Chapter 26 - My Sole Mate

Chapter 26: 26 - My Sole Mate

The ground exhaled a chill that seeped through my boots and curled around my bones. The forest recoiled. Silence followed as he passed. Even nature understood the danger he carried.

Night-black armor sheathed his form, utility pouches strapped across his broad chest. Beneath the gear, corded muscles tensed and released, visible even through the thick material.

A crown of white hair framed his features which seemed sculpted from cruelty itself. Every line showed a nature as unforgiving as the winter sea, particularly the unyielding curve in the corner of his lips and the calculating glint in his cold, blue eyes.

Kurus moved before me, shielding me protectively as he sensed the power radiating from the newcomer. "Do you know him?"

"Dickhead." The name rolled off my tongue as I tried to shrink him with it, to reduce his potency to something I could crush under my heel. Something I could control, if only in my mind. "A shit that crawled out of a manure pit, and here to turn my new life into a bigger shit show. Yes, I know him."

Dickhead, as I called him, fixed me with a pointed look. "You forgot to add your ’fiancé’, Precious. Try to keep up."

"Sounds the same to me. Both make me want to vomit." I covered my mouth and heaved in disgust.

Kurus glanced back at me. "Kill?

Without hesitation, I responded, "Yes."

"Did you get yourself a new pet, Precious?" Dickhead taunted, effortlessly dodging Kurus’s aggressive swipe. "It doesn’t seem very... useful."

"Not a pet. A mate," I stuck out my tongue to show off my spousal imprint in provocation, adding fuel to my words, "My SOLE mate."

My declaration seemed to breathe life into Kurus, lending him a renewed burst of energy.

"I see." A dark gleam flashed in his blue eyes, so piercing they begged for my blade. He closed the gap between us with three quick strides. The brittle leaves crunched under his boots, making no sound.

Kurus lunged, claws extended, but Dickhead twisted his shoulders just enough to avoid them.

The ground shifted under Dickhead’s feet. When Kurus swiped again, he simply angled his body left, the movement so slight, it seemed he didn’t move at all. His breathing stayed even, his chest rising and falling in a rhythm that mocked Kurus, whose movements were already considered sharp and precise.

Kurus’s scales shimmered, then bulged as his frame widened. His spine elongated, muscles bunching along his length as he grew into his full beast form, filling the clearing.

Dickhead weaved between the thick serpent body. He dropped to one knee as Kurus’s tail whipped through the space where his head had been, the displaced air flattening the grass.

When Kurus’s jaws gaped, revealing teeth the length of daggers, Dickhead rolled under them, coming up to one knee with the grass staining his black uniform green. He dusted a piece of dirt from his uniform without looking.

Kurus struck again. Dickhead’s left forearm came up, catching the blow against the bracer. The impact made a dull thud. At the same time, his right hand shot forward, fingers splayed, striking Kurus’s torso.

Kurus’s head snapped back, a hiss escaping between his teeth.

Again and again. Kurus’s attacks grew wilder while Dickhead’s counters remained precise. Each strike found a weakness in his scales, each dodge required less movement than the last. A step here. A pivot there. A casual glance toward me as Kurus lunged again, his tail catching only air.

My jaw ached from clenching it so hard. When Dickhead took that first step toward me, my feet scrambled before I spun and ran. Three strides. That’s all I managed with my body still under the effecf of the drug, before his weight slammed into my back and his arm hooking around my waist. The cold tactical gear bit through my thin shirt.

His fingers found my throat and his thumb pressed into the pulse point, stopping my breath. He guided me backward, step by step, toward where Kurus lay coiled. The serpent’s scales scraped against the dirt, his body curled in defeat, a low hiss escaping between his teeth.

The man shifted his weight, his hip pressing into mine. His chest expanded against my back as he drew in my scent, the exhale cold against my ear.

"Should I mark you like him? Make you mine, too?" he asked, his breath stirring the hairs at my nape.

"Mate!" Kurus’s voice shredded the air. His tail slapped the ground, sending a spray of dirt and leaves.

The fingers on my neck traced the line of my collarbone, then circled back to my throat in a choking manner. The pressure increased incrementally, first just enough to make me swallow hard, then more. My airway narrowed. I clawed at his forearm, my nails scraping uselessly against his muscles.

"I could take you right here, right now, in front of him." His voice dropped lower, the words vibrating against my back. "He would have to watch as you submit to me and scream my name."

"F. U. C. K. Y. O. U." Each letter ripped from my throat, "I’ll scream Kurus’s name until my lungs collapse."

Kurus’s hiss deepened, a sound like rocks grinding together. His scales scraped against the forest floor as he shifted his weight, coiling tighter. The muscles in his neck bulged, his pupils shrinking to black pinpoints as he tried to crawl toward me.

The pressure on my throat eased gradually, millimeter by millimeter. Air flooded back in so fast my head spun. I doubled over, coughing, my throat raw.

"The monkey village," Dickhead said, softer now. "You’re heading there, right?"

I straightened, my neck throbbing where his thumb had pressed. I gave a short, sharp nod. My hair had fallen across my face; I blew a strand from my mouth.

"Good." He turned. "Go on. Take a little detour. Have some fun. While I..." His gaze flickered to Kurus, then back to me. "While I’ll have a little friendly chat with your... pet here."