Page 129 of Alpha Dragon's Mating Contract
“How do you even know what the parts are worth?” Walren blurted.
“When you’ve been around on Earth long enough, you start to know people. Ace and I discussed it. We could ship his parts out within a few—”
“Son of a—” Larei hurled another energy blast at them.
“Beauty! My dad is a beauty,” Raptor said, dodging again. His knot tugged against Walren’s rim.
They almost didn’t clear the next blast. It singed the hairs on Walren’s arm, and Raptor hissed.
“Yeah, I’m done playing,” Raptor said flatly.
He charged toward Larei, only for Larei to whip his hands up for a head-on explosion.
They weren’t going to dodge it in time.
Walren’s heart stopped. “Rap!”
Raptor held on tight to Walren and spun on his heels, narrowly avoiding the blast. The smell of burnt hair stung Walren’s nose.
Before he could see if Raptor was severely hurt, Raptor closed the distance between them and Larei.
“You hurt Walren,” Raptor snarled, each footstep jolting his knot. “You gave him permanent injuries and nightmares, and you left him to die.”
Larei didn’t even look repentant. “So?”
Raptor roared. While Larei was gathering the next blast in his hands, Raptor spat a plume of fire at him. Orange flames enveloped the man, turning bright white, then the hottest blue.
Larei’s scream cut off. He spasmed and fell to the ground, his skin charred beyond recognition.
Walren stared, hardly breathing. “Is he...?”
“He’s dead,” Raptor said flatly. “His heart stopped beating. I could get our defibrillator but... nah. I think that might be his brain leaking out of his ears.”
Larei, dead. Walren stared in shock, trying to wrap his mind around this. The person who had given him nightmares for years... He was gone. He could no longer hunt down Walren to torture him again.
It felt like a boulder had rolled off his chest.
“Ah, crap,” Raptor muttered.
“What?” Walren came to his senses, jerking his head around. “Did he hurt you?”
“Nothing I won’t recover from.” Raptor made a face. “I forgot that I was going to sell his parts for profit. Damn it!”
It was such a small detail that a giggle bubbled through Walren’s chest.
Raptor pouted. “Why are you laughing at me?”
“You... You burned him to a crisp and all you care about is whether his parts are sellable!”
“Well, yeah.Someonecould have benefited from his corneas. It would be the only good he’s ever done in his life.”
“Um... His liver and kidneys might still be okay?” Walren said. “And his bone marrow?”
“Oh! That’s right. Actually, there’s more that can be harvested. Heart valves, tendons, bones, cartilage, and so on. It’s a surprisingly long list. Maybe he’ll still have some salvageable parts.” Raptor pulled out his phone and made a call. “Womb-mate! Remember the parts distribution we were talking about? Do you have anyone who can come pick stuff up?”
Walren left them to the logistics, leaning back against Raptor’s strong chest.
Raptor ended the call and dialed someone else. “Heyyy, big bro.”
