by Zoey Ellis
A Lair So Primal
Copyright © 2021 by Zoey Ellis. All rights reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The right of Zoey Ellis to be identified as the author of this book has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent’s Act, 1988. All rights reserved. Except for use in review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part, by any means, is forbidden without written permission from the author.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by any way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the author’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
First Edition: September 2021
Contents
Pronunciation Guide
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
Discover Myth of Omega
Acknowledgments
About Zoey Ellis
Also by Zoey Ellis
A Lair So Primal
From a dark, magic-ravaged world comes an enthralling new fantasy romance series. Five brothers, last of an ancient Alpha bloodline, each bound by fire and blood to their majestic dragons.
She trespassed on his land. Now she is his to keep.
While traveling to a dragon lord’s lair, Elora crosses forbidden land belonging to the lord’s brother, a viciously territorial alpha named Zendyor.
Known for his legendary temper, Zendyor and his bonded dragon are feared across the realm… and now, because of one mistake, she must be turned over to him.
Though she has suffered tragedies through a long-waged war that would make most crumble, Elora is the ultimate optimist and looks to the future with hope.
But nothing prepares her for the seductiveness of his fury.
Terrified, she tries to avoid him and shine a light against the darkness that permeates his lair, but the alpha will not allow it.
His dark attentions turn into a carnal obsession.
Soon she is caught in his storm, unable to tell the difference between his never-ending fury and his primal hunger for her.
When a sudden opportunity arises to escape him, Elora discovers secrets about herself that crush her eternal optimism.
But Zenyor will not allow her to evade his claim. As his rage reaches heights that threaten the realm, he wants everything she is.
He may be the final battle she cannot survive.
A LAIR SO PRIMAL is the third book in The Last Dragorai, a steamy fantasy romance series. This series can be read as standalones but will be better enjoyed if read in order. Includes romance of a dark nature and a HEA.
Pronunciation Guide
Zendyor - ZEN-dee-yor
Elora - ee-LORE-rah
Dragorai - drag-GOR-rye
Marahl - Mah-RAH-l
Yorgynel - yore-gin-nell
Dan Askha - dan-AX-ah
Kon’aya - kon-nye-ah
Thrakondarian - thrak-kon-DAR-ree-ann
Tyomar - tie-OH-mar
Nyro - NY-roe
Sethorn - seth-orne
Khyros - KY-ros
Vattoro - vat-TOR-roe
I’mya - im-my-ah
Oshali - osh-SHAH-lee
Mheyu - may-you
1
A pronunciation guide for this world can be located from the Contents page.
“Elora. You have been summoned.”
Still laughing at her lopsided lumps of clay, Elora turned from the table of girls she was chuckling with and looked behind her. It was Dayatha, one of the main stewards. “By who?”
Dayatha’s expression was strange. “Master.”
Elora sobered and her friends around the table quickly quietened. Master Nyro hadn’t summoned any servants like her in months—he hadn’t needed to. “What does he want with me?” she asked.
“I don’t know yet,” Dayatha said, beckoning her to follow as she turned to leave the room.
Elora didn’t move.
Her friends glanced at each other, their expressions echoing her confusion. Even though most of them entered the lair to be Master Nyro’s bed companion, Elora hadn’t met him yet. Apart from seeing him around the lair a few times, Elora had never been in the same vicinity as him.
“Let’s go, Elora,” Dayatha called.
Elora slowly got up, her confusion morphing into concern. What did he want her for? “Is he…?” She swallowed and started again. “Am I…?”
Dayatha stepped toward her. “Elora,” she said, her voice softer. “It is unlikely to be anything terrible, but we cannot keep him waiting.”
Elora nodded and forced herself to follow Dayatha out of the crafting room.
They made their way through the corridors of the lair to the nearest washroom so she could wash the clay from her hands, before continuing down the corridors. The lair had been forged inside an enormous mountain, and it had many corridors and rooms to house Master Nyro’s staff, even a beautiful garden area and a temple for the Seven Goddesses.
They passed the sleeping lounge that served as the communal sleeping area for the multiple women who had entered the lair to be one of Nyro’s kon’aya, the old language name for those who served as bed companions to the dragorai. The sleeping lounge was where Elora felt most safe and relaxed. Maybe it was because she had her own little private nook carved into the wall, or maybe it was because everyone treated the sleeping lounge with respect; there were no excited noises or loud sounds or even frantic sex, which took place frequently all over the lair. Everyone respected the sleeping lounge, and made sure it was quiet and… peaceful. A word she never thought she would experience after being raised among the merciless streets of the North Cities.
As they walked Elora’s nerves calmed. Dayatha was right. Whatever Master wanted, it wouldn’t be terrible—he was too scarily obsessed with his mate I’mya to want Elora—at least for the service she’d come to the lair for. It had to be something else.
Several sloped corridors took them higher up the mountain than she’d been before. Dayatha slowed outside a wide door and turned to Elora. “Ready?”
Elora smiled and nodded before Dayatha turned and led her inside.
It was Master Nyro’s private chambers she entered. Furnished more intricately than any other room, the wealth of the dragorai was displayed without reservation. The thick woven rugs, striking paintings, and beautifully made shelves and chests that occupied the room were a display of wealth that Elora had never seen, and of course, the wall that should have spanned the length of the room was missing, similar to the sleeping lounge. It offered a view of Master’s white and grey mountain range far into the distance. It was hard to believe that beyond such a peaceful scene were the brutal war-torn lands of the realm where she’d lived all her life until only a few months ago.
Master stood by the side of the room open to the wide expanse of the mountains. Tall, thick, and broad, his size was typical of a dragorai male. They were bigger and more ferocious than other alphas, and their counterpart dragons with whom they’d been bonded to at birth were also wilder than oth
er dragons. When Elora first arrived, she’d been deathly afraid of meeting Master Nyro, and even more nervous of bedding him, and looking at him now, she knew she may not have survived it. I’mya, one of the girls she met on her first day, had taken that burden, though it turned out so differently than anyone expected. Elora was relieved to see I’mya sitting over by the bed, her eyes squinted in a frown at a Dao board, staring at the pieces and trying to decide her next move. But when Dayatha and Elora entered, I’mya glanced up and then stood slowly, surprise on her face.
Master turned to Elora and Dayatha, addressing them in his native tongue, a powerful language so old it was no longer understood by the common person.
“Master appreciates that we came quickly to his summons,” Dayatha translated.
Elora nodded and smiled, glancing at I’mya as she did.
It wasn’t a good sign that I’mya looked confused. “Did you summon them here, Nyro?” she asked.
Master nodded.
“Why?”
Master responded to her in his language and I’mya frowned but said nothing as he directed another question at Elora.
“Master asks,” Dayatha said turning to her, “if you know why the Forbidden Mountains have that name?”
Elora nodded. The Forbidden Mountains was the region that Master and his brothers, the last remaining clan of the dragorai, now resided. They had each claimed a mountain range of their own. “Umm… yes,” she said.
“Why?” Dayatha translated.
Elora took a breath before she spoke, wondering if this was some kind of test. “To prevent people from trespassing on your territories. And also to protect yourselves.”
The dragorai’s mountain ranges sat in between two continents called the Twin Realms which was also separated by the sea. But each dragorai was very protective of his territory.
“Good,” Dayatha said, translating for Master. “It means that if someone is found on our territories, their fate belongs to us. We can induct them into our lair, we can hunt them, we can do whatever we wish to them. They belong to us.”
Elora nodded. “It helps keep people away when they know they could suffer that fate.”
Master smiled. “I’m glad you are familiar with it. My trackers tell me that when you arrived to the meeting point to be brought here, you crossed through another dragorai’s territory.”
Elora froze, her face turning cold. No.
Dayatha continued before she even had time to digest what had been said. “He is demanding that you be returned to him since you were on his territory first.”
Elora opened her mouth to defend herself but there was nothing she could say. It was true. She’d made the decision to hike across another dragorai’s range, and she’d just explained that she knew the rules.
“Does that mean she has to leave our lair?” I’mya’s breath was halted.
Master responded in his language and Dayatha did not translate, but he must have said yes because I’mya asked. “Whose lair?”
“Zendyor’s.”
Terror slammed into Elora at the name. No. Not him… Any brother but him. I’mya looked as though she might try to argue against it, but Elora knew there was no possibility of escaping the decision. She had trespassed and she couldn’t deny it. Elora didn’t want I’mya to be at odds with her mate about something that she should take responsibility for.
She pressed her lips together, steadying herself before speaking. “I understand, Master,” she said. “I mistook some of the instructions and thought it would be easier to get here through his territory. If I hadn’t, I would have missed the appointment and never would have arrived here. I didn’t think I’d be noticed.”
Dayatha translated for him again. “You were. I have negotiated for you to remain here for the next two new moons so you can be here for I’mya’s ordination.”
Elora let out a shaky breath. At least she would have time to say good-bye. “I appreciate that, thank you.”
She followed Dayatha back out of the chambers and back through the corridors down to the servant area of the lair, her heart pounding and her mind racing. Just before they turned the corner leading them back to the crafting room, Dayatha stopped and pulled her aside, her warm hands on Elora’s upper arms. “Are you all right, Elora?” she asked quietly, her eyes searching Elora’s.
Suddenly, the weight of what just happened hit Elora and tears stung her eyes. This lair had become her home over the last few months. All the new activities she’d taken up and the community she was a part of would disappear, and most importantly, she would lose the friends she’d made. It had been her plan to remain here for the rest of her life, and now she was leaving to never return.
“What is his lair like?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
“I don’t know,” Dayatha said, softly. “I’ve never been there, but it will be staffed by stewards who oversee everything, just like here.” She squeezed her arms and then released them. “I’m sure it will take some adjusting, but you’ve already experienced living in a lair so it won’t be new to you. The most important thing is that Master has granted you plenty of time to prepare.”
“But… what about him? I heard so many things….”
“There are a lot of rumors about the dragorai, Elora. Not all of them are true. As long as you are positive and enthusiastic, like you have been here, you’ll be fine there.”
Elora lowered her eyes and blinked away her tears. Zendyor was the dragorai-alpha who was most rumored about, and there had to be a reason. But Dathaya was right—many rumors were probably not accurate. Besides, she wasn’t being cast out, or thrown back into the dangerous war zone that was the North Cities—anything would be better than that. She was only going to another dragorai lair, where it was safe from the war. Hadn’t that been the main reason why she applied to be a kon’aya? The new lair was most likely just as comfortable as this one, with a community of its own, regardless of the nature of the dragorai she was being handed over to. Her worry was pointless.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and lifted her gaze to meet Dayatha’s as she smiled. “You’re right.”
“Didn’t she look amazing? That dress was stunning.”
Elora grinned at the dreamy expression on Nureen’s face and nodded. “She looked incredible.”
“And did you see the way Master looked at her?” Tiiu added, unable to stop her own wide smile. “They were perfect together.”
It was impossible not to be infected by the excitement and hope that spread through the entire staff after I’mya’s ordination, or what most people would call her wedding. Even Syb, who was the most suspicious and wary person in the lair, was smiling to herself.
All the servants buzzed with excitement as they made their way back from the event, awe and wonder in their voices as they trudged along the valley in a long procession. Being the last dragorai clan, Master Nyro and his brothers were in danger of becoming extinct unless they were able to mate; since dragorai females had died out long ago, their fate seemed likely until recently when it became clear that I’mya was Nyro’s mate. It was truly an incredible thing to have happened, and to bear witness to her being accepted by the clan was something special. It gave everyone hope for the future of the dragorai.
Elora still didn’t understand how I’mya was able to mate with Master Nyro the way dragorai females did, but it was no wonder Master had become enraptured with her—she was a dark-haired beauty with tawny skin and a strong, but kind, character. It had taken her awhile to open up when she first arrived, but that had been the case for them all. The war had caused long-term effects on them beyond just physical harm.
“Did you see the other brothers?” Nureen asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Elora nodded. She’d been trying not to stare at the brothers during the ordination service, but it had been difficult. Out in the realm, it was a rare to see one dragorai, and if you did, the smart thing was to run and hide and make sure they did not catch sight of you. At the ordination, all f
ive brothers were in attendance, and while she hadn’t been close enough to see their features, the sight of them astride their enormous dragons, hovering above as their voices boomed over the range had been equally terrifying and majestic. There was no doubt that everyone in the valley, servants and stewards from all the lairs, had been awestruck.
Elora had been lost in the beauty of the event, but now that it was over, the trembling nervousness that she’d woken up with had returned. Today was her last day in the lair—and that soured everything.
“Did you see Zendyor?” Nureen asked, lowering her voice. Elora had only told what was about to happen to her to three friends; they’d all met on the first day of their arrival, and she was closest to them.
“I wasn’t sure which one he was.”
“Me neither,” Nureen said. “I hope he isn’t the scariest one.”
Elora pursed her lips as she frowned. Who was the scariest one? They all looked frightening in their own way, especially on the backs of their dragons. “Master Nyro hardly cares about what we do and barely even notices us. I’m sure Master Zendyor won’t either,” she said, reassuring herself more than Nureen.
Nureen shot her a look. “He cares that you crossed his territory.”