by Meg Xuemei X
The Fury Queen’s Harem
(The Cursed Dragon Queen & Her Mates, #1)
Meg Xuemei X
Copyright © 2018 by Meg Xuemei X
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
First Edition
Silver Wheel Publishing
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN-13: 978-1986801195
Cover art by Andreea Vraciu
Edited by Monique Fischer
Proofread by Fading Street
Table of Contents
The Fury Queen’s Harem (The Cursed Dragon Queen and Her Mates Book 1)
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
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Author’s Notes
Sneak Peek of Wicked Witch
More Books by Meg Xuemei X
About the Author
The Fury Queen’s Harem
(The Cursed Dragon Queen and Her Mates, #1)
One hybrid Fury queen. Three pure-blood Dragon Princes. A reverse harem with a dark fairy tale twist and an epic flair!
My name is Daisy. I've been cursed to serve a bad-tempered elemental in my beastly form for centuries. There’s only one way to lift the curse: a kiss from three true loves. To acquire even one is nearly impossible. How am I going to get three?
Then three gorgeous-as-sin, yet clueless dragon princes stumble into my lair. Only they do not come to kiss me. They come to slay me, without knowing who I really am. Unless they cut the three heads of the Furies—my heads—or make the Fury Queen fall in love with them, they’ll never shift back to dragons.
Not surprisingly, the princes all choose what they think is the easiest—to behead the beasts.
CHAPTER 1
My heart leaped with joy when I detected spaceships piercing through the murky sky of Pandemonium.
The Archangel had succeeded in sending my suitors here, though he’d been mightily pissed at me for my neglecting to mention that he wouldn’t be able to fuck his mate until he delivered my message.
If my true loves were on the ships, my nine centuries of suffering would be over.
My name is Daisy Danaenyth. But every alien on this planet called me the Furies. I was cursed to serve Akem, a bad-tempered elemental entity. To mock my misery, the hex transformed me into three mutant beast forms and made me wear a human face to mismatch my taloned wings, bulky body, and spiked tail.
I was a freak of nature.
The only bright spot in my life was one hour a day when I was allowed to be in my true Fae form.
I desperately wanted to be rid of this curse, but there was only one way to lift it—a kiss from my three true loves.
To gain one love in any part of the broken universe was near impossible. How was I going to get three?
For centuries, I’d held onto hope. It was all that got me up in the morning.
I’d prevailed, and now I had my reward—not one, but three ships had come for me.
My face brightened and with a heartfelt shriek, three Furies—all me— surged skywards to welcome my rescuers, with the main me in the center.
The ship on the left opened fire, three rockets sailing toward us.
Warships! Granted, they were lightweight, but still equipped to take down enemies.
We shrieked, turned sharply as one, and fled toward the only place that could withstand any blunt hit—the Vampire Tower.
The giddiness in my heart dissipated like ash in the wind, and rage clouded my mind.
Instead of sending me suitors with my true loves among them, my royal dragon lineage had sent hunters. How could the Dragon King do this to his own granddaughter? Before the curse had dragged me here, I was the Dragon Princess, the last of his line.
It wasn’t like I’d disappeared on him out of spite or of my own volition, even though we’d always had our differences when it came to how to view the world and rule the Danaenyth dynasty.
A rocket hit the ground, adding further damage to the destruction of the City of Nine. Then energy beams shot out from the ship on the right and blasted the other two rockets into a puddle of melted metal.
The ships turned on each other, having momentarily forgotten about me.
Realization dawned on me. They had come together, but they weren’t friends.
Not all of them wanted me dead.
A glimmer of hope rose within me. Perhaps my true loves were on the ship that had destroyed the rockets. But for now, I had to be smart and get out of the crossfire.
I fled as fast as I could until all three my beast forms crouched behind the Vampire Tower. Once my breath evened out, I peeked out from behind the black skyscraper.
The ships had ceased fire and seemed to have reached a temporary truce, which meant they were competitors and had come for the same thing.
They’d come to hunt me. The ship wouldn’t have fired upon me so eagerly at first sight if that weren’t the case.
Ice encased my heart.
I’d made a strategic mistake in helping the Archangel get rid of Akem. When he’d ruled Pandemonium, ships crashed onto the planet instead of landing, and the advanced weapons ceased working on impact.
I’d thought with Akem gone, my life would be less stressful, even though I was still cursed with the beast forms and trapped on this planet. But without the formidable entity guarding the planet and all his creatures, I had to keep myself out of the sight of the hunters and their weapons that could kill me.
I had never fled from any alien before, but now I had reason to fear for my life.
White-hot rage burned through me.
I watched Falling Star, the warship that had sent rockets after me, land on the old gladiator arena. New Hope, the battleship that had shot down two rockets settled down on the jagged beach between the gray sea and my jungle, and Mistress, the middle ship, parked near the Witch Tower.
If the Wickedest Witch had still been on Pandemonium, she wouldn’t have taken kindly to anyone trespassing on her territory. But she had left with her coven and the wolf pack, so there would be no consequences for the hunters.
My eyes spat black fire, my three bodies taking up a battle stance, but we wouldn’t charge into the frontline where we couldn’t win.
> We’d play dirty.
Restraining myself from shrieking, I flew toward my jungle, staying as low as I could to avoid attracting attention, and my two alter egos followed suit.
I was no one’s prey. These hunters would soon see who the ultimate predator on the hunting ground was.
CHAPTER 2
I trod through the jungle of eternal shade in my naked Fae form, my bare feet padding on pine needles.
Birds chirped, and the beasts yowled. Others might find it frightening and unsettling, but not me. None of aliens in the City of Nine dared enter the dark forest, even after Akem was gone.
Upon his leaving, I became the queen of the jungle and took charge of his former nightmare creatures. While he no longer enslaved me, my curse still bound me to this forsaken planet. Only when my true loves freed me would I be able to go wherever I wanted and choose to shift to my dragon form or stay in my Fae shape.
A two-headed hellhound darted toward me through the red trees, his onyx eyes flashing a hungry look. I arched an eyebrow, but I didn’t halt my stride for his sake. He slowed down and rubbed his shining black fur against my leg.
“That’s enough, Henry,” I said. “I’m not in the mood to play today.”
He stopped and raised his two heads, both pairs of fierce eyes gazing at me in adoration.
Sybil—a flying lizard with an owl’s face, and my messenger—managed to land on Henry’s back, tucking in her lone wing. The Archangel had cleaved off her other wing in a fight against Akem. When it came to defending his witch mate, the Angel was a number one asshole toward his enemies.
Following Henry, two giant Lamashtus—Akem’s former henchmen—huffed and puffed as they stopped in front of me, awaiting my orders.
These creatures wouldn’t harm me. They knew that even in my weaker Fae form, I could cut down any one of them, and no one ran faster than a Fae like me. Besides, I could change to three Furies in a split second if I had to battle more formidable foes.
I’d summoned the four of them with my mind, as we were linked by my bonding magic. I chose my Fae form to talk to them since I could think better in that form than I could when I was the three Furies. Three heads weren’t better than one.
“I have need of you,” I told them. “The invaders have come. They’ll enter our jungle to do me harm.”
Henry bared his fangs and snarled, Sybil blinked at me, and a Lamashtu punched a branch and broke it.
“Ridiculous, I know,” I said. “Divide them if they come as a group, but don’t eat any of them yet. Three of the hunters among them might be the tool to get us out of here. Herd them to me one by one, and I shall kiss each one of them. You can have those who don’t pass the test.”
Henry’s fangs dripped with spittle, and the Lamashtus laughed mercilessly.
“Akem betrayed us and left us behind,” I continued. “I am not like him. I vow to take all of you with me when I leave. I won’t abandon any of you.”
We’ll go with you, Sybil answered in my head.
“Now go,” I said. “Spread the word to others and stay on high alert. Don’t forget to send out all the birds to spy on the new ships for me.”
Our rodents are good at spying, too, Sybil said. I’ve been training them.
I nodded. “Then use them.”
Sybil tilted her head, flapped her wing, and took off west to deliver my message. Henry followed her, running beneath her wing, and the Lamashtus raced in the opposite direction.
I rubbed at my temples. If my true loves were among the hunters, why would they want to hurt me? If they had the intention to harm me, how could they be my true loves? Of course, they hadn’t seen my Fae form yet, so there was still hope.
I’d restrained my monsters from killing anyone who ventured into my jungle, because if my true loves died, I’d be doomed forever.
Rage still coursed through my veins at the ugly reality that they’d come to hunt me with ships and high-powered weapons that could bring me down from the sky.
The hunting game had started in my backyard.
CHAPTER 3
I flew high above the gray mist and trained my gaze down on the landing ships. Each of my Furies could go spy on a ship, but I was reluctant to separate myself over such a long distance. I didn’t know what would happen to me if the hunters destroyed one of my forms.
It was best to stick together.
Sybil was already on the move, leading the birds to collect intel on the invaders. Though I wouldn’t completely rely on them, I wouldn’t need to do all the leg work.
An idea formulated in my head.
Before my monsters sorted out the hunters and herded them toward me, I could speed up the process by sifting the wheat from the chaff.
The hunters with their big guns would soon learn what kind of place they’d come to. They had yet to meet the vampires and Kruid cannibals.
On Pandemonium, every second was about survival. It was a small victory just to breathe through the next day—even for me, one of the most terrifying monsters here.
My eyes darted from ship to ship as I decided which one to approach first. My gaze narrowed on the faint symbol of a dragon on the ship parked on the rough beach near the west entrance of my jungle.
My heart skipped a beat.
My kin! If the dragons had come, it was most possible that my true loves were among them.
Hadn’t that ship shot down the two rockets aimed at me when I’d first approached them?
Stifling a shriek, I dove toward the dragon ship. I alighted stealthily atop it just as part of the front of the ship slid down to the ground and a door whooshed open.
If they so much as glanced up, they would see my vast Fury forms perched on the roof of their ship. I had to change.
Instantly, my three beast forms morphed into my naked Fae form. Pinpricks of pain exploded in me, like each time I was forced to change because of the curse. It was more agonizing to return to my Fury form and split myself into three.
I swallowed a cry as I collapsed flat on my stomach.
Two giant, armored warriors stormed down the ramp, longswords strapped on their backs. Their armor fit them like a second skin, leaving their muscled biceps exposed. For a second, I imagined myself squeezing and testing the firmness of their arms.
Each man held a blast gun in front of their chests. They both carried an air of aggressiveness and cocky confidence, as if they owned the piece of land they stood on.
I almost snorted. Men! They’d soon learn to respect my authority.
They wheeled around, and I blinked when I set sight upon their faces.
Their hotness was undeniable, and they both exuded sex. To my disappointment, masks covered half of their faces.
The ember-eyed and fair blond wore a mask carrying the symbol of a dragon holding the sun and fire in its mouth.
The sapphire-eyed man with cropped brown hair looked more brooding and serious. His strong face bore a mask of lightning and thunder.
Was it a new custom I hadn’t heard about while being stuck on this backwoods planet?
They came to hunt instead of attending a masquerade party, right?
My heart pounded and every muscle in my body tensed as the sapphire-eyed giant sniffed the air, as if trying to detect a scent.
A squad of warriors poured out from the ship, wheeling their big weapons around and scanning their surroundings on high alert.
None of them wore a mask.
So, wearing a mask wasn’t a fashion statement, nor was it an obligation.
It was a choice, I believed.
From the reverent way the group looked at the musketeers, it was obvious they were their superiors.
A whiff of wind from the gray ocean sent their scent of fire and ash to me. I inhaled deeply through my nose to make sure. I’d been right. Dragons. They were my kin.
I wanted to leap down, reveal myself, and kiss all of them so I could find my true loves, drop the curse, and return to the home that I’d missed for centuries.
/> But I controlled myself and remained motionless.
Not all dragons were friendly. In my old realm, there were quite a few nasty, violent dragons.
Why weren’t they shifting into their dragon forms?
They’d come to a hostile planet. Some of them should take advantage of their formidable forms and patrol the air.
It didn’t sit right with me that they all stayed in their human forms and relied on their legs and those big guns and swords. They were making a mistake by not putting their elemental forces into use.
“Your Highness,” a warrior with a pierced nose called, and both masked warriors turned to him.
So, I was dealing with two dragon princelings. Even if the two hotties weren’t my true loves, I would still kiss them.
My gaze roamed over their muscled chests to their narrow hips, then down to their long, strong legs. I involuntarily licked my lips.
Get a grip of yourself! my own voice warned me. Drooling over them like that could get you killed.
I swallowed and defended myself. I haven’t had a man in centuries. I wasn’t really drooling. I have my dignity. I was merely checking—
“Are the three beasts we saw earlier our targets?” the nose-ringed warrior asked, and I wondered if he held any rank to address the princes in that manner. Perhaps he was a lieutenant.
“Fits the profile,” said the prince with the lightning mask.
Since he answered first, I was certain he outranked the other prince.
“The beasts are probably hiding in the jungle,” the nose-ringed lieutenant said. “We can venture in tonight, slay them, then leaved this damned place.”
Another wave of anger surged in me. I took offense to being called beasts, and I definitely did not appreciate that they wanted to murder me.
“This planet doesn’t feel right,” said the prince with the fire mask. “I don’t like it here. We should act fast. If the other bounty hunters collect the three heads of the beasts, we lose all bets. I’m sure they’re already on the move, given how eager they were to shoot the beasts down from the air. They violated the ground-hunting rules. Brother, let’s go in the jungle now. We’ll cut off the beasts’ heads before our opponents can even blink, go right back to the old king, and claim the biggest dragon realm!” His eyes sparked golden fire at the prospect of a great hunt.