Unexpected Mate (Dragon Goddess #2)

Chapter Twenty-eight

I was so confused. His voice had gone from tender to frigid, and as I looked into his eyes, they no longer glimmered with love. Instead, all I saw was disgust. Fear clenched in my stomach. I should’ve moved faster. I should’ve reacted, but my heartbreak kept me frozen, as still as a statue.

He quickly brought out a pair of handcuffs and snapped them around my wrists.

“Don’t even try to break these; they have been spelled by a wizard friend,” Cage said. “You might have been able to break them if you had been at full strength, but while weak from Ivleek, you don’t have a chance.”

How did he know about the Ivleek? What else did he know?

I should never play poker, because he read my face easily.

“How did I know?” He laughed. “Come on! Surely you didn’t think that Draven was the only corrupt leader in the supernatural world? I knew it was spreading, and I tried to keep my pack out of it. I left you once I realized that you weren’t going to stop shifting into your unnatural beast. Once I got back to the pack, I found myself growing more and more bitter. And then I started to hear rumors. You were growing in power, and the community was taking notice. You demanded the wizards treat their magic-less losers like they mattered, and the council immediately bowed to your wishes. The different leaders began to draw up alliances, hoping you would agree to them. People were talking about you like you were a celebrity, and they were so eager to find favor with you.”

His voice had grown angrier as he spoke. He dressed again, and now tossed my torn and crumpled dress toward me. “Put it back on.”

I struggled to put it on, and he watched me, his gaze making me feel dirty. I tried to call out for my mates in the bond, but I hit a brick wall.

“If I had just sucked it up and played my cards correctly, I would have been your first mate.” He sighed. “I would have been given a position of power within the community. I didn’t get the mate I wanted. A sweet submissive woman whose only focus was to care for me and my children. Instead, I got a prophesied dragon goddess with more power than she knows what to do with. The fates wrecked my life, and now I am taking what I want.”

I choked on a sob at his cruelty .

“Would you shut up?” He walked over and yanked me to my feet. I tried to hold my dress against me, but without being tied, it kept slipping.

“This way.” He led me through a hidden door that was cleverly painted to look like a smooth wall. The door led to a stone tunnel. How original.

Apparently, he wanted me to feel the most pain possible because he continued talking. “I bribed a network of spies to gather information and send it back to me. I also made contact with other members of the supernatural community that are not pleased about your existence. We have put a lot of time into this plan. Once you went full lizard, we knew it was going to be more challenging to take you down. You have nearly unlimited power, but you are too young to know how to handle it. However, since you are unpredictable, we had to wait for the perfect moment. When we discovered that you had obtained Ivleek, we decided now was the time to act.

“Your little show of power outside was impressive, especially since you should barely be walking with Ivleek in your system, but it exhausted you. How did you like that little show with the guards? I am still amazed at how perfectly everything went tonight.” He stopped to laugh. “That crazy old man showed up and distracted Leo, and the spineless werewolves distracted the twins. Ivo played the hero and chased the men who had been preparing to shoot arrows at you, and the vampires were happy to have a family get-together. We thought we would have to knock them out, but they wandered away willingly. Each distraction worked like a charm and you were left unguarded and alone. Once they were away from you, our wizards threw up a spell that kept them from hearing anything else. That’s also what’s blocking you from contacting them with telepathy.”

My bare feet were raw from the debris cluttering the tunnel. I was shivering from cold and fatigue.

“We are almost there, hurry up.” Cage yanked me forward and I tripped on my dress. Without my hands to balance me, my face smacked into the cold stone. Pain pounded in my head and my vision blurred. Cage roughly hauled me to my feet and walked me down the shaft, his fingers digging hard into my arm as he kept me upright.

“What none of us expected was for you to be in heat,” he continued. “I didn’t figure that one out until I got to the castle this evening and caught your scent. I hadn’t thought I would still feel the pull of the mate bond, but it was there. The longer I watched you and your mates, the more my blood boiled. My wolf fought me all evening to go to you and beg for another chance. The scent of your heat was driving me insane and that is when I realized my good fortune. My sources had already told me that, even with how I treated you, you still missed me. Tonight, with your heat distracting you, I knew if I just said the right things, you would cave. I still can’t believe how soft your silly little heart is, and how quick you were to forgive. I don’t want you as my mate, but I really enjoyed using your hot little body.”

I struggled to breathe. The gag was still in my mouth, and between my face impacting with the stone and my constant tears, I could barely breathe through my nose.

“Have you figured out the best part yet?” Cage grinned. “I emptied my seed inside you.”

My brain was shutting down but I tried to concentrate on his words. I knew they were important, but shock was setting in and I couldn’t connect the pieces.

“You’re in heat. The whole purpose of your body going into heat, and driving you crazy with need, is so that you will get pregnant and your species won’t die out,” Cage explained. “My child may already be growing in your belly—a child I will be able to take and shape into a leader fit to rule the earth. Once the leaders are done experimenting with you, they will kill you. That will leave me as the father to the most powerful creature on earth, a creature that will be eager to do anything to please their dear old dad.”

I had never felt anything as strong as the horror I felt at that moment. I yanked at my magic, desperately trying to call it forward, cursing the fact that I sucked as a dragon. I dove into my memories, ignoring the painful throbbing in my head. I needed Beasty’s skills. I let go of all my self-control and let instincts take over. Around me, the walls trembled and reflected the eerie blue of my glowing tattoos. Hope soared in my chest. I might actually be able to save myself, even while weak and in shock.

“Oh no you don’t, slut!”

Cage backhanded me with the force of a werewolf and I was knocked into the wall. My head hit the stone with a sickening crack and everything went black.