Filed To Story: Traded To The Lycan King Novel (Colette & Merikh) by MG Wattsons
“Stop…” Teiran says, his hand coming up to block us.
“What is it?” Kyra asks.
“Someone is in the woods, and they are close Flora says from the ground We all look down and see her kneeling, hands to the ground as her eyes grow cloudy and she hums under her breath.
“Ezrah.” Kyra whispers to herself.
“They are moving, but slowly,” Flora continues. “One person.”
“Direction?” I hiss out and she turns her head as if trying to hear better.
“That way,” Kyra whispers, pointing to the left. A moment later, Flora nods in agreement.
“Yes. I would agree with Kyra.” She says, coming back up.
“I guess there is a first for everything.” Teiran mutters and Kyra shoots him a scowl.
I walk in the direction they indicated, my steps measured and quick as Kyra rushes over and steps in front of me.
“Where are you going?” She hisses, her eyes looking over my face as I exhale.
“To spy.” I tell her, and she rolls her eyes, scoffing.
“I am the tracker so I will be the one going-” Her words drift off as I take an intimidating step toward her, rolling my shoulders back and saying nothing as if I will step through her.
“Over my dead body.” I tell her, and she grunts, slapping her forehead.
“That’s the problem, isn’t it? I have to go because can’t trust you to come back with information we need. Who is to say you won’t go and fight him die a and then leave us with your body and have to track him down again?” She says, looking me dead in the eyes.
and “I will come back.” I tell her, but I can see there is no trust in my words. Not after the two times she was forced to save me as I tried to loophole my way out of this miserable life.
“Hayes,” she says, sucking in a deep breath as if she is trying to calm herself down before she exhales. “I can not trust you, so I am going to need you to trust me. Okay?”
My stomach twists hearing those words, and my heart hurts knowing how true they are. I have done nothing to earn her trust. But she has done nothing to lose mine, which means we are stuck with only one option. Me standing around and waiting for her to report back. Me trusting her even when my not wanting to go alone doesn’t feel like a trust issue but more of a protective one.
“Fine.” I sigh, nodding as her mouth falls open.
“Fine?” she whispers, and I frown.
“I trust you, Kyra.” I tell her, stalking closer to her, “But know that if you don’t come back in an hour, I will be coming for you.”
“Three hours.” She says firmly, and I bark out a laugh.
“Two hours.” Teiran chimes in. “No more and no less.”
“So we are just going to hang out here for two hours?” Flora scoffs.
“No, you are coming with me.” Kyra smirks and she squawks in disbelief.
“Me?”
“Yep. you.” Kyra says, grabbing her wrist and dragging her away in a sprint.
*Kyra*
“I know what you are thinking.” Flora chimes from behind me.
It takes every ounce of me to only roll my eyes and not let out an annoyed groan. We are supposed to be moving in silence, but I suppose I did this to myself by taking someone I don’t know. Then again, that’s exactly why I dragged her along. I don’t trust this Fae.
“That you should shut your mouth?” I whisper and shoot her a scowl over my shoulder.
The ground rustles behind me and I close my eyes, my heading turning from side to side as I try to release the tension of being stuck with her. I did this to myself, not Hayes or Teiran. But me, okay, not entirely true.
I did this because Hayes was being a dick and trying to make me jealous. Which only makes him more of a dick, because who does that? Why would he want me to admit I am his mate so he can just reject me and die? How heartless does one have to be to force someone to feel something and then go and hope they die?
“Look, I am sorry.” She whispers, her feet shuffling as she comes up close behind me. “It was a bitchy thing to do, trying to seduce him.”
I bark out a laugh, trying to pretend it doesn’t bother me. We both know I am using my bad attitude as a shield, but when you have no other armor, you grab the closest thing you can find, no matter how flimsy it is.
“Seduce him all you want, Flora.” I mutter. “It’s not like I want to care about him.”
She goes silent at my side and I glance over, watching as she frowns and then she opens her mouth to speak before snapping it shut.
“What?” I groan, dragging my hand over my face as exhaustion hits me.
“It’s just that I thought-” She pauses, inhaling deeply before she presses her lips together as if weighing how to say what is on her mind.
“We should head back soon.” She shakes her head. “That’s all. We have been gone for forty-five minutes.”
“Yes, forty-three glorious silent moments.” I mutter, ignoring her suggestion. There is not a way in hell I am heading back without something. Either a hint or clue. Hell, even just the slightest sign that someone was nearby.
“Look, if we were going to find him, we would have seen something by now.” She says, walking in front of me. Suddenly, her demeanor changes and her eyes grow cloudy. She goes vacant as if she is using her powers, yet I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Until a shiver runs down my spine and I realize she felt it first.
The way the forest has gone silent where birds had been chirping and squirrels scurrying up the trees, their nails scraping over the tough bark of the pines around us. A breeze stirs around us and I try to catch a glimpse of it in the tree, looking for swaying branches or pine needles tumbling down. Instead, I find them as still as a frozen pond in a winter storm. My skin prickles and my lycan paces in my mind on high alert. We are being stalked and had Flora and I not stopped to argue, I may not have noticed, as I was too caught up in my annoyance.
Shit. This is why Tyler was also so much better than me. He could objectify, keep emotions out of his tracking, and yet I constantly find myself bogged down by them.
“Someone is here.” Flora whispers, her hand grabbing my wrists as she steps a little closer.
“No shit,” I grumble, trying to focus on the scent, following the point at which it is the strongest to pinpoint exactly where this person is and if it could be Ezrah.
The tiniest smell of smoke and hot rock tickles my nose and my stomach falters. It is him. There is no doubt in my mind or nose that Ezrah is not here using his ability to move incredibly fast to try to intimidate us.
“Be ready to use your skills.” I whisper low to Flora.
I back away from her, extracting my wrist from her nervous hand before I take a step closer to the breeze.