Dragon Blood

Twenty-One: Time for the Truth

Samuel's hand reached up to grab her chin and tilt it up to look at him. Before Skylar could stop herself, her hand flew up and grabbed his wrist. Her claws came out and dug into his skin and her eyes began glowing menacingly. He gasped and his hand released her chin, but she only tightened her grip on his arm. She could feel blood begin to drip around her claws where they were embedded into him.

"Don't touch me," she growled softly. "Don't assume I want anything to do with you. Just because Orion left me alone doesn't mean you, or anyone else, has any right to try to assert themselves over me."

Samuel's yellow eyes started to glow in response to her anger and his mouth opened to reveal sharpening teeth. She felt his hand clench as his claws grew, but her eyes never left his. She didn't think she could beat him, she had no fighting experience or training, but she thought she could at least leave a few marks on him.

She increased her grip on him, but remained calm as his anger grew. She could almost taste it in the air. Not only was she hurting him physically, she'd wounded his pride. That was a dangerous combination with an arrogant man. He was getting ready to take a swing at her when a rumbling voice came over her shoulder.

"Try it. We'll see how it goes for you, Samuel," Orion warned. Skylar tried not to feel relief at his appearance, but it came anyway. She turned her head to look up at him, and nearly froze in fear herself. Orion was an intimidating man anyway, but with his body paint, scaled garment, and true anger clouding his eyes, he was downright terrifying. She hadn't seen Orion using his Alpha rank yet, not really, and now it had arrived in full force. She was just thankful it wasn't directed at her.

Samuel immediately submitted, casting his gaze to the ground and retracting his claws and teeth. Skylar slowly let go of his arm, trying not to gag at the blood that was on her fingers. Samuel backed away a few steps, his gaze anywhere but at Orion. "Alpha, I didn't mean-"

"I know what you meant," Orion snarled. "And so did Skylar. Come near her again, and I will kill you. Understand?"

"Yes, Alpha," Samuel began to scurry away. "I'm sorry, Alpha." And he was gone in a flash. Skylar took a small amount of satisfaction from the fact that she'd been correct about him. As soon as someone of higher rank than him arrived, he lost all illusion of bravery or strength.

Skylar turned to look at Orion, finding him still staring after the nasty man. "You didn't have to interfere." She knew she should have thanked him, but she still didn't like the relief she'd felt at his arrival. It made her feel like she couldn't have handled it on her own.

"Yes I did." He didn't elaborate further, but looked around at the people behind him. Skylar understood his meaning; no one was paying them any attention. If he hadn't interfered, there would have been a scene. It was also likely that the clan would have taken Samuel's side; she was the outsider, he wasn't. Skylar looked back up at him again, only to find those golden eyes trained on her. She stared into them for a moment, and though he hid his thoughts well, she couldn't help but fell that there had been another reason he'd had to interfere.

"I still could have handled him," she muttered, looking away. Her pride was slightly wounded, although she knew it was dumb. She wasn't used to people having to come to her rescue, or people treating her poorly either. She didn't like it. "I deal with people like that all the time in court."

"What does that mean?" Orion asked, and Skylar realized that she'd revealed just a little too much about herself.

She waved her hand nonchalantly. "Nothing, it's just-- just people who think highly of themselves."

"In court?"

She looked up at him. "Let it go. You have more important things to worry about tonight."