Page 21 of Claimed By the Sinful Dragon
“The same age as my defective Tribute, yes?”
The alpha hesitated, no doubt trying to work out where I was going with this. His fear was palpable—clearly, he valued this son of his, though as alpha I doubted it was his only one. They really had been breeding like rabbits down here.
“Yes, Lord Rook. If she has proved inadequate—”
Inadequate?!
“You sent me a fucking null and thought I wouldn’t notice,” I snarled. “You dare to insult me?”
“That wasn’t my intention, I assure you. I will gladly—”
“Silence,” I snapped. “I’m not interested in your excuses.”
He fell silent, the alpha watching me uneasily and his offspring darting looks at me and away again like he thought I wouldn’t notice.
“Like father, like son,” I said. “You both have the gall to stand in my territory insulting me and think you can talk your way out of it with pretenses of not intending offense?” The alpha opened his mouth but my glare had him snapping it shut again. “You will speak when I fucking give you permission, do I make myself clear?”
He nodded sharply.
“Good. Make no mistake, if you insult me again, I will burn this pathetic settlement to the ground and shit on the ashes. Then I’ll round up whatever unfortunates have survived—and rest assured, that won’t include you—and sell them into whatever fucking brothel will take them. So I suggest you think very carefully before you answer my next question,alpha.”
The alpha nodded again, and the stench of terror wafting from the youth doubled. Good. Things were just starting to get interesting.
“How, exactly, do you intend to atone for your insult?”
“What would you have me do, Lord Rook?”
I snorted derisively. Fucking sheep, incapable of thinking for himself.
“Your predecessor, Alpha Cerdic, led an uprising against me and my kind when our existence was first revealed to the humans. He was a thorn in my side for most of the war, anda worthy opponent. I burned him to cinders on the battlefield, and made a deal with his sniveling beta. He would be fucking disgusted to see you pissing on his memory, you pitiful, spineless wretch.”
His jaw clenched and anger flashed through his eyes. Savage satisfaction stirred in my gut. Finally. I was starting to think the man was afraid of his own shadow.
Entertaining as this is, we should pick a fight with someone worth our time. Incinerating this miserable excuse of a wolf would take barely longer than a heartbeat.
Since when aren’t you interested in a fight?
Fight? Fight implies he’d offer some kind of challenge.
I snarled and stalked forward, towering over the alpha as I grabbed his shirt over his chest, letting him feel my strength. “I could crush you right now, and your pack would be stronger for it.” Abruptly, I released him, shoving him back a step. “But that wouldn’t address the matter of my Tribute, would it?”
“I’ll gather the pack,” he blurted. “You can have your pick of the females.”
“And if I’d rather your son?”
He paled, shooting a panicked glance at the young man beside him, who stood frozen to the spot.
“But… Your preference is for…”
“You dare tell me what my preference is?”
“Surely you would prefer a pretty female, as you always have before? Or… Two. I will find you two females to tend to your needs.”
“So quick to barter with your pack’s lives,” I sneered. “Let me make it easy for you. Your son…or you.”
The alpha’s mouth popped open, and he swung a frantic look between me and his son, and back again.
“I grow impatient. Choose, alpha.”
