Filed To Story: Traded To The Lycan King Novel (Colette & Merikh) by MG Wattsons
“The kind that is good for the soul.”
“Ah, so the kind Hayes avoids. Noted.” I mutter, and he laughs. His laugh is soft and light. As if he isn’t entirely miserable all the time.
“Rumor has it you two know each other well.” He says, pulling his knees up to his chest as he wraps his arms around them.
“Knew.” I correct him with a snort before taking a hasty sip. The tea stings my tongue in a delightful way as I smile down at the cup. My thumb rubbing over the rim. “We knew each other well, a long time ago.”
“Yeah well, seems like that is everyone’s answer these days,” He sighs.
“How long have you been in this little group?” I ask him and he looks out at the rest of the others, telling stories at the campfire.
“Since the beginning. Dean is my best friend. His sister was my mate.” He says softly, a gentle smile on his lips.
“Ah,” I mutter, unsure of what to say next. The last thing I should do is ask how she died. We all know how. The real meaning behind that question is ‘what’s the story’ and ‘how gruesome was it?’ That is all people seem to care about. How much more painful their loss was than others.
“She was caught in an avalanche in the north. I just needed two more minutes to get to her, and she only had one minute left in her.” He shakes his head. “It’s not as gruesome as others, but I tend to think pain is pain no matter where it’s felt. It feels different for everyone.”
“I can’t imagine Dean handled losing his sister very well.” I say softly and he nods.
“About as well as you can when you are mourning for the mate you just met,” He responds and I furrow my brows.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Dean’s mate, he met her as she was dying. The bond snapped into place. He got to hold her, so she wasn’t alone, but then she was gone. He never even knew her name.”
My stomach feels tight, and I exhale a sad sigh.
“Fuck.” I shake my head. “I can’t tell if that is worse than knowing them or not.”
“There is no worse when it comes to death,” he frowns. “The void is the same size regardless of how it was put there.”
I chuckle, my eyes rolling, as I remember Tyler’s friend Freddy. Always wise with his words and great at reminding everyone to pull themselves out of their own grief and remember there are others out there living with it, too. Honestly, he reminded me so much of the Hayes I used to know.
“You sound like someone I used to know.” I whisper, longing for the past briefly.
“Hayes says I sound like a poetry loving fool.” He grins.
“What does Hayes know?” I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Poetry is awesome,”
He grins and then Dean stands up and stretches, his head swinging around before he finds us. His hand rises and he motions for Marcos to come to him. Marcos sighs heavily and stands, brushing himself off before he gives me a small wave and jogs the short distance to the others.
It is very clear that Dean is mad at him as he points at me and gets closer to Marcos, who puts his hands up in a nonthreatening way. sip my tea, watching the debacle as sleepiness settles in and I find myself scooching down further into I finish the a lying position before!
warm drink and set the cup aside. Exhaustion washes over me as I drift to sleep, waiting for Hayes to come and wake me for the second shift.
I wake to the sound of hushed arguments, my body filled with exhaustion despite a restful sleep.
“I can smell it,” a voice growls in annoyance. “Are you seriously telling me you can’t fucking smell that stench?”
I blink my eyes open, shielding them from the sun that shines through the leaves as they sway in the wind. My limbs feet strange, heavy, as if there are weights on my ankles and wrists. After squirming from side to side, I push myself up, the world spinning as I fall back again, a groan in my throat.
“What the hell…?” I murmur to myself.
“See!” The voice is louder, excited sounding. “I told you I could smell it. Wet dog.”
I force my eyes to focus as I clear them by rubbing my fists into them. My mouth goes dry and my heart leaps into my throat as I slick my lips with my tongue and look up at the massive frame of two dragon shifters.
I scan the area for the others and find the fire has been out for some time as no smoke can be seen and the pile where it has been was nothing but dry ash. How long have these two been nearby and where the fuck did the others go?
“Looks like she is alone.” The second one says, sauntering over from the fire, where he kicks it and sniffs. “This has been out for at least twelve hours, is my guess.”
Twelve fucking hours? My eyes grow wide and my chest aches as my heart tries to break free. Did these assholes seriously leave me? And how the fuck did I not hear them when I am a light sleeper? The shorter one scoops up the cup to my right and lifts it to his nose before sticking his tongue in it. Then he looks at the other with a smirk.
“It looks like she was left for us to play with. Maybe someone they left behind to slow us down?”
“The hell I was,” I snap at them as they laugh at me.
“Left you for dead sounds better to you then?” They tease, and I scowl at them.
“No,” I sigh, lifting my heavy arms as I stand and lean on the tree, trying to summon my strength. “They just showed me who I can trust.”
And it sure as fuck isn’t Marcos or Hayes.
“Too bad you won’t be able to get revenge on them,” they say, moving closer, their eyes glowing red as their chest illuminates. I can feel the heat coming, the way it radiates from their thick skin, and I realize there is only one thing I can do for now.
Run.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I mutter to myself as I crash through the brambles. Thistles and thorns slice through my skin as if I were running through barbed wire. My hoodie tears, catching on everything as I try to refocus myself.
I’m a fucking trained warrior and skilled tracker, damn it, but two dragons? At the same time? That’s a tall order even for a top trained lycan. In their human form, they are stronger than us and their skin, depending on the type of dragon, can be as tough as the scales that line their dragon’s body.
I cast my head down, ducking under a larger branch when the ground catches my eyes and I see I am coming to a rocky area. I break out of the bushes, a cry of pain as my hair tangles and rips from my scalp. A stinging reminder that I always have my hair slicked back for a reason.
I come to a sliding halt, my feet dancing over the loose slate like rock as I tumble to my knees just before the edge comes into view. Great. I ran directly onto a slick ledge of loud rocks. So far I am doing a terrible job of using what I know. But in my defense, waking up to two giant dragon men is not all that great for providing clarity rather than sheer panic.
I swing my head from side to side, looking for a way out, up or heck, even down should I need it. But there is nothing but more thorns and bushes. My lycan itches for freedom, hunched and waiting on the edge of my anxiety. The moment she is needed, she will take over. No need for me to even request or seek her out.
We have always been in sync with each other, but since losing Tyler, something changed. Instead of feeling like two separate beings sharing a space, we feel more unified. More like we are one and the same. Though honestly, it would be nice to not have to rely on her just yet.
I glance to the right, a groan escaping my lips as I take off in that direction. The shale under my feet makes me unsteady, but I push forward, choosing not to wait any longer for the dragons to find me due to indecision. The ground shakes under my feet and the rocks shimmy, my body shifting slightly as they vibrate toward the edge of the cliff.
“What the hell…” I mutter, squatting down, trying to get my body more steady as I try to rush forward.
I stop when my eyes lock on a heavy-footed, smaller dragon. He stops from side to side; the earth shaking with its heavy weight. I breathe in deep and a growl rumbles through my spine, vertebrates snapping in quick succession as my lycan comes to the surface.
I leap up; the rocks sliding out from under my feet, but I fly forward enough I can reach his leg. I cling to him, yanking myself around to his side. The jerk moves fast for a fat, stubby beast, his leg launching me into a bush. There is no time to waste as I lunge forward, swooping down to grab a triangular sharp rock.
The dragon rears his head up and I see the opportunity where his soft under chin meets his jaw. I catch him off guard with my lycan speed, hammering the rock into his neck before slipping my claws into his sliced flesh and dragging its along the inside exposing his throat as his deep red blood pours out along with a thick clear substance similar to the texture of oil.
I step away from him, my chest heaving from the effort before the wind picks up in the distance, the trees bending with its might, and I realize I am utterly fucked if I don’t get lucky or run. There is nowhere to go, nowhere to hide as I rush to the edge of the cliff and spin, facing the dragon whose blood is hurriedly rushing toward the very edge where I stand.
Then I take a step back and drop. I dig my claws into the rocks, gliding down it for a few feet before coming to a stop where I hang and hope the other dragon doesn’t look over the edge.
The blood over head splatters as the gusts from the other dragon’s wings hit it and the other substance. It stops suddenly, silence filling the air while my heart beat fills my ears.
I watch the ledge above me, my body tingling with awareness and my lycan ready to leap up at a moment’s notice. But nothing happens, no one makes a sound and the wind never comes back.
After a few moments, I choose to crawl back up, using my claws as I wedge them in the holes of the rock, making it almost to the tops when I slip. My body swings out, one claw clinging for dear life.
I can see the way the blood rushes down, melding with the dragon’s fire substance, making it more vibrant and less angry red. It is mesmerizing watching it as it slips into the very spot I hang from and as if in slow motion, my hold loosens and suddenly, I am falling. I reach out, trying to grab hold of the rock again, but agonizing pain wracks my body as I hit a hard, jagged rock.
I can feel my rib muscles cave in, the air hissing from me as I wheeze and try to breathe. The coppery flavor of blood fills my mouth, my lycan trying to hold on until we crash to the end to save us.
Only instead of finding the bottom, the wall angles out acting like a sharp nail riddled swoop as I tumble and slam into every rock before rolling into the water where I dip into the frigid water.
I bob up and down, my lycan retreating as I heave for air, my chest shooting pains through all of me, making my toes curl as I try to force myself to swim. Instead, I grab a floating log, clinging to it with the last ounce of my strength. A half chuckle tears from my lips as I try to keep from crying. “I might be seeing you sooner than I thought, Ty.” I whisper, looking up at where I hope he sits with the Moon and watches me with pride.
I float until the sun goes down; the river moving too fast for my weak state to swim to safety or out of it. As the moon rises over the water smile up, knowing if I died here, then I know at least tried. But I hear Tyler in my head, the very words he spoke to me as he was dying. And my heart sinks.