The Wyvern King’s Mate

By Mina Carter

Zahra needs a man… or it's end game. 

Unable to find a mate, her dragon is asleep, and the curvy dragoness is running out of time. In desperation, she makes an appointment with the Altorian council for permission to seek a mate off world. But before she can speak to the council, tall, blonde and handsome storms in, kisses her like there's no tomorrow and carries her off on the wing to his mountain-top lair. She's been kidnapped… by a wyvern of all things. Not just any wyvern, but Roc, the king they claim they don't have…

Dragons and wyverns don't get on. Like, ever. So why does she want to climb her sexy captor like a tree, and what will he do when he finds out she's the dragon king's sister?

Roc needs to be king to save his people from themselves. Because they're dumb…

Which means he needs to talk to the Altorian council... even though he'd like nothing more than to roast them where they stand. Barely out of a boring meeting and he has his arms wrapped around the tiniest, curviest, most beautiful woman he's ever seen. One breath and he knows she's his mate. One kiss and his heart belongs to her… forever. Instinct kicks in and he carries her off to his lair. Alone, away from everyone, she'll have no option but to fall for him.

Just one problem, she's the sister of his greatest enemy… and he wants her back.

NB - This title was previously released as 'Dumb as a Roc'. It has been minorly edited but not extended or revised.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mina Carter
• Release date: May 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386650294

Mina Carter

Mina Carter was born and raised in Middle Earth (otherwise known as the Midlands, England). After a slew of careers ranging from logistics to land-surveying she can now be found in the wilds of Leicestershire with her husband, daughter and a cat who moved in and never left. Suffering the curse of eternal curiosity, Mina never tires of learning new skills which has led to Aromatherapy, Corsetry, Chain-maille making, Welding, Canoeing, Shooting, and pole-dancing to name but a few. A full-time author and cover artist, Mina can usually be found hunched over a keyboard or graphics tablet, frantically trying to get the images and words in her head out and onto the screen before they drive her mad. She's addicted to coffee and Dairy-lea cheese triangles.

Book preview

Chapter 1

W e are not destroying any villages, trespassing or not. Now back off or I’ll rip your wings off and shove them so far up your ass your fucking throat will take flight.

Roc let his lip curl away from his teeth, backing his threat with a growl almost beyond hearing. It came not only from the back of his currently human throat but from deeper down within his soul, where his wyvern lay. The beast stirred its massive head, coiling and twisting within until Roc felt its scales brushing the inside of his skin. It wanted out. Now. Wanted to tear and stomp and burn.

He held it in with the ease of long practice, looking over the fire at Nesren. The little wanker was one of the younger of their number and still finding his feet within the wyvern community. Which, to be fair, was pretty much a free for all.

Unlike the dragons, with their king and their rules, wyverns didn’t have any of that shit. They had no leader and lived in the ass-end of beyond on a mountain range so remote and inhospitable no one else wanted it. Which was the problem. They’d claimed the wild landscape as their own, and some weren’t at all happy about the villages that had sprung up in the foothills below. Mainly Nesren and his cronies, who had hard-ons for flying down there to burn and ruin everything… anyone who dared to encroach on their territory.

But just because they didn’t recognize a leader didn’t mean they didn’t have a hierarchy. Namely, no one took what was Roc’s. The biggest and meanest SOB among them, he roared and they all fucking jumped. Out of his way.

Nesren seemed to have forgotten this fact. A snarl on his lips, he held Roc’s gaze in a blatant challenge.

What’s the problem? he jeered. Not got the balls for it?

Roc didn’t answer for a moment, letting the silent weight of his stare do all the work as he glared at the younger wyvern. Nesren, obviously not possessing the common sense he’d been born with, glared right on back. Behind him, other wyverns that were a little longer in the tooth and had a hell of a lot more sense had started to sidle away, putting as much space between themselves and the troublemaker as possible. Losi, the eldest amongst them, growled and threw what remained in his tankard into the fire as he hauled his bulk to his feet.

Not gettin’ into it if yer pissin’ off Roc. Fuckin’ suicide that, he growled, ambling off into the shadows in the direction of his eyrie.

No one spoke, but Nesren’s eyes slid to the side as if he were trying to gauge his support within the crowd. Roc didn’t bother. He didn’t need anyone to back him up, especially not with a wet behind the ears wyrm like this twat.

Huh, Losi always was a coward… no surprise he’d back Roc up. Birds of a feather and all that. He laughed.

Just like that Roc had had enough.

One moment he was sitting, all comfortable and cozy like in front of the fire, lounging with his tankard in one hand as he basked in the glow from the flames, the next he launched himself into movement. Tall, and heavily built in human form, he could move with a speed no human, and very few dragon-kind, possessed. Big muscles in his legs propelling him forward, his booted feet slammed into the dirt in front of the fire and he took off.

Mid-air, his wyvern form burst from him, exploding out of his human body faster than the eye could see. Massive wings sliced through the air, cutting it to bring him down to earth rather than take him aloft. His huge, heavily armored tail slammed into the fire, scattering it and the hot coals across the small plateau they used for a meeting place as he grabbed Nesren around the throat with lethal talons. He slammed the pain in the ass wyrm into the unforgiving mountain dirt with enough force to break bone.

Nesren cried out, trying to struggle enough to get away and shift, but Roc shoved his wedge-shaped head down to meet him eye to eye. Ruthlessly, he caught the younger male’s will, denying him the ability to shift and locking his beast away until Roc said otherwise.

Call me a coward again, he invited, his voice deep enough to cut boulders. If he exerted himself and roared, he could bring mountains down. Right now, though, he didn’t want to bring a mountain down. Instead, he leaned forward, the hint of smoke curling from his nostrils giving away his anger and pressed a claw into Nesren’s shoulder.

I didn’t… you’re not… The smaller male’s eyes widened as he looked down at the massive claw resting against his shirt and back up again, fear stark on his face. Roc… I didn’t mean it—

He cut off, a grunt in the back of his throat and his face tightening in pain as Roc pushed his claw down. Curved, it was the size of a broad-sword and twice as sharp, designed to slice draconic scales rather than the piss-poor armor some other species wore. Nesren’s face paled as the claw popped through his skin with a fleshy snick and continued, down through layers of muscle. It scraped bone and then cracked it on its slow drive through his body.

All the while Roc held eye contact, holding the other man’s wyvern captive deep inside, something only a powerful alpha could do. Finally, his claw exited the other side, digging into the dirt. He wiggled it a little, ignoring the whimpers of pain escaping his victim’s lips as blood pooled around it before running down the side of Nesren’s body.

Now, listen and listen fucking good. His low voice was pitched to carry around the small plateau, just in case any of Nesren’s little friends should get any ideas of a similar nature. It felt odd coming from his draconic throat. Speaking wasn’t something most could do when shifted. Only alphas.

"No one is going down to those villages and doing any burning, stomping, killing or carrying off anything… not livestock and especially not women."

He heard the rumbles, smelled the dissatisfaction on the air, and growled again.

For the intellectually challenged among us, I’ll spell it out loud and fucking clear. Anyone with a nose in their fucking head can smell that those villages have members of all different clans in them. We come down off the mountain and burn them, and we’ll have every fucker out there after us…

He looked up and around, making sure he met each pair of eyes around the remains of the fire. Some had stepped back, slid into the darkness where wyverns preferred to lurk, but nocturnal like the rest of them, he easily spotted their hiding places.

We’re not popular at the best of times. The dragons call us primitive, the furred clans call us unevolved, and the humans call us monsters. How long do you think it will take them to get together and send an army up here to ‘eradicate’ us?

"We’ll BURN them!"

Fucker’s’ll never take us alive!

DEATH OR GLORY!

Roc sighed, closing his eyes for a second. What the fuck? He must have kicked fucking puppies or kittens in a former life to get

Reviews for The Wyvern King’s Mate

[rikajadeikahihifo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome read I wish it was longer… he’s the man !

[Erika · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful love story filled with humor, danger, heart and joy. Looking forward to a sequel…

[Kristen Mae Yu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a good read for those who like short, adventurous ventures. No beating about the bush.

[Leonie K · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great characters and interesting story. And of course a wonderful happy ending. Just the type of feel good story needed during these difficult times

[Toosdhi Ra-oof · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Roc was the ultimate Alpha, his fight for his mate and crown was exciting and primal. I enjoyed reading this book, it was an awesome quick read.