Page 22 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

She forced herself to sit up a bit and the blanket fell from her neck down to her chest, just enough to cover her bare chest. It wasn’t a simple blanket, but a sheet covered by two layers of thick fur.

No wonder she felt so warm all along...

Someone suddenly stepped inside the habitation, and all her hopes vanished like snow under the sun.

It was a man like she had never seen before.

He was tall, dark-skinned, and most shocking of all, he had eyes of vibrant green.

The color contrasted so starkly with his dark skin and hair that she was rendered speechless.

It was both beautiful and terrifying to see a human being so different from any she had ever met.

She felt like a large beast had just walked in, a foreign species that she could only see as a dangerous one.

He didn’t have fangs or claws, but she could tell just by the sight of him; he was a warrior.

His body was covered by a cape, but that large frame of his made it easy to guess the size of the muscles underneath.

Her questions died in her throat. She was on the other side, amongst the Dragon Clan’s people. A wave of panic surged in her mind.

How? Why? Had she been captured, not rescued? She wasn’t restrained, but her body was in no state to run anywhere anyway. She watched every one of the man’s movements, feeling like prey in a predator’s den.

He seemed surprised she was awake; his shining green eyes lit up and opened wider as soon as they met hers.

That man suddenly taking large strides toward her put Alezya even more on alert, and she forced her body to retreat as far as possible, by mere survival instinct. He seemed to notice because he slowed down before reaching the bed.

What was he going to do, now that she was awake?

Alezya was mentally preparing herself for anything. She’d seen so many men treat women like slaves, especially those they knew nothing of. If they weren’t some other man’s daughter or wife, they were disposable. This man knew nothing of her, nothing of her clan even.

She kept retreating, no matter how much her body screamed in pain, using her elbows to push herself back toward the edge of the bed, her legs pathetically dragging behind.

There were only a few inches of difference from her initial position to when her shoulder touched the wall, but that was the best she could do to protect herself.

But then, to her shock, the man put a knee down.

It was the last thing she would have expected, for this foreigner to lower himself in front of her. She didn’t even know what to make of this. What was going on?

She glanced toward the entrance he had come from, but realistically, she wouldn’t be able to run before he grabbed her. No, she wouldn’t even be able to run at all. The man was staring at her, making her horribly nervous. She wanted to ask what he wanted with her, where her baby was.

He spoke first.

“ Kayf ha du sheyrkaha? ”

She frowned. His tongue was strange.

She had never heard any of the Dragon Clan’s people speak before. They spoke with guttural sounds, sharp like a snow leopard’s claws. She could vaguely understand from his tone that he was asking her something, but what?

He waited for a few seconds for her to answer, but eventually gave up.

Instead, his eyes drifted down, and as she followed it, she realized the hand that she was using to support herself had begun bleeding through the bandages and onto the sheets.

A new wave of panic hit her. How was he going to react?

He stood up, his height scaring her even more, and walked to one of the shelves, presumably to get something. He was so tall that his head almost touched the ceiling of this place, but perhaps it had been made to fit his height. Why else would they have put such high pillars?

He returned with a roll of what she recognized to be the same thing she was bandaged with and a bowl of a mixture that smelled like what was on her injuries too. No way, Alezya thought.

That man was the one who had treated her injuries?

“ Ti inkir banzifha. ”

She could understand nothing of what he had said. Was he talking to himself or to her?

He suddenly reached out his hand, but that only made Alezya jolt and try to retreat more. Her eyes went up to his hand, and that’s when she noticed something on his forearm. It was orange, brighter than his skin, and it looked like scales.

Was that some tattoo? She had never seen anything other than blue or black ink on someone’s body, but then again, he came from a different world... It seemed oddly real though. Was he some dragon worshiper?

Those were the exact same color as the orange dragon’s scales she had seen from up close, and oddly similar too. She was getting a weird feeling from seeing those, like a memory scratching at the back of her mind, warning her.

“ An la yadrahu ti. ”

Was he getting impatient with her? She was trying to decipher the man’s expression, but he barely showed any.

If anything, his expression was rather blank, his fascinating green eyes riveted on her. She was confused as to why he was talking to her from this position; never had Alezya witnessed a man putting a knee down in front of a woman like that. It was odd, and she couldn’t decipher his intentions.

He’d obviously treated her injuries, but why? Her clans and the Dragon Clan had always been sworn enemies, they’d killed a countless number of her people. She had never heard of them taking any prisoners.

Was that warrior acting like this because she was a woman?

If so, what was his aim? Would he use her once she was healed?

Sell her as a slave, or abuse her? The fact that she was naked, alone in a foreign man’s habitat, and unable to communicate made her feel trapped.

She wasn’t restrained, but it felt like it.

He sighed but slowly got up again.

He walked to another corner of the enclosure, and returned just as quickly, carrying a jug. He was about to hand it to her, but before he did, he suddenly seemed to think of something. Still while looking at her, he slowly brought it to his lips and drank two gulps. Then, he handed it to her.

Alezya was confused. Was it custom for a man to drink before a woman could? Or was that his way to prove the water was safe...?

Alezya hesitated, but as if her throat had realized that water was within reach, she suddenly found herself horribly thirsty. With a trembling hand, she took it. He didn’t react, but she couldn’t help but keep her eyes on him while she drank.

It felt so good to finally drink... How long had she been unconscious? She couldn’t tell. She just had a vague feeling there was still daylight outside, but the fabric walls were so thick, it was hard to tell. She only hoped it hadn’t been too long. Every hour spent away from Lumie was too much…

She almost emptied the jug without thinking, and when she handed it back, the man took it without a word, putting it on the ground next to him.

Then, he got up again, and this time, he grabbed a larger bowl, filled with water too.

He hesitated, and then he drank a bit again.

It was most likely to show her this was just water, because this time, he didn’t hand it to her, but instead, gestured toward her hand with his index finger again.

“ An yatani aheti biatik. ”

Did he think she could understand him, or was he just going to stubbornly keep talking knowing she couldn’t understand?

He raised his eyebrows a bit and opened his hand toward her. It was like a large paw lying flat on the mattress, just inches away from hers.

Alezya glanced at that hand. She was still confused about those scale-like tattoos on his arm and that arm overall.

But slowly, she was starting to realize he had no intention to harm her for now.

In fact, he looked strong enough that he could very well have grabbed her hand and done what he wanted already.

After a hesitation, she finally gave in and showed him her bleeding hand.

He took it, surprisingly gently, and undid the bandages.

As soon as he touched her, she was shocked by how warm his skin was.

For someone who had just come from outside, it was even stranger.

Had he warmed up in such a short time? She’d been under a thick blanket, but how was the skin of that man warmer than hers?

She knew it couldn’t be that she was wrong about the temperature outside; she could feel the cold chill in the room wherever her skin was exposed, and it wouldn’t have made sense for the place to be covered in thick, heavy fur rugs.

Still confused, she watched as he finished removing her bandages, inspected the worst injury, and began cleaning it with the water.

Alezya was getting more and more bewildered.

He clearly knew what he was doing. This man was a healer?

In the clans, it was always a woman’s role.

It was the woman’s role to heal, nurture, and take care of others.

No man would have cleaned her wounds and applied medicine like he was.

Men couldn’t be bothered with such things. .. Wasn’t he a warrior?

She glanced again at the collection of weapons gathered in a corner. The way he applied the bandages neatly and with the right pressure over her wound clearly showed he had at least basic medical knowledge.

Alezya was utterly confused.

Once he was done with her hand, he glanced at the other, but the bandage had held on, no blood visible.

Then, he pointed toward the end of the bed. For a second, Alezya didn’t understand what he wanted, but before she could react, he stood up and lifted the covers in one movement.

She panicked as she felt her legs exposed all the way to the thighs. He was some pervert after all! She attempted to move her legs by reflex to hide them again, but a wave of pain made her wince and cry out.

The man sighed.

“ Aheti hatam dahilika. Imada yuhahil tankal? ”