Page 43 of Driven by Dragonblood (Blood Born #3)
Primrose
I slipped out of the store as easily as I arrived, my body sated for the time being. Flying over Lockwood made me long to do the same with my alpha, but Patrick’s command to stay away took me westward.
The second I walked through the door I had left unlocked, I pulled up short, my nostrils flaring at the familiar, disgusting scent I had scrubbed from every surface earlier that morning. Old boots lay discarded by the stairs, too small and feminine to belong to Patrick.
My inner beast hissed her displeasure.
Scowling, I stayed cloaked and moved from room to room on the first floor, noting the purse on the island and the empty beer can alongside. Tilting my head back, I peered up at the ceiling as though I could pinpoint through wood and plaster the intruder in my territory.
The scent of her strengthened as I slipped up the stairs—sour beer and sweat.
Unwashed body and a trace of old perfume caused my nose to wrinkle and left a bitter tang on my tongue.
The need to spit made my mouth water. A skittering, ant-like feeling crept over my bare flesh, which no amount of rubbing over my forearms erased.
Patrick’s bedroom door stood open, a pile of clothing in the middle of the floor, snores coming from a lump under the comforter I slept beneath that morning with my mates. I’d straightened the bedding not an hour earlier, preparing for their return so we might have a repeat of the night before.
Quivers owned my body, and I crept closer, baring my teeth.
The woman hugged Patrick’s pillow like she’d done so a thousand times, face relaxed and mouth open in peaceful sleep.
A burning sensation lit in my chest. Pain in the back of my throat made swallowing difficult.
My dragon growled as I glared down at the woman.
A single flame from our lips will incinerate her to ash.
A rumble grew in my chest, sneaking past my clenched teeth, and the woman stirred.
“Patrick?” she slurred his name with a smile, eyes still closed. Her sour breath lashed at my nose as she stretched beneath his blankets. “Mmm. I can smell your cum on our sheets. Wanna taste it on my tongue, baby.”
I blinked, my tense shoulders dropping from where they’d hitched near my ears.
Patrick, my alpha, the one meant to look after my heart and mind, had another woman.
Rage should have erupted wings from my back, muscles and bones stretching to give space to my inner beast. A roar should have ripped from my lungs as I tore the woman limb from limb before feasting on her rotten flesh to rid the earth of her intrusive presence.
Tears stung my eyes instead.
My muscles weakened, trembling taking over my body .
I tugged on my hair as a hot flash caused a cold sweat to break over my brow.
I had promised Jaxon I would never run—but I’d made no such vow to my cheating alpha, who’d been coerced by his inner beast to bind us together.
He didn’t truly want us.
Never had.
Patrick had someone else, and his human half’s strength had allowed him the ability to hide her from us even after he’d been enticed into being a part of a bond he had never desired to begin with.
Spinning on my heel, I set my focus on the open door at my back. The empty hallway…stairs I stumbled down in my haste to escape.
Chest tight and stomach churning, I burst free from the front door, and with a single sob, I gave over to my dragon’s need.
Agony ripped through me as I shifted into my true form, unimaginable pain that felt as though the bond between female and alpha tore in two.
We took to the sky, harsh flaps of our wings speeding us away from what we had believed to be our new home, the place of comfort and fulfillment we had been searching for. The connection we’d been desperate to find. The love and belonging we had been so damned desperate to finally experience.
Ignorant fool.