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  Khyron’s Claim

  Ketaurran Warriors: Book 2

  Rayna Tyler

  Khyron’s Claim

  Copyright © 2019 by Rayna Tyler

  http://raynatyler.com/

  Published by Rayna Tyler, 2019

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-7328895-8-3

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  A Special Note

  Books by Rayna Tyler

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Celeste

  My instincts, at least when it came to sensing danger, were finely honed and rarely wrong. Something wasn’t right. I could feel it in my core, had felt it for several days now. Yet when I leaned against the ornately carved wall of rock bordering the terrace and stared down at the city of Aztrashar, I didn’t see anything suspicious.

  Maybe I was mistaken and should blame the tension thrumming through my body on boredom. My friends Sloane, Laria, Cara, Burke, and I were temporary houseguests in the home of the drezdarr, the leader of the ketaurran people. I’d been stuck in the city way longer than I’d expected, and all I wanted to do was return to the human settlement and home.

  We’d successfully completed our mission by rescuing Vurell, the physician who’d been abducted by mercs, and returning him along with an antidote to stop the toxin that was slowly killing the drezdarr. Supposedly, the male I had yet to meet wanted to thank my friends and me personally for saving his life. So instead of heading home, we’d been asked to stay. It was the drezdarr’s polite way of ordering us to remain in the city until he had completed the sleep-induced healing process necessary for the drug to work.

  I hadn’t assisted the vryndarr, the drezdarr’s elite warriors, with the mission or risked my life to save their leader. I’d done it because the toxin was a threat to many lives, human and ketaurran alike. I had no interest in being thanked for the role I played in the rescue. If I hadn’t known punishment for refusing a ketaurran leader’s request was severe, I’d have left the day after we arrived.

  Other than the few times Sloane and I had ventured to the trader’s market, I had nothing to do but wait and visited the terrace frequently. I tipped my chin into the breeze, warmed by the early afternoon sun, and stared at the deep-green sky, where a cluster of blue-gray clouds had formed along the horizon signaling an oncoming storm.

  Feeling confined and edgy, my patience gone, I decided to indulge my curiosity about the drezdarr and headed for his personal quarters. It probably wasn’t a good idea and meant major trouble if I got caught. Since I wasn’t big on following rules anyway, I decided it was worth the risk. With any luck, the drezdarr would be awake so I could get my thank-you, then leave.

  I crept down the corridor leading to his private rooms, pausing outside Burke’s sleeping chamber long enough to hear him arguing with Vurell. Both males were obstinate and strong-willed and had differing viewpoints on whether or not the injuries Burke had received during our rescue attempt had healed enough for him to be allowed out of bed. I stifled a grin and silently slipped past the open doorway undetected.

  Surprisingly, there were no guards standing in the hallway outside the closed doors of the drezdarr’s quarters. I knew I shouldn’t be here, but couldn’t force myself to walk away. After taking several deep breaths to calm my racing heart, I pressed on the door and slipped inside.

  The interior of the room was dimly lit. Large wooden panels had been secured over the window areas to block out the sunlight. I waited for my eyes to adjust, then perused my surroundings. To the right sat a long desk and chair. Filling the area to the left was a massive bed, the frame constructed from stone much like the rest of the building.

  From where I stood, I could see the large outline of a body beneath the blanket on top of the bed. I heard a male groan, not a normal sleep-laden noise, but the pain-filled moan of someone in the throes of torment. The heartfelt and overwhelming need to comfort him was too strong, so I cautiously inched closer.

  After one glimpse and a shocked gasp, I clamped my hand over my mouth. Even with the sweat soaking the dark hair and plastering it to the skin around his face, I recognized the male before me. I knew the face all too well. It belonged to the male who had abandoned me, the male responsible for shredding my heart and letting my family die.

  He was as handsome as I remembered, yet during the years since I’d last seen him, he’d matured, transformed into an even more appealing male. The contours of his face had sharpened, his jaw becoming more prominent. His body had filled out too. His chest was broader, his muscles more defined. I knew if he opened his eyes, they’d be an azure shade of blue, intense, intelligent, and, on rare occasions, sparkling with humor.

  He fisted the blanket at his sides, the movement exposing his chest. His scales had lost their luster, were no longer a vibrant blue but a dull ash. “Oh, Khyron,” I whispered, unable to resist running my fingertip along his arm.

  He groaned again, this time with less agony and a hint of a smile forming on his lips. He sniffed the air, then the end of his tail, which had been hanging limply over the edge of the bed, curled upward, possessively ensnaring the back of my legs. It reminded me of another time, a happier time when we’d…

  “Celeste, you should not be in here.” The sound of Vurell’s voice made me jump. He rushed to my side, his gaze focused on Khyron’s tail, his tone admonishing. “What did you do to the drezdarr?”

  The drezdarr? I’d been so focused on Khyron’s condition that I’d forgotten whose room I’d crept into. Along with the realization came renewed anger. Not only had he deserted me, but he’d failed to tell me he was a member of the ruling family. I inhaled a deep breath, ignored Vurell’s question, and stared at Khyron’s deteriorating state, wondering if we’d risked our lives for nothing? “Were we too late?” I rasped, speaking around the constriction in my throat. No matter how much I hated what he’d done. No matter how much I’d never wanted to see him again, I didn’t want him to die. Never that.

  “No, the drezdarr owes your friends and you his life.” Some of the harshness disappeared from his voice. “Unfortunately, healing from the toxin is painful. The additional drugs I gave him will ensure he rests during the remainder of the process. I expect a full recovery within the next few days.”

  I avoided looking at Vurell, blinking away the moisture forming in my eyes. I’d sworn long ago that I would never shed another tear for Khyron, not ever.

  I ran my hand along his tail, then removed it from my leg. “Good, then I’ll still get a chance to cut out his heart.” The words, though cruel and unlike me, were empty. I’d never follow through with the threat. They were simply a way to release my anger and ease some of my hurt.

  I should have been exhilarated, felt some sort of satisfaction at seeing Vurell’s uneasy scowl as I turned and rushed from the room. Instead, I fel
t nothing. Nothing but a familiar emptiness and regret.

  ***

  Khyron

  Pain was nothing new. I had suffered it for weeks, but never to the extent caused by the toxin being purged from my system. The sleeping state that Vurell had induced was not deep enough to numb my body or force me to relax as he had stated. My mind filled with memories, jumping from one moment to the next, a continual trip from the present to the past. The physical pain I could endure. It was the emotional torment, having to relive losing my ketiorra, the one female I could claim as a mate, that was unbearable.

  The memories started with the day I met Celeste. It was near the onset of the war, weeks before my sire died, not long before I would take on the role of drezdarr.

  The war had been started by Sarus, my sire’s sibling, a greedy male whose desire to rule the planet outweighed any thought of the destruction he would cause to all the inhabitants living on Ketaurrios.

  It had been reported that some of Sarus’s males had been targeting humans, and I had been traveling with my sire’s soldiers, visiting the settlements and offering protection.

  I was young, arrogant, and convinced I did not need any males acting as my guards. I had gotten good at losing them when I wanted to be by myself. At the time, the vryndarr, the males responsible for protecting the drezdarr, traveled with my sire; otherwise, I never would have gotten away from the males.

  Once I was alone, I heard the sound of female laughter and followed it until I found Celeste and her sister Maria. I learned the younger female had a habit of wandering off from their home, which was why they were in the wooded area to begin with.

  Since ketaurrans rarely visited the settlements, Celeste believed I was one of Sarus’s males. She tried to take my head off with a large stick before shoving me into one of several puddles of water created by a recent storm. Later, after introductions, I’d questioned Celeste about straying away from her home without the protection of a male. She had found my question amusing, stating she could take care of herself and did not need a male’s help. She had further insulted my ego by pointing out that I was the one who was soaked and covered with sandy mud.

  My mind skipped ahead several weeks to the last time I saw Celeste, a heavy weight settling on my chest. I had just received word that my sire needed me to join him. It was evening, and we stood outside the dwelling she shared with her family. I was holding her in my arms, wiping away her single tear and promising to return.

  I was ripped from the memory of our final kiss and transported to another time. A time of great loss. A time when I was forced to live through my sire’s death, then received the news that Celeste and her entire family had been slaughtered by some of Sarus’s men. The pain tearing through my heart was no less excruciating than it had been all those years ago.

  In my mind I visualized my fists clenching, my agony released with a moan. Then I heard my name spoken in the soothing sound of Celeste’s voice. I could smell her scent, feel her human fingertips caressing my scales, and appreciated the way her long legs fit nicely within the possessive curl of my tail.

  No image accompanied what I assumed was a part of my imagination. Though it could not be real, I embraced the moment anyway, my tension slowly easing. When I heard the anger in her voice and felt her hand on my tail, dislodging it from the warmth of her soft curves, I experienced my earlier agony all over again.

  I refused to lose her, and fought to regain the memory. The more I struggled, the more I drifted in and out of a foggy haze until my body finally reacted by jolting me awake. I forced my heavy lids open, half expecting to see Celeste standing next to me. Instead, I was greeted by Vurell’s frowning face, his dark eyes filled with concern. I groaned, disappointed that what seemed so real had been another torturous dream. Yet, if what I had sensed was truly my imagination, then why was the room filled with her unique scent, and why were my scales tingling?

  “Khyron, how are you feeling?”

  I wanted to spare my friend any hurt and did not tell him that the unconscious state he had induced only minimized my suffering. It did not relieve it. “Better.” I pushed to a sitting position. The aftereffects of the drugs I had been given left my head groggy and my stomach nauseous.

  Vurell did not seem convinced. He crossed his arms, unwilling to budge or allow me to leave the bed. I did not have enough strength to battle the male, at least not yet, so I sighed and pressed my back to the headboard.

  “How long was I asleep?” I asked.

  “Only a few days, but you should not be awake yet,” Vurell growled.

  Movement near the open doorway leading into the hallway outside my sleeping chamber drew my attention. Thrayn, the youngest member of the vryndarr, stepped into view and gave me a brief nod. His light brown hair was secured at his nape with a strip of leather, and his vest stretched across his muscled chest. Judging by the way his hand rested on the hilt of his blade and the glint in his pale green eyes, he was determined to protect me. He would not be there unless Jardun, the male I had left in charge, had assigned him the task. “Why is there a guard posted outside my room?”

  “I requested his presence.” Vurell crossed his arms.

  “Why?” Someone had already tried to take my life by dosing me with a deadly toxin. Had something else happened while I was recovering?

  “Because of the female.” His cheeks flushed from pale peach to a dark orange.

  “What female?” My heart raced, invigorated for the first time in weeks. Was it possible Celeste was alive, that what I thought was my imagination was real, that she had been in my room?

  “The human female who threatened to cut out your heart. Though it is unclear whether or not she would actually hurt you, I did not want to take the chance.”

  Celeste had a temper, and the threat sounded exactly like something she would say. I hid my grin, certain Vurell would not appreciate my amusement. “Does this female have a name?”

  Frustrated, Vurell swiped his hand through his hair. “Of course she has a name. Why would you—”

  The last of my patience dissolved, and I snapped, “Her name.”

  As always, Vurell ignored my harsh tone. “Celeste. Her name is Celeste.”

  A female with the same name could not be a coincidence. After all these years, I knew in my heart it was her, my ketiorra. No amount of nausea, throbbing in my head, or nagging from an annoying physician was going to stop me from going after her. I smiled, then pushed the blanket aside and moved to the other side of the bed.

  “Where do you think you are going?” Vurell circled the end of the bed, intent on blocking my escape. “You are not yet fully healed and must continue to rest.”

  “I am done resting. Now take me to see this female.”

  Chapter Two

  Celeste

  My skin still tingled from having Khyron’s tail wrapped around the back of my legs. It was a reminder of another time, a time filled with happy memories. Memories I’d spent years trying to bury.

  I clenched my fists and stormed down every hallway leading back to the quarters I shared with my friends, not caring who noticed. He’d lied to me. Okay, it wasn’t exactly a lie, but not telling me he was the drezdarr, or at least related to the drezdarr when we’d first met, wasn’t exactly being truthful either.

  In my angry haste, I took a corner too sharply and almost collided with Zaedon, one of the ketaurran males who’d been on the mission to rescue Vurell. He was also a vryndarr and someone I’d enjoyed being around.

  His scales were a similar blue to Khyron’s but his eyes were a dark turquoise and his chestnut hair had light cinnamon streaks. Though I found his appearance striking and his humor enjoyable, we’d never be anything more than friends.

  “Zyrdena, are you all right?” Concern furrowed his brow, not a common look for the easygoing warrior.

  Shortly after we’d met, he’d started addressing me with the nickname that translated to “little princess” in his language. I knew it was his way of teasing
me, but I’d grown fond of hearing it nonetheless.

  “Fine.” I sidestepped to his right, not in the mood to answer any questions.

  He blocked the move, placing his hand gently on my shoulder. “Has someone offended you?” He rested his other hand on the hilt of the sword attached to the belt circling his hips.

  I released an exasperated sigh. Even though he knew I could wield any number of blades and was trained to take care of myself, it didn’t prevent him from being overprotective. Ketaurran males were hardwired to protect all females. It was a part of their culture, so I couldn’t fault him for his reaction.

  “No, no one has offended me.” I patted his hand. “I was running late to meet with Sloane and wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” I hated myself for lying, but how could I tell Zaedon I had a history with the male he was sworn to protect, or that Khyron was the reason I planned to leave?

  “Then I will not keep you.” There was skepticism in his gaze, but it did not stop him from removing his hand and stepping aside so I could pass.

  I paused in the doorway of the rooms I shared with Sloane, Cara, and occasionally Laria because she spent her nights with Jardun in his quarters. Sloane was seated at a corner table inside the main gathering room, sharpening one of her many blades. Laria and Cara had pushed the furniture against a wall and were using the center of the room to spar. The headlock Cara had on Laria didn’t last long, and she ended up on the floor with a thud.

  “Hey, guys,” I said as I headed for my room. I was still too upset to talk and was determined to pack before anyone could change my mind, myself included.

  Once inside my room, I grabbed my pack off a shelf and began stuffing the few belongings I’d brought with me inside. Our home at the settlement wasn’t quite as elaborate as the drezdarr’s. I was going to miss sleeping in a plush bed and using the bathing room’s large tub with a polished sandstone finish.