Filed To Story: Traded To The Lycan King Novel (Colette & Merikh) by MG Wattsons
“What kind of question is that?” Johannes snorts.
I assess Colette, noticing that glint of mischief in her eyes. The one that makes her brown eyes so much brighter and all the more difficult to disagree with anything she says.
“You want to announce our presence, don’t you?” I ask, and she shrugs with a wry smile.
“What ever my luna wants, I promise to give her.” I wink at her and she stands, helping me up.
“Let me guess, I am the one doing the dropping in, aren’t I?” Johannes asks before he grunts and drags his hands through his hair. “Well fuck me, I can’t really die, anyway. Might as well visit the evil queen.”
We creep toward the main area of the pack, where I know we have at least a defense of some sort. Well, I hope. In theory, once we hit pack grounds, we should have been under the safety of my pack, but clearly, things are a little more complicated than I hoped for.
I try to listen closely to the forest for sounds or lack thereof. The chittering of a squirrel or the silence of even the tiniest of insects to determine where the enemy is placed. But I hear nothing more than my heavy beating heart and the way my lycan seems to scream inside of me.
He feels locked away, as though he has been placed in an internal cage and we can’t fully reach each other. It’s strange and as much as I hate to admit it, the realization that Lauren’s bite may have fucked us over is downright scary.
The vampire bite should have killed either me or my lycan. Whatever Ezrah did stalled the process, but if it had already started…if for some reason he stopped it after we began the separation of our soul, then I will always just be out of reach of my beast.
-Can you reach out to Hayes using the mindlink?– Colette asks through ours. I frown, trying, but all I get is a static noise pulsing in my head that causes a stab of pain to my temple. I wince as I slam my eyes shut and shake my head.
-I can’t-I tell her. Our eyes meet in the silence of the woods and I see the worry buried beneath the problem solving she is doing.
-It’s not just you. I can’t reach out to anyone in the pack-She says through our mate bond link.
-That just means Lily is close-I tell her and she nods, placing her hand on a downed tree as she propels herself over it.
There is a deep growl as I follow suit and land just in front of her. My eyes narrowed at the mangy wolf preparing to pounce on us. Its eyes rage in their telltale red as I inch forward, ready to fight him with bare fists if need be.
He lunges for me, gnashing teeth and drool hurling in my direction as I bob to the side, reaching out to catch him by the front paw. His back end lifts as I tug his front down, causing him to go down hard on his back with a thundering crack as his hind legs and lower back crash into the tree we had leapt over.
He whimpers and tries to crawl away with his front paws, a heavy whine as he realizes how unfortunate he is to have come across us alone. I saunter over to him, stooping low with a groan before I lift his head and quickly snap his neck, dropping his limp body to the ground. One less zombie is better for everyone in the equation of things. Possessed or not, the enemy is the enemy.
“Merikh!” Colette cries out in a hiss, her body stumbling into mine with a surprised groan as we both fall onto our asses.
Growling breaks out and I watch my mate shred her clothing as she shifts into her wolf form, tearing at the enemy we didn’t even hear coming. I scramble to get up, catching a furry figure as it crashes into my side and I thud into a tree trunk, my shoulder popping like a balloon in a dart game. There is no room for crying out or whining as I immediately drop to my knees as the wolf flies for me again, colliding with where I was seconds earlier. My lycan screams, looking for a way out as I try to release him, begging him to somehow break free of my mind prison.
But I get nothing from him except the strength I have always had. A groan of frustration tears from my lips as I reach out with my good arm, gripping the wolf’s tail and yanking hard.
He whips around, his rotting teeth snapping in my face as I lean back, then parry his attack with a fist to the muzzle. He whines before jumping at me again, this time taking me down to my back as I catch his sharp teeth in my forearm.
I push through the pain of my dislocated shoulder, barely getting the dexterity needed to get my thumb looped into the eyes socket. The wolf whines, trying to tear away from me, the whipping of his head back and forth popping my shoulder back into place with a jolt of pain followed by relief.
In his frantic flailing, I lose my grip, but I chase him forward, gripping his furry face with both hands as I slam my hard forehead to the tip of his muzzle. The bone shatters, his cry morphing into a strange snort of agony as I drop him and stumble off toward Colette.
With in a moment, I tackle the fucker who was going for her from behind, digging my fingertips into his thick. fur and skin before I yank with all my might. Flesh tears open like a velcro strap in a shoe and warmth pools around my hand as I ramp up for another tug, removing the muscle and throat from its neck.
Colette stands, morphing back immediately into her human form, rushing toward me with a look of worry on her face as she looks meet oel. Pret over like. It’s strange, having someone fawn over you as if you are the weaker of the two. And supposed, right now, I may be, but I’m not a fan of it either way.
“Why didn’t you transform?” she asks, a lilt of annoyance in her voice.
I arch a brow at her, noting the look on her face, the way she seems to think for some reason that without my lycan I am helpless.
“Did it look like I needed my lycans’ help?” I ask her with a small scoff, and she narrows her eyes.
“We are trying to be fast and efficient. Being in lycan form would allow us to move faster.” She says, making complete sense, which only frustrates me.
I need to focus on getting us to Hayes and preparing for the next part of our plan. Colette is right. We need to be fast and fighting in human form, though I am capable and effective. It is much slower.
However, it’s not like I have a choice right now.
“I can’t,” I admit with a tight clench in my jaw. Her eyebrows furrow in confusion as I sigh. “My lycan is…something is wrong, and we are disconnected. I can not get him to come out even with both of us trying.”
Her eyes soften, and she frowns, stepping closer to me.
“Then we will get there when we get there.” She shrugs, clearing her throat as if she is choosing to not make a big deal out of something that is a huge deal.
But this is what makes her an amazing Luna. She is choosing her battles, and this is not one we can fight right now. Our attention is needed elsewhere on more important things.
“It would be faster for you if—” I start to speak, but I stop when she scoffs and lets out a dry chuckle.
“If you think for a damn second I will leave you, then you are just as dense as you were when we first mated.” She says, crossing her arms over her bare chest.
It takes an immense amount of effort to not look her up and down and get myself turned on, so instead I slip my shirt off over my head and move to her, gliding it over her as she slips her hands through the sleeves.
“I’m not sure dense is the word I would have used. Maybe stubborn, or a little “
“No, dense is the right word.” She grins. “Now, let’s move before we get hit by another group of lily’s controlled shit fighters.”
A chill runs down my spine, goosebumps rising on my arms as I hear a low hum of a growl. One not of a single wolf, but many. Colette peeks around my shoulder, her eyes filling with fear, then she rolls her shoulders and clears her throat.
“Too late.”
I don’t look behind me as I spin her and give her a rough shove forward. Even without my lycan, I can run and fast. It’s rare I am one to retreat. Shit, it’s hardly happened more than once or twice that I can recall, but now is as good a time as ever.
“Move,” I growl at her as she glances over her shoulder at me before her eyes grow wide and she sprints.
My legs move in stride with hers, catching up in a few steps, looking back to see creatures creeping on the forest floor toward us with unnatural speed. My heart pounds as I press my hand to her back, spurring her on faster.
“Move faster, Letty,” I rush out. I feel her muscles move at my command. Her stride lengthens and her arms pump harder.
The growling grows louder and the sounds of branches snapping above us send a shiver through my body as I prepare for whatever made up beast Lily has drafted up using her dark magic this time around. I reach out to my lycan, searching for that connection, the one just out of reach.
“What the fuck is that sound, Merikh?” she hisses as she slows and ducks under a low hanging tree branch.
“Focus on moving.” I mutter, rallying against the wall in my mind, keeping me from being able to turn around and just annihilate the beasts behind us.
I leap over a root, landing just ahead of her as I grab her hand and begin to pull her faster. If I remember correctly, there is a small ledge ahead, one that has a roaring stream at the bottom of it.
If we can just make it to it, make it over it, then it should buy us some time. Especially with Colette’s abilities with water. She could erase the magic with a simple rain shower, but that would drain her and to do that this early would be a waste of her energy.
“Merikh…” she says in a small warning. She is tired of being told what to do, but I know looking back would only make her freak out.
“Just do not look back,” I urge her as she groans and follows me. Her hand squeezes mine and I look at her as her body seems to vibrate.
“There is a powerful body of water close.” She mutters, “I can stop them if you would just let—”
“No.” I snap. “No, it is a good idea, but you need to save your strength. The last thing we need is to drain your water abilities before we absolutely must.”
“Merikh, we might not have a choice.” She says firmly, her gait slowing as I tug on her a little harder.
“I need you to trust me.” I say, and I can feel her inner conflict before she releases and agrees.
“I do.”
“Then get your ass moving and get ready to jump when I say jump.” I rush out, looking back to see a lizard type beast at my heels.
“What the fuck is that?” Colette screeches “Oh fuck,” I grunt, kicking a foot back and colliding with its scaley nose. It hisses in pain, a warbling noise emitting from it before I finally see the telltale stone ahead.
“Just focus on running.” I yell at her and she whimpers, her legs kicking as hard as possible as we close in on the ledge. It’s only five steps away, now four, three…