Page 32 of Captured By the Dragon Warlord (Fated Mates of the Sarkarnii Warlords #2)

M y shift has been bad. Not only do I need to shed…

again, but the work in the mines was problematic to say the least, including hitting a pocket of gyde-acid which scalded my left rear leg and took out part of a wing on a warrior working next to me.

Fortunately his shift had recently commenced, so I sent him to the rest area to regenerate as I carried on through the searing pain.

It’s all I can do. Once I have to shift back, I will not heal as quickly, and the work needs doing regardless.

But what I really need is the scent of my mate in my nostrils and her body under mine. The thought of being sheathed in her soaking heat is all which has kept me going until finally, I get the tingling feeling in my stomach which tells me I should be able to change back to my biped form.

Having checked on my injured warrior, who is adamant he is able to return to the rock face, I use the last of my shift to get back to the top of the shaft and transform.

For longer than a nova-second, my body does not comply. Then, with an effort which should not be necessary, I return from my Sarkarnii form to my biped one.

It hurts.

I give myself a shake, shedding some of the dirt which is left on my scales and ridding myself of the vestiges of the pain. Perhaps it is related to the gyde-acid? I can’t recall ever being injured in the mine before whilst shifted.

It must be related to the accident.

“Dalsor!” I roar out my second’s name.

He should be nearby, but if he is, I’m not catching his thoughts.

I want my mate back, and I need to find out where she is before I go into Darax’s sector. He’s tolerated me on occasion, but with a mate, the chances are I will get a new hole ripped in me if I try again without permission.

“Lord Dexx.” Dalsor approaches me with caution.

Probably because my wings are stubbornly refusing to shift back and I have a reputation for using them in a fight.

“Where is my mate? She went to be with her hoo-man friends.”

“Lord Dante’s sector, my Lord,” he says.

“Dante,” I growl. “That nevver infiltrated my sector earlier this nova-day. I need the security tightened.”

“I am aware from some of the other warriors, my Lord.” Dalsor doesn’t meet my gaze. “I have already seen to it.”

“Good,” I snarl. “Inform Dante I’m on my way to collect my mate.” I tip my head on one side. “Actually, don’t. If he’s going to ignore the accords, then I am too.”

I stride away for a few paces before turning back to Dalsor.

“Tell the warriors to look out for a small cylinder about this long.” I measure out the length of the thing we found with my hands. “If they are to see one, they should proceed with caution and vacate the area, cordon it off until I return.”

“Yes, my Lord,” Dalsor says.

“If you want me, I will be with my mate…and most likely pulling the head off Lord Dante.”

Dalsor gives me a brief flash of his fangs, and I make my way through to the outer airlock. I won’t be traversing the neutral sector on this occasion. I don’t want Dante waiting for me.

The hot air of Vorostor hits me as I exit my ship. The sand scours my scales, hopefully ridding me of the remaining dirt which clings to my skin. The heat is good as I make my way around the outside of my ship and cross into Dante’s sector.

I’m enjoying the feel of fresh air and the thought of finding my mate. I reach the external airlock I’ve used before and use the code I cracked some time ago to let me in.

Inside there is a cohort of warriors waiting for me. Unusually for Dante’s sector, they all appear sober. Not that I can comment after my paraxio experience earlier which has left me with a lingering headache I’m hoping being with Scarlett will chase away.

“Lord Dexx,” one of them growls.

“I’ve come for my mate,” I snarl back, unsheathing my claws and allowing the spines to rise on my back.

This is new, even for Dante’s warriors, who have presumably seen many things both real and narcotically induced. They part to let me past, and I easily follow Scarlett’s scent through Dante’s ship until I reach the living quarters.

The place stinks to the ancestors of Sarkarnii and all the other noxious elements which Dante and his crew are well known for, but I can just about make her out as I locate the quarters and slam my way through.

“It’s for you, Scarlett.” Another hoo-man female sits off to one side, not even looking up from the vid-pad holding her attention.

There is a second female asleep in the center of the den at my feet.

“Dexx!” Scarlett appears from a side room and smiles at me.

I think my bones have lost all substance. My knees feel weak at the sight of her.

“We think we might have figured something out about the tube we found, the one with the paraxio.”

“You have left this sector?”

Scarlett laughs at my growl.

“No, we’ve done some good old-fashioned detective work.”

“She scanned my brain,” one of the other females pipes up with a smile that could have been put there by paraxio.

“Cestapal did…sort of…” Scarlett crosses the room to me. “Anyway, what matters is we think these tubes are linked to the Veseli and the other creature, the professor, who kidnapped us.”

The snarl I release shakes the room. All the other females do a sharp intake of breath, save my mate and the one by the door.

“Yeah, the one you were MIA for, mate,” the female says.

I don’t know what MIA means, or why she is calling me her mate when she is absolutely not my mate so I grumble at her under my breath. I was aware there had been an off-world excursion for the other warlords, but as it was in the midst of my shift, I could not join the call to action.

“If any creature has threatened you, my sweet ember, I will destroy them,” I rasp. “They will regret ever setting eyes on you.”