Traded To The Lycan King by MG Wattsons

"Exiled or not, I don't trust you." I tell him plainly. He nods in understanding, looking over at Kyra, who gives him an arched brow and a smirk. What, they have inside jokes already?

"I told you." She says quietly, causing me to drag my tongue over my teeth, trying my hardest not to snap at them.

"Where did you come from?" Marcos asks, sounding just as annoyed as I feel. A small flutter of amusement floats through me as I look at Teiran for his answer.

"I live on the road." He shrugs, "I happened to be camping nearby-"

"He is searching for Ezrah, too." Kyra says, cutting him off.

Teiran watches her closely but doesn't say anything to negate what she says as I narrow my eyes.

"So he is searching for the egg..." I say, leading them for more answers.

"Yes." He says, "But not for the reason you think. I have my own motives, but I assure you I want to work with you."

I recall the many times Colette would try to speak to me, fill me in on her stories about when she was saved from within the dragon's lair. She trusted Teiran once, the fallen heir who distrusted Giselle.

But that doesn't mean in these two years that his allegiance has changed completely. Where Colette found it easy to discern who to trust, I find I don't have it in me to even try it.

"You trust him?" I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose between my eyes. My body is tired, weakened from sprinting and fighting and my mental guard is down from seeing her safe. "I think so." She says. I bark a soft laugh as I shake my head.

"I don't have it in me to argue with you right now."

"Uh, I don't trust him." Marcos chimes in, "Does my opinion matter for anything?"

"Not really." I tell him truthfully, shooting him a smirk as he rolls his eyes and throws his hands up in defeat.

"We can discuss it with Koda, Dean, and Nisha when we get back." I say, walking away, searching the ground for the remnants of some type of clothing.

"If we head back through my camp, I have extra pants." Teiran says before looking at Kyra. "And shirts."

I can't stop the growl as it rumbles through my chest. My protective eyes narrowed on him as he looks at me with a blank expression, but I swear I see a twitch at the corner of his lips.

"Lead the way." I give in. Deciding getting clothing on everyone is probably for the best. At least, for my sanity, when it comes to both Marcos and Teiran sneaking the occasional look at Kyra's smooth, toned body.

His camp isn't too far from where we were and I look around, wondering how the hell we missed this as we sprinted through the forest looking for Kyra. Was my fear for her that imminent that I couldn't even focus on searching clearly?

I mean, I had run right past her and what if she had needed me? What if Teiran had tried something and I just...sprinted past her as she needed me? I need to do better, be better if I want to keep her safe.

Teiran tosses me some gym shorts, dealing out clothing to the rest as I slip my feet through and tug them to my waist. I take a second to close my eyes and appreciate a pair of clothing that fits right. He grabs his bag, uttering a few words as the dim, smokeless, fire extinguishes.

"Ready?" He says looking around and I nod.

"You two walk ahead, I want to speak to Kyra." I say, pinning her in place with my scowl. She exhales, stalking toward me like a kid that got caught sneaking out at night.

"I don't really know where I am going." Teiran reminds me and Marcos puts his hand up to get attention.

"Yeah, I'm a little turned around." He says, grinning. I groan, clenching my jaw before I point in the direction our camp is, my eyes glowering at him.

"Just keep walking that way." I grit out. "We will be right behind you."

Marcos sneers but he does as he is

told, Teiran giving Kyra one last look before he drops his head and follows along with Marcos. Kyra takes two steps to follow them as my hand lifts, pressing into her toned stomach, her heat radiating through the fabric of her shirt, as I stop her.

"We need to stay close," she says, her gaze focused on my hand.

"Worried you won't be able to track them?" I ask, which earns me a scowl, her freckled face turning red as she grinds her teeth.

"What do you want to talk about?" She asks, reaching down and shoving my hand off of her as she takes a step, putting space between us. My body wants to move with hers, the draw of being near her taking over my senses as I stare at her. "You don't just find strangers and invite them to join us." I tell her, shaking my head, forcing the scent of her from my mind.

"Yeah, well, you don't exactly invite people you know well, either." She says, jutting her head to the side to nail home the sass she is giving me.

I chuckle, dragging my hand over my face. She is driving me completely nuts. One minute I am ready to end my life and the next...damn it, the next I am ready to live my life arguing with her just to see those cheeks grow pink.

"I don't trust him." I say, reminding myself to focus on the task at hand. Teiran, the big dragon dick who just wooed Kyra into letting him join us.

"Well I do," she shrugs.

"What, you find a hot dragon in the woods and suddenly you forget they are our enemy? They killed Tyler." Her eyes narrow and she drops her arms to her side, her tongue pressing to the side of her mouth as she chuckles quietly at my words.

"Go fuck yourself, Hayes." She says,

her voice soft, as if she is too tired to

argue. "Not every dragon is bad, just like not every lycan is good. I am choosing to trust him because we need him. How else do you intend to get the egg from Ezrah? He beat your brother. Did you forget that?"

"Merikh gave it up!" I hiss at her. "You don't know what happened, clearly, because you act like he fought to the death for it. He gave the egg up-"

"For his mate. For Colette, the mother of his children." She scoffs, her brows pulling together. "Is that why you are mad at him? You blame him for choosing her?"

"The point is, I don't trust Teiran. Anything else we don't need to discuss?" I grumble.

"And I don't trust you." She says, looking me dead in the eye.

Anger burns at my throat, my fingers flexing as I look away from her and breathe deeply, trying to calm myself. She doesn't trust me? Of all the fucking people she can choose to trust, I am the one she doesn't trust? My lycan growl restless, annoyance trickling from him to me as I take a menacing step into her.

"You don't trust me?" I whisper, unable to control the anger in my voice.

"Not completely." She says, tilting her chin up to meet my glare.

"Is it because of how things ended between us years ago?" I ask, a shiver running through me as I reach out and touch her cheek.

Her hand reaches up, grabbing hold of my thumb as she drags it away from her face. Sparks tickle through my hand and I bite back a gasp.

"No, it's that I have had to save you twice now to keep you from dying."

I shrug, gripping onto her hand.

"Maybe I'm just a shitty fighter and swimmer?" I tease, and she frowns.

"I can't trust you with yourself. How can I trust you won't give up right before I need you?" She whispers. "Should I have to die because you don't care about living? Are we not worth living for?"

My heart is pounding loudly in my ears as I take my other hand and gently cup her cheek, those same sparks jumping out at me as my mouth falls open.

Mate. My mate. All feeling aside from awe and desire flees and all I can hear is my lycan whimpering in excitement.

"You might be worth living for..." I murmur, scanning every part of her face as if I am seeing her, truly, for the first time. Is she really mine?