Calvin’s POV
Pain radiated through my skull, each throb like a hammer slamming into my brain. My body was screaming at me to give up, to collapse, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stay conscious. I couldn’t afford to pass out now.
Sherelle still had a tight grip on my chin, her nails digging into my skin as she looked down at me with a triumphant smirk.
“Lorien is no ordinary man,” she said, her voice dripping with satisfaction.
My eyes flickered to the red-haired bastard standing beside her, the one who had beaten me to a pulp with inhuman ease. He exuded power, his presence oppressive, crushing. His glowing crimson eyes watched me with bored amusement, as if he’d been expecting something far more entertaining than the pitiful wreck I was now.
Sherelle’s smirk widened as she followed my gaze. “Allow me to introduce you properly, Calvin,” she purred. “Lorien is the last of the Solarian dragons.”
A cold chill crawled down my spine.
A dragon?
Impossible.
Dragons were extinct. Every single one of them had been wiped from existence centuries ago. That was the legend, at least. But standing before me was living proof that the stories had been wrong.
Sherelle leaned in closer, her lips just inches from my ear as she whispered, “And this is where Kamrynn comes into play.”
I stiffened. No.
She pulled back, watching my expression carefully before delivering the final blow.
“Lorien will take Kamrynn as his mate.”
A growl ripped from my throat.
“She’ll bring forth a new generation of dragons,” she finished, her voice laced with dark satisfaction.
Rage. Pure, blinding rage.
I didn’t think. I acted.
With every ounce of strength I had left, I wrenched her hand away from my chin and lunged, my fingers wrapping around her slender throat.
Sherelle choked, eyes widening in shock as I squeezed.
“Over my dead body,” I snarled, my voice a deadly promise.
She clawed at my wrist, her body struggling against my grip, but I didn’t let go.
“I will never let Kamrynn be used as a breeder!”
My vision blurred, but my determination was ironclad. My mate-my Kamrynn-would not be taken from me.
Not for this.
Not for them.
Never.
But before I could tighten my hold, before I could even consider snapping her damn neck, a force ripped my hand away from her.
Snap.
Agony.
White-hot pain exploded through my wrist, spreading like wildfire as a sickening crack echoed through the room.
I roared in pain, my arm dangling uselessly at my side. Lorien.
He had barely even tried.
The dragon stared down at me, eyes as lifeless as the abyss, his lips twisting in an almost bored expression.
“Pitiful,” he muttered.
I clenched my teeth, glaring up at him through the pain. If it weren’t for the throbbing wound on my head, I would have shifted by now and ripped him apart. But something wasn’t right.
The hit to my skull had disoriented me, severed my connection to Fenrir.
I reached for my wolf. Nothing.
I was trapped in this weak, broken human form while a monster stood before me.
Sherelle coughed, rubbing her throat as she regained her composure. Despite the brief moment of vulnerability, she quickly smoothed out her dress, her smirk returning in full force.
“Tsk, tsk, Calvin.” She shook her head, her voice taunting. “You always want to play the hero, don’t you?”
I gritted my teeth, refusing to give her the reaction she wanted.
“But tell me, Alpha,” she continued, “where was that noble heart of yours when you used Kamrynn as a breeder?”
My stomach dropped.
No.
“It wasn’t like that,” I rasped, my voice hoarse, my breath shallow.
Sherelle laughed-a cruel, mocking sound that twisted in my gut like a blade.
“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “Do you really think I don’t know about the horrible, despicable things you did to Kamrynn? All in the name of revenge?”
The air left my lungs.
Sherelle crouched beside me, her fingers gripping my broken wrist, pressing down until pain shot up my arm like fire. I barely bit back a groan, my jaw clenching.
“I may have orchestrated everything,” she whispered, “but you? You did it all of your own free will.”
My own free will.
I swallowed hard, my chest tightening, the weight of her words pressing down on me like an avalanche.
“You raped Kamrynn,” she continued, her voice eerily soft, almost sympathetic-like she was just stating a fact. “Over and over. For months.”
“Stop,” I whispered, my voice raw.
But she didn’t stop.
She leaned in closer.
“You forced yourself on her in an attempt to create the heir you thought you deserved.”
I shook my head, my breaths coming in short, ragged gasps. “I didn’t-”
“Do you really believe you have the right to speak up now?” she cut me off, her tone ice-cold.
My lips parted, but no words came out.
Because she was right.
Sherelle’s smirk deepened as she leaned in, her voice a whisper against my ear.
“At least Lorien won’t force himself on her.”
A dagger to the heart.
I felt sick.
Like I was drowning in the very filth I had created.
All of it.
Every single word.
Every single reminder.
It was true.
I had destroyed Kamrynn long before Sherelle and Lorien had even stepped into the picture.
I had taken her, broke her, used her like she was nothing but a tool for my vengeance.
And now, when she was finally free of me, when she had a chance at something better-I had the audacity to claim her as mine?
I was a monster.
A pathetic, selfish, unworthy beast.
My fingers dug into the dirt beneath me, my nails breaking against the rough surface.
Kamrynn…
Would she ever be able to forgive me?
Did I even deserve to ask for her forgiveness?
Sherelle finally let go of my wrist, standing back up with a satisfied sigh.
“Good boy,” she murmured, looking down at me like I was nothing more than a broken thing.
I was drowning.
Sherelle’s words had already cut me deeper than any blade ever could, tearing open old wounds and filling them with poison. The truth. The undeniable, wretched truth of what I had done to Kamrynn.
But then-
A single sentence echoed in my mind, slicing through the storm of self-loathing like lightning.
“At least Lorien won’t force himself on her.”
My blood ran cold.
Through the agony, the guilt, and the sickening weight of my sins, something vicious and primal surged within me.
What the hell did she mean by that?
I lifted my head, my breath ragged, my vision still swimming from the blow I had taken earlier. My body felt like it had been put through hell, but none of that mattered now.
Kamrynn.
I could take whatever they threw at me-but Kamrynn?
“What the hell are you talking about?” I rasped, my voice low but dangerous. “Kamrynn is my mate. She would never let another man touch her-especially a freak like him.”
Sherelle’s lips curled into a mocking smile as she turned to Lorien, eyes gleaming with amusement.
“You hear that?” she mused, tilting her head. “The poor fool actually believes he still has a claim on her.”
Lorien didn’t react immediately.
He stood there, silent, impassive, arms crossed over his broad chest. His crimson eyes glowed faintly under the dim light, unreadable yet unsettlingly amused, like a predator who had already won the hunt.
Finally, he exhaled a long, lazy breath. “How simple-minded.”
Sherelle giggled, running her fingers through her blonde curls before turning back to me. “You really don’t get it, do you?” she taunted.
My good hand curled into a fist, nails biting into my palm.
“You’re spewing nothing but nonsense,” I growled. “Kamrynn would never betray our bond.”
“Oh, Calvin,” she sighed dramatically, “you always did lack imagination.”
I was about to snap, about to lunge at her despite my broken body, when she turned to Lorien and gave him a subtle nod.
Lorien lifted his hand, moving his fingers through the air in intricate, deliberate motions.
Symbols materialized in the empty space between us, glowing a faint, eerie gold before swirling together. The air crackled with wild energy, something far older, far more powerful than anything I had ever encountered before.
Then-
A small, shimmering orb appeared in his palm.
It pulsed with a faint, rhythmic glow-alive, as though it had a will of its own.
The moment I laid eyes on it, a deep, unshakable dread settled in my gut.
This is bad.
Really bad.
Sherelle took the orb delicately, turning it in her hands with reverence, as though she were holding the crown jewel of the universe.
“What is that?” I demanded, my voice sharper than before.
Sherelle’s eyes flicked up to mine, and her lips stretched into a smirk so cruel, so pleased, it sent an involuntary shudder down my spine.
“Oh, Calvin.” Her voice was syrupy sweet, dripping with malice. “This is an ancient Draconian artifact-the only one of its kind in the entire world.”
I didn’t like where this was going.
I already knew whatever she was about to say next couldn’t be good-
But it was so much worse than I could have ever imagined.
Sherelle let out a delighted hum, rolling the orb between her fingers.
“This little treasure has a very special ability,” she continued. “It can extract and store a person’s memories.”
My heart slammed against my ribcage.
“What?” I breathed.
“But that’s not even the best part,” she went on, her eyes glinting with sadistic pleasure. “It doesn’t just take memories. It can also implant false ones.”
The air left my lungs.
My entire body locked up in pure, undiluted horror.
“Simply put, dear Alpha,” Sherelle whispered, stepping closer, “we’re going to take Kamrynn’s memories… and replace them.”
No.
“We’re going to rewrite her history.”
No, no, NO.
“We’re going to make her forget you ever existed.”
“STOP.” My voice was raw, my vision blurring with fury, but she only grinned wider.
“And in those new memories,” she murmured, “Lorien will be her mate and the only one she trusts.”