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CHAPTER EIGHT

ADOM

I didn’t remember leaping onto the balcony, only the rush of air as I soared through the night. Two stories fell away. My claws closed around Jorge’s throat before I even registered that we both were falling. Metal met my grip. The cold bite of his armor dug into my palms as I squeezed.

I hadn't caught him off guard. My second in command was too well-trained for that. I was the one caught off guard. By the sight of my bride…and her wings.

That's what went through my mind as we fell. The princess' wings stretched wide behind her, luminous in the lamplight. Shades of violet and indigo rippled like twilight skies. They framed her, transforming her from the little fairy princess I’d rarely thought about to the vision of the vixen who would plague my every thought until my last breath.

I had known she was beautiful. Even veiled, her elegance had been undeniable. But this?

I'd only caught sight of her for a second. It had been a second too long. Entranced, I lost focus. Jorge shifted his weight in an attempt to throw me off balance. Gravity won against both of us.

We toppled backward off the balcony in a tangle of claws and metal. The ground rushed up to meet us. But even as we fell, I kept her in my gaze.

We hit the ground with a deafening thud, flesh and gears colliding in a clash of rage. Pain rattled through my ribs. I ignored it.

“Adom, it’s not what you think.”

I snarled, digging my claws deeper into his armor, seeking the soft flesh beneath. “I think you were trying to steal my bride.”

“That's true.” Jorge twisted a gear, and my claw hold snapped. “But not… her ."

I didn’t wait for him to explain the nonsense. I didn’t care. Our bodies were flat on the ground, where I had the advantage.

My claw-tipped fingers curled against the earth. The pads of my feet registered the faint vibrations of his heartbeat through the ground. The weight of my body rested evenly, my posture low and deliberate, the way only a feline hunter could manage. My breaths came deep and steady, in the rhythm of an animal about to strike. I sprang toward him, going straight for his throat.

Jorge met me with a fist enhanced with steel. The metallic clang that met my chin echoed in the night. We sparred often in training, but this was different. There was no strategy, no restraint. I wanted blood.

“Adom, listen to me. She's not?—”

My fist hit his jaw and shut him up before he dare said anything about my bride, my woman.

My claws raked across his chest plate, leaving deep gouges in the steel. Jorge countered with a blade that slid from his prosthetic wrist, its edge gleaming in the moonlight. I didn't doubt that Avarix was watching and enjoying the bloodshed.

Jorge's blade nicked my shoulder. I retaliated with a swipe that sent him sprawling, his body skidding across the dirt. One thing about Jorge; he was relentless. He hadn't survived the Convergence Games, been conscripted into the Solmane army, and risen through the ranks in just three short years to stand at my side for nothing.

The human rolled to his feet and came at me again, his blade whirring as it arced toward my side. "I'm not the villain in this story, Adom."

I caught his arm mid-swing, my claws clamping down on the metal. "It's General. You should expect a court-martial if you survive this night, soldier."

I aimed for his throat, needing his neck column to smile red to appease my rage. What if he'd touched her? What if he'd taken her?

A flash of movement stopped me from slicing into him. My bride stepped out into the night. And the world shifted beneath my feet.

Lunaterra was the seventh planet in the seventh galaxy in the Orion constellation. This particular constellation was known for its frequent celestial events. With Lunaterra having two suns and thirteen moons, the planet was a hub of astronomical activities. Besides the occasion of my cursed birth, none had ever moved me bodily like seeing the fairy princess standing in the moonlight.

She was unveiled. Her lavender skin glowed softly in the moonlight. Her violet hair cascaded like silk over her shoulders. Her green eyes were wide, her lips parted. Her beauty hit me like a blow to the chest. But it was her wings that robbed me of my senses.

They'd appeared deep purple in the dim light of the bedroom. Now they shimmered like living amethyst under Avarix’s glow. The First Moon’s light passed through them, illuminating veins of gold and streaks of indigo that wove together like a celestial tapestry. They looked like something plucked from a dream. My dirtiest, wettest dreams that woke me to a real, live orgasm.

Desire and longing knocked me back with the force of a hammer. I wanted to touch them, to feel their texture beneath my fingers. Were they soft, like the petals of the twilight blooms in the royal gardens? Or did they hold a firm strength, the way her presence grounded me while also making me want to fly?

I had two foes now. Jorge, who wanted to steal her from my sight, and Avarix, who cast his best light upon her.

"Go inside, or he won't listen to reason," Jorge shouted. At her.

I thought I'd reached my breaking point when he'd stepped into her window. The foundation of everything that I was, everything that I believed, shook when he raised his voice at her.

With a snarl, I swiped at his legs. My boot caught the weak point in his stance. He staggered, then took me down with him. As I scrambled to gain the upper hand, my attention to my task of gutting the only man I had ever dared called friend was diverted.

My nose twitched. The sharp tang of decay cut through the blood and sweat of our attempts to rip one another's innards out. It was unmistakable. Trolls.

Jorge’s brows furrowed. He'd scented them, too. We took our eyes off each other's jugular and looked toward the tree line.

Four trolls burst from the shadows. Their foul stench filled the air, a sickly blend of rot and swamp water. Jorge and I leapt apart, immediately taking defensive stances to confront the enemy head-on.

The trolls didn't move forward. They broke and circled around us. They were heading for her.

The princess.

I didn’t think, didn’t hesitate. I lunged for the first troll. My claws tore into its thick, leathery hide. Its scream was guttural. And short-lived. I snapped its neck with a satisfying crack of bone and tendon.

My momentum carried me into the second troll. My teeth sank deep into its chest. I ripped my head back with a roar. Blood sprayed, thick and acrid, across my fur.

Jorge engaged another troll. The long blade from his prosthetic cleaned nicely through the troll’s arm, making the two dismembered bodies match. The creature howled. Jorge silenced it with another strike to its neck.

Three down. But there had been four.

The fourth troll was barreling toward Princess Charlotte. Its hulking form moved with terrifying speed. I roared, tasting the blood of its brother on my tongue. My muscles burned as I pushed harder, faster. The troll was nearly upon her. I wouldn’t reach her in time.

Then Jorge was there.

He placed himself between the princess and the oncoming troll, his body a shield of flesh and steel. The troll’s club came down, colliding with Jorge’s back. The force sent him to his knees. With a swift turn, Jorge unleashed a blast from one of his mechanical enhancements. The energy sent the troll hurtling backward—straight into me.

It was a move Jorge and I had perfected on the battlefield. I caught the troll in mid-air. My claws closed around its throat. With one brutal motion, I ended its life. The creature’s body crumpled to the ground in a heap.

Silence fell. My fur was matted with troll gore, the dark stains of its blood and the ichor of its innards. I turned, my eyes immediately searching for her.

Charlotte was clinging to Jorge, her face buried in his shoulder. I felt a stab of disappointment. Not that she’d sought protection in Jorge. He'd be dead soon. There was a part of me that wished she'd pulled a dagger and defended herself. Or that she at least hadn't turned away from the end of the battle. That had been some of my best work.

Princess Charlotte lifted her head. Her eyes met mine. It was then that I wanted her to turn away.

I wanted to turn away, to shield her from the sight of me—the beast covered in blood and filth.

She took a step forward. Then another. “Are you… are you hurt?”

Her fingers brushed my face, soft and tentative, wiping away a streak of troll blood. Her fingertip came away red. I wanted to kill the troll all over again for getting her dirty.

The warmth of her touch burned through the chaos, causing the planet to shift off its axis. My knees threatened to buckle. But I held firm, staring at her as though she were the daughter sun herself and I, unlike Avarix, had caught my prize.

I would never allow her to leave my orbit again.