Traded To The Lycan King by MG Wattsons

Two days feels like a hell of a lot more like two years as I wake on the day of Kyra's pending arrival. I have done everything to occupy my mind and lycan from bathing incessantly to going for runs and training. Merikh has always been the better fighter, with a quick reflex But I have improved since losing Leandra, pouring every ounce of myself into becoming a formidable force. One that can protect what is his. Where I failed once before to protect my mate, I refuse to ever fail Kyra in the same manner. If I have to slay a dragon to do it this

and ability to channel his lycan in a way I could never imagine.

time, so be it.

Little giggles fill the hall, followed quickly by the padding footfalls of my niece and nephew. The ones I all but abandoned in my self pity. I never thought I would be the uncle who the kids didn't know. But How could I love little innocent children when I couldn't even bear to look at myself?

With a nervous sigh and an attempt to kill time until someone announces Teiran and Kyra are here. I stand and move toward the doorway, leaning against the frame.

The two little toddlers race down the hall, their little hands flailing and their knees unbending as they screech happily. The second they look up, they stop, eyes wide, before taking a small step back. Little Dylan spins on his heels and races back where he came from while Harmony blinks at me, her chubby face scrunching before she grins wildly.

"Hess!" she squeals, clapping her hands. Merikh scoops up Dylan, his eyes meeting mine as I look up.

"What did she say?" I ask, and he grins.

"She is trying to say Hayes. Colette shows them photos of you every night and tells them your name." He explains, coming closer as Harmony toddles closer to her. Then she wraps her little stout arms around my leg.

"She didn't want them to be afraid of me when they met me, huh?" I ask, feeling a layer of ice in my chest melt away.

"No, she just wanted them to know you existed," He shrugs. "You aren't quite as scary as you believe you are, Hayes."

I look down at Harmony, who grins up at me, her puffy cheeks dimpling. My hand reaches out and I hesitantly pat her on the head and give her a smile back. Then she turns and rushes over to Merikh.

"I will be right back," He says, the twins taking up both of his arms. "I am heading to deliver them to mommy for breakfast. Isn't that right?"

"Eggs!" Harmony squeals and Dylan licks his little lips, prompting a grin from me as they pass by and I wait where I am for Merikh to make his way back.

I pace in the living room, moving toward the window, looking up at the sky in hopes of seeing a dragon carrying my mate. Wishful thinking turns to utter devastation when I see nothing. My stomach twists painfully and I drop into the couch with a grunt.

My hands come over my face, dragging down my skin as I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the sick feeling deep in my gut that only grows stronger. If Kyra were in danger and close, my Lycan would be spiraling out, but it's not a lycan feeling. It's a heaviness in my heart, a weight on my soul.

"You look awful," Merikh says, his footsteps coming into the room as I nod my head and exhale.

"Yeah, well, I feel like shit. My stomach is in knots and my body feels...out of sorts." I mutter. "That's because you are anxious." Merikh sighs. "I promise she is okay."

I rest my head on the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling.

"Until I see her, until I can... physically be near her, I won't believe that. I can't." I murmur.

It feels strange, and yet familiar, to be here next to Merikh and opening up about things.

"When did you realize she was your mate?" Merikh asks, looking at me curiously. "I mean, it was obvious she knew from the beginning."

"What?" I ask, my mouth dry as I try to swallow his words. "She only recently found out."

"Bullshit. She knew it was there long before you did. Kyra struggled with that bond the whole time."

Guilt washes over me. My idiotic ways, the things I said and did that hurt her, abandoning her and leaving her in dangerous situations. Fuck. "I've been so lost for so long, I forgot how to recognize anything remotely close to happiness."

"No, you've been living in the past and when you finally realized you could have a future, that's when you recognized it."

I lift my head, my eyes meeting his as he watches me with a look of concern. The same look he has worn since the day I placed all the blame on him.

"When did you become the wise one?" I ask, trying to make light of the years I tried to cut him from my life, the years I wanted to hate him and die instead.

"We are wise in our own ways, Hayes." He snorts. "When I was blind to things, you were my eyes. And for the last two years, I have tried to be your eyes, so you can see."

"Yeah," I groan, sitting forward, pressing my elbows into my knees. "Didn't make that easy for you at all."

"You went through something terrible, and I took a choice away from you." He shrugs. "I can't imagine many people enjoying that."

"Well," I clear my throat, "I suppose I see now that it wasn't a terrible thing for me."

"Hayes," Merikh sighs, turning to look at me with his whole body, a conflicted look on his face. "As the. Alpha, there are some things I shouldn't be telling you about this new treaty, considering Thatch is the Beta and you no longer are, but I can't bring myself to keep you out of the loop."

A part of me wants to tell him to

keep the secret, that it is no longer my place to be privy to any information.regarding the pack. But a larger part of me sees in his eyes that this concerns Kyra, which means it one hundred percent concerns me as well. So I greedily wait for him to continue, hoping for some information I can use to

formulate a plan to take back what

is mine.

"In order to overthrow the Dragon king, Teiran needs to be mated to Kyra. The child, Dragon Prince Tiago, needs a mother and has chosen Kyra to be that person."

"And why does that mean she would mate with the kid's brother?" I scoff, standing from the couch, trying to control my rising anger.

"Because it was Teiran or an old, deranged dragon king, Hayes. Teiran is doing what needs to be done to help Kyra."

"By forcing her to accept him because she has no other option? What does that mean for their mating night? Huh? It's essentially rape!" I roar and he frowns, looking down at the ground. Merikh stands and shoves his hands in his pockets, nodding his head. "Like what I did with Colette," Merikh murmurs and my shoulders slump and I groan.

"No, no, not like that. Colette was your mate the whole time. Kyra has a mate, one that wants her. She has me!"

"Will you shut up and listen?

Dragons do not claim a mate the

same way we do. It is not a marking and sex. They brand their chosen mate, marking them as theirs, but it does hot tether the other to them and it will not undo your mate's bond with Kyra." He rushes out, gripping my shoulders.

"His mark will still be on her skin." I growl low in my chest. Merikh yanks me close, his mouth near my ear.

"Terian plans to kill the king." He whispers.

"And what good will that do other than make him be excommunicated again?" I hiss back.

"He has his own plan for all of that."

"And how do we know he won't place the blame on us?" I scoff, shoving away from Merikh. "What stops him from reigniting a whole new war by claiming it was us who killed the king?"

Merikh groans, dragging a hand over his face, then he paces away to the doorway looking out and checking if the coast is clear. Then he paces back to me, his lips pressed together in frustration. "You need to keep your voice down," He growls.

"We are in your pack house. Who the hell would tell anyone of your plans?" I scoff and he frowns. "There was a Fae that came with Teiran the first time, when Ezrah was brought to us originally." "Flora," My eyes widen in surprise. "She is still here?"

"Yes, she is staying in the pack house, so lower your voice," He reminds me.

"I need to speak with her now." I say, rushing out of the living room. "Which room is she in?"