“One wrong move,” the man warned Lorenzo, whose expression was torn between anger and grief.
“You wouldn’t do it,” Lorenzo growled. “You just said he was worth more to you alive.”
“He is,” the man admitted, “but that doesn’t mean his corpse is worthless. So if you’re smart andwantto keep him alive, you better back off.”
Lorenzo breathed heavily, frozen and unsure of what to do. Since he wasn’t attacking, the man slowly lowered the blade from my neck and grunted, “Good.”
“We’ll be leaving now,” the other said. They backed up, keeping their eyes warily on Lorenzo to make sure he didn’t pull any last minute schemes. The man squeezed his hand around my arm tightly to prevent me from escaping. But I had no intention to escape.
I knew how insane this whole situation seemed to an outsider like Lorenzo - going along with poachers just to prevent my family and village from becoming disgraced. But if they found out about the fake marriageandthe pregnancy, I would be considered dead anyway. My life was over no matter which way the situation ended. At least this way, I was still a son to be proud of - not a total fuckup.
One of the shifters changed into his boar form, and the other man hauled me onto his back. The one still in human form tied my wrists just in case, but I got the feeling both of them were confident I wasn’t about to run off.
My heart ached. Lorenzo stood behind me, watching, unable to do anything. I hated doing this to him. I didn’twantto leave him behind, and despite how pissed off we were at each other, I still meant what I said about never wanting him to leave my side.
Everything hurt. I was pregnant with Lorenzo’s child, and now I was being ripped away from him. Not just him, either - my parents, family and friends, my clan… My entire life.
My eyes wet with tears, I glanced over my shoulder.
Lorenzo wasn’t there.
Did he leave already? I felt a pang of agony, thinking about all the terrible things I said to him in anger. He had a right to be upset with me, but I didn’t think he would leave so easily.
Just as my throat tightened up with a sob, a shrieking sound pierced the sky. The air suddenly felt hot, like the friction of a burning blade.
Suddenly, the boar shifter beneath me let out a horrible, pained squeal. It thrashed, throwing the poacher and I off. We landed with a thud and I scrambled to get out of the way of the panicking boar’s hooves.
I gasped when I saw it - a shimmering, translucent silver arrow jutting out of the boar’s side. Unlike a physical object, the arrow was untouched by the blood gushing from the wound.
Clear magic.
Lorenzo wasted no time. He swooped down and kicked the thrashing boar out of the way before he snatched the human poacher around the chest, digging his claws into him. The man screamed in fear.
Lorenzo snapped his teeth and snarled, “You should have thought twice before messing with a dragon’s mate.”
His claws sunk into the man’s flesh. Blood seeped out of the wounds. The poacher kicked and yelled for him to stop. In between panicked cries, he asked, “How did you do that? The arrow?”
“Magic. One more reason not to fuck with a dragon. Now give me the device,” Lorenzo commanded, his voice dripping with malice.
Scrambling, the man reached for his ankle and took the recorder out with trembling hands. Lorenzo snatched it from him and crushed it with ease. The debris fell uselessly to the ground.
“If you think either of you are getting away with this, you’re sorely mistaken,” Lorenzo continued to growl. “Tell me who you are and why you’re doing this.”
The man whimpered but didn’t reply.
Lorenzo snarled. “Now!”
“We needed the money! Do you know how much money a black panther is worth?” the man cried, obviously losing his mind with fear. “We’re broke! You don’t understand!”
“Do I look like I care?” Lorenzo asked sharply.
“We were kicked out of our clan,” the boar shifter - who had transformed back into human form - said weakly. His leg was still bleeding from the clear magic arrow, which had disappeared now.
“The Skrofa clan?” I asked.
“Yes,” the man replied. “We knew the Pardus clan had a rare black panther omega, and when we were banished, we neededsomeway to make money…”
“Do I look like I care?” Lorenzo snapped. “You should consider yourselves lucky I don’t kill you here and now. Instead, you’re going to pay for your crimes.”
