Page 68 of The Breeding Cave
“Fertile women shouldn’t be here alone. Other beasts will take humans like you who aren’t marked, especially during a full moon like tonight,” she hummed. “Who was the stupid beast that left you alone?”
“Brent!” I shouted, backing up into the cave and not taking my gaze off her. “Brent!”
“You can yell for him all you want,” she said. “He can’t hear you.”
“Who … what are you?” I whispered, backing up to keep space between us.
Instead of answering me, she crossed her arms and looked me up and down. “You’re the woman who forced Luciano to make the pact,” she noted, a low chuckle escaping her mouth. “Interesting. A fragile human who can’t fight to protect herself.”
“What pact?” I asked, brows furrowed. “I didn’t force him to do anything.”
“The only way he beats the Dragon Clan is without you,” she said, tilting her head and looking down upon me. “You will do nothing except hold him back from achieving his dream of avenging his pack and his family.”
“Who are you?” I asked again because she was …
She was just trying to get in my head.
“Stay away from him,” she growled.
Fire bubbled up inside my stomach, and I narrowed my eyes at her. “Who are you?”
She hadn’t answered my questions and had only come here to hurt me with her words. That had to be it. I needed to keep her away and ask Luciano about her later. If she knew him, he had to know her.
And where was Brent? Firewood shouldn’t take this long to gather!
Her expression remained completely emotionless. “You’re weak.”
“No, I’m not,” I said.
Though … I knew that I was weak. Really weak.
“And useless.”
“I’m not useless,” I said, straightening myself out. “I’m fertile.” The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
It wasn’t a secret that Luciano was trying to get me pregnant so he could continue on his legacy. I was more than that. But not to him. That was the only thing that I was useful for … giving him kids.
“Besides, the scars you hide underneath your clothes are horrendous.”
I tugged my sleeve down over my thumb to hide the burns and pressed my lips together.
“Stay away from Luciano,” she warned again. “He belongs to Ruby.”
Ruby? Who is Ruby? Was Luciano promised to her? Maybe made by the pact?
Jealousy burned inside me, and I balled my hands into fists behind my back. She had just saved my life. It would be rude manners to make demands of her now. But something deep inside me wanted to do more than that.
I wanted to rip that name from her mouth, torture her until she told me who Ruby was and why Luciano was promised to her, kill her. When the last thought raced through my mind, my eyes widened. Kill? Me?
This had to be … someone else talking, getting into my head.
“You should leave,” I said, glancing toward the trees where Brent had disappeared.
Luciano wouldn’t like that this mysterious woman was at the cave with me. Or maybe he wouldn’t care. Despite him telling me that I was only for him to breed, he talked to me and treated me like I was the only person he craved. Except he was flaky.
He was gone now, like he had disappeared last night.
Had he gone to visit Ruby both times and given me the excuse of meetings?
