Filed To Story: Traded To The Lycan King Novel (Colette & Merikh) by MG Wattsons
“There is no need for a show, Ezrah.” I say, trying to sound bored as I place my hands on my hips. “I am not afraid of you.”
“You should be.” He says, his voice a soft echo making it damn near impossible to distinguish the direction from which is came.
“I just want to talk to you.” I shrug, turning slowly in a circle, my eyes focusing on a blur as it comes to a stop behind a tree.
“Is that why you brought a new friend? Not your angry little beta?” he chuckles, his voice echoing around me regardless of the lack of things for it to echo off.
Ezrah is trying to shake me up, but what he doesn’t understand is that I have fought dragons and even threw myself back into a damn mudslide to save someone else. At this point, I am pretty sure my sense of danger meter is damn near ruined.
“I brought Flora because she has a special skill set that I thought would come in handy.”
“Ah, come in handy for capturing me?” He asks, his voice higher pitched at the end like he is amused.
“Well, if you would just come and have a little civil chat, I am certain we could come to some kind of agreement.” I mutter, taking a risk and stepping closer to the tree where I am sure he is. As I jump around the trunk, I find nothing, and I hiss in annoyance as he cackles through the woods.
“I have nothing to discuss with you,” he answers, at least not with you.
“Then who do you want to talk to?” I ask him and he finally steps into view, leaning on the side of a tree with his hands shoved in his pocket.
The fae is devilishly handsome, I will give him that, but it seems to me like his personality is about as dull as his eyes that look so tired. Fae are used to more extravagant lives, it seems.
“Perhaps your alpha?” His voice grows closer, coming from behind me.
“Ah yes, I heard you two were friends once.” I say, my eyes settling on Flora, who meets my gaze.
Her head nods, almost indiscernible as I decipher what she wants from me. I glance over my shoulder, noting a movement between trees and I realize she can see him. Be it the two of them being the same species or her part of her special skills, I don’t care because now. Now I have eyes on him too, which brings a smile to my lips.
e The ground slowly moves, the earth creaking and snapping beneath me as if the roots of the trees are alive. Just as Ezrah goes to move once more, sprint to where he is going and hestops a hair away from me. His eyes grow wide in surprise, looking down at me as he takes a single step backward to avoid me.
“What? Did you think you could outrun us forever?” I ask him, clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth.
“Out run?” He smirks, trying to mask the way he seems to panic as his fingers twitch. “My kind can and will always out run your kind. But I will admit you are rather adept for being part dog.”
“Really?” I frown and scoff as if he is a disappointment. “All this time alone in the woods to think of witty comebacks and you went with calling me a dog?”
His eyes narrow and I can see how flighty he is. His pupils quiver as if he is on a vibration plate, and then a small smirk rises on his lips. “You don’t think you actually have caught me, do you?” he whispers.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I am not letting you out of my sight again,” Then I lunge forward, my arms wrapping around his waist as we fall backwards.
Roots erupt from the earth, dirt flying through the air and raining down on us as we lift into the sky, tendrils of the ground weaving around my body and his as they squeeze and I fight for air.
Ezrah roars out in anger as I try to fight my way out and away from him. I knew Flora would use her skills to capture him, but I had hoped she would be a little more accurate. When I look at her, I find her eyes glazed over and her body trembling.
“Flora!” I shriek, trying to get her attention, but she remains unmoved before her mouth falls open and she lets out a pained scream.
“Help me!” she roars, her white out eyes growing blood shot as she drops to her knees. “Kyra, Please!”
My lycan roars out, my head whipping back as I shift and tear through the roots, only for them to be replaced just as fast as they come. I growl in anger, unsure of what the fuck is happening and how we ended up like this.
My front leg snaps, the pain shooting through me as I gnaw on limb after limb only to see Ezrah somehow nestled safely in a little bubble, as though she is protecting him.
For a moment, I think Flora has betrayed me until I see that the pain net she is in is real, as is mine. So I search the woods, remembering that there are more than just our. kind out here fighting. And that’s when the bastard steps out of the woods, his hands outstretched and his lips moving, murmuring incoherent words.
The roots squeeze me tighter, wrapping around my upper leg as I whimper and whine, trying like hell to struggle out of her possessed grasp. A snap breaks through the air and bile rushes up my throat as my lycan retreats and I slip through the roots, crashing into the ground with a pained thud.
My leg is broken, as is my arm, but I force myself to look up, watching as a root makes its way behind the wizard who came out of fucking nowhere. And then it pierces him through the heart. The roots stop, and he drops to his knees and sputters out blood with a weak cough and tumbles to his side.
I crawl on my stomach toward Flora, my broken leg dragging behind me as I groan in pain. Flora looks drained, her chest heaving up and down wildly as she kneels slumped forward, her hair askew and in covering her face. I can hear Ezrah battering against the rooted shelter she made for him, but a quick look satisfies my fears he may escape.
“Flora,” I whisper, dragging my body up and next to her as I hesitantly reach out and touch her back. She jumps, a frightened scream breaking from her lips before she seems to see me, and she relaxes.
“I was worried you were dead,” she whispers. “I was afraid to look.”
“You know, for a little bit, I thought you were trying to kill me.” I chuckle and her face grows pale, her eyes darting away.
“Not intentionally.” She mutters, a shudder raking through her body as she stares at the dead man laying on the ground. “What the hell was that?”
“Ah, you’ve never felt mind control before.” I give her a soft smile.
Tears leak from the corner of her eyes as she tries to fight back a sob.
“I’m sorry.” She murmurs.
“I’m just glad you came to your senses and killed him in time.” She blinks at me, her brows knitting together.
“I did?”
A strange sensation flutters over me and I hug myself, feeling vulnerable. So much weird shit has been happening. Well, weird, I suppose, is normal, but this level of it is. Well, it’s unsettling.
“One of your roots…I could have sworn it was you.” I mutter, and she frowns.
“Maybe?” she says, but her words lack confidence.
“Crap.” I groan, laying down on my back, my hands on my head as I try to calm my senses.
My lycan is exhausted and in pain. It is possible that someone else killed the wizard, likely another fae, but all worries fade away when Ezrah roars in frustration. I smile wide, a giggle bubbling up as, for a moment, I celebrate our little victory.
“We caught him.” Flora whispers, looking down at me. I nod, a victorious grin on my face.
“Hell yeah we did.” I tell her and she exhales.
“Should we look at the wizard?” Flora asks, scrunching her nose in distaste.
“To make sure he is dead?” I ask her and she nods.
“What if he isn’t? My mind is mine, not anyone else’s to toy with. I have worked too hard for control and he…he…” She pauses and chuckles as she wipes tears from her eyes.