Traded To The Lycan King by MG Wattsons

*Kyra*

"I know what you are thinking." Flora chimes from behind me.

It takes every ounce ofto only roll my eyes and not let out an annoyed groan. We are supposed to be moving

in silence, but | suppose | did this to myself by taking someone | don't know. Then again, that's exactly why |

dragged her along. | don't trust this Fae. "That you should shut your mouth?" | whisper and shoot her a scowl!

over my shoulder.

The ground rustles behindand | close my eyes, my heading turning from side to side as | try to release the

tension of being stuck with her. | did this to myself, not Hayes or Teiran. But me, okay, not entirely true.

| did this because Hayes was being a dick and trying to makejealous. Which only makes him more of a dick,

because who does that? Why would he wantto admit | am his mate so he can just rejectand die? How

heartless does one have to be to force someone to feel something and then go and hope they die?

"Look, | 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."

| 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." | mutter. "It's not like | want to care about him."

She goes silent at my side and | glance over, watching as she frowns and then she opens her mouth to speak

before snapping it shut.

"What?" | groan, dragging my hand over my face as exhaustion hits me.

"It's just that | 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." | mutter, ignoring her suggestion. There is not a way in hell | 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 |

don't see anything out of the ordinary. Until a shiver runs down my spine and | 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 | try to catch a glimpse of it in

the tree, looking for swaying branches or pine needles tumbling down.

Instead, | 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 | not stopped to argue, | may not have noticed, as | 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 | 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," | 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." | whisper low to Flora.

| back away from her, extracting my wrist from her nervous hand before | take a step closer to the breeze.

"There is no need for a show, Ezrah." | say, trying to sound bored as | place my hands on my hips. "lI 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.

"| 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 shakeup, but what he doesn't understand is that | have fought dragons and even threw

myself back into a damn mudslide to save someone else. At this point, | am pretty sure my sense of danger

meter is damn near ruined. "I brought Flora because she has a special skill set that | thought would cin

handy."

"Ah, cin handy for capturing me?" He asks, his voice higher pitched at the end like he is amused.

"Well, if you would just cand have a little civil chat, | am certain we could cto skind of agreement."

| mutter, taking a risk and stepping closer to the tree where | am sure he is. As | jump around the trunk, | find

nothing, and | 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?" | 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 tolike 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, | heard you two were friends once." | say, my eyes settling on Flora, who meets my gaze.

Her head nods, almost indiscernible

|

what she wants from

as | decipher what

me. | glance over my shoulder, noting a movement between trees and | realize she can see him. Be it the two of

them being the sspecies or her part of her special skills, | don't care because now. Now | have eyes on him

too, which brings a smile to my lips.

The ground slowly moves, the earth creaking and snapping beneathas 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 atas he takes a single step backward to avoid me.

"What? Did you think you could outrun us forever?" | 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 | will admit you are rather adept for being part dog."

"Really?" | frown and scoff as if he is a disappointment. "All this talone in the woods to think of witty

comebacks and you went with callinga dog?"

His eyes narrow and | 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 | 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 | fight for air.

Ezrah roars out in anger as | try to fight my way out and away from him. | knew Flora would use her skills to

capture him, but | had hoped she would be a little more accurate. When | look at her, | find her eyes glazed over

and her body trembling. "Flora!" | 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 | shift and tear through the roots, only for them to be replaced

just as fast as they come. | growl in anger, unsure of what the fuck is happening and how we ended up like this.

My front leg snaps, the pain shooting throughas | 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, | think Flora has

betrayeduntil | see that the pain

she is in is real, as is mine. So | 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 squeezetighter, wrapping around my upper leg as | 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 | force myself to look up, watching as a root makes its way behind the wizard

who cout 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.