Page 29 of Claimed by the Savage Dragons
‘The truth is, I don’t know. It just feels…’
‘Right,’ he finishes in a whisper, and I nod.
‘Yeah.’ I put my hand to my solar plexus. ‘Something deep.’
‘In theother half,’ he says.
I don’t look at him, but I realize that’s why it’s not really bothering me. It’s not really coming from me. It’s coming from my dragon, who’s been unusually quiet since I got here.
What’s this about?I ask the other side of myself silently, but the reptile doesn’t answer. All he gives me is an odd sense ofsmug condescension, as if my human brain wouldn’t be able to grasp whatever it is he’s keeping from it.
I roll my eyes.Fine.
‘It might be best to do it while she’s asleep,’ I say quietly.
‘No.’
His tone brooks no opposition, and I make myself shrug. Is his dragon coming back so strongly that he’s going to try to fight Drey for leadership? We already have enough strife within the faction to keep from our enemies. We don’t need more. I’ll have to keep a close eye on him. Maybe being nest-brothers is a good thing in more ways than one. He won’t be long out of my sight once we claim the human between us.
‘Have it your way,’ I concede, ‘but it needs to be done whether she wants it or not if you want to keep her safe.’
He sighs, bending over the unconscious human. ‘I’m aware.’
‘What exactly have you done with her so far?’ I can’t help but ask and his lips curve up into a self-satisfied smile.
‘Not much,’ he says cryptically.
‘No? it’s been hours since you sent the whelp away.’
‘I was taking things slow. She’s a novice.’
I snort. ‘You don’t get many humans her age like that these days.’
‘Nope.’
‘Why did you send Orin back? Just out of interest?’ I ask.
Tor gives me a look I can’t discern. ‘You know that some of the young ones can’t control themselves,’ he says.
I make a noncommittal noise, wondering at the tightening in my chest when I think of this little human being attacked by that jumped-up boy. ‘Many of them don’t bother, you mean.’
He gives a small nod. ‘Especially when Aziel and his followers don’t curb their appetites. I was hoping under my tutelage Orin would be different, but,’ he sighs, ‘I was clearly too late to be a guiding force to him in that way.’
‘Aziel’s influence over the faction in general grows daily. He tells them what they want to hear: stories of prevailing over our enemies, of glory in battle, or new female dragons from other factions to bear offspring. He feeds all their male lusts. It’s in his favor when they don’t curb their appetites.’
‘Does Drey not understand how far Aziel’s reach grows?’ he asks.
‘He knows. There’s just not much he can do, Tor. His hands are tied with the power split between him and Aziel. Aziel isn’t ready to show his hand yet, and challenge Drey for leadership, but that time is coming soon.’
‘Drey is stronger,’ Tor says with conviction, and I nod.
‘He is,’ I agree, ‘and Aziel knows it, which is why he waits. But it won’t matter. Even if Drey forces his hand and fights him, when he beats Aziel, he risks the entire faction. Either one of the others will take Aziel’s place, ensuring the power split continues, or Aziel’s allies will leave and start their own faction elsewhere. We will no longer have the numbers we need to survive, nor the females to sustain a full clan. We’ll be picked off and the Stormriders faction as we know it will be no more.’
He sighs. ‘Fuck Morcai for his mismanagement, for leaving a mess so big that it couldn’t be cleaned up.’
I sink down to the couch next to the human, suddenly weary down to the bone. ‘He needs leverage,’ I say.
‘What do you mean?’
