Another soft roar sounded from somewhere behind the pale eyed monster. Oh hell! There were more of them coming. Though the sound was coming from a distance, it was still unmistakable. There were a lot more of them out there. Her body shook with fatigue. Her teeth clattered. She ached all over. Candy was foolish to think that she could escape. She was fucked. Well and truly fucked.

* * *

Torrent wanted the dark haired beauty. It had nothing to do with her coloring. Such things were of little importance to him. He wanted a strong female. One capable of carrying his heir. He was the water king after all. A royal. The strongest of his kind. Nothing less than the best would do.

It needed to be that one. The dark haired one. A voluptuous female with a bit of meat on her bones. She was one such female. Even though they wore shapeless dresses, as was customary during the hunt, he could tell that she was the strongest of the humans.

Not that humans could be termed strong. They were small and fragile. He knew that this would change once they were mated. They would draw strength from their much stronger mate. They would grow even stronger as their bellies swelled with child.

An heir.

Adrenaline rushed through him and he had to suppress a growl. He could not wait to fully claim his future mate. The dark-haired one. The sturdy one. It was important to have a good foundation. The other two remaining humans were scrawny, little things. Especially the one with hair like the sun. Her arms were mere sticks. She lay sprawled on the ground like a drowned rat. He was shocked to see the fire prince tend to her. Torrent was convinced that they had been after the same female. He had seen how the male’s eyes had locked with the dark-haired one. He hadn’t looked in the least bit interested in this one until now.

Maybe the male had changed his mind. The sun-haired one did have an enticing scent. Maybe that was what had drawn Coal to her. It was fruity and exotic. She moaned, reminding him of her weakness. Coal pushed hair from her face. The male was going to claim her now if he hadn’t done so already.

Torrent suppressed a smile. He chose to focus on his prize instead. One second, he was on his way to claim the female and the next, he was biting the dirt… hard. It was an error in judgement that could end up costing him dearly. A lesser warrior roared in the distance. The female moaned again.

Torrent shook his head to try and clear it. His ears were ringing. His prize… he had to stay focused on his prize.

“The dark-haired one is mine,” Coal barked as Torrent leapt to his feet.