Page 6 of All's Fair in Lion and War
Why couldn’t she remember how she got to this place?
She scrambled to her feet, stumbled. Forgot about her injured arm and couldn’t catch herself fast enough before she flopped onto the floor.
“You should be resting.” His voice sounded gruff and gravelly and sexy as hell.
Good grief, what was wrong with her? She shouldn’t be thinking about how sexy his voice was or any other part of him. He was the enemy. He was keeping her from her mate—from Tallix.
“Who are you? Are you with Rivian’s pride?” Her tone was probably harsher than it should’ve been.
He dumped the firewood from his arms near the stove, and knelt by her. He reached out, and she flinched.
She hated herself for showing weakness. She was a queen. But all day long she’d been hit and dragged and kicked and mauled.
Everything hurt.
She feared being touched.
“I’m not going to harm you, female.” The man’s voice was still low and rough like someone chewing on rocks.
She didn’t speak. It didn’t matter what he said. She didn’t believe him. He would hurt her eventually.
A low rumble vibrated from his chest and his face went dark. He was angry. It wouldn’t be long now.
His large hands closed around her waist. He lifted and set her back on the cushiony thing. Then he got up and walked away.
He rummaged inside a smaller enclosed area, digging through a storage area on the wall. A few moments later he came out with a red box in his hands.
“You are injured. Either you take your pants off, or I will do it for you.” He jerked his chin toward her pants where blood had seeped through. There was no question in his tone. Just an order.
But she didn’t follow orders. She was a queen. How dare he feel free to order her to strip in front of him. But he didn’t seem to know her identity.
Rivian’s warriors all knew her name. They’d taunted her all day. Punished her for being royalty. Told her she was nothing in this world. Nothing but Rivian’s slave.
She’d just been trying to survive today.
Trying to make it through.
Trying to put pieces of memories together, but didn’t have any pieces. She’d tried to figure things out by listening to the Ka’lagh warriors, but all they talked about was fucking women and hunting food.
But she was so tired. Her arm hurt so badly. And she was so nauseated and hungry.
Fight.Her lion whispered, reminding her of what was needed to survive against cruel males.
“Don’t you dare touch me” She put as much venom in her voice as she could muster.
He looked at her, his blue eyes glittering with gold. He was just like the Ka’lagh warriors. Except she didn’t see the hatred and disgust in his eyes that she’d seen today with Rivian’s warriors.
“You are injured.” The way he spoke made it sound as if that were the sole reason he wanted her to strip.
“You will not touch me.” This time her voice carried the anger and disgust of a queen whose word was never challenged. She wasn’t giving away anything. Knowledge of her rank and station on Reylea would only give him more power.
The growl in his chest got louder. He was pissed. Probably not used to receiving orders from a female. He seemed like an in-charge male, similar to Rivian and her mate.
“Would you rather I fix your arm first?”
She knew her arm was bad. Knew it was out of position. Knew the pain of putting it back into place would be excruciating.
She didn’t want to cry. Didn’t want him to see her break. But she knew the pain would be too much. Even her lion wouldn’t be able to help her tough it out.
