Chapter 51
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Knox
I calmed further as I bathed Magnazius with a sponge and a bucket of soapy water. Just being around the stallion had a soothing effect as he occasionally nuzzled me before resuming grazing.
A warm trickle of blood still ran down my inner thigh, but I ignored it. The wound throbbed, but I couldn’t say I didn’t deserve it.
I’d been disgusted with myself after the way I treated her last night, but at least then she’d been eager and receptive. Today, I’d been determined to get her back to the castle and safely away from me, but that all went up in smoke the second she defied me… again.
So instead of getting her to safety, I’d humiliated her like they’d done to me so many times in the harem. I couldn’t keep my shit together around her, and that was as infuriating as the woman herself.
Fuck.
I dropped the sponge into the bucket and ran a hand over the stubble covering my head. When it came to her, I was more of a monster than the beast could ever be.
I’d tear the limbs from anyone who dared to mistreat her, and I’d rip the jugular from anyone who humiliated her as I had. Yet I couldn’t stop myself from exerting my dominance over her, but then, she was the only one who so often and openly challenged my authority.
It didn’t help that she was my mate, unclaimed, and no longer mine to have. Not claiming her was tearing me apart.
Lifting my head, I stared at the cluster of roses I was sure were the stable boys. How could I claim my mate and find any happiness with her while my kingdom remained a desolate, broken place?
You’re assuming she’d be willing to be claimed by you after everything you’ve put her through.
And that was a very good point. I’d seen the fury and sadness in her eyes when she emerged on the porch this morning. I felt it again when she latched her teeth onto my thigh.
She’d always been feisty, but now she was a fiery, beautiful woman with a spirit I was scared I’d crush. And if I was honest with myself, a part of me wanted to crush it, bend her to my will, and make her as broken as me.
I was a mess, and it was all because of her… yet I wouldn’t change anything. I wouldn’t allow her to be anywhere else. I might annihilate us both before this curse ended, but I didn’t care. It would be worth it to keep her.
The beast howled within me. I hadn’t allowed it to hunt and kill after I refused to let it have access to Briar, but as much as I’d hungered to slaughter something, I couldn’t leave her unprotected in the cabin.
I could hunt now, though.
My gaze drifted to the castle; Briar was in there, angry and hurting. I should find her and apologize, but I didn’t know how to do that… not anymore.
And I was afraid that if I got too close right now, I’d take her again. I couldn’t do that.
She’d tried to hide her bruises beneath her clothes, but I’d seen the ones on her neck. Her hair covered them last night; it didn’t this morning.
A shadow fell across the land as the shadow dragon soared overhead. It swept over the castle before turning and banking back toward me. Closing its wings, dirt puffed up around it as it settled on the ground only twenty feet away.
Magnazius shied away from the creature as it prowled a little closer. He was used to the dragon, but he still didn’t like it. Undoing his tie, I released Magnazius and left him free to enjoy some grass before returning to his stall.
When I stretched my hand out to the dragon, it snorted and pressed its snout to my palm before lifting its head. Pure black eyes held mine as it snorted again. I didn’t have to speak with it to know it needed something from me.