Filed To Story: Traded To The Lycan King Novel (Colette & Merikh) by MG Wattsons
“Why do you want to see the Alpha and Luna?” I ask him.
“I trust your Luna, and I believe she can help me.” He says like it’s such an obvious thing.
“But the question is, does she trust you?” I arch a brow and he looks away.
“I see we will make no headway with this. So instead, I will be the one to go out on a limb and extend trust first.” He says, his intense eyes landing on me.
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“I will share with you all the Information I have at my disposal. Dragons can not breed hybrids.” He says, walking away from me, his back turned before he groans as he lowers himself to a log beside the fire.
“How do you know if no one has ever tried?” I ask, following him. He exhales and then shakes his head.
“The first-born child is and will always be the strongest dragon. A dragon can not exist where there is another being. It is why vampires have no effect on us when we are bitten. Our beasts are territorial and they do not allow for sharing of minds.”
“We used to believe no one could have hybrids in general,” I remind him. “And now we have a Luna who is a hybrid with a siren. Things that have not been tested can’t be confirmed as impossible until it’s been tried.”
“That egg is a dragon.” He says, a look in his eyes telling me he truly believes that. “It is not only just a dragon, but it is my sibling.”
“It could be a Phoenix. Or a dragon or some crazy version of the two. It is fantastic that you want to believe that there is nothing amiss with that egg, but the truth is that you can’t know. No one can until it is hatched and we see what it is.”
“Once I have the egg, I will be able to tell.” He says, and I scoff.
“Like you all could tell that Giselle wasn’t a dragon? Forgive me for sounding pessimistic, but I am highly doubting your ability to tell.”
“I could tell.” He whispers, looking into the fire that seems to burn yet emits no smoke. “Through the haze of magic and thread of lies, I knew she was not what she claimed to be.”
I exhale, my shoulders heaving up before dropping.
“Look, I can’t take you to Luna Colette or Alpha Hayes because we are not headed in that direction.”
“There is a high likelihood you will need to head back sooner rather than later, with or without what you are looking for.” He says, leaning forward, his eyes boring into mine. “Dragons are at your doorstep, eager for vengeance and what they think you have stolen from them.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, knowing he is right. If we don’t speed things up, there is a chance we will have no home to go back to. The pressure of everyone’s lives rests on my shoulders, our shoulders, and I can’t even focus long enough to track or fight the way I should.
“My kind is safe for now,” I tell him, trying to convince myself as well. “With the help of the sirens and the occasional other species jumping in to take sides…”
He arches a brow, looking amused. “I don’t mean to speak down to you or ill of your kind, but have you seen a dragon in true form? We are not small in mass or numbers. Vampires do not scare us and no other species can rule us. It is why the treaty was so important. We value structure and laws almost as much as we value beautiful things.”
“And yet here you are claiming to be on my side?” I say, making him smile.
“I am on the side of the dragons. Don’t misconstrue my words for lack of loyalty to my kind. But my kind needs saving just as much as yours. king They are following a dement who needs to be removed from his throne, as his choices are no longer made in the interest of our kind but his own personal vendetta.”
I mull over his words and our interaction. Hayes would never in a million years want to team up with a dragon. Especially not the son of the person who led to so many horrifying deaths. But then again, who better to track a dragon egg than a dragon? And when we come across his kind, maybe he could be of use.
“I have killed dragons.” I tell him, making sure he looks me right in the eyes.
“And I have killed lycans,” he says with ease. “We must do what we have to in order to survive. Not all dragons are decent.”
A scream breaks out in the distance, making my skin crawl as it dies out in a guttural sputtering. I am on my feet before I realize it, taking steps toward it, passing Teiran. A rough, warm hand touches my arm gently and I blink at it before looking at his large frame as he shakes his head. “You will survive longer if you don’t rush after the sound of death.” He says, nearly pleading.
“It could be someone in my group that needs help.” I say, my brows pulled together, confused by his lack of interference.
“That sound? The silence? That is the sign that you are already too late. What has happened can’t be undone.”
“No, but I can still investigate.” I tell him, pulling away from his touch. “Tell you what, you can sit here and contemplate your next move or you can prove to me that you can be trusted. Then, perhaps, I will find a way to get you to Luna Colette to speak with them.”
I take two steps away, still facing him, before I spin on my heel and break into a sprint, heading toward the noise see a column of smoke through the treetops and I realize that this is the scent I had been following before I ran into Teiran. His flame distracted me, but now that I think back, it had no smoke, no smell.
What would have happened to me had I missed his little camp? Would I have run into whatever is further in the woods? Is it truly an enemy or one of the groups I came with, or am I overthinking things?
There is no doubt the scream was feminine, yet my heart pounds in my ears at the thought that maybe it is Hayes. Or at the very least, maybe he is in trouble with this person?
My foot slips on a root, causing me to twist my ankle and stumble to the side, my shoulder ramming into a tree with a small protruding knot. My skin breaks open the second I hit and I bite back a groan.
“Shit.” I mumble, clutching my shoulder tight with my opposite hand. Peeking under it briefly to see a blooming of red through my sleeve as blood dribbles down my arm and to the crook of my elbow.
I grit my teeth together as I drop my arm and run again, the red hot pain searing through my ankle and up my calf muscles into my thigh. My arm will heal, but running on an injury like this? I risk it healing this way.
Another cry breaks through the air, making me snap into focus. The masculine voice roars in fury, less of a cry the more I listen and more of a warning of what is going to happen.
My skin goose bumps when I determine how close I am. No more than one hundred ahead of me are bodies fighting around a smoky flame that has lost control, burning into the treeline to the right.
“Dragons,” Teiran says behind me, making me freeze as I look over my shoulder at him.
“I thought you weren’t coming?” I snap at him and he shrugs.
“You may be my only chance at getting what I want. What better way to prove I am on your side than to fight next to you?”
I open my mouth to answer but before the words can even be formed, my attention is drawn to a scent mingling with the flame and my heart stutters.
“HAYES!” I hear Marcos roar, “Behind you!”
My eyes find him like a moth to the light and I take a step forward, my lycan calling me to him. He can’t get down intime, his body remains upright as he parries and throwsne razor-sharp claws with his opponent oblivious to everything around him. At that moment, a blistering blue light whistles in the throat of a smaller squatty dragon. His sights set on my mate’s back.
*Hayes*
I spin around as Marcos screams, my eyes growing wide as heat barrels down at me. Instinct tells me to dive, but that deep-seated self hatred grips me, keeping me in place.
I slip my eyes closed, ready to take the full brunt of the flames as my left crunches, a heavy force hammering into me with a growl. The air squeezes from my lungs as I am slammed to the ground roughly, my head bouncing off the soft forest ground.
My lycan lets go, releasing me back to my human form as I look up into the eyes of an annoyed redhead. She shoves off of me, a glare pinning me to my spot as I try to get up. Kyra shoves her foot into my chest, pushing me back down to the ground.
“You are a liability. Stay the hell down.” She hisses before she turns and rushes to help Marcos.
My eyes are glued to her, watching as she uses his body as he falls to his knees, ready to take a hit to the face. Her thin figure leaps up from him, her torso falling back as she approaches legs first, hooking her legs around the asshole’s neck.
Kyra’s claws come out as she crunches up, taking hold of his neck with both hands and then slips her hand over his jugular on her way to his back. He stumbles, gurgling before he tumbles forward with her on his neck, as if she were at a concert with him trying to get a better look at the artist. Just before he hits, her feet touch the ground, and she runs forward again.
I roll to my belly, forcing myself up and ignoring the pain of the first fight I nearly lost saving Marcos. These dragons are tough assholes, with thick hides and thicker skulls. Marcos stumbles forward, his body battered as I make my way to him, watching Kyra. Or at least a double who looks like Kyra.
“Holy shit. She was holding out on us,” Marcos breathes.
“How many were there?” I ask him, counting the bodies on the ground around us, panic rising. “When we showed up, how many were there, Marcos?”
“Five.” He says with certainty.
I scan around, seeing only three bodies on the ground and yet, when I count, it looks like there are four people fighting.
Kyra lets out a pained cry, her arm folding over her stomach as she takes measured steps around a man twice her size. I lunge toward her, stepping in front of her as the asshole shifts into his dragon form, tearing bared as he growls, shaking the earth beneath our feet.
“Why are you so hell bent on dying?” She grits, yanking at my arm as she drags me in the opposite direction. I scan around, looking for anywhere we can hide from the heat that is about to consume us, but there is nothing but the two men fighting in front of us.
“TEIRAN!” she screams out.
One man spins, and in the blink of an eye, he sprints toward us, leaping just feet away before he transforms into an enormous beast, breaking trees with his sheer size. Heat erupts around us, Marcos being shoved at us by a massive black tail as I hug Kyra close to my chest and drop down, protecting her.
Her fingers curl into my chest, her forehead pressed to my bare skin, and I feel a sense of calm wash over me. It’s as if being near her has revitalized me as my lycan awakes again, ready to fight and not a thought of death on his mind. Kyra being this close to danger again because of me is enough to make me want to tear out my heart.
The moment the heat subsides, I turn to watch the dragon take human form and stand between us and our enemy.
“Enough of this,” He demands. “You are not here on the king’s orders, you are exiled. I can smell it on you. Which means you have no reason to attack.”
“As are you.” One of them scoffs.
“We did not attack first.” The other growls. “We didn’t even use our dragon flame to start our fire to ensure we didn’t draw other dragons.”
Guilt seeps into me and I clear my throat, rising to my feet unwilling to let go of Kyra who wiggles in my arms for a half attempted escape. I look down at her, those deep eyes meeting mine as my stomach flutters. It would appear I fucked up, royally. Again. A ghost of a spark trickles through me where her fingers push gently and I yank back from her, shaking my head.
“What happened?” Kyra asks, and I rub the back of my neck.
“We thought they had you,” Marcos admits, a look of shame on his face.
“There was a scream, a feminine one.” I swallow. “We felt they may be holding you and torturing you.”
“Who was screaming?” The dragon who came to our aid asks the other two. They look at each other and then at the ground.
“We didn’t hear anything.” They mumble, but I can smell the lie a mile away as I scoff and shake my head. Not that I give a shit. Now that I know Kyra is safe, I couldn’t care less about what they are doing in their spare time.
new “Liars.” Kyra says, looking fierce as she steps up ext to this new man she brought along with her. Marcos shoots me a curious look and I glance away, already annoyed that he is after my best friend. Well, old best friend. But what does this guy mean? Is he just one more person to vie for her attention?
“We don’t answer to any of you, especially considering you just killed-“
“Speak true,” the other dragon says. “Now, or we will just end you all and move on with our journey.”
The two look at each other, whispering back and forth before one shoves the other in annoyance.
“Some guy gave us a girl to…spend time with in exchange for laying a trail.” One of them finally says. Kyra’s muscles stiffen and I watch her jawline as it flexes, and she looks away in sorrow.
“And you used her until she died?” She grits out.
“No, she is alive, she just…escaped because of these assholes.” The stubbier one looks at me and Marcos, and suddenly I find I am pleased we found the wrong camp. Some poor girl is likely alive because of our mistake. And that is a mistake I can live with.
“What kind of trail?” I ask, stepping forward. “The kind someone with a dragon egg asked you to make?”
They look a little surprised before nodding.
“Yeah.”
“When was this?” Kyra asks “I don’t know. The days bleed together out here.” He shrugs. “But after the last heavy rain.”
“Thank you. That was helpful.” The dragon says before he reaches out and snaps one’s neck with such force his head seems to only be held on via the flesh on the outside.
“Wait!” Kyra cries out before I break his neck. I pause, looking up at her. “Where did the girl go?”
“Huh?” the assholes grumbles. I shake him roughly, make him whimper.
“Norff, fa bish wen norff.” He slurs through his bloody lips as he tries to breathe.
She gives me a nod, and I quickly snap his neck, dropping his body to the ground before turning to the last remaining dragon. Whether he saved us or not, a dragon is an enemy, especially one who smiles at my girl like that.
“And who the fuck is this guy?” I ask in unison with Marcos.
“Teiran. The exiled dragon prince.” He answers, giving me a nod as I glare at him.
Of course she went and found a fucking prince.