Wolf Princess Sold to the Dragon King

”Gwen, I have to get it from your back,” Lux said. ”It’s safer that way. This one is too close to your heart.”

Before she could say a word, Maddox flipped her around on his lap so she was straddling him.

His thumb caught the tear on her cheek, while the other hand slid up her bare back where the zip suit had been opened. His mouth hovered over hers. He didn’t close the distance.

”Maddox, I don’t want to hurt your ribs,” Guinevere whispered.

”I’m a grown dragon, Guinevere. You aren’t going to hurt me.”

His fingers brushed a strand of hair from her face, lingering on her cheek.

He knew she was tough. That was the problem. Her pain tolerance was working against her here. Normal people would have passed out by now, but she couldn’t. And they couldn’t give her anything.

His hand slid into her hair, fingers working slow circles against her scalp. Her forehead fell into the crook of his neck, and he felt her muscles slowly relax into him.

Lux waited for his eyes. He gave them.

Lux pulled.

Guinevere’s hips rocked forward from the pain and Maddox’s fingers spread wide, holding her still. She gasped into his neck as her whole body shuddered, her lips dragging across his pulse point.

His cock had zero respect for the situation. Absolutely none. Broken ribs, demon-fuckery being yanked out of her, five witnesses, and his body was responding to her mouth on his neck like this was foreplay. It was as fucked up as it sounded.

It stopped.

Maddox kissed the side of Guinevere’s head.

Lux met his eyes.

”One more, baby,” Maddox said against her ear.

He gave Lux a nod.

Lux drew another. Every muscle locked in Guinevere’s body. Her breath turned ragged until she was full-on hyperventilating in his ear.

His dragon whined in his chest like the world’s most dangerous puppy pressing its nose against glass, and he couldn’t blame the beast.

”Deep breaths, Gwen.” His voice came out wrecked.

”My cuff is still vibrating.” Sterling held up his bracelet. All color had drained from his face and he looked genuinely distraught. Kael had moved against the wall and held his head in his hands. It was the most emotion Maddox had seen from either of them ever.

Maddox stood with her in his arms, stifling a grunt of pain in the process, and sat in a chair with her still straddling him. An upgrade from the floor.

If anyone walked in right now without context, the explanation would take longer than the actual dark magic extraction.

”Why did this hurt her to this degree?” he asked.

”Her immune system was already in the gutter from last night,” Lux replied. ”This dark magic is extra potent.”

She poured a glass of water and placed it on the table for Guinevere.

”The tendrils touched everyone,” she added. ”I’m picking up shards on every person in this room, myself included, which is just delightful. Commander, you’re next. And she needs to stop touching you, or I’m going to have to extract from both of you simultaneously, and nobody in this room wants to see that.”

Then she turned to Aldric.

”She has internal bleeding. The slivers perforated the tissue on entry and the extraction widened the damage.” Her voice was factual. ”That was the worst I’ve ever seen. I can stabilize, but I can’t repair organ tissue.”

Aldric’s expression shifted. The gratitude was brief and professional, the nod of a healer who had just been handed a diagnosis that would have taken him longer to reach. ”Thank you, Lux.”

Maddox’s dragon rumbled, not wanting to let her go. Neither did Maddox. But he stood, then lowered her into a chair.

Her head lolled for a second. Aldric moved to her immediately.

Sterling grabbed the water. ”Gwen.”

She blinked. ”Thank you,” she whispered, grabbing it with both hands.

He didn’t let go of it, helping her drink.

Aldric blinked a few times watching Sterling. Then shook his head once and began healing Guinevere, his magic leaving his palms, moving into her body.

Kael moved from the wall to a chair.

”Everyone in this room gets checked,” Lux said. ”Everyone. If you were within ten feet of that thing, you have fragments.” She looked at Kael. ”If you used flame on it, you have more. You’re going to want to sit down for yours.”

”I am sitting down.”

”Good. Stay there.”

Lux moved to Kael. The blue light found the first sliver in under three seconds and the expression on Jaxon’s face said the concentration was significant.

Kael screamed ten times louder than Guinevere. ”SHIT. SHIT SHIT SHIT. FUCK ME SIDEWAYS.”

Guinevere stared at him dazed. This was the man who had held her hair and told her the puke rule. And he was currently screaming like he was being murdered.

”Kael,” Lux said flatly. ”I haven’t pulled it yet. That was me identifying one. And yours are barely embedded. The pain is maybe twenty percent of what Guinevere had.”

She pulled.

He yelled so loudly it hit the draconic register and shattered the water pitcher.

”MY LEGS ARE NUMB,” Kael roared. ”WHY ARE MY LEGS NUMB. THOSE AREN’T EVEN NEAR MY— LUX WHAT DID YOU GRAB?!”

It dissolved in her hand.

”YOU SAID IT WAS THE SHALLOW ONE, LUX! ARE YOU PULLING OUT MY ACTUAL ORGANS?!”

Another.

”SKIP IT. LEAVE IT IN. I’LL LIVE WITH IT!”

Next to him, Jaxon found the first sliver of dark magic in Maddox.

”Yours are also not as deep, Your Majesty. Good news.”

He pulled. The extraction was precise, controlled, and the dark fragment came out trailing black threads that dissolved in the blue light of Jaxon’s magic.

Maddox screamed. It hurt like a son of a bitch. Worse than anything he’d ever felt. He panted with tears in his eyes, gripping the armrests until the wood splintered under his hands.

Guinevere’s hand flew to her mouth, eyes on Maddox, more tears coming. Maddox needed her out of this room. She had been through enough and he didn’t want her to see him like this.

The dark fragment immediately veered towards her like she was north. Jaxon dissolved it. ”She needs to be not in this room.”

”I agree, Guinevere. You being in here is putting you at risk,” Lux said. ”The fragments are responding to your proximity.”

Guinevere shook her head. Her eyes were locked on Maddox and her expression said that she wasn’t going to leave him.

”Gwen.” Maddox’s voice was low. ”Go. I’ll be right out.”

The door opened before she could argue.

Blair entered, which meant someone had mindlinked and she’d been close.

She crossed the room and helped Guinevere stand, only for her knees to buckle on the first step.

Every man in the room moved at once. She caught the table edge, steadied herself, and straightened.

”I’m fine.”

She wasn’t fine. She was gray and shaking and the hand on the table was the only reason she was vertical.

None of the men sat down.

Blair looked at her. Looked at the tear tracks on her face. Then she turned to the room.

Her eyes landed on Sterling first. Held. Moved to Maddox. Held longer.

”Which one of you two upset her?”

The question hit the room like ice water. Sterling said nothing. Maddox said nothing. The silence was a confession neither of them was willing to sign.

”Excuse me?” Kael snapped. ”I’m sitting right here. I could have upset her.”

Blair glanced at him. One second. Dismissive.

”You lost your jackass card when you bought her the shoes and the dress, Kael.”

Kael’s mouth opened. Nothing came out for a full three seconds.

Maddox’s head turned slowly toward his brother, then returned to Guinevere.

Blair was already walking her towards the door.

Aldric followed. He looked at Jaxon. ”She needs more healing. Mindlink me when Maddox is finished.”

The door closed behind them.

Jaxon pulled the second sliver. Maddox screamed again. His eyes stayed on the door his wife went through.

”How many more?” he asked, voice wrecked.

”Three,” Jaxon said. ”Possibly four. Hold still.” He pulled another. Maddox’s body seized for a full second, then released.

”OH NOW EVERYONE’S QUIET!” Kael yelled. ”STERLING HAD A WHOLE SPEECH DURING GUINEVERE’S TURN! WHERE’S MY SPEECH?! WHERE’S MY EMOTIONAL SUPPORT?!”

Sterling looked at him. ”You’re doing great, Kael.”

”Don’t patronize me.”

”You asked for emotional support. That was emotional support.”

”That was TERRIBLE emotional support. Guinevere got ’push back into me.’ I got ’you’re doing great.’ Do you see the gap, Sterling? DO YOU SEE IT?”

”Do you want to push back into me, Kael?”

”WAIT!” Kael said, panting. ”I CAN’T. I CAN’T I CAN’T I CAN’T. OKAY. OKAY FINE. DO IT. FUCK YOU. DO IT.”

Kael grabbed Sterling’s arm so hard Sterling’s chair moved three inches.

”LET GO OF ME, KAEL.”

”NO. YOU’RE MY EMOTIONAL SUPPORT NOW. YOU SIGNED UP FOR THIS WHEN YOU GAVE GUINEVERE A SPEECH.”

”THERE WAS NO SPEECH.”

”THERE WAS A SPEECH AND IT WAS INTIMATE AND I WANT THE SAME ENERGY.”