Page 124 of The Breeding Cave
Half her head was dangling out of me now. I pushed as hard as I could again and grabbed what I could of her to guide her out of my vagina.
“Fuck!” I hissed. “It hurts so bad.”
After another long, hard push, I completely pushed her out of me.
But I didn’t hear her cry.
Babies cry, don’t they? Why isn’t she?
I cradled her in my arms, placing her against my chest that jerked up and down from my quickened breaths. “Please, please, please, be alive,” I cried, tears racing down my cheeks. I could barely open my eyes; the heat from the dragons’ fire burned them so badly.
If she dies … if our baby dies … Luciano will never forgive me. I wouldn’t forgive me. If only I hadn’t gone down here alone with Gideon while I was pregnant. What was I thinking?! How stupid was that?!
“Please, baby,” I sobbed, clutching her tightly.
I didn’t know when it had started, and at this point, I couldn’t remember how, but so much was happening around me—people screaming, beasts growling, dragons igniting the cells on fire, phoenixes burning. But their collective strength seemed to grow by the moment, empowering me to peel my eyes open.
I stared down at the baby—my baby—in my arms, gasping as she stared up at me with Luciano’s huge brown eyes that burned a deep, fiery orange in the center.
CHAPTER
SEVENTY-THREE
LUCIANO
When I stepped through the door of the prison, someone hurled Alvin’s body toward me. I didn’t have time to react as he collided against my chest and sent me flying back into the dark walkway that we had spent a good ten minutes trying to navigate.
The warriors around me backed up, shifting into their beasts, and I did the same, my nails extending into long talons and my canines dripping with saliva. I ripped my claws into his chest, sending him in the opposite direction.
A flood of screams and fire flowed out from the prison, and Yeosin’s scent followed.
Mate. Find mate now.
But I had to take care of this asshole before he could hurt anyone else. Besides, her scent was strongest on him, exploding in waves and waves from his groin. A growl ripped from my mouth, and I lunged at him.
What did he do to her?! Where is she?!
Alvin breathed fire at me, the heat so intense that I could feel it burning through my fur and my skin. But I didn’t care. I saw red. I saw rage. Yeosin’s scent was all over him—her scent that only I should know!
More fire exploded through the room, and I breathed it in. If I didn’t end this soon, then it would surely kill me and everyone else in the walkway with me. I swiped my claws across his neck, breaking through the thick skin.
“Go! Find Yeosin!” I growled to the others.
Once they disappeared into the chaos, I snapped my hands around Alvin’s neck, ducking out of the way so he couldn’t hit me with another wall of fire. A roar left his mouth, and he began flapping his massive wings to shake me off him. I held on for dear life, sinking my claws into the flesh.
He lashed his tail out, swinging it from side to side and hitting me in the shin each and every time in an attempt to wear me down, to kick me off. His fire was so hot that my hands began to burn.
It poured from his mouth in bursts, setting the ground ablaze around me. Smoke filled the air, and I held my breath. All this pain … it fueled me. His fire had destroyed my pack decades ago, and I refused to let that happen again.
We were so close … I was so close to finally being happy, to having a family.
I wouldn’t lose that. Not for a second time.
A snarl left my mouth, and I sank my canines into his neck when my hands gave out. I tore through the scales and muscle, the sickening taste of dragon blood filling my mouth. His groan turned into a screech, and he flailed his body around uncontrollably.
“I warned you,” I growled. “Yeosin is mine!”
With one swift, vicious motion, I tore into him, ripping through the thick, scaly hide of his neck and reaching his innards. His body convulsed against mine, flames sputtering in his throat before his head lolled forward and his lifeless body fell against me.
