The Dragon Beast King Won't Let Me Go

Run.

That was the only thought screaming through Fiona's mind, loud enough to drown out the frantic pounding of her own heart in her ears.

Twigs whipped against her face, leaving stinging marks, and the sharp thorns of the dense undergrowth of the forest tore mercilessly at her dress.

The fabric of her dress ripped with every desperate step she took, but she couldn't stop. She couldn't even breathe.

How was this happening? The last thing she remembered was the terrifying sensation of falling. She had been taking pictures of the horizon from a cliff and then the edge of the cliff crumbled beneath her feet.

She was so scared since it was such a high cliff. Right, she should even be dead. But instead, she had woken up on a flat surface, in this suffocating, pitch-black forest, only to be instantly hunted.

Behind her, the growls of the things chasing her grew louder, closer, and terrifyingly unified.

They weren't animals, but they weren't human either. They were massive figures with glowing eyes with animal ears and tails, tearing through the bushes and effortlessly breaking branches that she had to fight to push past.

"Stop running, female!" one of them barked, his disgusting voice terrifying her and at the same time, making her skin crawl. "There is nowhere to hide! We have your scent-it is already engraved in our senses!"

Another beastman let out a mocking, echoing laugh from her left, intentionally flushing her forward like prey into a trap. "Run all you want! You cannot wash your blood from our noses! This forest belongs to the beasts!"

They all let out cackling laughters they echoed throughout the first, frightening her even more.

'It's a nightmare,' Fiona wept internally, her vision blurring with tears as she pushed through a wall of briars. 'Wake up. Please, just wake up.'

She had no choice but to believe it was a nightmare, but the pain was too sharp, the cold air too biting for it to be a dream. Every gasp of air she took was thick with the musk of the monsters closing the distance.

But then, if it wasn't a dream, how did she get here?

Suddenly, her foot caught on a massive, hidden root. With a sharp gasp, her body flew forward, rolling heavily over the dirt and dead leaves.

She heard a crack that seemed to have come from her bones and what followed was the agony and pain rolling up from her ankle.

She had broken her ankle.

Fiona screamed in pain, dragging herself backward on her elbows, her breath hitching in her throat.

It was over. The shadows of the monsters descended upon her, blocking out what little light filtered through the canopy of trees.

The feral beastmen stepped forward, completely surrounding her in a tight circle. They were snickering, a sickening chorus of wet chuckles as they looked down at her fragile, trembling form.

One of them slowly licked his upper lip, a thick string of saliva hanging from his jagged teeth. "Look how she shakes," he sneered, his bloodshot eyes fixed on her pale skin. "The scent of her fear makes it even better. Let's see how sweet she tastes when we devour her."

"I get the first bite," another growled, stepping closer, his long claws flexing in anticipation. "My inner beast is begging for this."

Fiona collapsed back against the dirt, entirely helpless, paralyzed by the danger radiating from them. They were going to tear her apart. In her absolute desperation, a silent, weeping plea tore through her mind. Someone... please, anyone... save me. Just save me.

The beastman with the bloodshot eyes reached out a clawed hand, his fingers mere inches from her trembling shoulder but then froze and everyone went silent.

An oppressive, aura flared out of nowhere, freezing the beastmen in place and crushing the air straight out of Fiona's lungs.

The sheer pressure of the aura made the earth itself seem to tremble.

From the deepest, darkest part of the forest came a low, incredibly deep growl.

It wasn't a roar yet-just a primal, vibrating rumble that traveled through the soil and shook the very roots of the trees. The effect of this growl was felt right away.

The feral beastmen flinched violently, their snickers dying in their throats. The beastman reaching for her was completely frozen, his claws trembling as a sudden terror washed over his hideous face.

Whimpering like beaten dogs, they immediately scattered into the darkness without looking back, valuing their lives far more than the prize they had just cornered.

For a single second, Fiona let out a shaky breath. Saved. Someone-or something-had answered her prayer.

But the suffocating pressure didn't lift. It grew heavier.

Her eyes darted frantically into the thick shadows ahead. A sudden glint of silver caught the moonlight-it was the sharp, lethal gleam of two fangs.

Horror immediately flushed over Fiona anew. She scrambled backward, kicking up dirt, trying to use her uninjured leg to push herself away from whatever was approaching.

"N-no... stay back..." she whimpered, her voice cracking as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

The silhouette stepped out of the shadow of the ancient trees.

For a moment, her breath seized, paralyzed by the sheer contradiction walking toward her.

It was a man, completely naked, possessing a pale, flawless physique that looked as though it had been sculpted from marble. Yet, he was undeniably a beast.

Extending from his tailbone was a thick, powerful tail covered in shimmering silver scales that brushed heavily against the forest floor. Atop his head, nestled in silver hair, were two magnificent, curving silver horns.

When he looked down at her, she felt the world shrink. His eyes were a piercing, luminous emerald, the pupils narrowed into dangerous, reptilian slits. He was breathtakingly handsome, but he exuded an aura of pure, lethal dominance.

Danger. The word echoed in her mind and a terrifying chill ran down her spine.

"S-stay back! Please!" she stammered, her hands scraping against the dirt as she tried to retreat.

The dragon beastman didn't utter a word. He simply closed the distance, bent over and effortlessly scooped her off the ground.

Before she could process the warmth of his skin, she was flipped upside down and thrown carelessly over his broad, muscular shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

"Let me go! Put me down!" she screamed, her small fists hammering against his back, her legs kicking wildly. "Please, let me go." She cried but the movement flared the agony in her broken ankle, making her sob, but she didn't stop fighting.

The man stopped, his silver tail lashing once behind him. His voice, when he finally spoke, was a deep rumble that vibrated directly against her chest.

"Female. You shall be my sacrifice."

The word struck her like a physical blow. Sacrifice. Like... 'the' sacrifice?

The horror of the moment intensified, a suffocating feeling that threatened to make her pass out.

She was being abducted by a monster and she was going to be slaughtered. Eaten alive by a monster in a beautiful human shell.

She wept openly now, her fingers clutching blindly at nothing as the towering trees blurred past them.

It didn't take long before the dark forest gave way to a massive stone den. The air inside was warm but thick with the scent of ozone, like the forest air after a rainfall.

Without a shred of gentleness, he tossed her down. Expecting the hard, cold stone of a butcher's block, Fiona braced herself, but instead sank into an incredibly soft, plush bed crafted from layers of thick, luxurious furs.

Before she could even try to roll away, his heavy, pale body loomed over her. He pinned her down, trapping her beneath his massive frame. His emerald eyes burned down into her brown ones, his breath hot against her skin.

"Female... your blood," he murmured, his voice dropping to a low, primal growl.

His gaze drifted down to her hands, which were scraped and bleeding from her frantic race through the woods. He reached down, grabbing her wrist with a strong grip, and lifted her bleeding palm to his lips.

Slowly, his tongue flicked out, licking the red drop of blood from her skin.

A shudder ran through his massive frame. The emerald slits of his eyes narrowed to needle-like lines, a flush of dark color rising to his pale cheekbones.

He looked as if he were losing his mind, entirely consumed by a sudden, intoxicating rush of instinct.

'He finds it delicious,' she thought in absolute panic, her heart hammering against her ribs. 'This is it. He's going to drain me.'

But then, he leaned down closer, his silver horns brushing against her tangled hair, his voice strained as he fought to keep his feral nature from swallowing him whole.

"Many females have lost their lives as my sacrifice," he growled against her neck, his sharp fangs grazing her skin just enough to make her gasp. "But neither of those females carried the scent you carry. And their blood... tasteth not like yours either."

He pulled back just enough to look into her terrified eyes, a dark, wicked smirk pulling at his lips.

"Let us see if you can withstand my curse... when I give you my mark and we mate."

The word echoed in the quiet cave, leaving Fiona completely frozen.

'Mate?'

Her mind spun into utter confusion, temporarily stalling her terror. Wasn't this the part where he tore her apart? Where he ate her alive? Why were they suddenly talking about a mating path?

Looking up into the eyes of the dangerous dragon beastman pressing her into the furs, the reality of her nightmare truly set in.

She was trapped.

But she didn't want a mark or to mate with a monster.

She just wanted to go home.