Traded To The Lycan King

"Kyra, Alpha Merikh wants to see you," Thatch says, leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping on his steaming cup of coffee. My puffy, unawake eyes glare at him as he smiles behind the last of the only elixir that can shake this terrible mood I am dawning. "Is that all the coffee?" I ask him, my voice sounding desperate, but I don't care. Desperation in the face of coffee is the only place I will ever come close to groveling.

"Out here, yes." He arches a brow. "The alpha has a coffee machine in his office,"

"This seems like a feeble attempt to just hurry me along to see him." I mumble as I shuffle away from the chuckling beta, heading to the Alpha's office in a huff.

The second I step in front of his door, I draw in a deep breath a shit attempt to calm myself. My first meeting with Alpha Merikh was fine, but the second when I saw Hayes, and then what happened after?

My nerves are frayed and my emotions a damn mess. I roll my head, trying to release the tension before entering. Yet somehow he knows I am here. His voice calls out, telling me to enter, and I reach out to push the door open. The handle yanks on my firm grip in a frenzy of speed and I tumble forward with a surprised squawk falling from my lips.

My body collides with another, the warmth of it radiating through me as I place my hands on their chest and push back, a blush rising on my cheeks. The muscles under my palms flex in a strange way that makes my brows knit together. It all clicks when his hands grip my biceps and I see the shiny pink flesh, sunken skin that clings to the muscles that survived the raging heat of the dragon's flames.

Hayes. Shit. I shove away from him as fast as possible, my heart pounding as I keep my concentration on his burned hand. Forcing myself not to look anywhere else, not when my embarrassment is so noticeable on my face.

Hayes clears his throat and tears his hand back, tucking it into his pocket. And only then do I look up to see him glancing away from me at the ground.

"I told you, Alpha, I am not happy about this decision." Hayes says, his eyes peeking up once but looking away instantly before he shoves past me out the door. His shoulder connects with mine, making me stumble into the doorjamb. "So good to see you too," I grumble under my breath before I grab hold of the door and slam it behind him a little harder than I planned. The wall shakes and Merikh chuckles.

"Sounds like your reunion has continued to really go smoothly." He gives me a sorry smile.

"Hah. If wanting to strangle each other is considered smooth, then sure, it's been really splendid." I reply with a scoff.

"If you don't want to go, Kyra, you can say no," Alpha Merikh offers, but I can see the worry lines on his face. "Hayes has been this way since he lost his mate. I am worried about him, about his obsession with his desire to die."

"Is that what you wanted to see me about? You want me to babysit him because I used to know him?" I ask, not bothering to hide the shock I feel.

he comes around his desk, taking a seat in the chair across from

my chest. It did strike me as odd that Merikh hadn't cared to ask me a single thing about where I had been, what I had done before he found me. But then again, he is the Alpha, so perhaps he already knows more than

a brow as

tell me all of it?" He asks, a frown on his lips as he watches me with pity. My stomach sinks and I swallow roughly. The room feels suffocating as I

the window, trying not to make eye contact. Shit, I can't do this, not after last night. My weak resolve is already cracking.

mate." He

he was well known. He did a lot of traveling to help train other werewolves." I say with a soft smile, remembering the kind yet firm mate I loved and

can't help but roll my eyes. This rumor had come up several times when Tyler was alive and though he said it

best. If I had truly been better, then it would be him here, not me." I say, making sure Merikh understands I refuse to be told I am better than Tyler. Ever. He was amazing at what he did, and I strive every day to live

his throat as he stands and makes a move for the coffee machine on the shelf where books should

may have come up," I say casually, even though I know that is the understatement

you want something

to scream

as he goes about grabbing

asks, grabbing mugs as he sets up the

at my fingers, trying not to relive the moment I felt the bond disappear and the days after that

at me with a scrunched nose as if he is thinking of the right way to phrase something. "How

am curious if you were ever like Hayes

"Tyler's parents were killed a year before him, so I had no one left after losing him. Maybe that is why I didn't stay the way Hayes is acting for

longer than Hayes was with Leandra, and

different on everyone, Alpha." I say offended he

been more than mine. "I invested my time in training and tracking

so harsh in my words. But instead a frown and sadness clouds his features and he turns, leaning