Filed to story: A Claim of Fortune Book PDF Free by Jaymin Eve
The dragon’s gaze was unwavering. The only flaws on him were a jagged scar that spanned from his left ear to the corner of his lip, and the bite I’d been forced to leave on his throat.
With omega magic controlling my actions, I hadn’t been able to choose where I bit him. My claim had landed on the left side of his throat, just under his scar and ear.
If anything, these “flaws” only added to his dangerously attractive appeal. It was unfortunate that he was a literal weapon of destruction for an evil alpha, and the reason I would never have a future with my pack. Not as a completed quintet anyway.
EMME
When the dragon stood, his movements were far too graceful for a male so large.
I scooted off the bed and pressed myself to the wall.
There was no indication that he was going to immediately kill me, and as we were newly bonded, our beasts would suffer greatly if one of us was to die. But now that I was upright, functioning and focused, I was determined to be more careful in his presence.
My breathing eased when he opened the bathroom door and entered. This place was nothing like the house Chelsea, the omega who kidnapped me, had brought me to. This bedroom was much nicer, with its worn beige carpet, dusty white walls, and antique queen bed in the center of the room.
Through the open door of the bathroom, it appeared plain and generic, with small white tiles and basic amenities. While the dragon was occupied, I headed straight for the other closed door, unsurprised to find it locked. Leaning back, I kicked as hard as I could, pain ricocheting up my bare foot and into my calf. I’d been dragged out of the house in sweatpants and bare feet, which still bore the evidence of my forced walk through the mud outside my pack’s property.
Far too silently, the dragon appeared at my side like magic, and thrust a glass of water at me. “Drink.”
Holy goddess, he was huge, and his darkly captivating presence elevated him beyond his almost seven feet height. The heat and power radiating off him was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, and the scent was stronger.
Annoyingly, it took my breath away.
Stupid mate bond.
“Trying to drug me?” I drawled, letting my irritation spill out. He hadn’t drugged me before of course, unless it was super slow-acting, but I’d also been all but comatose. Now, I was up and ready to fight. “There’s really no need. I’m apparently trapped here. A fucking prisoner once again.”
When he frowned, it pulled at the scar near his full lips, and I resisted the urge to reach out and trace my fingers along the rough surface. I hadn’t met many shifters with scars like mine. Most of them healed minor injuries with ease. It took a certain weapon, and a certain level of injury inflicted at a young age, to leave a mark like ours.
Not that having anything in common meant I would be forgiving him. Like I’d told Finley, we all had our traumas, but that didn’t give us an excuse to act like an asshole.
“Drink,” he commanded again, thrusting the glass hard enough to spill liquid over the sides.
Ignoring him, I stepped around his towering form and beelined into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. Thirst hit hard when the sink came into view, the white basin pockmarked from age and lack of care. Dipping my head under the faucet, I let the water run for a second before I drank from the stream. It took a long time to quench my thirst, and when I was satisfied, feeling full and sloshy, my bladder took over complaining to remind me I hadn’t peed in days.
If I wasn’t a shifter, I’d probably have a nice kidney or bladder infection, but thankfully, even with my wolf diminished, I retained enough healing abilities to keep that at bay.
When I was finished with the toilet, I flushed and washed my hands, staring into the mirror over the sink. Thanks to the dragon, my hair was smooth and shiny, while the rest of me looked like a bag of crap. My light pink sweats were marked with streaks of mud, and my face was so pale that the dark circles under my eyes stood out starkly, along with the spattering of freckles across my nose.
The icy blue of my eyes was dull, and I could see the pain I felt deep in my essence spilling out in my gaze. It was the agony of mate bonds stretched far too thin. The irony of it all was the dragon’s presence would be helping me cope, as he was technically a mate now too.
Mate.
My wolf was sluggish, and I debated shifting to try and rouse a stronger reaction from her.
He’s not our mate, I snarled back, pissed off and exhausted, as my lungs filled with a sweet scent that I couldn’t purge.
Someone open a fucking window!
Only it appeared that there were none in this bathroom, or the bedroom I’d fled from.
Where had they brought me to?
Why had I let myself fall apart to the point where I hadn’t been aware of my surroundings?
The fact that I’d shut down so thoroughly after the initial attack was disgraceful. In that vulnerable state, it was only sheer luck I hadn’t been hurt or abused far worse. Hunter’s father had already shown he had no morals, and he’d do whatever it took to achieve his end goal.
I’d almost made it too easy for him.
I jumped at the slam of a hand against the door. “You cannot escape from there.”
That was probably the longest sentence I’d heard this asshole mutter, and it just made me all the angrier. “I know that,” I shouted back, enjoying the release of potent fury bubbling inside me. “There’s not even a window in here.”
That locked door out there was the only possible exit, and I was far too weak to bust through it or the tiled walls. And there was no guarantee there’d be freedom on the other side of these walls anyway. No windows often meant you were in the middle of the house, or in a sub-sub-basement.
I fought against the urge to scream. I had no skills to beat a dragon, not even if my wolf were at full strength, which meant my best bet was to play along as the nice, compliant captive, and try to stay alive long enough for help to arrive.
Or even better, if the opportunity arose to escape, knock this fucker out and save myself.
Sucking in a deep breath, I splashed water on my face, wishing desperately for a shower. There wasn’t a chance on this tainted Earth that I’d get naked around that dragon though, so I headed for the door.
When I pulled it open, he loomed on the other side, and as I tilted my head up to meet his gaze with all the false bravado I could muster, I swore I caught a hint of panic, before his expression was once again dark and impassive.