Claimed (Project Destiny Book 1)

by Lee-Ann Wallace

  Whatever the case, Sorvar didn’t care. The male was going to die. He could shoot him, but he wanted to kill him messily, painfully. He reached for the male as he rocketed down towards the floor, his hands extended out in front of him. The male must have sensed him, or felt the disturbance in the air because he tried to turn and point the weapon at Sorvar, but he was too late.

  Sorvar closed his clawed hands around the male and swept him up off the floor. The male cursed, struggled, and tried to bring the weapon around to point it at him, but Sorvar closed his massive hand around the weapon and the male’s much smaller hand and squeezed. The male screamed as Sorvar squeezed harder, crushing the delicate bones, then pulled.

  Dark satisfaction swirled inside him as the male screamed like the pathetic creature he was as Sorvar slowly ripped his arm off.

  “Please, please. Oh god, please!” the male begged between sobs.

  “What are you begging for, human? Leniency? Forgiveness? Or perhaps a painless death?” Sorvar demanded. “Or are you begging this god you believe in, that he will come and save you?”

  The male whimpered, a pitiful sound that only enraged Sorvar further. He beat his wings, the larger span of his shifted form making hovering with the heavy weight of the male easy. When no answer but whimpers were forthcoming, Sorvar growled and shifted his grip.

  He wrapped one hand around the male’s head, his tail whipping back and forth with his rage. He would kill anyone who dared harm his mate. Anyone who tried to take her from him would suffer the same fate as this useless male. Sorvar dug his claws into the hard skull of the male and ripped his head off, then flung the limp body towards one of the windows and let the head fall to the floor below.

  A flash of alarm inside him drove him to sweep across the room to Tina. He tucked his wings in and plummeted towards the floor, flaring them out at the last minute to slow his descent. He landed with a thud behind two human males closing in on her.

  Sorvar grabbed the male in front of him, snapping his neck before he could even utter a sound, and threw the body to the side. The second male was in the process of turning when he slashed at him. His claws opened him up from neck to groin. The male screamed, a hideous sound of pain that echoed through the throne room. Sorvar gave the dying male a sharp shove and sent him toppling over backward.

  Tina stood, leaning against the statue of his father that he’d hated ever since he was a child. One wing hung limp behind her, dark blood dripping on the floor, and a dark stain spread across the shoulder of her white top.

  He stepped forward, intent on taking her to Bavric, but a look of horror on her face, the surge of her fear inside him, and her yell in his mind made him spin around.

  Sorvar, look out!

  Two Crasgich males were closing in on them. Both young by their size, both inexperienced and easy to kill.

  Pavri, hide behind the statue, he ordered.

  The closer the males came, the more obvious it became exactly how young they were. They did not yet have the viscous secretion between their widely spaced scales, and their eyes didn’t bulge. They weren’t even adults yet.

  Sorvar growled. These pups thought they could take him, thought they were strong enough to bring down one of Nardoc’s sons. A flash of vicious amusement flowed through him. Their father had been lax in their education, but he was happy to teach them all they would ever need to know about the Morgath.

  A low chuckle rumbled up from his chest as he stepped forward to engage the youngsters. They looked at each other before turning back to him, their gazes wary.

  “Your father has sent you to slaughter, pups. Do not think I will go easy on you because you are still children,” Sorvar said. He would give them this one chance to run. If they refused his offer, he would kill them.

  Their wings fluttered behind them as they hesitated. “We are not children,” the one on the left insisted.

  Sorvar laughed. Now was not the time for amusement, but he couldn’t help it. “Pup, you haven’t even been through your first moult yet. How old are you? Thirty? Thirty-five?”

  “Old enough to know you have stolen the female who could provide us with sisters. Father has tasked us with retrieving his new mate. We will not fail,” the chatty youngster replied.

  A surge of Tina’s fear shot through him, making him growl. They would not get their hands on his mate, and if the Crasgich chose to lie to his sons that was his problem. Nobody knew yet if Tina was capable of producing female young. Sorvar didn’t care that they were ignorant and didn’t have time to set them straight. And like most of the Crasgich’s offspring, they wouldn’t listen anyway. At least not to a Morgath.

  They were raised to hate him and his people. They were raised to believe the Morgath had stolen their planet, stolen their females and stolen their ability to breed, when in fact none of that was true. Their father and leader was a lying deceitful monster who brainwashed his young to believe everything he told them.

  Sorvar slashed out with his claws, catching the two youngsters off guard. One fell to the floor with his neck gaping open and his stinking blood pouring out onto the floor. The other put up a valiant effort to defend himself, but he was no match for Sorvar’s greater height, strength and speed.

  His screams drowned out the sounds of males fighting and filled the throne room, bringing an answering roar from outside that shook the walls and sent shards of glass raining down from the broken windows.

  Sorvar answered the roar with one of his own, causing every male in the throne room to stop and turn to look at him.

  A deep growl slashed through the room. “Sorvar, he’s mine.”

  Sorvar turned, a growl rolling through his chest to see his father standing in front of the throne, his wings spread and lifted in preparation for flight. Another roar from outside propelled his father up into the air, then he was gone out the windows. Damn it, his father was injured.

  “I want my female! The male who brings her to me will be honoured above all others!”

  Tina’s fear rose sharply inside him, and Sorvar roared at the bellowed words of the Crasgich that boomed through the windows. Every one of the bastard’s sons in the throne room and outside roared in response to their father’s words.

  Sorvar backed up, inching closer to Tina so he could protect her. What he really wanted to do was scoop her up and get her out of there, but he knew he couldn’t fly carrying her and fight off the males who would attack him at the same time. His only option was to keep her tucked in the corner and be her shield.

  “Pavri, get behind the statue. I will protect you until help can come,” Sorvar commanded.

  Silence was his response. He twisted around, searching for Tina, but only found her blood pooled on the floor. His chest tightened, a painful squeeze before his heart started hammering. Hurried steps took him behind the statue to find the door ajar and a trail of blood leading out. Gods, no. Why had she left? She wouldn’t be safe walking around the palace on her own.

  Pavri, where are you?

  The surge of her amusement didn’t quite cover the fear she was feeling.

  I thought I’d just go for a little stroll, handsome. It was getting a little crowded in the throne room.

  Sorvar growled and ground his teeth. Now was not the time for her to throw attitude at him. He stalked for the door and squeezed his considerable bulk through a doorway that was not designed for nine foot of male.

  Pavri, now is not the time for jokes. The Crasgich has sent every one of his sons after you. I need to know where you are.

  He didn’t wait for her response. He started to follow the trail of blood drips that led down the corridor to the front of the palace.

  I’m sorry, Sorvar. A surge of her fear almost made him stagger. I believe I’m on my way to the front of the palace, but I have a feeling we are lost... oh, I know where we are. We’re just about to exit into the training courtyard.

  Sorvar cursed. How did she get all the way over there? And why had none of the palace guards taken h
er to Medical? They should be all over the palace.

  Tina, who is we? Who are you with?

  We would be me and... the male who has a weapon pointed at my head.

  Sorvar spun with a roar and raced for the front of the palace. The grand entrance to the palace would get him outside far quicker than going back through the throne room or following Tina’s blood trail.

  He beat his wings the minute he barged his way through the damaged and splintered doors, taking to the air with a thrust of his legs and downward beat of his wings.

  I’m coming, pavri. I will not let this male take you.

  Harsh beats of his wings sent him soaring into the sky and around the palace.

  You might want to hurry, Sorvar. We have company.

  The fear in Tina’s voice and the tight clench of his stomach told him it wasn’t Morgath males who had joined her in the training courtyard. He beat his wings harder, urging even more speed from the massive span of his wings.

  Sorvar passed over his family’s wing of the palace, banked left to avoid the guard tower, and swooped down towards the barracks and the training courtyard.

  A high shrill female scream cut through the air as emotion flashed through Sorvar so strong it sent him plummeting through the air. He cursed as he righted himself and kept flying. That wasn’t simple fear he’d felt from Tina. No, that was far stronger.

  Sorvar’s heart felt as if it was about to burst out of his chest. Never, not once in his eighty odd years of life, had he felt fear like this. His and Tina’s. He couldn’t lose her. Not now. Now that he knew she loved him. Not now that she’d finally admitted it to herself, and him, and every male who had been standing in the throne room.

  A gust of wind pushed Sorvar up and away from where he wanted to be. With a grunt, he angled himself and pulled his wings in to plummet towards where he need to go, but something hit him in the side, sending him spinning through the air.

  Claws raked down his scales and tore at his wings, sending burning pain through him. Sorvar roared, not in pain, but in fury.

  He clawed at his attacker as they plummeted through the air, their growls and snarls caught by the wind, whipped away by the strong breeze.

  “Sorvar!”

  Tina’s scream froze his heart, but it was the rumble of an engine that sent a jolt of panic through him. No. If they got her on a shuttle, it would take hours for him to be able to follow. He would not let them have her for any amount of time. He would not put her through the horror of it.

  He gripped the head of the male clinging to him, digging his claws in to get a good grip as they continued to drop, the male’s weak wing beats the only thing stopping them from smashing to the ground.

  With a rough twist, he snapped the male’s neck, then forced his damaged wings to unfurl. The male dropped, a dead weight plummeting to the ground, but all of Sorvar’s attention was on the figure flying towards the small shuttle hovering high over the palace.

  A low growl started in his chest that built and built until a roar thundered through the sky. With a beat of his wings Sorvar shot after the Crasgich male, intent on one thing.

  Chapter Fifteen

  God damn son of a bitch! Tina struggled in the rough grip that pressed her against the disgusting body of the male who held her. What a fine fucking pickle she was in now. A stinky pickle.

  She’d worked on and studied a lot of species in the three months she’d been studying at The Fortress, but these Crasgich took the cake for most disgusting species out there.

  Wind blew her hair all around her as the male flew them towards a shuttle hovering far above the palace. Morgath males fought Crasgich males, bodies flying through the air all around the palace. An occasional shot whizzed past them from some unknown person on the ground.

  Tina wriggled again, trying to loosen the male’s hold. “Let me go, asshole!” she yelled over the whipping wind.

  “Shut up,” the male said in return and squeezed her tighter.

  Fire burned in her shoulder and wing thanks to that asshole Dane. If she’d had a weapon handy she would have shot the bastard herself. If she had a weapon, she’d shoot the stink ass that had her now, too.

  But she didn’t have a weapon. She did have claws, though, and these males had a lovely wide gap between their scales that the icky viscous gunk oozed out of. A perfect place for Tina to dig her claws in.

  Something she needed to do soon, as in before they reached that little hovering shuttle and she disappeared from Sorvar’s life forever.

  “No, you stupid twat. I won’t shut up. You should know what kind of female you’re stealing before you steal her. If you think I’m going to do what you say, then you’re more of a moron than you look,” Tina taunted.

  The male growled, his claws digging into her, making her hiss in pain. In retaliation Tina pressed her claws into the soft sticky gap between two of his scales on the side of his waist. The male gasped, his wings faltering for a few beats that sent them plummeting a few feet in the air.

  Oh, this was good. This was better than good. If just that little bit of pressure had made him react so strongly, what would happen if she did it a little bit more? Tina dug in her claws, wrapping them around the broad scale.

  “You’re going to let me go or I’m going to rip this lovely little scale out, then another and another.”

  The male shuddered, a small noise that was almost a whimper coming from him. “I cannot,” he said. “If I let you go, father will kill me.”

  Tina dug in further, feeling the soft skin under her claws give way. “And what do you think Sorvar is going to do with you when he catches up to you?”

  The arms around her relaxed just a little and this time it was a definite whimper that was whipped away by the wind as soon as the male had made it, but the male didn’t let her go and kept flying at a steady pace for the hovering shuttle.

  Well, she’d warned him. Tina dug her claws in, gripping the scale and jerked with all the force she could. A scream was her reward. The male’s claws dug into her in reflex. They dropped through the sky, his wings faltering as a keening sound vibrated the chest she was pressed against.

  Still, he didn’t let her go. Tina grasped another scale and started to pull, slower this time, so the pain would last longer. Her chest tightened at the noises of pain the male made. She’d never liked hurting people. As a medic sometimes it was necessary to cause some pain, but she’d always hated that part of her job.

  This was different, but she still felt like a bitch. Other than trying to kidnap her, this male hadn’t hurt her, yet she was torturing him. Tears stung her eyes, and her stomach twisted into a painful knot as she pulled and pulled.

  As suddenly as the male had scooped her up off the ground, he let her go. With her claws dug so far into him, Tina couldn’t let go fast enough and ripped out the second scale as she dropped away from him. His pained scream drove through her chest like a spear, wounding her healer’s heart.

  But she didn’t have time to worry about the male. Tina forced her battered wings open, gritting her teeth as pain slashed through the damaged membranes and her body.

  She hadn’t been flying for long and was an amateur at best. Her muscles were not developed enough for her to spend long periods of time in the sky. She had one chance at best to get to safety, or she’d be out of luck.

  A roar made her glance over her shoulder. Her heart froze at the sight of another Crasgich male heading right for her. God, he was going so fast! He was so close he was going to slam into her!

  Pavri, drop! Sorvar screamed in her mind.

  Tina reacted instantly and slammed her wings closed. She dropped like a lead sack, the male hurtling past her with a roar.

  Now spread your wings and head for the tower. The male in there will protect you until I get to you.

  Tina spread her wings on his command, a cry ripping from her as pain shrieked through her wings, back and shoulders. She beat them as hard and as fast as she could to slow her downward momentum,
tears streaming down her face as her body protested. Banking left, she turned in the sky and saw how far it was to the tower.

  Sorvar, I don’t think I can make it.

  You can, pavri. For me, for our young. Just fly. One beat at a time.

  She could hear the urgency in his tone, the note of desperation, and was helpless to do anything other than what he asked. She took a deep breath and did as he said. One beat at a time, Tina headed for the tower in the distance. A roar made her look over her shoulder to find the same male heading for her again. A sob ripped from her throat. Oh god! He was too close!

  I love you, Sorvar. Don’t ever forget. Rage swelled inside her—hot, potent and overwhelming.

  I will not lose you, Tina. I cannot lose you. Pavri. You have my heart in your hands, and if you are gone, my heart will go with you.

  For all that his words were growled at her in anger, they were the sweetest things Tina had ever heard. She put everything she had into flying for the tower, forcing herself to keep going and not look back.

  Every wing beat sent tearing pain through the delicate membranes of her wings. Every beat tore at her damaged shoulder.

  A growl behind her made her dip and wobble. With a sob, Tina forced her screaming body to work just a little harder, to fly faster.

  Something scraping across the bare skin of her ankle made her look around right into the bulging black eye of the male she’d first seen on Sorvar’s ship. He was so close, he could touch her.

  Tina shrieked and swerved, throwing her body weight to the side, but the Crasgich had far more flying experience than she did. He followed with little more than a tilt of his body.

  His hand closed around her ankle and he jerked her backward, forcing air to push at the damaged membranes of her wings. Tina screamed, in pain and terror. She gasped in lungfuls of air as deep shudders rocked her.

  Oh, god. No, no, no. She twisted and kicked with her other foot, lashing out blindly, her body dropping as her wings stilled while she tried to fight.