1 - The Dragon’s Bride

Lysandra

I never thought my perfect wedding would end with me being kidnapped—and that too by Drakar Eryndor, the powerful dragon of Black Mountain.

One moment, I was a bride, about to become the young madam of the most powerful family in the world, then the next, I was Drakar’s captive.

His claimed possession.

Frustration seeped into my blood as I gave up looking for an escape route. There was none in the room he kept me in. Helplessness wasn’t an emotion I was used to. I wanted it gone immediately.

He hadn’t done anything to me yet, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to. His eyes held a deadly gaze that made shivers run up my spine.

The air felt thick and suffocating as I slid down to the floor, my back against the bed, ignoring the whispers of etiquette that filled my mind. Not today.

Not today when I can’t be with my family. Not today when I couldn’t achieve the only goal I had been trained for all my life.

Tears welled my eyes and blurred my vision. Then before I could stop myself, I was back there again. Down memory lane.

I was standing at the altar, and every eye in the grand hall watched as the priest raised his hand to declare the start of the wedding ceremony.

The union between the Vaelan family, and the Aldridge family was more than a marriage. It was an alliance and the only thing I had trained for all my life. To be the perfect lady. To be the ideal wife.

The wedding rituals were performed as per usual, and I tried to hide my uneasiness. My husband-to-be smiled at me, and I returned it with a simple smile of my own.

“Do you, Lord Caelan Aldridge accept Lady Lysandra Vaelan to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.” His voice was calm but it still echoed in the hall. I zoned out a little, thinking about how every second of my life had worked up to that moment. My attention was brought back to the priest when he called out my name.

“Lady Lysandra Vaelan, do you accept Lord Caelan Aldridge as your lawfully wedded husband?” His voice bounced off the walls, and I could hear my heart pounding against my ribcage.

My father’s words echoed in my mind. “This marriage will propel our prestige to unimaginable heights. We’ve raised you for this. So, make sure it is as perfect as you are.”

My hesitation was becoming obvious, and the guests were beginning to murmur. Of course, they’d wonder why I was hesitating.

“Lady Lysandra Vaelan?” The priest called out again, and I turned to him and offered a smile. I opened my mouth to accept him as my lawfully wedded husband, but I never got past ‘I’.

“She doesn’t.” A deep, commanding and velvety voice echoed in the hall. The guests gasped and turned in the direction of the voice.

The sound of his powerful footsteps boomed across the hall, and the ground shook a little with every step he took towards the altar. Towards me.

I couldn’t turn away from the devilish handsomeness approaching us for some reason. Every inch of him radiated danger, and it almost felt intoxicating

His gaze was locked onto mine as if we were the only two people in the room. And I felt fear in my heart for the first time, and I liked it.

I broke out of the trance when a group of guards yelled and charged towards him. Each one with his weapon. They raised their spears, swords, knives, and other dangerous-looking weapons I couldn’t identify and charged to attack him, but he sent them flying in the air with little to no effort.

Just the flick of his hand. My eyes widened in surprise. I knew he was the dragon, but I never imagined him to have that much power.

“Don’t worry Everyone. I’m here to protect you all. Nothing is going to stop this union today.” The arrogance in Caelan's voice almost made me snort.

I knew Caelan was expertly trained in combat, Kung Fu, and Martial arts. He had an incredible amount of internal energy and was even bound to be the future enforcer, but that man just defeated fifteen soldiers with the flick of his hand.

His eyes were set on me. It wasn’t going to end well, and I knew it.

“Hey! How dare you come to disrupt my wedding?” Caelan roared and drew out his sword.

Drakar turned to Caelan, and the corner of his lips curved into a nasty smirk, and his eyes darkened. “She belongs to me.” He said simply, but his tone was cold and sharp. Gasps erupted through the crowd, but I was as confused as they were.

Belonged to him? I had never met him until that day.

“No,” Caelan replied with a chuckle filled with anger. “She doesn’t belong to you. She is my wife. And you’re going to pay for disrupting my big day.”

With a sharp huff, he charged at him, his sword raised.

Drakar stood there, unmoving. And when Caelan was about to strike at him, he paused mid-air and groaned with pain. Then, the wrist of his hand wielding the sword turned at an uncomfortable angle and broke with a snap.

Drakar ignored him and walked up to me. I shivered by how cold his gaze was, but at the same time hot. Or maybe it was because of the fear.

I watched, helpless as my mother knelt beside my father, and bowed her head slightly. “Please, Drakar. Tell us what you want.” My father’s gaze snapped towards her, and he didn’t hide his displeasure.

The Madam of the Vaelan family wasn’t meant to kneel or bow to anyone other than her husband and the king. We were a prominent family, and it spoke badly of us.

I internally scoffed. Even now when I was in danger, my father didn’t care. It has always been status, influence and power for him.

Drakar’s gaze fell on the wedding ring on my finger. His lips curled with disdain, and without warning, he reached forward, his hand hot and rough as it gripped mine.

Panic surged through me as I wondered what he was about to do when he brought my hand to his mouth.

In one swift move, he removed the wedding ring from my finger with his teeth and threw it on the floor like a discarded trinket.

“Your daughter.” He replied, his voice low. I could hear the silent threat sizzling underneath the calmness of his tone. “She’s mine.”

“No, please. You can take anything else, but not her!” My mother begged, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. In one swift movement we were in the sky, and Drakar was in his true form.

The last thing I saw were the tears that ran down her cheek, while she stretched her hand out for me.

I tried to struggle against his grip, but he was a thousand times stronger than I was. I gave up when I realised thee fall was going to kill me if he let me go.

He brought me to his castle on the very top of the mountain, and led me to a beautiful room, admittedly bigger than mine back in my house. I was still looking around in awe when I snapped out of my daze, furious.

So, I turned to him and spoke my mind. “Who gave you the right to kidnap me, hunh?”

His arms were crossed against his chest, and I had to remind myself to not get distracted by his biceps. His expression was unchanging, and his jaw was locked.

“Take me back right now.”

“And what makes you think I’m going to let you go?”

My heart dropped, and I drew in a sharp breath because it felt like all the air was knocked out of my lungs.

“I’ll never bow to you.” I spat, my lips quivering.

To my surprise, he smiled—a slow, dangerous smile that revealed the glint of his teeth, sharp as blades. “Good. I’d hate for this to be easy.”