Traded To The Lycan King



"What ya doing?" A voice asks from above me. I close my eyes and groan internally.

"Trying to find silence." I mutter.

“Hmm, looks more like you are spying on Marcos, Hayes.” Nisha asks, dropping from the tree next to me where I hide and watch Marcos as he examines Kyra.

"I'm not spying on Marcos." I say defensively. She steps up next to me, looking straight ahead, and then she chuckles.

"So, are you going to apologize to her?"

I ignore her as I focus on Marcos' gentle, unmaimed hands as they glide across her bruised back. He eases her to the side, checking out the bruise on her abdomen, his thumb inching too close to her breasts-

"Hayes,” Nisha says, stepping in front of me. Her dark brown eyes lock on mine as I clear my throat and look away quickly. "Seems like she is has gotten under your skin."

"She is not," I scoff, turning my back on Nisha and walking deeper into the trees. Every step away from where Marcos is touching Kyra feels like a brick is added to my body weight, sinking me further into the ground making it impossible to move further.

"What'd she do to you then?" Nisha pounces in front of me with a glimmer of excitement in her eye. Her short loose curls bobble with her head as she tilts it to the side, waiting for an answer.

"Kyra and I are old friends. She didn't do anything to me." I say firmly. It's the truth. When it comes to hurting Kyra, it seems I am almost always the root cause, and it sucks just as much now as it did back then.

"Oh," Nisha laughs as she covers her mouth. "Oh, you feel guilty."

My shoulders slump and I frown as I look directly into the thin werewolf's eyes.

“I feel bad she got hurt, yes, but my motive was justified." I clip out. "Kyra does not belong here. She shouldn't have been allowed on this mission.” Nisha makes a face, one that says 'interesting but I disagree' and I roll my eyes. Of the group we have with us, Nisha is annoyingly the most perceptive. Though Dean may be as well, he is much better at controlling his face when it comes to things he disagrees with.

"Keep your opinion to yourself, Nisha." I warn her and she puts her hands up, feigning innocence.

"I didn't say anything," she protests.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

"You didn't have to. Your face always speaks louder than your words." I mutter and she giggles.

"I can't help what my face does." She rolls her eyes. Her bubbly personality is a constant point of contention between us. But her desire for revenge is just as strong as the rest of us, so she fits our odd ball group.

"Are you on watch?" I ask her, and she shoots me a grin.

"No, I was visiting with Koda." She says, as she waggles her brows suggestively.

I frown at her, and she rolls her eyes.

"Calm down, we just talked." She hides a wry smile. "Keep looking at me like that and I might almost be convinced you are jealous. You know I am open to comfort you, too."

She winks at me, and I glare at her.

"Get back to camp, Nisha." I sigh, turning my back on her as I walk away. She once again shoots around me and stands in my way. This time, her hands land on my chest and she gives me a soft, sad look.

"Wait. You owe Kyra an apology, Hayes. And you should do it sooner rather than later." She says, a demanding look on her face that makes me chuckle dryly and shake my head as I push her hands away.

“What I do is my business, Nisha.” I scoff and she frowns.

"You fucked up with that command and you know it. Keep that shit up and you will lose crew members." She rivals my angered gaze with her own. "Fine." I grit out, shoving her aside as I storm back to where I had come from. "I'll apologize."

It irritates me greatly that I was so quick to agree, but with every passing second, all I can see is Marcos' hands on Kyra. What if Marcos crosses a line and she is too weak to handle herself? Not that Marcos would ever do such a thing, but my mind can't think straight.

My pace quickens, and my mind wanders to all sorts of dangerous places.

"Hayes," Dean calls to me from my right, but I don't detour toward him. "Hayes!"

He calls again, and then he chases after me.

"What?" I growl at him and he looks at me like I am insane.

"We have eyes on a dragon," He says. "Koda is tracking him now, making sure he goes further away. But it looks like he is scanning the water."

I freeze, looking right at Dean as he watches the realization settle.

"So this dragon, do we think it is the second one that Kyra mentioned?" I ask him and he nods.

"That would make sense. They aren't usually in this area, so for it to be a separate incident, it would be pretty rare."

“Fuck,” I grumble, dragging my good hand through my hair. "Where is Koda, exactly?"

Dean furrows his brow in confusion. "He is near the ridge by the large oak tree."

"Good." I mutter, changing directions as I sprint toward where Koda is hunkering down and watching the bastard dragon. "No!" Dean roars, chasing after me. "We can't just kill this one."

I snort a laugh.

"The hell I can't,"

All I need to do is remember seeing Kyra in pain and the way her body is bruised and broken. After witnessing that, I can do anything to anyone who hurt her. And I will kill this fucker who thinks it is okay to hunt and try to kill our kind just for the sheer fun of it. Dean has seen me at my worst and my best, so he must know I can handle this.

"Hayes, we need you for this mission. This mission is too important for this one dragon. Kyra is fine. She is okay."

His words make me stop in my tracks, my mouth sealing shut as I breathe heavily and spin to look at him, confused. "What did you say?" I croak.

"Kyra is okay." He repeats and I see it, the way he thinks this has anything to do with me caring for her. And maybe it does, but for him to assume he knows that infuriates me.

"This isn't about Kyra." I growl at him. "This is about those fuckers killing as they please for sheer pleasure of it. This is one less dragon for us to face later if we kill him now."

"Or we can follow him to find the others." Dean parries and I freeze. "We track him, watch him and see where he goes, what he does. We have a tracker now, right? Let's use her the way Alpha intended."

“He intended her to help us find Ezrah, not dragons.” I remind him and she shrugs, grinning.

"This could be her test run, then."

I wrestle with the thought of keeping Kyra along with us, hating it. But then I think about her alone in these woods, like she had been, and

blazing anger comes flowing

through my veins. No, as mult

I

hate to admit it, I want Kyra Safe. And out here, the safest place is with us. Which means she willbe staying.

"Fuck," I grunt. "Damn it. I hate when you use logic on me."

"Yeah, well, you used to be the logical one," he teases, slapping me on the side of the arm. "Now let's get something to eat. Nisha was going to make stew on the fire,"

"Fine," I mutter, following along with him.

We walk in silence, the glow of the

fire coming closer and each step

making me more nervous than the last. Being near Kyra is confusing

and upsetting. I have missed bet

and yet, I can't figure out how to act around her anymore. Would it be so awful to be her friend again, not like we were, but in the way that I am close with Nisha or Dean? It might not be terrible.

The sound of groaning breaks my train of thought and I freeze, looking forward to see Kyra on her belly behind the flame. Her back arches up with Marcos on top of her, and his face contorts with effort. She lets out a moan, her eyes sliding closed before she falls forward, heaving, and then a soft

chuckle.

"Heavens," she murmurs.

"Fuck yes," He says with a satisfied grin, wiping sweat from his brow.

Everything inside of me grows cold, as if I can not move, can not breathe.

"Yeah? That feels good?" Marcos asks, chuckling as he stands up, the first obscuring my view of them as they lay on the other side. "Now, spin over. I want to see all of you."

Rage consumes me, my eyes seeing red as I lunge forward, a roar breaking from my lips as I tackle Marcos through the fire, my fist colliding with his perfectly angular face.