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FREYDIS

I t was hard to escape while submerged in water, but I staggered back, water splashing around me, as he watched me like the predator he was.

He spoke in some strange language, broken bits of words and sounds that were terrifying as much as they were beautiful.

My heart slammed into my throat, panic clawing its way through me. I had seen things in this broken world, beasts and monsters alike, but they’d all had one thing in common.

They were human men.

This creature was too still, too controlled, as he watched me.

I forced myself to move farther back until I reached the opposite edge of the creek, and then another step back, the water now only lapping at my toes.

His gaze dipped lower, and a new kind of fear twisted inside me, because although many feet separated us, I stood before him… naked. Exposed under his burning stare.

His nostrils flared as his black, curled claws twitched at his sides. He said more words in his language, but then said so I could understand, “I have you at last.” His voice was like a dark cloak wrapping around every single part of me. “Oh, Marrex, you have finally found her,” he spoke a little quieter and obviously to himself.

His words played through my mind on repeat. They were certainly wrong, but strangely, they felt… right.

I shook my head, barely able to process what I was seeing, what he was saying. “I…. Let me go. Please.” I’d been strong for so long, fighting and surviving for as long as I breathed. But right now, I felt weak in the strangest of ways.

Because although this creature was horrifying and probably saw me as food, I didn’t feel fear.

He stood to his full height and stepped closer, slowly, deliberately, like he had all the time in the world, until his claw-tipped toes barely reached the water. The monster’s head tipped up slightly, his nostrils flaring like he was scenting the air, before turning his glowing eyes back to me. “I am Marrex, and you are mine. My mate. There is no ‘letting go’ of fate.”

Mate. What did that even mean?

“My mate,” he growled, louder this time, and then his wings shot out from his massive body, opening wide and fully, then flapped in slow, graceful movements until he hovered feet above the water. It was the most surreal thing I'd ever witnessed.

His words hit me, sending a violent shudder through my body, and then I ran.

I allowed instinct to fully take over as I sprinted fast through the forest, totally naked and not caring. All I could think about was running—to anywhere but here.

I heard him growl, low and primal, somewhere behind but above me. And I knew… I knew he liked the chase, the hunt.

I knew he’d catch me. But nevertheless… I ran.

Naked, wet, and terrified, I tore through the underbrush, ignoring the way the branches scraped against my skin.

My only thought was of escape.

But the rush of wings overhead told me I wouldn’t get far.

I barely had time to glance up before he swooped down. The air pressure shifted, and then claws clamped around my waist. But it wasn’t painful. It was as if he was purposely trying to be gentle.

A scream tore from my throat when my feet left the ground. The world spun as the creature yanked me upward, and I dangled in the air, only secured by the creature’s hold.

“No. God, no. Please, no.” I twisted, kicking and thrashing, but his grip was iron tight.

“ Shhh , my little human,” he murmured, pulling me against his chest. His arms curled snugly around my body, his hold unyielding. “There’s no escape. Just accept our fate.”

I gasped, my breath stuttering when he pressed me more firmly against the hard expanse of his massive body. As the chilled wind whipped around me, I noted how warm he was, his heat sinking into my skin.

We were rising, climbing higher in the air, the forest shrinking below us. My stomach lurched as I saw nothing but trees and razor-sharp mountaintops in the distance. And the longer we flew, the closer we got to what I assumed was his destination.

The mountains.

He landed on the cliffside, his movements graceful and smooth. We were so far above flat land that I knew I could never escape—not unless I wanted that escape to be plunging over the rocky edge to my death. His “home” was carved into the stone, a cavern with a gaping entrance. It was a dark, yawning mouth in the cliffs. And I knew exactly what this was.

My prison.