood gushing out of his stump that cleaved off at the wrist. Ryder shouted a desperate call to arms as the team tried to fight back toward Fang, but none of them could make it to him, as their opponents had them trapped.

Lilka could barely sit up, dozens of feet away from the fighting circle.

The giants planned to pick off the men one by one. This was a sport to them.

The icy land would be a grave for all of us.

No, just no!

Fire boiled in my blood. A power I’d never felt before roared, fighting to get out. I wouldn’t let them slaughter Fang!

I hurled away my glasses and rammed my fist into the lock with all the strength I had. My knuckles broke, blood spilling on the lock and the bar, and the cage snapped open. I knew it wasn’t because of my strength but because my blood had the power to break the spell.

It was like a flash of light piercing the dimness, and suddenly, I could access arcane knowledge that had been locked away until this moment.

Without my glasses shielding me, the world rushed into laser-sharp focus. My senses heightened, so intense that my head spun and wind roared through me.

I no longer shied away from it but welcomed the power, knowing that not only Fang’s but my own survival depended on it. This had become my reality. I either accepted it or kept burying my head in the sand until I perished.

I leapt from the carriage and landed right on the back of the giant who had cut off Fang’s hand. My arms wrapped around his massive neck, and using the momentum, I did a roundhouse kick, my foot ramming into the other giant before he could impale Fang with his spear.

The giant who carried the spear stumbled back, blinking in surprise. I didn’t blame him. I didn’t look like much in any corner of the universe. I hadn’t expected to be able to throw the Frost Giant back with a mere kick either. I’d even broken his nose, since I saw blue blood streaming from his large nostrils.

That bought Fang just enough time to shift to his massive wolf form. The gray wolf lunged at the giant with the bloody nose before he could come for me with his spear and retaliate. The wolf slashed its claw at the giant’s gut and brought him down to the icy ground.

At the same time, I opened my mouth and shrieked, remembering how it had affected Cypress’s gang. Hopefully, my shriek would have a terrible effect on the Frost Giants too.

I grinned when I saw the giants’ faces distort in pain. It seemed that they wanted to press their hands against their ears to fend off my scream.

“Banshee!” a giant cursed.

“A she-dragon!” another giant tried to correct him.

“It can’t be.” The other giant shook his head. “She-dragons are extinct.”

Ryder and his team took advantage of the giants being weakened by my screaming and hacked at them furiously. Ryder leapt high and buried his flaming blade in the chest of the giant behind him.

The giant whom I rode on grabbed my head and tried to crush my skull, but I shrieked into his ear. He yowled in agony and let go of me. Blue blood leaked out of his ears. Oh my gods, I might be a banshee. No one liked banshees; they were death bringers. But I should not worry about that right now.

The giant’s cry hurt my eardrums, but his voice wasn’t nearly as powerful as my shriek. I seized the dagger from the sheath at his waist and thrust it into his temple right before he managed to fling me away.

I crashed into the hard ice and cried in pain, the air whooshing out of my lungs. Tears flowed down my face. I might have a cracked rib or two, since the giant had thrown me with such blunt force. But then I should be proud, because I’d wounded a Frost God and he hadn’t killed me!

My pride diminished quickly, and icy fear pumped in my veins as I spotted more Frost Giants on the peak of the mountains, ready to join the party.

Ryder didn’t even spare them a glimpse, but when he saw me crawling on the ice and trying to get to my feet, he roared in wrath. Was he fucking mad that I had gotten myself out of the cage? Then, in front of my eyes, he transformed.

He grew larger than the Frost Giants, golden scales appearing and covering his body in waves, glinting under the three moons that had just become visible. A long, powerful scaled tail thrashed behind him, armed with barbs at the end. His tail surged up into the air, struck like a snake, and speared the giant’s throat.

He kept growing and transforming until an enormous black dragon dusted with gold stood where Ryder had been before. The dragon was enormous enough to crush a building.

My pained breath caught in my throat.

I’d never seen anything more beautiful and lethal.

My eyes rounded like grapes. Ryder was indeed a dragon!

“You weren’t supposed to shift, Ryder,” the remaining giant objected, much smaller now in front of the dragon. “As a rule, you can only shift once a month at sunset!”

The dragon opened his mouth, a jet of fire shooting at the giant, who turned to run. The fire caught him, and the giant turned into a vast screaming torch.

The other giants no longer had the heart to fight. They fled. Silver tossed his dagger, and it sailed into a slower giant’s skull. In seconds, the surviving giants vacated the battlefield and vanished behind the mountains.

A toll rang in the air, followed by deathly silence.

Ryder’s men flanked the black dragon. Lilka had joined the team. On the ice, five giants lay dead—two killed by Ryder, one by Fang, one by me, and the last one by Silver.

My bones ached, but I managed to sit up on the ice.

The gray wolf reached me in a heartbeat. To my relief, he shifted back to Fang. He’d stopped bleeding, a hand growing back from his stump. The legend was true about supernaturals being able to heal fast.

“It’s over, June,” Fang said.

“Over?” I asked, trembling as I fumbled for my glasses, only to realize I’d decided to take them off forever. I felt so raw and exposed, but I’d carry on without the glasses from now on.

“Yes, you did well,” he said. “You saved me, you brave girl!”

“I’m not really brave. I know myself, so I set the bar low,” I confessed. “I wasn’t exactly thinking when I jumped on that giant. I might not be able to do that again. At that time, I just couldn’t bear the thought of your death. If you died, I’d have to deal with all the mean boys. They might not even let me have my veggie soup if you aren’t around.”

“I’m not one of the mean boys,” Ink protested. “I made the soup for you. Fang only brought it to you and took the credit.”

“Oh, thank you then,” I said in gratitude. “I’ll be forever in your debt if you’ll give me a bit more next time. I’m not asking for a second helping.”

Ink shook his head. “Give a woman an inch, and she’ll ask for a mile.”

Fang chuckled, ruffling my hair.

“Please don’t mess up my hair, Fang.” I ducked away from his large hand. “It’s already like a bird’s nest.”

“I like it,” he said.

A beast growled behind us, sounding possessive. I turned my head in alarm. The black dragon fixed his huge golden eyes on me, a trail of flame and smoke puffing out of his nostrils.

He was studying me with utter fascination.

My heart lurched, then thundered, but I knew he was still Ryder. I didn’t know how to wrap my mind around seeing Ryder’s dragon form taking an interest in me. So I decided to turn my back toward the dragon and ignore him, since he could be as mean as his humanoid form.

Avoid them to the best of my ability, right?

Now that the battle was over, my grudge toward Ryder swirled back to life.

“How did you move like that, summer girl?” Alistair asked. For the first time, his interest in me was more than piercing a hole in my neck.

“I don’t know,” I said, spreading my arms. “I just wanted to get those giants away from Fang, so I did a roundhouse kick. I doubt I’ll be able to duplicate the move though.”

“Interesting,” Alistair said. “You reacted on pure instinct, but if you try to analyze it, you can’t do it again.”

“Exactly,” I said.

“We can train you and make you an excellent fighter, June,” Silver said. “You’ve got potential, and I can be a patient teacher.”

I winced.

“Let me think about it, Sir Fae,” I said. “I prefer kitchen work over fighting, even though I also hate cooking and cleaning. I wasn’t lying earlier when I said that I wasn’t cut out for this life like you guys. I’ll never be a battle-hardened warrior. My biggest dream is to go back to my world and finish school. In my spare time, I want to watch shows with my boyfriend and eat buttered popcorn with a sprinkle of sea salt.”

The dragon growled. Well, he was just as mean as Ryder.

“You’re an interesting and brave woman, June,” Ink said. “You don’t know it yet, but it’d be a waste if you left us and went back to Earth.”

“I disagree,” I said, biting my lower lip, then I noticed Lilka staring daggers at me. “And I don’t want you to think highly of me and put pressure on me, Ink. You’ll only be disappointed. I’m the boring type.”

Alistair chuckled, as if I’d told a joke.

I tried to rise to my feet only to fall back on my butt because, suddenly, the dragon was in my face. He shoved everyone out of the way with his mighty snout, mean attitude, and a terrifying growl.

His molten-gold eyes gazed upon me, demanding my sole attention.

CHAPTER 14

The dragon

Ever since the gods had stolen Ryder from his parents and cursed him, the dragon had been trapped as well. He was only allowed to be out at sunset for five minutes once a month. It wasn’t meant to comfort Ryder, but to torment him by reminding him of his loss and imprisonment. It was like letting a kid lick a piece of candy then taking it away by force.

It hadn’t been time for the dragon to come out on the battlefield, but against all odds, he’d pushed through and surfaced when seeing his mate in danger. The primal need to protect his female defined the very foundation of the dragon as soon as he found her. That pure need had given the beast the strength and power to fight the bonds of the curse at the crucial moment.

Everything had changed since June had been dropped into his lap, but Ryder still tried to deny that she was their mate. So, from now on, there’d be no harmony and cooperation between him and that two-legged asshole until Ryder accepted and claimed their mate.

The gods had done a number on Ryder, making him forever hateful and unbearably paranoid. The dragon understood and hated the fucking gods as much as Ryder, but June had nothing to do with the gods. She was their mate. The dragon might be fickle, but he didn’t make mistakes.

He’d driven away the Frost Giants, and his mate was safe, for now. He didn’t like the men crowding around his mate and showing interest in her. Ryder was watching from his dragon’s eyes and didn’t appreciate it either.

Ryder was more restrained, but the dragon didn’t have any problem shoving away his men and sending them a growl of warning. Finally, he was June’s sole audience, deserving her undivided attention.

His mate stared at him, so the dragon lowered his head and put on the meekest expression he could manage and grinned at the lovely maiden.

“Hey, dragon!” she declared, her storm-gray irises dilating.

He nodded, pleased. He loved her sweet voice. He could get addicted to listening to her.

“Dragons are real! I’m not dreaming.” She was trying to convince herself.

Of course dragons were real. He hated that he couldn’t talk to her, not until he and Ryder fucked her and claimed her to form the mating bond, then he would be able to mind talk to her. He would make sure that Ryder claimed their mate at the first chance they got.

He batted his eyes at her, hoping she found him easy on the eyes and lovable as well. The last thing he wanted was to scare her away. A lot of beings were terrified of dragons and badmouthed his kind. He didn’t give a fuck, but this was his female. So he must leave an excellent first impression, especially after Ryder had done some damage by being extremely rude to their female.

“What’s the dragon doing?” the demon asked the others, puzzled.

“Ryder’s dragon has never acted this way,” the wolf agreed.

“He never took an interest in any female before,” the talkative demon said again. “When the dragon came out, he was always full of rage, like the biggest asshole ever, even more than Ryder. Now he’s acting like a lovesick puppy toward our June. What does it mean?”

The dragon clenched his teeth, not liking to be described as an asshole in front of his female. She hadn’t gotten to know him yet and hadn’t even warmed up to him. And June wasn’t anyone’s but his.

“I think he’s trying to woo her,” the vampire answered. “It’ll be interesting to watch the courting process.”

The bloodsucker was a smartass, which was a very annoying trait. No one was wiser and stronger than a dragon. When his race came into existence, all other beings were still in diapers.

The vampire was right about the dragon courting his mate. But it didn’t mean he wanted anyone to point it out so vulgarly, since this was supposed to be an intimate, cozy moment between him and his mate, especially when he’d finally faced his female in his true form.

He had to restrain himself from growling at the men, which would give June the wrong impression that he had a bad temper. Ryder had displayed his terrible manners plenty of times, which was extremely tacky in the dragon’s eyes, but he couldn’t stop Ryder while the man was in charge. Now was his opportunity to amend the terrible image Ryder had left in June’s mind. She’d called Ryder a mean boy.

“He’s batting his eyes at her!” the demon declared. “He even purred. Ryder is going to lose his shit over this when he’s himself again.”

The rest of the men chuckled, and the half-breed siren demoness hissed with jealousy.

“It must be a mistake,” the succubus said sourly. “Ryder’s dragon can’t be interested in that Judas. He’s probably smelling his food.”

He turned his head and slashed his scaled tail toward the succubus. Her green eyes widened, and she zoomed out of the way to avoid the strike. Now he’d shut her up. One day, when Ryder wasn’t looking, he’d kill the succubus. He had a feeling that bad female was going to cause trouble for his mate.

He didn’t like the men’s comments and liked their raucous laughter even less. When the men closed in to examine him out of nosiness, he could no longer hold back but pulled back his scaled lips and snarled at the men, warning them to keep their distance, the further the better.

He resented that the men were trying to get close to June; they were drawn to her, to the hidden power within her. The dragon never asked too much. He just wanted to be with his mate alone. It was all about getting to know each other before mating fiercely, wasn’t it? He heard that chicks dug it in the more modernized worlds as opposed to this wilderness where Ryder and he had been forced to dwell for two centuries.

June came from the civilized world, so he and Ryder should behave in a civilized, intelligent manner, so she’d be willing to share their bed in the end.

When June called him again, she brought his rapt attention back to her before he completely lost his temper and let the men have a taste of it.

“What big teeth you have!” she said, her lovely eyes round, and the dragon wanted to laugh.

He was pleased she wasn’t afraid of him. Not one little bit. Encouraged and delighted, he thrust his snout into her palm and inhaled her scent deeply, which was like catnip to a dragon.

Once again, there was no mistaking that she was his true mate.

Ryder, the man, lurked inside his dragon and watched quietly. He could’ve tried to stop the dragon from getting cozy with their mate, yet he didn’t make any moves—not that he’d succeed with the dragon in control. The dragon would just tell him that he was but a noise.

The man watched with a dark, broody mood, which wasn’t anything new to the dragon.

Ryder desired June too, more than he wanted to admit, and the knucklehead might never admit it.

Dragons didn’t lie, but all men lied through their fucking teeth and lied to themselves as well. The dragon snorted in disdain.

“You won’t eat me, will you, dragon?” the girl teased.

The dragon looked stunned. What kind of question was that? He’d never harm his own mate. He’d bite off his own tail before he would harm her.

June laughed at his expression. She was in a playful mood since she’d survived this hunt. “I’m a lightweight, not even good for a snack.”

He wanted to tell her that he didn’t want to eat her, not the way she thought. He only wanted to bring her food, then mate her for eternity. Talking about food, he wasn’t thrilled that she had only had one bowl of vegetable soup last time. She should eat a lot more and have plates of heaped meat served to her. He’d need to have a serious talk with Ryder about providing for their mate.

And what kind of person ate only vegetables? It was laughable. All the more reason he needed to get Ryder to mate with June as soon as possible, so the dragon could mind talk to their mate and get a variety of meats on her menu.

After inhaling her scent deeply one more time, the dragon retracted his snout from her palm and started to sniff her to examine her. He’d seen her get hurt, and he was worried. He put his nose on her front, then turned his head around to inspect her back.

To his satisfaction, his mate wasn’t broken, just bruised.

“What is he doing?” June asked the men and slammed her palm mercilessly onto his cheek to shove him back.

“He’s examining you to see if you’re hurt,” Fang said.

The wolf understood the dragon more than the others, and the dragon growled at the men, scolding them. None of these jerks had tried to check on his mate or even asked if she’d been hurt. They were hard warriors, but she was his delicate flower. This rough bunch had no idea how to tend to flowers. Though his mate was delicate, she was also strong and fierce.

Ryder wasn’t one to tend to a lovely flower like their mate either, so this honor and responsibility would have to fall on the dragon. Too bad he could only come out to play once a month for five minutes. This time was an exception, and the dragon believed it was because their mate’s presence had given him a power boost to counter the curse.

It might be a one-time pass, but he had hopes now that their mate had come.

June blinked. “He’s worried about me? But Ryder hates my guts. Why doesn’t his dragon hate me too? I was worried for a few seconds there that he’d get his dragon to toast me then eat me.”

The dragon growled in displeasure as the men moved closer to June again, as if they couldn’t help it. They were obviously pleased with her for her bravery at saving the wolf. The dragon puffed up his chest in pride. He no longer worried that his mate was a timid little thing despite her declaration of not wanting to get into any fights. Dragons loved to pick fights, thriving on violence.

But his mate had risen to the occasion when it was necessary. Through his mate, he’d learned today that being afraid didn’t make one a coward. It took courage to push through fear. He had a lot of fear since he’d found his mate. He feared for her wellbeing and safety.

“The dragon is much nicer,” June continued. “So the dragon and Ryder are different, right? I don’t know how this shifter thing works.” She bit her lip, pondering, her brows furrowing. She was adorable! “Are they two souls sharing one body? The dragon isn’t exactly Ryder, right, since no way would Ryder be friendly.”

“I’m not sure if they share the same soul or not, but they’re two different entities in one body,” Fang said. “Yet the dragon is also Ryder. And Ryder isn’t merely a dragon. He’s a demigod, descended from five powerful bloodlines, and the grandson to two gods and an archangel. It’s really hard to explain his unique heritage.”

June nodded and reached for the dragon, and he shoved his snout into her hair to smell her again. She sank her fingers into his hide and brushed his scales, and the dragon purred in pure delight.

She laughed like the sunlight, brighter than all the shiny things the dragon liked.

“If you can stay in this form, we’ll get along just fine,” she said. “Your other form is like a pure a-hole on steroids.”

What steroids? Never heard of it. That didn’t make sense, but it alarmed him that June was not thrilled with Ryder. The dragon had better take measures to prevent that asshole from ruining things for him. A dragon like him mated for life, and he’d finally met his mate after long, miserable centuries. If June kept hating Ryder, they would never mate.

He didn’t have much time left with June before he would be confined again. With the borrowed minutes, he’d carry her back to his lair. Flying in the clouds was his most impressive skill. Other than impressing her, he wanted her to have a good time.

He lowered himself, prone on the ice.

She blinked at him. “You want me to ride you?” She beamed. “Why the hell not? I’m going to walk on the wild side just this once. Any maybe you’ll carry me back to my world.”

She still wanted to leave him?

After two tries, June managed to climb onto his back.

“Don’t drop me please, dragon,” she murmured to him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. “I’m going to trust you with my life, so don’t make me regret it.”

He would never drop his mate, and even if he did, he’d always pick her up. He wasn’t like that asshole Ryder, and that he could always promise.

He gave a roar of glee and triumph and shot toward the night sky under the three moons.

June laughed like sunlight in his ear.

CHAPTER 15

The red moonlight rippled across the dragon’s massive black wings dusted with shimmering gold as he soared over the ridge of the jagged ice mountains.

The Frost Giants were gone now, the icy ground far beneath us.

It was an amazing feeling soaring in the sky, so free and beautiful that my chest hurt. Then I remembered that I was in the sky with nothing to anchor me but a dragon. I hugged his neck tighter, hanging on for dear life. Maybe I should inch forward to ride on his neck and grab the two horns on either side of his enormous, scaled head, just to be safe, in case he changed his mind and decided to shake me off his back.

Dragons were temperamental, right?

Too bad I couldn’t talk to the dragon, so I wouldn’t be able to calm him down with words if he ever decided to go off script. But he seemed happy, purrs rumbling from his mighty chest. His heat radiated to me. Before I knew it, a thrum of power rippled over me, as if the dragon had bestowed something on me. Or was he calling me with a song that the primal part of me actually understood?

I purred in response. Wait, it wasn’t me who purred. It was more like an essence or a presence in me answering the dragon’s call.

How was this even possible? I shivered as fire rose to my chest, heating me, and a trail of sparks puffed out of my mouth. I freed a hand to cover my mouth, shocked. If I hadn’t known better, I might’ve deluded myself that I was somehow a dragon as well, which could be the only reason why a plain Jane like me caught a dragon’s fancy.

Or maybe I’d just borrowed the dragon fire?

We pierced through layers of clouds and sailed under the red moonlight. The dragon roared when I laughed. For the first time since I’d been dumped in Pandemonium, my spirit was light and uplifted, and I didn’t feel miserable.

Riding a dragon was better than chasing storms, but I didn’t expect this to last or the opportunity to come again. Who knew about dragons? All the stories said they were fickle.

Yet the wind called me, his fire summoning me.

Something wild and primal stirred in me again, and a sense of security blanketed me, as if an unseen bond started to form between the dragon and me. I was certain that despite Ryder’s dislike of me, this mighty predator would always protect me.

He would fight his other half to guarantee my safety.

This realm might not be all bad, after all.

The dragon picked up speed, and rigid, freezing wind slammed into my face. But before I tried to cower and bury my face in the dragon’s neck, his heat rose up, sinking into me. A purr rumbled from my chest, then heat engulfed me.

What was happening? Fang had been so sure that I was a shifter. But if I was, Mom would know, wouldn’t she?

Now I remembered all the secrecy around Mom. All her life, she’d dragged me from one place to another, never settling down in one place for more than six months. When I’d finally made friends, we’d have to move again, as she’d said that danger was coming but never explained more. As a kid, I’d forced myself to put my curiosity into a black box.

So maybe I wasn’t exactly a human, and I wouldn’t be safe from the human population if they knew I was different. Both humans and supernaturals would’ve hunted me, even though I had no idea what exactly made me a target.

That was why Mom had tried so hard to make me appear a normal human. That was why she’d insisted on me wearing the glasses that hid me and shielded me from the truth.

Mom could’ve just trusted me and told me everything. But then, I wouldn’t have had a normal childhood. We blamed our parents for everything that didn’t go right. I’d been that girl until I lost her for good.

Pain sliced into me. I hadn’t saved her.

I’d been passive aggressive, showing my displeasure at her deciding our path. I could never go back in time to tell her how sorry I was and that I loved her.

The dragon suddenly roared in desperation.

I jerked back to the present.

“What is it, dragon?” I asked. “What upset you?”

A shimmering path opened between asteroid belts. Then I understood why—our time was running out.

“Is that a portal?” I shouted. “Could you return me to my world through it, dragon? I’ll give you the coordinates if you can understand me, and then you can go back and bring everyone to Earth, which is way better than—”

The portal sucked us in and spat us out a heartbeat later.

Beneath the dragon’s gliding wings, a sea of beasts wailed in hunger.

Without the glasses hindering my superior sight, I spotted the men within the perimeter of the dark temple, looking up at us. I shut my eyes for half a second. Ink had been right that no one could escape the Wild Hunt. Some force had brought us all back to Pandemonium.

Roaring in dismay, the dragon plunged toward the ground, and I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck. Then in a blink, we landed on the ground. Only there was no more dragon; I was on Ryder’s broad back, my legs clamped around his waist.

He was also gloriously naked.

“Planning to choke me to death, Jules?” Ryder growled, and I missed the dragon right away.

“At least you didn’t call me Judas this time,” I said, my voice laced with sarcasm. “So I consider it a small win.”

The men watched us. Lilka glared at me, death in her green eyes. Neither Ryder nor the men knew that she’d tried to kill me while I was in the cage. She hadn’t really considered me a threat before, but now she did.

“Don’t get used to it,” Ryder hissed, then he pried my stiff arms off his neck and threw me off his back in one smooth move. I stumbled for a few steps before steadying myself.

Lilka snickered.

My face burned. The asshole was back double-time.

“Get used to what?” I hissed back. “The dragon invited me!”

A muscle jumped in his clenched jaw, and jealous fire leapt in his dark golden eyes, as if he was in competition with his own beast.

“Don’t get cozy with my dragon either,” he said.

“Then tell him to stay away from me yourself,” I shot back.

His hard muscles flexed on his cut chest, and an image of me licking it flashed in my head. My face burned right away. I was royally disappointed in myself. He was so mean to me. How could I still desire him?

But he was truly gorgeous. Every part of him was perfection and more—his broad shoulders, hard six-pack, and powerful legs. Without meaning to, my gaze dipped to his cock. It was half-aroused. At my inspection, it hardened right away, long and massive and rock hard.

I darted a quick glance at Lilka. She no longer paid me attention but stared at his huge erection with undisguised lust while licking her lips.

Ryder didn’t see her. His heated dark gaze was still locked on me.

“Look your fill?” he snickered.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” I said. “You’re beneath my notice. I’m only worried about the dragon. I’d like to say goodbye.”

“Don’t bother,” Ryder said, his tone unnecessarily sharp and cold. “He won’t care.”

Then his face distorted. There was an obvious inner struggle going on, but I bet that the dragon wasn’t happy about giving up the reins to the man.

I was rooting for the dragon, so I glared at Ryder and sent him negative energy.

A moment later, the struggle ceased, and unfortunately, the man won. Ryder must be really powerful to wrestle against his dragon and win, and I wasn’t happy about it.

“Don’t get any big ideas just because my beast has taken a liking to you,” Ryder mocked. “You’ll fail if you try to turn him against me. By the way, he can only come out once a month for five minutes at sunset. And if he keeps breaking my rules, I won’t even let him out to play. You got it?”

My face burned in humiliation. Lilka giggled in delight.

“Stick your insults up your arrogant ass,” I said and stormed off quickly, afraid he’d come after me and strike me.

He was volatile, menacing, and violent.

“Judas just insulted you, Ryder!” Lilka called. “You’ve killed for less in the past. I can strike her down for her manners. She needs to be taught a lesson.”

“You tire me, Lilka,” Ryder said coldly. “Try to manipulate me again and you won’t like the result. And don’t even think of touching June. As I said before, she’s mine, my prisoner, and I won’t repeat myself. If you harm her in any way without my permission, I’ll end you.”

I didn’t bother looking back or gloating at her being spanked. It wouldn’t improve my black mood.

CHAPTER 16

I could hear the beasts snapping their teeth and their claws scratching the rocks at the perimeter, as if they were trying to dig a tunnel to bypass the force field and get to us.

The noises grated on my nerves, but the men in the common room didn’t pay the slightest mind to the beasts and the threat outside the temple. They were playing poker again and drinking some homebrewed alcohol that didn’t smell too good.

I’d taken the sofa as soon as we finished the meal I’d prepared for all of them. I couldn’t bear to go back and sleep in the servant room. At least in here, the men’s company comforted me and somehow calmed my nerves a little.

They hadn’t asked me to return to the servant room. If Ryder showed up and demanded I sleep on that pile of hay, I’d resist him. I’d grab the back of the sofa if he tried to drag me back there, and I’d kick him in the face. I’d rehearsed the moves a few times.

I wondered where he hung out. Ever since I took up residence in the common room, he didn’t come here unless he had something to announce.

He hadn’t come to dinner either. I was both relieved and disappointed. It’d feel awkward to see him again after what had happened with the dragon. Yet part of me longed to see him.

My cooking skills were improving, though I still couldn’t see myself skinning an animal any time in the future.

I was dismayed that our supplies were running low, especially fresh and dried vegetables.

The men had been cursing the gods for changing the rules and breaking their word, not that their word counted for anything. In the past, the men had been allowed to go to the off world and get supplies right after they survived the Wild Hunt.

They were denied their reward this time. Something had changed. Were they blaming me for the change? Lilka did. Even Silver’s gaze flickered my way.

My best defense was offense.

“Tell me more about the Wild Hunt, please,” I said, making myself more comfortable on the sofa. It might be a long conversation. “Tell me every change in the rules. Maybe with a fresh pair of eyes, we can find some loopholes together. I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan to repeat my experience in the arena until I die.”

The men traded a look.

“She’s one of us now,” Fang said. “And I have this feeling that June’s arrival may shake the foundation of the game.”

The men looked doubtful, but then Ink nodded, Alistair shrugged, and Silver stared off into space.

“June saved one of us,” Ink said. “She doesn’t need to prove herself further.”

“We need to train her,” Silver said, tilting his head to evaluate me. He was all about making me a warrior or a killer.

“Let her know all about our dark secrets for all I care,” Alistair said, then he turned to me, hunger for my blood still glinting in his sapphire eyes. “In the beginning, the gods tried to pit us against each other and failed, so the gods changed the rules and obliterated the one-on-one battle-in-the-arena style. They sent hunters to come after us instead and made it a sport among the gods from all the realms. We lost a few good warriors, but the six of us never broke.”

“Four of us here, plus Bo and Ryder,” Silver explained.

They hadn’t included Lilka.

“The gods sent the females next,” Ink said, his hazel eyes dimming a little, “who caused a lot of trouble between us and Cypress’s team.” A sharp stab of anger pulsed under my skin as I remembered those bear shifters who had almost succeeded in gang raping me. “Then Eva came. She had some kind of seductive power that even outshone Lilka. The only one who could brush off her power was Ryder, and she became obsessed with him. She eventually got Bo killed. After that, Ryder set a strict rule concerning females in the camp.”

“But he’s fine with Lilka,” I said sourly. “And she’s enjoying his special treatment.”

“He has her on a short leash,” Ink said.

“Not so much,” I snorted. “His cock—” What was I thinking? “He—uh—cockblocked all of you, but he’s giving himself the privilege of screwing Lilka any time he wants.”

Fang shook his head and looked at me with disapproval. “That’s not true, June.”

“Didn’t you see him charge into the room topless with her on his heels in her revealing sleeping gown last time?” I said, throwing up my hands, then I put them down right away to grip the blanket. I wasn’t supposed to be this agitated.

Alistair quirked a brow at me, a spark of unhealthy curiosity in his eyes. “Are you jealous, summer girl?”

“No! It’s absurd that you even asked that question!” I stared hard at him. “Why should I be jealous of them?”

“You sounded bitter,” Alistair said.

“There’s nothing going on between them,” Fang said. “But there’s something going on between you and Ryder. Not just his dragon is smitten with you. Ryder hasn’t acted this way toward any female before.”

“Because he hates me! What else?” I shouted, then apologized right away. “I’m so sorry for raising my voice at you, Fang. I’m not usually like this.” I didn’t know why I suddenly got so emotional, as if my hormonal levels spiked out of control. “It usually takes a lot to upset me.” My gaze darted among the men and settled on the vampire. “But why is Alistair always so negative?”

“You’re so kind, summer girl.” Alistair chuckled. “I’m more than negative.”

“It’s not what you think, June,” Ink said, brushing his horn as if to flick away a problem. “Ryder fucked Lilka for a while, then he pulled away. That was a long time ago. Even when they were fucking, he still fucked others. He’s never committed to only one woman.”

“That asshole has never committed to any woman.” Alistair chuckled again. “He broke hearts in his wake, and he didn’t even bother to look or count.”

That isn’t funny, douche! I wanted to yell at the vampire.

“Well, Ryder and Lilka are back together now,” I said, trying to conceal my bitterness. “Maybe he’ll finally let her keep him. They deserve each other, you know.”

“Nay,” Ink said. “She always has the hots for him. It’s like an obsession, but he’s long since over her.”

“You can’t know that,” I protested. “They might sleep together secretly while he expects you to endure an endless dry spell.”

“They’re not sleeping together, June.” Fang tried to sound patient but failed. “She doesn’t have his scent on her.”

“No way.” I frowned, then widened my eyes. “You can really smell scent on each other?”

“Of course.” Fang looked offended. “I’m a wolf, and everyone has a distinctive scent.”

I arched an eyebrow. I wondered what my scent would be. Fang had said more than once that he’d scented my animal yet couldn’t figure out what she was. I might want to revisit that subject when we were alone. When I rode the dragon, I’d felt something awakening in me, something unnatural, forceful, and powerful. She’d wanted to push through and take control of my skin, which had freaked me out. I’d fought back fiercely. I might be meek, but I wasn’t someone who liked to give away the reins.

I could’ve been possessed by a monster, for all I knew.

“It’s hot in here,” I said, starting to fan my face with one hand, then both hands.

“Are you okay, June?” Silver asked. “It’s actually chilly in the room, even for a fae, and I was an ice fae.”

“You smell—” Fang suddenly widened his eyes, then he sniffed again, and his eyes turned even rounder.

“What’s wrong with you, summer girl?” Alistair frowned at me. “Your face has turned the color of a tomato. Your heartbeat has increased to an alarming speed, and the sweet and spicy smell of your blood is permeating the air. Maybe I should get out of here before I do anything that will put a rift between Ryder and me.”

“I don’t know, but I don’t feel good,” I whimpered. “I feel like I’m burning up. Maybe I caught a cold or a chill, but I’ve never been sick before. I—I feel like—”

I felt like I needed to be fucked badly. Oh my god, this was getting beyond embarrassing. Despite feeling so feverish, I covered myself with the blanket. My pussy started to throb painfully, and I tried not to squeeze my thighs. There was a roomful of red-blooded men here!

My thoughts kept shooting to Ryder. I’d never wanted to have sex so badly, yet none of the men in the room was my target. I pictured Ryder bending me over and thrusting into me roughly from behind. Then I balled my fists so I wouldn’t start touching myself in front of everyone.

“I have a fever,” I whined again. “Maybe you should give me some privacy?”

“What the fuck is that?” Ink called in alarm.

The men all stared at me like I’d grown two heads.

“What?” I asked. “What?”

Then I felt an uncanny movement along my jawline. This was bad! Was there some kind of alien bug under my skin? I’d watched a lot of horror movies featuring alien bugs in my freshman year. Mom had been gone, so I’d been all alone until Oliver came into my life.

I slapped at my jaw frantically, as if I could stop what was happening, especially when I also felt a rumbling from my chest. I couldn’t make that kind of sound!

“Stop, June!” Fang called. “Don’t move!”

“Oh my god, I’m positive that I’ve been infected by an alien bug!” I cried, but I stopped slapping myself. “You’ve got to cut it out, Fang! Someone needs to get a basin of clean water and bandages ready, please. I hope that you have medic kits here.”

I wasn’t cut from the same cloth as them. Bleeding or losing a limb didn’t seem like a big deal to them, but the last thing I wanted was to be infected. It they cut my arm or a leg off, I didn’t believe it’d ever grow back like Fang’s had done.

I squeezed my eyes shut for long seconds to calm my heartbeat so I could think straight. While something moved along my jawline, making it tingle, I also felt so horny that it became unbearable.

This was worse than a nightmare.

“Relax,” Ink said.

I snapped open my eyes and stared hard at him. “You relax! It’s easy for you to say since it’s not happening to you. I can’t relax while—”

“It’s not an alien bug, nerd girl,” Ink offered.

“They’re runes,” Silver said quietly, staring at my jaw intently.

“Runes?” I cried. “What runes? I don’t know any runes.”

“Runes made of spells,” Silver said. “They appear in crimson triangular waves threaded by chains. I’ve never seen anything like that. They must be ancient, powerful spells crafted to bind you.”

“Bind me? For what? What did I ever do?” I cried.

“Not what you do, June, but what you are,” Fang said.

“I’m not as dangerous as everyone thinks, Fang,” I said. “I’m basically a nobody, a harmless nerd!”

Fang scratched his stubble while he fixed his gaze on my jaw like everyone else in the room. I felt like a monkey on show.

“Anyone got a mirror?” I asked, sitting up straighter, my fists still clenching the blanket.

Ink brought me a silver blade and an oil lamp to illuminate it. I peeked at the waves of crimson runes sparking on and off along my jawline on the surface of the blade, a tear leaking out the corner of my eye.

Mom had done this to me. I might not have lived up to her standards, but all my life, I’d tried my best to obey her and even please her when I could. Why would Mom have wanted to bind me?

For the first time, I didn’t know who or what I was. I didn’t know what or who Mom had been. My entire life could just be one big fat lie.

A dark thought flashed through my mind.

Maybe the runes had something to do with suppressing and binding a demon or a monster in me. I’d felt it within me, and it’d tried to burst out of my chest when I rode the dragon.

“So no one will be able to interpret the meaning of the runes?” I asked in disappointment. “But you’re all supernaturals.”

“You are too,” Silver said. “No humans are able to carry such powerful runes. But I think only the original spell caster can remove or dissolve them.”

“Or June can probably do it herself if she’ll let her animal out to join her in the fight,” Fang said. “I bet that the spells were designed to suppress your animal.”

“It’s a catch-22, isn’t it?” I asked drily. “But then, I might be better off if my monster stays put. I don’t want her out! If she takes over, I won’t be June anymore!”

A growl that didn’t come from me tore out of my throat, and all the men stopped short before their gazes on me intensified.

“I understand your fear, June,” Fang warned, his voice hard. “But there’ll be consequences if you keep suppressing your true nature. You need to accept who you are. You’re a shifter like me, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ll guide your shifting.”

“The spells are caging your animal.” Silver nodded, as if he’d finished his diagnosis. “She’s trying to break out.” His silver eyes peeked into mine. All the men had surrounded me, studying me like I was some exotic animal. “Mind if I ask how old you are?”

“I’ll be twenty-two in a couple months,” I said as I stared at the runes reflected on the surface of the blade apprehensively. “Oliver is going to miss my birthday this year. We were supposed to go to London, as I wanted to see what was outside the Seven Alliance.”

I felt a hot sting on my jaw, then the runes sank into my skin and vanished.

“They’re gone!” I called.

But the unbearable heat only swirled back, doubling in strength. My nipples became so swollen that I had to fight not to squeeze them in front of the men. I needed a male’s mouth—Ryder’s mouth—to wrap around them to ease the tension.

I didn’t even mind if he bit them hard.

I was thankful that I’d had the foresight to cover my torso with the blanket, especially when I realized that my pants were now soaked.

Still, the heat kept rising.

I started to worry that if I didn’t get fucked, I might be driven mad. It was that bad, and I had no idea how to handle this. The men’s presence only spiked my primal female need, yet I wanted only the man who wasn’t even in the room and who hated my guts.

What fucked-up scenario was this?

A moan escaped my throat, and I had no power to stop more moans from pouring out.

The men stilled, as if hit by a shockwave they didn’t see coming.

“The summer girl has a fever,” Alistair said. “Maybe I can help. If I drink from her, my venom can reduce her fever.”

I stared at him, my eyes wild. It wasn’t that kind of fever, but I couldn’t tell the men that my pussy was on fire.

“Quit trying, Alistair,” Fang said. “She’s in heat.” He rubbed his forehead with a thumb and a forefinger. “This is bad, and it’s going to get worse. I think all of us should leave now, or we’ll lose control. That’s what happens when a female shifter goes into heat.”

“Like a bitch in heat?” I moaned and whimpered.

“Worse, June.” Fang sighed. “You’re a powerful shifter. Your animal is an alpha. Something must’ve set her off, so now she’s fighting to claim her rightful place. The real you wants to come out and reclaim what you truly are. Without her, you’ll never feel complete. You’ll always feel something’s missing.”

“By going into heat?” I shrieked. “I should’ve given my virginity to Oliver long before that damned storm came, then this would never happen. You all need to leave now. I can’t hold on any longer! Oh god, this is so bad.”

I started crying. I wanted to fuck so badly.

I bit my lip until it bled, and my fingernails cut into my palms to prevent me from touching myself in front of everyone. I had to do it, and soon, I wouldn’t even care who was watching.

My dignity would be shredded to pieces.

Instead of leaving, Ink moved to wrap his arm around me to comfort me. I pressed my nose against his chest and smelled him. He wasn’t right for me. I needed someone else, but I could never have Ryder, nor would I have him!

Before I could wipe my tears on Ink’s shirt, a force tore him from me, throwing him across the room. The demon crashed into a table and tumbled to the ground, breaking the wood in the process.

I gazed up from a sheet of tears and found Ryder towering over me.

He was topless with a pair of trousers hanging low at his hips. I forgot about my crying and stared at his broad chest with longing. I could give it a good lick. I might not be experienced, but how hard was it to lick a man’s delicious chest? Then my gaze dropped to his crotch before I even realized what I was doing. This was just humiliating. With all the will I had, I dragged my eyes up and glared at Ryder’s handsome face.

His sensual lips twisted into a cold sneer, yet unfiltered heat scorched his golden-blue eyes, reflecting mine and reciprocating.

“Already tried to get to my men, Jules?” he asked, not kindly.

“Have a heart for once, Ryder,” Fang said, growling. He was usually very respectful of his alpha.

“See how she turned you against me,” Ryder growled back.

“She isn’t trying to get to us,” Fang said. “She’s in heat, and you know why.”

Ryder narrowed his eyes. “Why should I know why?”

“Are you blind, man?” Fang shook his head. “Your dragon is the one that did it. Your dragon called her animal and triggered her heat circle. You’re so crippled by your paranoia and prejudice that you didn’t even notice when it happened right under your nose.”

Shock slammed into Ryder’s face, then fury rose above it.

“That motherfucker!” he said. “I knew he was up to something dark and twisted, but not this!” He swept his gaze over his men. “Everyone out.”

The men grunted, but instead of protesting, they filed out. Ink gathered himself and followed everyone out, but not before he rolled his eyes at Ryder.

“June isn’t trying anything.” Fang paused at the door. “Don’t be an asshole to her, or one day you might regret it.” Then he stepped out.

It was just Ryder and me in the room now.

Tension and desire mixed together, so thick between us that it would explode at the slightest spark. My breath hitched. For a heartbeat, I almost begged him, or pleaded with him. Well, I’d only humiliate myself.

Our gazes locked, and I lifted my chin to show my defiance, while on the other hand, I wanted to crawl to him and climb onto his body and hump him.

I clenched my teeth. It wasn’t me. It was that bitch in me, the bitch in heat, and she was working on me and making me suffer for all those years of being locked and chained within me by the ancient, powerful spells.

Ryder’s heated gaze roved over me, lingering on my lips, tracing down to my neck. His golden eyes dropped to my breasts, became heavily hooded.

I shuddered before I perked up. He wanted to fuck me just as much as I wanted to be fucked. His golden-blue eyes traced to the flesh between my thighs. My hand had slipped to my slick sex. Even covered by the blanket, he could see what I was doing.

I froze, my face burning. Even in this terrible heat, I could still feel the pulse of my vulnerability in front of him, and I didn’t want him to see it.

“Get out,” I hissed.

“This is my lair, sparrow,” he said lazily. “I own it.”

My tears were threatening to come out. I really needed him, and I hated him at the same time. It was hopeless.

He sniffed the air and let out a shattered breath, then he staggered back, shock stark in his face, as if he’d been struck by lightning.

“Fine, have it your way,” he said through clenched teeth, as if words had become an effort for him, yet his feet refused to move further from me. He growled, more at himself, searing male need, distrust, and resentment warring in his eyes. “Do whatever you need to get it over with, but don’t try to get my men involved.”

“Fuck you, asshole,” I hissed, heat pounding in my chest, tingles buzzing over my skin.

This was a living purgatory.

He crossed his muscled arms over his hard chest. “Beg me and I might consider it.”

“Fuck off!” I shrieked. “I don’t want to see you here! I never want to see you again!”

“Oh, you’ll see a lot of me, sparrow, like it or not,” he said coldly, yet the heat in his eyes only burned hotter.

A snarl tore out of his throat. He turned, as if by sheer will, and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Go to hell! I cursed him. But he was already there, wasn’t he?

At his absence, a wild, animal-like wailing scratched out of my throat, which stunned me to utter stillness before my hand moved again.

I could no longer hold back. I brushed my aching clit with my fingers, but they wouldn’t do a damn thing to relieve the pressure or even bring me any pleasure. It only made me cry for a cock.

I bit my lip and thrust a finger into my heated channel. I thrust a few times back and forth, but it did nothing to help me either, not remotely.

I couldn’t get off touching myself. I bit back a wail at the suffering, as I could sense the men right outside the door, gathering in the hallway and waiting, knowing what was happening to me. Ryder was with them, but I could sense that he was guarding the door to prevent his men from coming to me, or me going to them.

I was suffering so much, and the coldhearted bastard hadn’t the slightest sympathy toward me.

Unable to get any kind of relief, the pain increased to a breaking point. It was more terrible than any agony I’d experienced. There were no words for it. All I knew was that it would be a better fate if I just threw myself at the beasts outside and ended this misery.

I finally wailed. Then I clamped a hand over my mouth to stop the next one from tearing out.

Heat twirled in my body, infusing my every cell, and soon I was afraid that I’d become a human torch. Pain, burning, and unbearable lust blended in a tortured cocktail. I punched myself in the throat, wanting to pass out, or just die.

“Can’t you feel it? She’s in incredible pain!” Fang demanded outside the door. “Her animal has been dormant for so long, and your dragon was playing with fire by calling her out. Her animal has now driven June into a terrible heat circle! The girl can barely handle this brutal realm, and now this?”

“What do you want me to do?” Ryder growled darkly. “This could’ve been that bitch Hera’s scheme all along! June hasn’t even been here long, and all of you have started to eat out of her palm. Even Eva didn’t possess such charm with all her power.”

“June isn’t playing us, asshole!” Ink exploded. “She’s the most inexperienced female I’ve met. She isn’t faking her funny innocence, vulnerability, and nerdy charm. No one can be that good at faking such a quality.”

“Exactly, that’s how she’ll succeed,” Ryder said gruffly. “I’m the only person who can keep a clear head when it comes to such a great deception.”

“Are you?” Fang challenged. “Even if she faked everything, her pain is real. Her heat is real! Would you rather see her suffer such pain than let anyone help her? No female should suffer like that when she goes into a heat circle! If you’re worried about the gods’ scheme of using June to divide and conquer us, you can just let her pick one of us, any of us. The male she picks will stay with her, and the rest will back off. We can handle it like real men. We have honor, and that’s what bonds us and sets us apart from any other teams in the Wild Hunt. This isn’t your call anymore, Ryder.”

Fang was right. That asshole would rather see me in great pain than let anyone relieve me.

White-hot rage filled my chest, yet my raw need for him did not lessen. My heart rushed wildly in dismay, as I was afraid that he’d send someone else in. I doubted anyone else would be able to help, and that would add more misery and indignity to what I already couldn’t handle.

And I knew that worse was coming.

My pussy now felt like it was being seared by a burning iron poker; it craved a cock. My thoughts were shattered, and I rammed a fist into my mouth to stop another wail from escaping. When I took my fist out, I punched my throat again and again. Yet I couldn’t even feel my self-inflicted pain, as it was nothing compared to the agony the mating heat was causing.

“I volunteer to aid June,” Ink said in a hard voice. “And I vow to always take care of her.”

“Let June pick,” Silver said. “It’s her body. She has a say in this.”

“Decide, Ryder,” Fang pushed.

“I’ll do it!” Ryder said harshly.

“If you hate her so much, why do you want to do it?” Ink countered. “Each and every one of us would have no problem at all making love to that lovely maiden.”

Ryder snarled viciously, and it seemed the men backed off at his fierceness. He had probably never snarled at his team like that.

“She’s mine,” he hissed. “My prisoner. My dragon won’t allow anyone else to touch her.”

“But you said you’d reined in your dragon,” Alistair said in puzzlement.

Ryder growled more. “If any of you touches her, my dragon will break free, and he’ll go berserk and get into a killing spree. I’ll handle June and sate her without fucking her.”

CHAPTER 17

Ryder strode in and closed the door behind him.

Shirtless, his hard muscles flexed deliciously, every inch enticing. I wasn’t very happy that he still had trousers on, even though they hung low on his hips, leaving little to the imagination.

I wouldn’t mind helping him drop them.

My sex-riddled mind forced my gaze to the bulge that distorted the front of his trousers. That was more like it!

Our gazes locked; mine was suffering and lust-filled, and his seared with lust and smugness. He knew that he was the only man for the job. At the moment, I hated him and his cockiness more than anything, yet I needed him more than anyone.

Humiliation, suffering, rage, raw need, and lust roared like a storm in me, and lust topped them all.

“So, it’s come to this,” Ryder started.

I ignored him.

“Look what a mess you are, sparrow,” he taunted.

“Get out,” I said without heat, for I was afraid that he’d leave me hanging.

My weakness made me tremble, yet I couldn’t overcome it, which made me madder. Agony spiced with lust dominated my body and mind with blunt force. At this point, I’d take a pity fuck from the asshole if he was willing to give it.

After I got temporary relief and was able to think again, I’d figure out a way to prevent this vicious heat circle from ever happening again.

But right now, I knew that I was at his mercy.

“Say it when you really mean it, sparrow,” he purred. “You need me more than I need you. I bet you’ll do anything to get my cock in you. You’ll even beg.”

“I’ll never beg!” I said, ramming my knuckles into my mouth and biting down to stop a wail from leaving my lips. I dug my toes into the sofa to prevent myself from writhing or thrusting my hips up to beckon him to me.

“My dragon brought this on you,” he said darkly. “And now I’ll have to fix his fucking mess.”

“If it’s such a painful chore for you, why don’t you send someone else in?” I said harshly, my voice scathing. “I’ll take anyone else over you. I’ll even let the vampire drink from me if he can help me out. I bet every one of them would be delighted to aid me.”

A muscle pulsed in his clenched jaw, and dark fire suddenly burned brightly and viciously in his eyes, as if a predator had just peeked out of them, ready to strike any male in the proximity. If my unbridled lust hadn’t taken the front row, leaving me with no common sense, I’d have screamed and run from such a presence.

“That’s not going to happen, so don’t get your hopes up,” Ryder said. “I’ll be the only one dealing with you, as I know what’s at stake here. I won’t play into your hands, and I won’t fall under your spell no matter what stunt you pull. No one can ever control me. I’ve seen how the gods tried to divide my men by using the most beautiful, powerful females. And this time, they have the best at their disposal. You haven’t even realized that you’re the queen of the pawns, but you’re still only a pawn.”

I could almost understand where he was coming from. This deranged man had been stranded in this godforsaken place and cursed to be hunted for two centuries, and there didn’t seem to be an end to it. Yet his cruelty toward me was inexcusable.

And my sympathy for him and his condition had long since diminished. He didn’t deserve any warmth, kindness, or good wishes from me!

“Get the fuck out, you high demon spawn from Hell!” I howled as a new wave of agony speared into my pussy, burning my walls and searing my core. It was like an insatiable black hole was eating at me, eroding me.

“Demon spawn?” He chuckled cruelly. “That’s almost cute. Your useless pride and stubbornness will finally run out in this place.” He studied me broodingly, heat radiating off him. “Let’s end your heat circle then, but remember this, only I can do that. So don’t ever think of using any other man. If you do, it’ll end badly for you and them.”

“Don’t threaten me,” I spat.

“It’s a promise, sparrow,” he said coolly. “I don’t threaten. But when I do, my target will already be dead. Here’s what I’ll do for you. I won’t penetrate you with my cock, because my dragon wants to claim you, but I don’t want it. I’ll finger fuck you to get you the relief you need.”

The logical part of me actually preferred that, though my base body whined in disappointment. My pussy wept and burned with unbearable need for him. It wanted his massive cock more than anything else. In my insensible state, I needed to hold on to my last ounce of cold reason like it was gold so that when the storm passed, I wouldn’t be a total wreck.

I would still have something left.

It was more than a tragedy for a woman to have nothing left when the man departed.

Unable to calm my rage and hating myself for needing that asshole so much, I grabbed a bowl from the table and hurled it at him, but he caught it easily.

“You don’t need to send any other man either. And I don’t need you. Just excuse yourself. I’ve had enough of you! You bring out the worst in me!”

A growl rumbled in his chest. It might be from his dragon for all I knew. That dragon was a bigger asshole, since he’d evoked the heat circle in me.

“I bring out the worst in you?” Ryder demanded incredulously. “You haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg.”

“I don’t want to see it! Just go away.”

A moment later he was in my face, and then I was on his lap.

I hadn’t even registered how this happened, since he was incredibly fast. I only knew that my arms were now wrapped around his neck tightly, intending to trap him and prevent him from leaving, and my face leaned toward the crook of his neck. I couldn’t decide if I should sniff his pure, addictive male scent or bite him to ease my rage and inflict a certain degree of pain.

The flame no longer burned me so horribly, as he cooled it instantly with his mere touch. My temperature was dropping significantly, and the ache was now a gust instead of a howl.

How could this asshole’s touch have such an amazing effect?

My body sang giddily at feeling his massive erection under my bottom. Before I could stop myself, I was already rubbing my clit against his hard-on. He growled in approval and male need, scorching lust turning his eyes more golden and dimming the blue shade.

He threaded his fingers into my hair, yanking my head back roughly, and slanted his mouth over mine.

Despite me not warming up to his harsh personality, his kiss seared me to the soul. All of a sudden, I was more alive than ever, as if my every cell had just woken up. His kiss was bruising and demanding. There was even a sliver of hate in it, but I no longer cared.

I wanted him as I’d never wanted anyone.

I kissed him back vehemently, driven by the heat I had no control over. We kissed like we were going to war, and he forced my mouth open. He didn’t need to do that, as I was about to part my lips to invite him in.

He thrust his tongue in shamelessly, and mine met his in a war dance. There was nothing tender between us. Our tangles were full of seduction and attempted domination. He tried to take the lead, but I wouldn’t give him an inch. Not now. Maybe not ever. I’d never been a dominant person, but as I said, he brought out the worst in me.

With him, I became combative. With him, I was damn stubborn.

But to my surprise, he didn’t seem to mind. He was actually more turned on by my new dominant streak.

Ryder yanked away the blanket and pressed my body against his. I didn’t miss a beat, rubbing his cock through his pants without a care. The front of his trousers were now wet with my juices.

He sniffed deeply, as if he couldn’t get enough of my scent. When he pulled back, his eyes glowed bright golden.

“The scent of your sweet pussy is driving my dragon mad,” he growled his confession, “but I still won’t give you my cock.”

“Have I asked for it?!”

He tore my shirt off to cup my breast. I arched my back and let out a moan of pleasure.

Then my pants were off as well.

I’d always thought I was a shy person, but I wasn’t shy now. I thrust my hips toward him, baring my pussy to him.

He laid me on my back, staring at my sex. His hand traced down my flat stomach until it palmed my pussy possessively. Suddenly, I remembered something important. I lashed out and grabbed his wrist, stopping his fingers from thrusting into my heated passage.

“Wait,” I called, lifting my torso to inspect his beautiful, masculine hands.

He narrowed his eyes at me, his gaze torn between lust and puzzlement.

“Did you wash your hands before you came in?” I asked breathlessly.

“Why?” he asked.

“You’ll need to wash your hands thoroughly before putting your fingers inside me,” I informed him.

He stared at me incredulously, and I stared back uncompromisingly. A low, rich chuckle escaped the back of his throat.

“You’re worried if my fingers are clean enough to fuck you while you’re in heat?”

“I have principles, unlike you,” I said. “And personal hygiene is a must. I won’t lower my standards just because I’m in a difficult situation.”

My face burned feverishly. I really needed him to be inside me, but I also needed to make sure I wouldn’t catch a disease in a place like this. I doubted they had condoms or any contraceptives.

But I gotta try.

“If you have a condom, it’d be best,” I told him. “You can wrap the condom around your fingers before they go inside me.”

“Supernaturals can’t catch any sexual diseases, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He then pointed out, “You aren’t exactly a human girl.”

It dawned on me that he’d been eavesdropping on my conversation with the men before he’d come in and thrown them out.

“I’m not what you say I am either,” I said.

“You’re something, sparrow, but at least you aren’t as boring as I thought.”

“If I am to get through this,” I murmured, “I’ll probably have to block out everything you say.”

He grinned, and heat blasted through me.

Ryder suddenly lifted me, and before I could ask what he was doing, his mouth was on my pussy, the tip of his tongue licking along my slit.

I moaned breathlessly. No one had licked me down there before.

He removed his lips for a second, and I protested.

He chuckled in lust and amusement. “Aren’t you going to demand I wash my mouth first?”

Before I could give him a piece of my mind, his mouth wrapped around my aching pussy again, feasting.

CHAPTER 18

His tongue lapped my swollen lips in a slow circle, teasing me. My legs buckled. A series of breathless moans escaped my throat at the incredible pleasure.

I’d never experienced such ecstasy. Just as I wondered if I could take any more, his thumb brushed my perky clit skillfully, intense pleasure shooting to my nerve endings.

I slammed a hand to my mouth, but it was already too late. His name tore out of my lips. I hoped it fell on deaf ears, since the last thing I wanted was to scream his name in pleasure.

He growled; he’d obviously heard me crying his name out loud.

While heat and lust engulfed me, my face burned from embarrassment and a little worry. I didn’t think about what I would say or do if he rebuffed me. I’d always had a thin skin, and if he mocked me mercilessly now, I wouldn’t be able to push him away. As he’d said, I needed him more than he needed me.

The pain from the mating need had eased to an aching pulse, yet a raw, primal need for him kept rising. I hated to depend on him like this, especially when I still resented him.

He growled again, a sound more like pure male satisfaction than a complaint or a warning, which I hadn’t expected. Maybe the dragon shifter was bipolar, but then he was both a man, who often used me as a punching bag, and a wild dragon that fancied me and intentionally triggered my heat circle.

I’d pieced this together from eavesdropping on the argument between Ryder and his men.

Ryder thrust his tongue into my channel. I gasped, then his tongue lengthened and expanded, filling me. I cried out in pleasure. Then I realized that it was his dragon’s tongue. The black dragon had come out to play as well.

It made me nervous, but I also knew in my bones that the dragon wouldn’t hurt me, even though he’d induced my heat circle.

His tongue thickened and heated within me, testing my limits. He wouldn’t give me more than I could handle. My eyes rolled to the back of my head in ecstasy.

“Have—have you done this to other women before?” I asked, then regretted it as a shot of jealousy blurred my vision. I let my inner walls squeeze his tongue viciously. Who said I wouldn’t be a bitch? I was actually a bitch in heat, so a little punishment from me wouldn’t alarm him.

Never! I seemed to hear him say the word in my mind.

While his mouth feasted on me and his tongue thrust inside me, his thumb kept fondling my bundle of nerves. I writhed and moaned loudly in pleasure. Then before I knew it, golden stars sparked in front of me, and I exploded around his tongue.

He growled.

I gasped in shock, but I couldn’t hold back as my orgasm kept going. My inner muscles convulsed violently as waves of pleasure rocked me senseless. I rammed my knuckles into my mouth to stop myself from shrieking in release.

I hadn’t expected it to be this intense and enjoyable. Ryder kept thrusting his tongue inside me, drinking my juices, and finally the waves of pleasure subsided.

I breathed hard while my vision cleared. My body was no longer in pain. As the flame lapped gently at the edges, all I wanted was to purr in contentment.

Then everything swirled back to me, as did my shyness.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to—”

“You didn’t mean to come?” His lips departed from my pussy as he lifted his head to look at me.

I gazed at him with need.

I’d thought as soon as I was done, I’d dismiss him, but instead, I wanted more. I wanted him to lick me again and do that thing to me with his tongue.

And I longed for his cock to fill me.

“With me, you won’t be able to hold back,” he said. “No woman can.”

My gentle gaze turned into a glare.

I could live without him bringing up other women after I’d just had my first orgasm.

“You’re a virgin, sparrow,” he said softly.

Was he criticizing me?

I narrowed my eyes. “It didn’t stop you from tasting me.”

“I was doing you a service here, and I didn’t break your maidenhood. But one day, when I truly fuck you—”

My heart skipped a beat.

“You said you would never truly fuck me,” I reminded him and accused him at once.

“Of course I won’t do it,” he said with a shrug.

I hid the hurt that he didn’t exactly want me, not the way that I wanted him to want me.

Next, he moved to the sofa and lay down beside me. He pulled me against him, his lips on me again, and I tasted both him and myself.

I’d never have done that with Oliver; in my mind, it was dirty. But with Ryder, it felt right. It was incredibly sensual and intimate.

His hand cupped my breast, brushing my taut nipple, then moved down to my sex again. My legs opened for him, and he thrust a finger into my slick pussy.

“Your pussy is so tight and hot, sparrow,” he murmured in appreciation, then kissed me again. “I love your honeysuckle smell. It’s catnip to my dragon. I want to taste you forever.”

He could be sweet.

He thrust his finger in and out before adding another finger.

I moaned at the pleasure, but I took care not to call his name again in the throes of passion. My hand plunged into his trousers and found his cock, which was massive and rock hard.

I caressed it, picturing having it in my pussy and riding the hell out of him. I wanted his cock to fill me and stretch me and even mark me. Though his touch had reduced the fever in me, I knew I wouldn’t really be sated unless he truly fucked me.

He let out a sexy grunt as I pumped his shaft up and down, his chest rumbling, his golden-blue eyes darkening with pure primal need, which excited me more.

My fingers could only wrap around half of his width. My thumb brushed the thick ring of his crown. His cock felt so hard yet silky. My hand added pressure as I kept running it up and down his manhood.

He gasped, pleasure twisting his face. He leaned forward to kiss me again, our tongues tangling in a mating dance.

A clamor broke out outside the room.

“What’s this, fae?” Lilka hissed in the hallway. “I’m not allowed to go into the common room?”

“June and Ryder are inside,” Silver said.

“That’s why I must go in,” Lilka said, her temper flaring. “She’s trying to ensnare him. I can’t allow Eva to happen all over again.”

“She isn’t Eva,” Silver said, his voice devoid of any emotion. He didn’t like her. “And Ryder can handle her.”

The sound of swords drawing then crossing floated into the room.

“Back off, Lilka,” Silver said. “You’re a member of the team, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“As if you could, fae,” Lilka hissed. “Step aside. You don’t need to defend that little whore, and you for sure don’t want to make an enemy out of me.”

“I don’t care about your threat,” Silver said coldly. “I’m today’s sentinel, and no one goes through that door unless Ryder says so. It’s not me who you should worry about. If you go in, the dragon will kill you. Not even Ryder can stop him. The dragon is the one that initiated the entire affair.”

“She bewitched the dragon,” Lilka said. “His beast has never acted this way before.”

“June isn’t a witch,” Silver said. “The dragon guards what’s his. Are you going to fight me the whole night? Ryder wanted me to guard the door because I don’t let emotion or need get to me.”

Lilka hissed, but then the sound of crossing blades stopped.

“Ryder, you promised you wouldn’t bed her or any female in the camp!” Lilka shouted at the door, which sounded more like wailing, as if she was heartbroken that he’d cheated on her with me.

Ryder stiffened. He tore his gaze from me toward the door, and the heat in his eyes cooled a notch, as if he’d just woken up from a trance and realized that I was his least favorite person.

My fingers froze around his hard length.

“You know what it would do to you, to us, to your entire team, if you screwed that slut,” she continued. “Don’t let her play you, Ryder, please. Her going into heat is a ruse from the gods. Don’t let those bastards win! Just think what they’ve done to you, to all of us.”

The mention of the gods seemed to turn a switch in Ryder. He looked as if he’d just surfaced from the depths of a frozen lake.

When he swept his gaze back at me, coldness and hatred coated his eyes while heat still rolled off him in waves. He couldn’t fight that. His dragon still wanted me and had no care for the gods’ affairs or anyone else.

“I wasn’t fucking her,” Ryder growled harshly.

I wanted to point out that Lilka was the one who kept manipulating and guilt tripping him, but this wasn’t my fight. It was his choice.

“I’m handling her,” Ryder continued, his voice hard as ice. “I’m taking care of the matter so Jules won’t be a ticking bomb. If her heat keeps broadcasting, every man here is going to be affected. Now back the fuck off, Lilka, and let me get this over with. I don’t want to be disturbed again.”

He sounded as if he’d taken one for the team and suffered so much by touching me. Yet his cock in my grasp was still hard as steel. I let go of it, no longer wanting to stroke it.

“Make it quick, please, Ryder,” Lilka said, her musical voice dripping with poisoned honey. “I have something to show you after you come out.”

Fury infused me, bile rising to the back of my throat, yet it still couldn’t suppress the mating heat and my raw need for this asshole. The sweet, contented feeling that he’d brought moments ago shattered like glass.

Ryder’s fingers were still buried in me, and he thrust in and out mechanically. A sudden coldness and mutual resentment formed between us, bruising us both, while the mating call increased its powers, trying to bring harmony between us to no avail.

The worst thing was, I needed to get off badly, afraid that if I put it off, the agony I dreaded might return. Shame, rage, and lust blended together in a fucked-up cocktail. Panting hard, I propelled my hips forward, riding his fingers hard, endeavoring to push myself to reach my climax and get this over with as soon as possible.

I closed my eyes, not wanting to see Ryder, as I worked hard toward the goal. To my surprise and great relief, I exploded around his fingers in record time. Tension and heat released from my inner walls as my orgasm faded slowly. In its wake, regret, embarrassment, and bitterness pounded in my veins.

I grabbed his wrist and yanked his fingers out of my body. Ryder narrowed his eyes.

Unexpected heat that didn’t come from the mating need engulfed me. I could feel physical fire erupting from my heart.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck!” I cried.

Ryder pulled me toward him and asked urgently, “Sparrow, what’s wrong?”

Something hard and hot appeared on both sides of my neck, adhering to my skin.

Ryder became deathly still, staring at my neck. I’d never seen him look like that.

Panic cut into me.

“What? What’s happening?!” I cried, slamming my hand into my neck to stop whatever was forming on my skin. Oh gods, they were scales, the same as the ones that had appeared on Ryder when he’d transformed into a dragon.

A new heat wave hit me, and the scales spread to my shoulders. I turned my head and looked down. They were red—exactly the same color as my flaming hair—dusted with glinting gold. It didn’t stop there. Tingles slithered up my spine as two rows of scales formed on either side.

I arched my back, letting out a cry of distress.

No wonder Mom had tried everything to make me appear normal. The eyeglasses she’d gotten for me were meant to ensure that. She’d insisted on me wearing them at all times, but I had thrown them away on a whim. The ancient runes she had acquired and put on me must’ve cost an arm and a leg. I bet that they were meant to prevent this as well.

I wasn’t a human. I never had been. Ryder’s conniving dragon had smelled me, taken an interest, and awoken my true essence.

But I wasn’t equipped to deal with this true me. I didn’t even know what it was after living a lie all my life. I didn’t know how to live as the new June.

A tear fell from the corner of my eye.

Then a new terror arose in me. I didn’t know how to shift, which was a required skill. If the monster dragon inside me tried to burst out, she’d tear me apart. She wasn’t trained or conditioned to cling to rules and reasons. She ran on emotions and primal needs.

Ryder’s stunned expression turned to cold rage at the sight of my tears.

“Control yourself!” he snarled.

I snapped. I lashed out, my fist ramming toward his mouth. He ducked. He was still faster than me, his hand grabbing my wrist.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” he said, his eyes on fire. “I was chiding my dragon. He started losing his shit when he saw your tears. I can’t allow him to take control and shift, just so he can cuddle with you. He got lucky with the untimely shifting last time. If he does it again, he’ll damage us both. That motherfucker never thinks with his head.”

A violent rumble sounded from his chest, then the next second, Ryder’s face distorted and his jaw clenched tightly, as if he was fighting a fierce inner battle.

He was wrestling with his dragon. His eyes turned to deep gold before they swirled back to his golden-blue color.

He’d beaten his dragon.

I breathed hard, in and out, the rage and heat in me cooling a little. To my relief, the scales started to disappear from my skin, until they were all gone.

The danger had passed, for now.

My skin was flawless again. For half a heartbeat, I wondered if I’d imagined things. It was best that I was delusional or even crazy, but the look in Ryder’s eyes told me a different story. There was no kindness in them, only mercilessness and ruthlessness.

I swallowed, bone-cold chills combating the remnants of heat in me.

“It’s done,” he said harshly as he got to his feet.

His gaze lingered on my face before he turned and headed toward the door as if he couldn’t stand staying in the room with me for one more second.

“Thank you for your service,” I shouted behind him. “If I have to give a review, it’s two stars!”

He slammed the door behind him.

My chest heaved up and down in cold fury, yet I still craved him, even though I knew that pining for that coldhearted asshole would do me a world of hurt.

I felt so alive, but at the same time, dread twisted my belly.

Fang had said the dragon had evoked the heat circle in me. If it was a circle, it was meant to return. When it did, I’d need Ryder again, and I’d suffer more pain, unbearable lust, further humiliation, and his cruel contempt. And all that depended on me staying on his good side, so he’d be kind enough to do me another “service.”

Relying on that deranged asshole was like walking on thin ice. I must stop this vicious heat circle at all costs.

But how?

In a one-in-a-million chance, I’d been caught by the storm and dumped in Pandemonium, where a dragon had been waiting for me.

In a book, it might sound like a fairytale with fated love, wild adventure, and sweet romance. The irony was, in reality, I got the nightmarish version.

Ryder might be devastatingly hot, but he was no fucking hero. I wouldn’t count him as an antihero either, as he didn’t even deserve that!

Even as I thought badly of him, my stupid core still throbbed in burning need, and heat started to rise again.

No! My eyes went wild with panic. It couldn’t be the second heat circle, could it? The first one had barely ended and had closed on a sour note. Ryder had stormed out after I gave him a vindictive review.

He wouldn’t come back, and I didn’t deserve this.

Fury rained down on me at the unfairness and my powerlessness.

But as the hot wave traced along my skin, scales didn’t pop up. Instead, a series of maroon lines glowed like tiny stars on the swell of my left breast. One by one, the lines formed, until the symbol of a sword ablaze with twin flames—one blue and one red—came into focus, hovering above an ancient scale.

It must be a sigil. I had no idea what it meant, but I knew that I’d been marked, and if Ryder had seen this, he’d probably know and end me right there.

As soon as the marking was complete, it fueled my wrath while trying to grasp my mind with a compulsion—to find Ryder and extinguish the last fallen archangel’s bloodline.

It tried to turn me, a meek nerd, into an avenger and a murderer.

I gripped the blanket and hugged it against my chest, a laughable effort to fend off whatever dark force was trying to control me and dominate my path. Yet the desire to fuck Ryder mixing with the urge to inflict pain on him burned bright in me.

I was sent here with a purpose, no matter whether I agreed with it or not. Ryder was probably right about me from the beginning.

I might be meek, but I wasn’t the type to roll over.

I’d find out who was pulling my strings and causing all my misery, and they’d pay.

I was no one’s puppet. I wasn’t queen of the pawns, as Ryder had named me. Ryder would pay too, and he wouldn’t even see what was coming.

They’d messed with the wrong girl.

And I, June Winters, started transforming today.

CHAPTER 19

Ryder

My mind was a minefield of endless barbed wire, black wind, and roaring noise.

Her agony speared my chest like dark lightning. I appeared brutal, damaged, and ruthless, yet her scent called me like a beautiful, merciless siren song in my blood. Her heat stirred the most primal need in me—to fuck her over and over and to imprint her to secure my claim.

That was my dragon’s roaring need as well.

But I glued my feet to the ground, pondering my next move, my face cold and my eyes colder. My men couldn’t see through my exterior, even though they’d been with me for over a century. But that was what I wanted them to see—a coldhearted bastard.

If they saw, then the gods would detect my true emotions as well and strike at my Achilles’ heel. Yet my stupid, red-blooded beast couldn’t sit tight.

Seeing June’s suffering from the first heat circle had pushed him to the edge, and for the first time, he rebelled against me. It took everything I had to rein him in, so he couldn’t break out of my skin and ruin my plans.

Plan, my ass, he shouted at me.

We’d never been at odds before, but now he was going to cause problems—problems that would get us all killed. When it came to June, he thought only with his dick.

You think with your short dick, he sneered. But I think with my enormous dragon heart, which is never cold like yours.

My dick is not short, I snorted. And you think being abusive will work on me? The gods and other beings have all tried before you, and I killed lots of them.

Yeah, tough guy. He swished his barbed tail to discredit me. If you think you’ve got a big dick, then you haven’t paid attention to my mighty dragon cock. He started bragging, and whenever he did that, he became even more insufferable. Why had I chosen to bond with him when I could’ve picked any mystic creature? My father, the King of the Underworld, had bonded with a reasonable wolf god.

I can’t wait for June to shift, and then I’ll mate her dragon in the sky, my beast said dreamily.

Shut the fuck up, I snarled, dumping a bucket of icy water on him. Keep calling out her dragon before it’s time, and you’ll get her maimed or even killed.

She’s a dragon, my beast yelled, rudely interrupting me. We dragons are mighty and invincible!

You barely read history books then. And you forget what the gods will do and can do, I hissed. They’ve been steering the ship with June on it. They’re playing the most twisted, dangerous game.

Who cares about their schemes and games! They’ve never been able to vanquish us. With June’s dragon joining us, we can take them down, he insisted.

You’re a fucking moron if you keep thinking like a wishful child, I said. You know nothing about strategy. Do you think it’s a coincidence that she fell into our lap, or that it’s because of the kindness of Hera, or the sympathy of the fucking Fates? June’s a wild card that our enemies just drew. You’ll let me handle all this if you want her to stay alive.

I don’t trust you anymore, two-legs, he snorted. I’ve watched you. You’re set on a path to break her heart, if you haven’t done it already.

It’s better to break her heart than have her head on a plate served to the gods, you horny motherfucker! I hissed, hating him for arguing with me when he didn’t know any better. I’m going to take care of this shit.

Both the dragon and I could literally smell her agony and heat.

If you do anything impulsively with June, you’ll fuck this up, I warned him. You won’t just scare her away; you’ll traumatize her, and it’ll be all on you. In her eyes, you’re a monster.

I’m not a monster, he protested. She likes me. She rode me last time and laughed in the wind. We both laughed in joy, and she enjoyed my company. I couldn’t say that about you.

She didn’t have much of a choice, did she? Didn’t she say, “What big teeth you have?” No woman fancies a monster with fangs.

He quieted and turned brooding, then he perked up again at the sight of June as soon as I pushed open the door.

Don’t fuck it up again, he warned. You might still want to deny it, but there’s no doubt that she’s our mate. If you can only accept hard facts, then I don’t mind reminding you that only our true mate can bleed us. She scratched your stupid fucking face and bled you when you heartlessly put our mate in that cage.

According to lore and prophecy, only our fated mate could really kill us. Gods could bleed us with special weapons, but even they couldn’t kill us. Yet June’s nails had broken my skin.

My gaze fell on her.

She writhed on the sofa, beads of sweat breaking out on her forehead and her face flushing feverishly.

As soon as she saw me come in, she glared at me, her storm-gray eyes glassy with a haze of heat and delicious lust despite her fury. My heart drummed in my ears. It unsettled me that this tiny thing in front of me could have that kind of effect on me. I didn’t recall my heart ever pounding so hard or my blood heating for any woman like that.

She was the loveliest thing I’d ever seen, her fury only enhancing her beauty, especially with her glasses off, but I’d never tell her that. She’d never know how I really saw or felt about her.

I wouldn’t leave any cracks for the gods.

I drank in the sight of her, my face remaining cold and my eyes saying nothing could touch me. Her heat radiated to me in waves, her scent slamming into my nostrils, making me and my dragon roar with a primal, possessive need. It took every ounce of my will not to rush to her, turn her around, and bury my cock deep in her core.

A powerful demigod like me, even bound by the gods’ combined curse, had the stamina to fuck her for days. I wanted to do just that, and my beast wanted the same.

Yet I slowed down purposefully and started a conversation with her.

She didn’t favor my kind of conversation though and hissed at me at the end of nearly every sentence. My dragon loved her attitude and thought her fierceness was the hottest thing.

To stress her point, she lifted her chin and thrust out her chest to show her defiance, which made me even hotter for her. My gaze kept gluing to either her lips, her taut tits that pressed hard against the front of the fabric, or the utterly enticing shape between her thighs.

She was squeezing them underneath the blanket, but I could see it all.

My dragon growled unhappily, afraid that we were missing the opportunity to be with our mate, but I had to go slow. I had to think with my head and cool myself off while all the blood flowed to my groin.

My cock was rock hard and throbbed so painfully. All it wanted was to bury itself deep in June’s lovely pussy and soak in her warm, delicious juices. Its scent was undoing my dragon and me.

I reined my dragon and myself in. One mishap, and I would set foot on the path of peril the gods had laid out. I bet those fuckers were gathering in Hera’s court now, watching and betting on the winner. There was no privacy from them in this realm since they’d brought me into their staged arena. This was not only sport for them but also their show of power against my bloodline.

Ironically, it’d taken their combined powers just to bind me as a toddler after they’d lured me away from my parents. After that, every day was a misery. My power roared in me yet was beaten down and chained along with my dragon.

My strength wasn’t even a drop of what it used to be. I pushed through every day while every step felt like wading through thick mercury. I’d never bowed to defeat but vowed to bring my men out of the Wild Hunt one day.

Hera once showed me a hologram of my parents’ heartbreak to break me. My parents never ceased to look for me for two centuries. They’d abandoned their kingdom to search for me in every corner of the universe.

As an immortal, Mom even started to age because of the heartbreak of losing her son. Dad, the toughest guy I’d known, was terrified of her fading.

If I could ever get a message to them, I’d beg them to forget me, move on, and live their own life.

The vindictive gods wanted to hurt them more than anything, and the best way to hurt my powerful parents was by destroying me. Yet as I watched the holographic clips, I hadn’t showed any emotion in front of Hera. My heartbeat and pulse stayed at the same level, even though I’d been shattered to pieces inside.

Even now, my pure hated for my enemies kept my emotions in check and my head cool, so I wouldn’t act like a fool, muddled by my mate’s delicious scent and burning heat, or cave in to her raw need and mine.

I was the only one who understood the game and the big picture.

If I lost control, the damage would spread to my entire team and June as well.

Not even my fucking beast understood the high stakes here.

But when June declared that she’d prefer any other man over me, both my dragon and I lost our shit. I fought not to rip off her clothes and fuck her brutally right there to show her who she really needed and belonged to, yet I managed to remove her clothes in a civilized way.

But there was nothing civil about the way I had my mouth on her bare golden pussy. I proved to be a savage demigod. June gasped in shock, then hid her delight poorly while utterly enjoying it.

My dragon purred as my tongue thrust into June’s lava-hot cunt. The temperature would probably melt a mortal’s tongue or dick, but my dragon had plenty of fire himself. He met our mate’s challenge with his dragon tongue.

We drank our mate’s nectar as she exploded around our tongue. My hard core of ice was starting to melt under her brilliant light and heat, yet I let her see only the harsh side of me even then. I made it seem like a business to pleasure her. Or just lust. Nothing else.

The gods wouldn’t find a crack in me.

My tongue rolled around her lovely virgin pussy that kept producing nectar and honey. Her flame twirled around my dragon tongue, flirting and trying to dominate, and she didn’t even know it.

The mating heat demanded she seek out her mate. Her moans were like fuel in my bloodstream. More than anything, I wanted to drive my cock into her molten depths. I needed to imprint her every inch to warn other males away from what was mine.

My dragon nagged me to act on my primal urge, regardless of the consequences. But once I claimed June, it’d be game over. The gods would do unspeakable things to her, or use her against me while my hands were tied.

June clung to me, fierce female need and pride warring in her. Utterly unimpressed by my growl, which she thought was meant for her, she glared at me, but she couldn’t help thrusting her hips toward me with every intention of sitting on my face, soaking me.

My dragon was beyond giddy at her aggression, then he roared in joy when he spotted her beautiful dragon scales, the color of flame, surfacing, as June started her partial shifting.

I was shocked to my core. It was said that all female dragons had been hunted to extinction by the archangels, yet one had hidden and survived against all odds. And she was right in front of me, vulnerable in heat, brighter than the stars, and more beautiful than anything.

My mate. Also a dragon.

Unable to control his glee, my beast wanted to come out to welcome her.

“Control yourself,” I snarled. We can’t allow the fucking gods to see how much we crave her.

Shock and fear broke out on June’s beautiful face at seeing her scales, and a tear flowed down her face.

I wanted to comfort her. I wanted to tell her what was going on and wrap my arms around her and protect her from all harm. But all I could show her was my cruelty and heartlessness, as that was what I wanted the gods to see.

Her hatred poured into me.

My beast understood what I had to do, yet he was still furious at me for bringing out more of her hate for me.

Our mate’s heat had receded. She was no longer in pain, and she shouted from behind me as I strode toward the door.

“Thank you for your service.” Her voice was laced with rage and disdain. She was no longer the sweet, odd sparrow from when she’d first been swept here. “If I have to give a review, it’s two stars!”

My dragon instantly sent me a series of acid, scathing words, blaming me for not performing well.

You couldn’t even get an average of three stars? How hard could it be? he asked in dismay. We might never get a chance with her again!

Shut the fuck up! I slammed the door behind me, yet I wanted to go back to her right away. I wanted to drink her nectar and fuck her in truth over and over in every position. She’d ride my cock with her fire and storm.

I wanted to wake up every morning with her pussy on my face. I’d shove my cock down her throat while pulling her hair to make her suck me harder.

Loser! You just keep dreaming big. You don’t even have the courage to go back in, my dragon berated me before nagging me again. Let’s return to our mate and see how she’s doing. She needs us.

Cut it out, I snarled. I’m trying to preserve her.

The men gathered in the hallway. June going into heat had rattled all of them. Her heat also drew them to her, invoking their primal male instincts, but they understood that none of them was allowed to touch her.

Lilka stared at me as if I’d betrayed her, jealous tears glistening in her green eyes. I’d fucked her a few times a long time ago, and she thought she had any right to me?

“Wow, Earth women have this rating thing going on?” Ink flashed me a grin. “Two stars is kind of low, isn’t it?”

The rest of the men tried to suppress their laughs and coughed into their fists.

My dragon and I both bristled.

“Fuck off,” I grated.

“Not yet, my love.” A girlish giggle came from the roof, then the phoenix phased into the hallway, perching on the high beam and tilting her colorful head to regard us.

“Why are you here, Sadie?” I asked frostily.

For the past century, the Wild Hunt had never occurred twice in a row within three days. The men also stared at the phoenix grimly, thinking the same thing.

“Another bad day, Ryder?” Sadie crooned. “Is it because of the two-star rating? Oh, don’t pout. There’s always room to improve. Well, back to business. You know why I’m here—to get you boys in good shape with more exercises. So, the next Wild Hunt is coming in—pause. Don’t you love the suspense?”

For the first time, I wasn’t annoyed or bored but afraid. Dread fell into the pit of my stomach like lead. The gods had changed the rules, and they were going to target June to get to me. Even though I’d showed only my harsh, cruel side toward June, my enemies knew what she was to me. The game was utterly personal now.

“The next hunt shouldn’t happen until next month,” Fang said roughly.

“You’re so cute, Fang, especially when you show your wolf fangs,” Sadie said. “You know I love them, don’t you?”

“Hera owes us the recreation time. It’s the rule of the hunt,” I demanded, trying to buy more time. “We won the last game. And if the gods always eat their own words—”

“Don’t worry. That can be arranged,” Sadie said. “You and your team are welcome to visit the brothels right before the next hunt. Will you still be interested in dipping your demigod dick in some random cunts when you had a special one just now? They say that no woman has ever been able to sate you. How about June? Is she doing okay for you?” I wore an impatient and bored expression. The phoenix paused to study me before starting again. “Anyway, I’ll give you a free tip as to the next hunt because I’m a nice phoenix. You’ll be chased and hunted in the off world, but you won’t know who your hunters are and where they come from before they close in on you like awesome vultures. Of course, our irresistible June will join you. Isn’t that exciting? And you haven’t answered me yet, Ryder. How do you really feel about our lovely June?”

It dawned on me then that Hera had known June was my fated mate before I knew. How had the gods found her? They’d use her to drive me to the brink of destruction and then they’d destroy her to undo me. That would be their end game.

“June’s fun,” I said. “More fun than other bitches. But I can’t say the same about you, Sadie.” She bristled and I offered her a mocking smirk. “Your bitch queen can watch how I play with her pawn, but she’s a fucking fool if she thinks that June means anything to me.”

I knew that my sparrow had heard every word. I could feel her hatred for me flaming hotter than a furnace through the door.

“Blasphemy!” Sadie shrieked.

“Then tell that phony cunt this—” I whispered, and the phoenix leaned forward to listen.

I pushed myself to a partial shifting, my dragon tail appearing and swishing. The phoenix stared at it with dark fascination. My tail suddenly lashed out, aiming for her heart. It was but a feint.

She ducked to the left, just as I’d expected. I leapt into the air, lunging at her, and yanked out a long red-and-blue feather from her wing.

A tear of pain dropped from her blue eyes, and I scooped it up with her feather at the perfect timing, letting her magical tear soak the feather. A golden light traced along it before vanishing.

The phoenix flapped her wings and phased out with an outraged cry. “I’ll remember this, demigod!”

I laughed. “Come back, Sadie. I’ll play nice.”

“The next Wild Hunt is at midnight!” the phoenix called from outside the window before vanishing. “Good luck. You’ll need it, asshole!”

The door to the common room flew open, June in her long shirt standing in the doorway. Her storm-gray gaze pierced through the space and alighted on me, her face flushing with wild fury, but her heat for me pulsed hotter and stronger.

I stared back at her, a slow smile touching my lips. She was the most stunning thing I’d ever seen. And it’d never get old.

“Hello, sparrow,” I purred. “Have you rested well? I have something for you.”

I stalked toward her and spun her around before she could ram her fist into my jaw. I pulled her back against my chest, my arm wrapped around her slender waist.

I whispered an ancient angelic word as she shuddered against me, her heat pounding into me like a burning star, her intoxicating scent of pure female perfume nearly bringing me to my knees. I tucked the phoenix’s feather imbued with a tear that gifted the bearer an incredible power of healing—my first courting gift—behind my mate’s ear.

Preorder: Crown of Thorns and Sins # 2: Ruined by the Dragon

Coming April/May 2023

Dear Reader,

Thank you for reading book one in the Crown of Thorns and Sins series. I hope you enjoyed it. Book two will be out in April, even though the date is set to August as a placeholder on the Amazon page. As you know, I always release the next book earlier for you.

Cypress, the green dragon, will make a comeback and fight Ryder for June. Will the villain get the girl? We might not know who the true villain is, since the line between the hero and the villain often blurs. But I can promise you that there’ll be more heated romance. Danger will be lurking at every turn, and the high action is designed to keep you on the edge of your seat.

~ Meg

P.S.  If you enjoy Hunted by the Dragon, would you consider rating it or leaving a brief review on Amazon? Someone has said that reviews are like hugs. <3

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Excerpt of Underworld Bride Trials

CHAPTER 2

Tessa

He pounded in and out of the woman, laughing a little. Although he enjoyed it, he wasn’t giving it his all. The sex seemed purely physical for him, no different than a sweaty exercise or taking a swig of a good drink.

I watched Loki fuck, studying him with more interest than I’d intended. He wasn’t what I’d pictured. I’d thought he’d be hideous as the King of the Demons, as I’d seen enough patrolling demon guards on my way here, and nearly all of them were monstrous but not this king.

Most of the common demons shared the same traits—inky pits for eyes, horns, fangs, and claws. They reeked of sulfur and acid. Their favorite weapons were chainsaws and axes.

When I snuck by them like a fleeting shadow, they sniffed and turned to me. But I’d already moved away from where I’d been. My ice magic wrapped tightly around me, cloaking me, and before the demons could trace me, I was gone in a flash, leaving them with their own confusion and ugly thoughts.

I had a month to finish the job while looking for the flame. I’d seen what a plume of fire empowered by my ice magic could do to the bloodhounds. With the flame of the inferno, I’d finally take down Ragnarö. Only the Weaver of the Fates hadn’t taught me how to make the inferno fire mine. And she’d never showed up in my dreams again after the third visit. She didn’t want the brutal Ice God to find out about her helping me.

I’d have to figure it out all by myself.

I fixed my attention to the coupling lovers merely nine feet from me as I hung upside down, my legs wrapped around military rope. The bat hook supporting the rope bit into the guardrails on the red castle’s rooftop that overlooked a river of bubbling lava.

It was a fabulous view.

I hadn’t had any difficulty finding the Demon King with my stealth, which I had honed for years as a universal assassin and bounty hunter. It also helped that the king wasn’t hiding.

In fact, he was screwing that woman in an open hall of black pillars. Depictions of carnal couplings of horned demons and their females were splashed generously across the walls. His demon subjects, or anyone, could walk in on him, and he didn’t seem to care.

He draped her over the high back of a currant-red couch, one hand on her arched ass and his other hand casually at his side—the hand could snatch a weapon at any time. So he wasn’t quite as relaxed as he appeared as he thrust into her repeatedly from behind.

From my angle, I could make out most of their features and movements.

My attention momentarily dropped to the lower part of their bodies.

His cock was impressive in size and taut as a wire. From the woman’s look of rapture, his cock was doing a fantastic job. The Demon King thrust with careless confidence and, from my observation, he preferred long thrusts.

His flawless body was in peak condition, as if it were carved out of dark gold, every part hard and smooth. His cut, lean muscles flexed and coordinated with perfect rhythm. My gaze traced back to his face. While it was perfectly symmetrical, his sensual lips curled up in a lopsided grin as if he suddenly thought of a private joke.

The king’s mind lay somewhere else while he fucked.

A strand of his raven-black hair bounced on his forehead as he propelled his hips forward. Beneath it, his brooding eyes flashed with Hell’s power and fire that he was using to melt panties.

“So, so good, Your Majesty!” the woman cried for the whole world to hear. “I love your majestic cock!”

He chuckled, and I almost chuckled too.

“You do?”

“Yes, Your Majesty! More, please more! I’m begging! You have the biggest cock!”

This time, the king rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, a flash of memory assailed me—

Another giant, gorgeous male had been in the same position, screwing a woman from behind. And I was forced to watch from two feet away, unable to lash out at him while his staggering, unimaginable magic bound me to the floor.

I’d been only fourteen, his future queen. After his years of seduction, I’d finally grown to care for him, even smitten with him and taken with his godly power and icy beauty. And then he’d shattered the bond between us by fucking another in front of me.

Ragnarö, the bastard son of Thrym, the Giant Frost God from Udgård, hadn’t cared that my hard-earned affection for him had turned to white-hot hatred. He only wanted to make me utterly submissive to him before taking me as his mate. He thought he could mold me by ripping out my heart, screwing my mind, and crushing my spirit, so he designed this sadistic, twisted game to break “the Ice and Steel Princess” and get off on it.

The Ice King enjoyed breaking all things and liked broken creatures, but I’d never be among them.

I hadn’t allowed him to break me but instead had escaped him.

My heart had been shattered by his abuse, but I’d picked up the pieces before he knew it.

I let cold clarity fill my mind and relearned the brutal truth of my reality as I stared at the icy light outlining his black wings as they ruffled and shifted while he fucked one woman then another and then another, two feet in front of me.

I was certain then that he’d never let me go, and I would rather die than let him touch me.

I was the ice that burned, and I’d allow no one to break or bend me.

I brushed away the past like motes of dust and continued to watch Loki bang the woman, a bored expression hanging on his handsome face, through the half-open window. The past and present scenes overlapped, and my hatred for my ex transferred to the Demon King.

I extracted a gun strapped to my right thigh. A poisoned silver bullet could hit his temple while he was most vulnerable. That was what I came here to do, even though I convinced myself to check out the target before making the kill. And I’d seen enough.

“The Underworld Bride Trials are a joke, Your Majesty,” the woman blurted out. “And you know it.”

I froze, the handgun half-raised to shoot him. On the way here, every demon was gossiping about the trials, buzzing with bloodthirsty excitement. Now I wanted to get the inside information, and these two were going to provide it for me.

“Enlighten me,” the Demon King purred, his voice dark and velvety. It could make any woman shiver with wanton need, but I shrugged off his seductive power.

“You could have asked me to be your queen and I’d have said yes,” the woman said. “With me ruling beside you, we can have the entire vampire army, the witch covens, and your demon horde under our union. I can bring so much to the table and help you take back the lost territories from the demigods. Besides, the demigods aren’t Ares. And without the war god, they’re weakened.”

“You have no idea that the demigods are more powerful than ever,” the king said, amused instead of offended. “And where’s the fun for me without the trials, my vampire princess?” He chuckled. “Don’t you know I have a reputation to uphold, like I have a penchant for catfights? Who are you to rob me of living out my dark fantasies before I select my queen? Are you afraid of a little challenge, Princess Veronica?”

So she wasn’t just a random woman he picked to fuck, but a princess. My eyes darted from him to her. She wasn’t just a regular creamy-skinned and dark-haired beauty, and she obviously knew it. While his power vibrated in the air, her power shimmered to match his, but it wasn’t quite there.

Her full lips were red, her nose small and straight, and her hazel eyes shone with ambition, lust, and cruelty. She wasn’t someone to toy with—her look and attitude showed that—yet the Demon King didn’t seem to take her too seriously. But I didn’t think she realized it, sadly, since she was too serious about herself to know otherwise.

While she was slender and toned, her breasts were ample. The king moved his hand to cup her breast, getting a handful, as he drove into her again and again.

I inhaled subtly, taking in her scent, and instantly, I registered what she truly was.

She wasn’t merely a vampire as the Demon King had called her, but a hybrid of vampire and witch, a lethal and rare combination. I had dealt with her kind in another realm. The hybrid was powerful, as the creature had a vampire’s strength and speed, but her witch blood gave her the ability to do black magic and spells.

And this hybrid was royalty, like him. No wonder she was full of herself, like him as well.

What a match!

“Challenge, King Loki?” she snorted.

He smirked. “Are you up to it? Who could resist being the new Queen of the Underworld? She’ll be granted the power of hellfire, a diamond crown, and a lifetime of luxury. Even better, my queen isn’t required to live in the Underworld. We’ll have separate bedrooms. I like my freedom very much.”

Wait! My heart skipped a beat. Did he say hellfire power? Wasn’t that what I came for? I swallowed at the great opportunity before me. I couldn’t kill him now. It would have to wait.

“And they want to fuck you,” she said with venomous jealousy. She already considered him hers. “I’m sick and tired of seeing how other women look at you.”

“Well, they can look their fill. It’s free,” he said with a wicked chuckle. “And they’re more than welcome to ride my cock if they win the crown.”

“Not. Going. To. Happen,” she hissed. She planned to own him.

“The queen will have me in every way,” he said with a shrug. “That’s one of the rules of the trials, bound by irrevocable magic. Even you and your tribe have to respect that.”

“Challenge accepted,” the vampire princess hissed. “In the end, there’ll be only one woman who comes out of the final trial alive and sits on the throne beside you, and that will be me. I’ll kill every bitch in my way.”

“Ambitious and vicious,” he said with a yawn before slowing his long thrusts. “Now, are you going to let me fuck you or bore me to death? I’ll have my dukes come to listen to you if what you want is to talk.”

“Fuck me! Fuck me like you’ve never fucked before!” At her outburst, the princess rocked her creamy butt against him.

“I’ve fucked before and fucked a lot,” he said with a low chuckle. “I can’t pretend I’ve never fucked before.”

He pushed into her harder, and she moaned louder to get him going. And now it was my turn to roll my eyes while a few new ideas tangled in my head. I had to shift gears and tweak my plans. It would be a bad tactic to kill the playboy king now.

I’d join the Bride Trials.

A fiery breeze whisked by me, twirling around, and the scent of sex from the room slammed into my nostrils, so potent that heat poured into my bloodstream while I was still watching the Demon King pound in and out of the female.

My nipples became taut and pricked against my shirt. The apex of my thighs moistened, and my pussy ached with need that I hadn’t experienced for a very long time.

What. The. Fuck?

I parted my lips, mortified.

My body hadn’t reacted this way ever since my ex-mate forced me to watch him screw other women. And now the latch that had kept my body locked away had broken and fallen by the door, releasing the prisoner and slamming lust into her.

This was purely stupid, yet it was out of my control.

I bit my inner cheek until it bled, my eyes burning with icy anger and heat.

The Demon King paused behind the woman, his entire body stiffening, then he trekked his gaze to me.

And I realized in horror that he’d just spotted me. He could see through my ice glamour—my most useful and unfailing weapon as an assassin in the past—and peer though the silver mist I surrounded myself with to disguise and conceal me.

What the double fuck?

Our gazes clashed—mine was shocked, angry, and somehow still aroused; his was laced with surprise, alertness, then utter amusement. In a heartbeat, his boredom vanished. Pure male lust burned brighter as a massive, mighty beast arose, peeking at me out of his predatory eyes.

The beast growled, then purred, pleased and hungry, as if he’d just found the dessert he’d been looking for, and he was more than eager to pounce.

Continue to read Underworld Bride Trials

Books by Meg Xuemei X

MONSTERS AFTER DARK

Shifter God

Vampire God

Death God

UNDERWORLD BRIDE TRIALS

Playboy King

Rejected Queen

Hellfire Crown

Hidden Court

HALF-BLOOD ACADEMY SERIES

Magic Trials

Magic Secret

Magic Fury

Magic Unchained

Magic Flame

DARK FAE KINGS SERIES

Book 1: Fever Fae

Book 2: Frost Fae

Book 3: Night Fae

Book 4: Blood Fae

THE WAR OF GODS SERIES

A Court of Blood and Void

A Court of Fire and Metal

A Court of Ice and Wind

A Court of Earth and Ether

MIDNIGHT COURTS SERIES

The Burn of the Underworld

The Rise of the Underworld

The Dragonian’s Witch

The Witch’s Consort

CROWN OF THORNS AND SINS

Hunted by the Dragon

Ruined by the Dragon

Claimed by the Dragon

About the Author

Meg Xuemei X is a USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author of paranormal and fantasy romance. She loves writing badass heroines and hot psycho alphaholes.

Table of Contents

Hunted by the Dragon

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

Excerpt of Underworld Bride Trials

Books by Meg Xuemei X

About the Author