Like hell. “I want her,” he growled. His ears still rang from the fall. His shoulder felt stiff and his jaw ached. Torrent was so irritated and frustrated with himself that he could roar. Anger coursed through him. Who did this little prick think he was? Unfortunately, they were evenly matched. The male was a fire dragon. That gave him the advantage. More heat energy coursed through a fire dragon’s veins, making it a simple fact. Fire versus water.

Torrent’s mind was reeling. He felt dizzy. The fall had been hard, as he was moving quickly. Coal had used his momentum against him. Fuck! Coal’s closed fist came at him from out of nowhere. There was nothing Torrent could do to avoid the blow completely. He took a step back to circumvent the worst of the force.

Torrent could hear footfalls behind them. It was of no concern to him. The approaching male would take the sun-haired female. It would buy him time to defeat the fire prince.

Perfect.

Torrent decided to give Coal one chance at surrender. “That female is mine,” he snarled, his eyes locked with the prince’s. “You may as well give up now. Take this one.” He said in the most commanding tone he could muster, his eyes stayed on Coal’s. A non royal would cower and drop to their knees. Coal flinched.

Good!

The little prick huffed out a breath. His shoulders slumped and any sign of fight fled from him. “Fine.” His gaze dropped to the downed female.

Good. At least he knew his place. Insolent little fucker. Torrent began to move towards his human. He had to stop himself from shaking his head. Coal might be fire but he was merely a prince and Torrent—a king. How easy the prick had allowed himself to…?

Torrent heard his trachea crunch beneath the male’s fist in a move he didn’t even see coming. Next, the male gripped his neck in what felt like a vice. There was only one prick in this situation. Torrent himself! What the fuck had he been thinking? He hadn’t. Not one bit. He had been too damned eager to win a human. Suddenly all those weeks he had abstained from sex seemed stupid. He’d convinced himself that it was in preparation for the hunt. His thinking had been that it would make him hone his skills and make him hungrier for a female, a mate. In the end, it had made him think with his little head instead of his big one. Make that, he hadn’t been thinking at all.

Zero air passed through his damaged throat and Coal maintained his hold. His lungs burned and pain consumed his trachea like a wildfire. Torrent could feel his eyes bug out from his skull.