A Pet for the Dragons

134.

IVRET

"What do you mean?" Zorge growled at me after I told him about my meeting with Mavie and my new appointment as an Arch Healer and her advisor. His nostrils flared with rage, and his eyes flashed dangerously.

My mood was already sour after talking to Mavie, and it soured even more when I caught a whiff of Arika's scent on Zorge. He smelled strongly of her, and I didn't have to guess why.

They mated.

It shot a tinge of jealousy through me, making my dragon more restless to come to the surface. But I held it all off. Of course, Zoreg would mate with her first since it was his duty solely to be with her. He took full advantage of the situation, pushing me to the verge of snapping.

My head was already full of dark, raging thoughts, but this made everything worse.

"Do you want me to check your ears? Didn't you hear me the first time?" I hissed back at him, clutching my head and clenching my teeth to keep myself from having a complete breakdown.

"You didn't resist," Zorge accused me. "I'm sure you didn't," I snapped and bared my fangs at him.

"Easy for you to say without being in my shoes," I hissed at him. "You think I want to do this? You think I want to stay longer in this place when I gave up everything to leave it in the first place?" I demanded, my voice rising gradually. Zorge glared at me, a dangerous look in his eyes.

I didn't care. I was willing to fight him if he wanted to fight me. My dragon craved to fight him, knowing he had first mated with Arika.

He might've mated with her first, but I had Arika's heart first. She said this to me in front of the brothers. I tried to remind myself of this as I tried to control my anger. I didn't want to do something stupid now.

"I think it's my fault to expect you to get this done," Zorge growled and instantly whatever calm I had evaporated. I wasn't going to hold back anymore.

"Why don't you go and talk to her then? I will arrange an audience for you," I shot back.

"I'd love that. It seems that things are coming down to this. I knew I'd have to get involved because you are incompetent at these things, yet they said you were good at diplomacy," Zorge shot back, and I growled.

"Alright, I will—"

"— what's going on?" Arika interrupted, making the two of us straighten up. I'd wanted to go to her the first thing after returning from the court, but I didn't because Zorge had told me she was sleeping.

However, seeing her now didn't help me anymore. Especially when I noticed the redness under the collar of her neck. Zorge had been all over her. I clenched my teeth, somehow holding my dragon back. He'd been craving Arika terribly, but we didn't have the opportunity to mate with her. Seeing that Zorge was the first to mate with her made my dragon crave her even more. I craved for her even more and wished I could be with her already.

"Oh, it's nothing. We were debating how to celebrate Ivret's new position as the Arch Healer and an advisor to the Empress," Zorge growled. Arika's eyes widened, and she looked at me in shock. I hated it.

"I tried..." I said through clenched teeth, clenching and unclenching my fists continuously to hold myself back from snapping fully. "But Mavie is more aggressive with her ways than ever. She outright demanded that I take the position, or she'd declare me a traitor,"

"Hah! So much for being good friends with the Empress. I see how well it's serving us now," Zorge spat, and a growl ripped out of me. It belonged to my dragon. He was clawing at me to let him free so he could tear Zorge into shreds.

"Ivret," Arika stepped before me, her eyes filled with concern and fear. I tore my eyes from Zorge and focused on her instead, but Zorge's scent smothered all over her drove me mad. It wasn't helping at all. She took my face in her hands, looking deep into my eyes, searching. "Are you alright?" She asked.

Her question disarmed me for a moment and cleared the dark thoughts from my head, but they were back when I caught a whiff of her scent. Zorge's scent overpowered hers, making every part of my body ick. I closed my eyes and forced myself to ignore this, but I couldn't. I couldn't anymore.

"Ivret... listen to me... Ivret, are you there? Ivy—" I turned around and stormed to my room, leaving the two alone. I needed to be with myself for a while to calm down and collect my thoughts, or I was afraid I'd do something foolish in the heat of the moment.

I was terrified of being anywhere near Arika in this state. I was afraid that my possessiveness for her would overpower my judgement and reason, and I'd end up hurting her. Because my dragon was raging to be let free, knowing that Zorge had already mated with her.

If she could mate with him, she could mate with me, too.

No. This was not the time for it. This was a time of crisis, and I needed to keep my head clear and think straight. I couldn't get carried away by emotions and my primal side. I'd already done that in the past, which was why we were in this colossal mess today.

I'd gotten us into this mess.

This realization was a disturbing one, but it was the reality. This was all happening because of me. Arika was in this dangerous place because of me. The brothers were commissioned to the frontlines again because of me. I was the root of all the problems which had just begun.

My thoughts continued to spiral as I stormed to my room and slammed the door behind me. I almost tore all my clothes and went straight to the bath to soak into it and try drowning my dark thoughts.

"IVY?" Arika called for me from the other side of the door, but I ignored her calls. I didn't want to see her now, or would I... no. I shook my head. I couldn't think about those things now. I needed to... I needed to...

"IVY OPEN THE DOOR!" Arika kept calling for me. "IVY PLEASE! TALK TO ME! TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!"

"GO AWAY!" I yelled, hoping she'd leave, but she started banging on the door.

"I'M NOT GOING AWAY UNTIL YOU OPEN THE DOOR AND TALK TO ME!" She yelled back, her voice thick with determination. "NOW STOP ACTING LIKE A RAGING TEENAGER AND OPEN THE DOOR!"

"I SAID GO AWAY! DID YOUR EARS STOPPED WORKING TOO?" I growled as my annoyance grew along with my lust for Arika. She didn't know what she was asking for. My dragon wanted to open the door already and claim her. To him, her calls were for mating, but I knew better than to listen to him.

"THEY MIGHT HAVE. CAN YOU LOOK AT THEM? IT'S URGENT!" Arika replied.

'Open the door. She's asking for it.' My dragon spoke to me, awake and ready for mating. I ignored him.

"I SAID GO AWAY!"

"I'M GOING TO BREAK THIS DOOR DOWN IF YOU DON'T OPEN IT, IVY," I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes as I slinked deeper into the bath, hoping it would somehow send her away, but it didn't. Instead, I heard the noise of her beating at the door and Zorge yelling at her. I kept ignoring it until I heard a loud crash outside, followed by Arika's cry of pain.

I leapt out of the bath immediately and went looking for her. Most of my rage was imminently replaced with concern and guilt. I'd feel terrible if she ended up hurting herself because of me. My day couldn't be more ruined.

I opened the door to look for Arika, but she took advantage of this and snuck into the room in the blink of an eye before she shut the door, leaving Zorge outside.

She was now with me in my room. All alone.

All for myself...

"Arika," I growled, realizing she baited me and fell for it. However, it was she who had walked into a trap—a dangerous one.

"Stop acting like a teenager and tal—" She stopped, realizing I was utterly naked.

"Arika," My dragon growled, surfacing. I couldn't hold him back anymore. "All mine,"

~

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