Traded To The Lycan King

"Let go of me!" I grit out, throwing my elbow back, my funny bone tingling up my arm and into my fingers as I hit something solid. The hand on my neck releases me and I stumble forward into the wall, whipping around, ready to fight. I stop, blinking as I look at Hayes, who frowns at me and rubs his solar plexus. "Ouch," He says, looking unimpressed. "All of that so-called training and you went with an elbow jab?"

An amused laugh bubbles up my chest as I allow my body to go lax and lean onto the rock surface for support. The cool stones soothe my aching muscles from my falling and I sigh heavily.

"Forgive me, but I'm not in the mood for any verbal sparring at the moment." I huff out, my stomach pinching and churning violently as I lean forward, hands on my knees.

"What the hell were you thinking, running off like that?" He asks, but for once, his words aren't demanding or condescending.

"I was tracking." I say, turning my head to look up at him from my bent over position.

"Looked more like you were falling." He says with a grunt.

I don't have the energy to fight with him. Going from the high of tracking to near death and then to the scare of being attacked does something to the nerves I can't quite explain.

My heart is in my throat still, the bile burning the back of my throat as I try to bring my blood pressure back to normal. Hell, fighting that damn dragon felt way less taxing.

"Ezrah is close." I whisper, standing up again before hunching back over and hurling out the acid that had settled in my throat and around the bitter taste buds around my tongue.

My muscles contract painfully, tugging at my injuries and making me groan in near agony. I have now fallen off two cliffs since starting this mission. If this starts to become a habit, I may have to send myself home. If I had a home to go back to.

"What do you mean?" Hayes asks, his body going rigid as he steps in closer to me. I slide my forearm over my mouth, cleaning it as I swallow roughly.

"I caught the scent of the egg, and then when I looked closer I could see signs they went this way-"

"Are you sure?" he asks, his voice low as he reaches out and takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to meet his intense questioning eyes.

tell him, trying to struggle away from his touch, the sparks flooding through me

me, Kyra." He says seriously, moving his face closer. "Say it

it." I say, making sure to say my words clearly so

I thought you said." He mumbles, dropping his hand before he turns away, a flash of

much it disappoints me to not please him with my work. Isn't this what he wanted for so

turns and glares at me. I stutter under his look. A small shrug the only thing

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I am not your ex-mate. He is dead" His words have a bite to them that makes my brows furrow. His mood seems to shift faster than the wind in a raging storm, and his words feel like a punch to the gut. "I know that. There is no way I could ever confuse the two of you." I snap at him. "What I mean is, this is how I was trained. This is what I do, Hayes. I track, I follow and then I report and we proceed from there. In a sense, I am a spy." "Kyra, you left without so much as a look back. Nisha thought you went crazy and freaked out." He says, a glimmer of guilt

freaking out." I say as a sound rustles over my head, distracting

moving quicker than mine as he grabs me, tugging me into his chest before he spins us to the right, just under

into the rocks, his body glued to mine, his chin touching my hair. My stomach, once revolting, now calms and butterflies emerge, dancing amidst a field of a love they want so desperately to live freely in. "Hayes," I whisper, my lips barely moving. His chest vibrates softly,

he utters and I press my lips together, closing my eyes as I try to

felt in a long damn time. My lycan

slight cool breeze coming between where his chin was pressed into my hair, but I can't bring myself to look. I am wrapped in his scent, in the dream of what could be if only we weren't so broken. "Please what,

he actually cares and doesn't

trying

pressing harder into mine. "They can not see us, but if you

my ear, tickling the loose hairs that twirl about my neck and

into minutes and the air seems to grow thicker with

a second more of being this close to him. I shouldn't crave this or enjoy it. He isn't the Hayes I knew, and he isn't

and leaves me vulnerable in every damn way. The second he feels it, I will reject him and we can both be on

he takes a step back, his eyes meeting mine with a fierce look before he takes another step away, leaning to the side and looking up. I

and tilt my head, knowing the words he said but not

way?" I ask him, "Ezrah