DRAVEN
“You cannot kill me, Your Highness.”
The words hit me harder than any weapon ever has.
“You speak with the ignorance of a child, Diana,” I rasped.
I braced my boots against the stone, forcing myself to remain exactly where I stood because every molecule in my body was screaming at me to cross the distance and claim what was mine.
“I am a cursed creature,” I continued, the words coming out in a strained tone as I fought Karl for control.
“My aura has frozen the blood in the veins of women stronger than you. If you step closer, your weak mortal body will fail you.”
She didn’t back away.
If anything, she lifted her chin higher.
“Then why am I not cold?” she asked softly.
“What?” I breathed, my composure fracturing further.
“Growing up, I was taught that the North was a wasteland of ice and death,” she said, her voice remarkably clear over the sound of the rushing water.
“But tonight, standing here right now, looking at you… I am not cold. The closer I get to you, the warmer it feels.”
My brows pulled together in shock.
The True Moon bond.
Th Creator had turned my aura into a protective heat for her.
But knowing she was safe from the frost didn’t mean she was safe from me.
Karl let out a thunderous roar inside my head, feeling overly ecstatic.
“Warmth! She feels the fire! Let me out!” He growled.
“Silence!” I roared back at him.
My eyes flared brighter against my will.
Diana stood there barefoot on the frozen stones, wrapped in nothing but a thin shawl, staring directly into them….into Karl’s eyes and she wasn’t afraid.
My jaw clenched.
Every sane instinct I possessed screamed at me to leave immediately before Karl did something stupid, but neither of us moved.
The mate bond pulsed between us.
I could feel it like a living thing.
Karl surged forward again, growling repeatedly in my head.
‘Mine.’
His possessiveness crashed in me so hard that the frozen rocks around me shattered.
I watched as her eyes widened, but it wasn’t from fear.
It was from fascination.
Creator help me.
She was fascinated.
A normal person would have ran, but this human girl kept moving closer, taking one step after the other.
“Diana.” I called in warning.
She stopped and I almost exhaled.
She was dangerously close, and her scent was hitting my senses even harder than before.
Karl nearly broke right through my control at the proximity.
Yet those impossibly blue eyes remained fixed on me as though she couldn’t see the monster standing in front of her.
“Stop looking at me like that.” I rasped.
Her brows furrowed.
“Like what?”
Creator.
Humans truly were reckless creatures.
I dragged a hand through my hair and looked away.
Anywhere except her because every second I spent looking at her made things worse.
“Go back to your chambers.”
A line appeared between her brows as she frowned.
“I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
“You are standing in front of a dragon whose control is hanging by a thread.” I shot back.
She stayed silent for a while, then finally opened her mouth.
“What happened to your eyes?”
I almost laughed.
Of all the questions she could have asked, that was the one she chose.
Still, I answered.
“My dragon.”
She blinked.
“You mean Karl?”
My body went still instantly.
Very slowly, I looked at her.
“Who told you that name?”
Her face lost color as she realized she had spoken without thinking.
“I…”
“Who told you?” I repeated, which was a miracle itself.
“No one.”
“Diana.” I growled.
She swallowed hard, then pointed to her head.
“I heard it.”
Everything stilled in me, even Karl.
For the first time all day, Karl went completely silent.
My dragon.
Silent?
That was impossible.
Then Karl whispered something that sent a chill through my body.
‘She heard me.’
I stared at her and she stared back, completely unaware of the significance of what she had just admitted.
No human has ever heard a dragon’s inner voice.
Not once.
“What exactly did you hear?”
She hesitated, then answered.
“A voice.”
My stomach tightened.
“What voice?”
“A male voice.” She answered.
The waterfall suddenly felt very far away.
“A very possessive male voice.”
Karl practically purred and I wanted to throw him off a mountain.
Diana, however, looked increasingly nervous under my stare.
“It wasn’t very clear,” she admitted softly.
“Just one word.”
I already knew the word before she spoke it.
Creator help me.
She looked down at her feet awkwardly, then whispered,
“Mine.”
“Back to your room, Diana,” I commanded quickly, my hands clenching in fists at my sides as I forced my legs to not move to her like it wanted to.
The strain was so intense I could feel blood trickling down my ear.
“Now. Before I lose the ability to give you a choice.”
She looked down at the frost that was now touching the tips of her bare toes, then back at my face.
Reluctantly, she nodded, whispering, “Goodnight, Your Highness.”
She turned around, her gown sweeping the ground as she walked back to the fortress.
Her red hair caught the moonlight as she disappeared into the darkness.
I stayed in that exact spot for hours, frozen by my own aura, listening to the sound of the water and the endless whisper in my mind.
Mine.