That worked. On a loud sigh, she slumped against him. “Don’t hurt me,” she whispered. Why would he hurt her? Why would any of the males hurt her? He wasn’t partial to humans himself but the others cherished and adored them. She was quite safe.

Coal deposited her on the bank. Heavy footfalls alerted him to Torrent. The male was fast approaching.

Blast!

The male didn’t even look their way. He either assumed, incorrectly, that Coal had already claimed the female or, he didn’t want the light-haired human. A growl rose up in him.

Coal pretended to be interested in the female. He pretended to be tending to her. Acted as if he had indeed claimed her, thus removing himself as a threat. As the male tried to pass, he swiped out a leg and tripped up the king. The only remaining male in their group, a lesser warrior, roared as he spotted the female lying on the ground. She whimpered and tried to scramble to her feet but fell back. The weakling was sapped of strength. She closed her eyes and moaned.

“The dark-haired one is mine,” Coal growled.

Torrent shook his head as he leapt to his feet. “I want her,” he growled.

Damn!

Coal punched the male in the jaw. Torrent took a step back and avoided the worst of the blow. The lesser male was gaining ground. He was going to claim the light-haired female. If he did that, the water king would be left with no other choice but to go after the human that Coal had earmarked. His human.

Unacceptable.

His first instinct was to kick Torrent, causing him to fly into the lesser male as he approached, giving him the upper hand. The problem was that the female was too close. She was directly behind them and he risked harming her.

“That female is mine,” Torrent snarled. “You may as well give up now. Take this one.” His eyes stayed on Coal’s.

Coal huffed out a breath. “Fine.” His gaze firmly on the downed female. He slumped his shoulders in mock defeat and closed the distance between himself and the human. Torrent looked up ahead and began to move. The water king so easily assumed that he had won. These kings were so used to everyone always obeying them. They were equals during the hunt though. Torrent had made a big mistake and forgotten that important little fact.

At the last moment, Coal lashed out, hitting the male on the trachea. He put every ounce of strength he had into the action. He heard the pipe smash. The male gripped his neck. His face turning red, his eyes bugged from his skull. Coal raced to meet the remaining male who threw himself at Coal, a roar on his lips. Coal head-butted him. The male managed to knee Coal in the stomach, winding him for a second. A very short second. The bastard would be sorry.