Page 143 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

Still, she could hear Niiru’s chirpy growls in the distance and guessed the younger dragon was zipping around Kein, playing in the air.

“ Kassein ,” she said. “ You... ”

Her words died in her throat as she noticed his state and, more worryingly, a thin trail of dried blood on his skin. Her blood went cold, panicking. She tried to pull back a bit to take him all in, and realized his hands were covered in dried blood, and he had some on his face too.

“ Kassein ,” she said, her panic rising again. “ You... hunt? Who ?”

His expression suddenly went serious, his anger palpable.

“ Men, ” he hissed. “ Men who hurt you. ”

He took her forearm and lifted it, showing the cuts and bruises she’d gotten from her fall.

Upon spotting some dried blood on her wrist, Kassein frowned and immediately brought it to his lips, licking the dried blood off her.

Alezya blushed; his intimate demonstration suddenly reminded her of where they stood, and the two pairs of eyes witnessing this interaction.

She pulled her wrist away, leaving Kassein to lick his lips in a movement that did something to her lower belly.

Ekut was still ass-deep in the water, but Ekata was staring at Kassein with an amused expression and suggestively biting her lower lip.

“Damn, now I know how you learned their language that fast,” she teased, her eyes riveted on Kassein’s torso. “I would have tried hard to ride that dragon too.”

Alezya tried to ignore the violent pang of jealousy that hit her.

After all, she was the one carried in Kassein’s possessive arms, and Kein, still looming above, wasn’t allowing Ekut to move an inch closer to her either; His fierce glares made that perfectly clear.

Therefore, she grabbed Kassein’s hand, exchanging a glance with him, before she addressed Ekata and Ekut.

“This is the Dragon Clan Chief,” she explained, wiping her tears with her free hand. “Their Aqayir. His name is Kassein.”

“Alezya.”

She turned her eyes back to Kassein, who was staring at her intently, his eyes full of questions. She wished she had learned his word for ”sorry,” but right now, that was all she could do.

Kassein stared at her some more, and she took a deep breath, trying to sort her thoughts quickly.

Alezya had been so determined to get back to Kassein first that she hadn’t had much time to think about what would come after that.

Then, his eyes drifted to the Munsa men who’d survived the fight and were trying to step closer, turning into something much fiercer, much more dangerous.

Immediately sensing the danger, Alezya put a hand on his cheek.

“ No ,” she said. “ No. They are friends .”

She could almost feel the tension drop as Kassein’s gaze softened and drifted back to her. She smiled to let him know she was alright.

“ Where is Kiera? And Lorey? ”

“Lorey with Lumie. At Kalat Unshreik , ” he said. “Kiera in the mountains. With the men.”

Alezya was shocked Lumie was there and not with his clan.

Was it because he didn’t want to take her baby in the mountains with them? Or to be sure she would be safe and comfortable with Lorey? Either way, she was more grateful than ever.

“ With Kiki? ” Alezya asked. “ And dragons? ”

Kassein gave her an affirmative nod. So his sister had been with him attacking the clans... Now that he was finally there, Alezya didn’t even know where to begin. They had only been separated for days, but it felt like so much had happened since she’d left him again.

She took a deep breath and turned to Ekata, Ekut, and the rest of the Munsa Clan, who had their eyes riveted on them.

“Can you ask their clan leader?” Ekut asked. “To... leave us alone?”

“Kein won’t attack you now,” Alezya said.

She turned back to Kassein.

“ Kassein, this is Munsa Clan ,” she said before pointing at the pair of siblings. “The Aqayir of the Munsa Clan. The man is Ekut, and the woman is Ekata.”

He barely took a second to glance at them before returning his focus to her.

Truthfully, Alezya didn’t need the Munsa Clan’s help anymore, now that Kassein had found her. She could have just flown away with them, back to the Dragon Clan, and this would all be over. She would be safe, free to leave the clans to their infighting.

And yet, the very second the relief hit her with that thought, she knew she couldn’t do that.

Not after they had rescued her from the crevice, fed and sheltered her, and after all that time she had spent with those people hiding her from the other clans at their own expense.

Not after they had shared concerns about what her father could do, what he had done to the Lumiata, and how he threatened a lot more clans.

She couldn’t just fly away and abandon everything here.

Softly, Alezya let out a resigned sigh and tapped Kassein’s shoulder, gesturing for him to let her down.

At first, he didn’t want to, giving her a frown, but after a second, he gently let her down, although his arms were still firmly locked to support her.

Strangely, standing up didn’t come with the waves of pain that she had expected.

She was still in pain, but compared to minutes ago, the pain had strangely subsided.

“Alezya?” Ekata called her with a bewildered expression. “You’re aware you have... some... I mean, what looks like dragon scales appearing on your skin?”

Alezya blinked at her, confused by Ekata’s words for a few seconds.

Then, her eyes followed the woman’s confused gaze, and much to her shock, she indeed found a trail of white scales growing on her wrist, right where she was certain she’d had a large cut just minutes ago.

Her jaw dropped, and she couldn’t suppress the need to touch it with her fingers.

It felt like scabs, and she was tempted to scratch to see if they came off, but instead, she was mesmerized as she saw more of her wound turn into snow-white scales.

Alezya gasped, and immediately, clocked other parts of her body; a lot was covered by her clothes, which were now dirty, but upon inspecting her other hand and wrist, she found more white scales.

She turned to Kassein for an answer, and he didn’t seem surprised at all when she lifted the former wound for him to see; he only grabbed her hand softly.

“This?” she gasped. “ Kassein, what is this ?”

“ Dragon ,” he said. “ Dragon Blood.”

“I’m not a dragon!”

“No. Baby.”

She didn’t understand what nonsense he meant, and for a second, she even thought she’d understood the wrong word. But then, Kassein did the last movement she expected; he spread his hand wide on her stomach.

Alezya frowned, but he stared at her earnestly.

“ Baby ,” he said. “ You, Alezya. You have my baby. ”

She let out a nervous, confused chuckle.

“ No,” she said. “ No, Kassein. I can’t. I’m not with baby.”

“You are. My child and Alezya’s child.”

“No,” she insisted, although her confidence was slowly decomposing. “I... No. No way, Kassein. You couldn’t already know even if I was truly pregnant!”

Even if she had reverted to her own language out of frustration, Kassein patiently caressed her scales with his index finger, his calm green eyes riveted on her, his other hand cupping her cheek.

“ Yes ,” he said. “ You’re with child. The baby gives Alezya dragon skin. And Kein has an egg too. ”

“ Kein has an egg?” she repeated, shocked. “ A... baby dragon’s egg? ”

Kassein gave her a nod, the hint of a smile on his lips.

“ Alezya’s baby dragon ,” he whispered, stepping closer. “ Our baby .”

Alezya felt like the ground was falling underneath her. Was she pregnant? She had only had sex with Kassein once! Granted, it had been one very nice time, but what were the odds of her falling pregnant? She was so shocked it took her a second to remember the herbs.

“ No, no, ” she shook her head. “ Kassein, I ate medicinal herbs. I can’t have a baby.”

“Medicinal herb?” He frowned .

“Yes. With Lorey. The medicinal herbs, I ate herbs to not have a baby!”

“...Is everything alright?” Ekata asked, sounding worried.

“No,” Alezya sighed. “I mean... I-I don’t know.”

She was utterly confused. If Kassein was right and she was pregnant, how much worse would that make things? They were pretty much at war, her clan had banished her, and most of the other clans wanted her dead!

Alezya closed her eyes for a second, and focused on Kassein’s warm hands on her.

She knew things were different from the last time she’d gotten pregnant.

Kassein was by her side, and he wouldn’t reject her.

She wasn’t at the mercy of her clan anymore, and Lumie was safe.

Even if she was pregnant, the baby had just proven it could survive a brutal fall and even heal her wounds. .. As incredible as it sounded.

Alezya slowly reopened her eyes, gazing at the wounds, or what they now looked like. White dragon scales... and they were too real. Could an unborn child truly do such a thing?

She dared to glance up at Kassein. There was now a slight line between his eyebrows, and she knew he was worried about her reaction. She was sorry, but how could she not have been shocked, and underprepared for such news?

Still, Alezya forced herself to calm down. Even if she was pregnant, the child was very small, and she had months before it would be born unless the Dragon Clan’s babies had more surprises in tow. And Kassein was there, by her side, and she knew she could trust him.

After another few seconds, she schooled her expression and tilted her head to press a soft kiss on his lips. Kassein relaxed a little, although his green eyes were still scrutinizing her.

She was trying to think of what to tell him and how when, in the distance, they heard shouts and male voices.

As they were not speaking the Dragon Clan language, Alezya guessed the foreign clans were coming in this direction.

Either someone else had spotted the gathering, or the men from before were bringing reinforcements.

Either way, she didn’t want to stay and find out.