Traded

Chapter 92

Pain ripples up through my leg as I hiss and try to spin to see who the fuck is there, but I am caught in the face with a bone quivering force. I stumble back, shaking my head, my snout crinkling as I try to force the sting away. The fucker grins maliciously and tilts his head from side to side, his neck cracking as his eyes glow their telltale red.

I was already aware that Lily was near. She had to be in order for Caspian’s water trick to work to wash away her illusion. But what makes me more nervous than fighting a dragon with extra strong hide in their human form is fighting them when they are being possessed by the wicked fae queen.

“You are making this very fun, Alpha Merikh.” The warrior says his puppet master is using him to speak to me, though there is no responding in my current form. I growl in response, lunging forward and grabbing the warrior by the wrist, yanking him toward me.

The same pain burns up my leg, but I push it aside as I lift his arm and roar out as I thrust my lycan claws up into his armpit. My fingers break through his flesh, the warmth of his blood feeling like fire as it drips down my arm before I tear them back out.

He drops to his knees, holding his arm to his wound as blood pumps through his artery that I severed. The moment his face hits the ground, I hear a bark of laughter and I look to my right.

“You can’t silence me,” a female warrior says.

She turns her head to face me, her eyes void and brilliant red as Percy plunges his claws into her chest, screaming out in his emotional agony over his sister. The second the warrior’s eyes close, a new voice echoes behind me.

“I have so many more.” Lily says through new means, a gleeful tone to her wicked words. “This is just a fun game for me. A little taste of the war coming to your pack, and those who go up against us.”

I exhale, annoyed, as I slowly turn to stare down at a massive man stalking my way with blood on his face. His lips twitch up in a sly smile before he lifts a bloody arm and wipes his cheek.

My stomach sinks, the muscles in my chest tightening with fury and a twinge of fear at the thought of whose blood he is wearing. My eyes skirt around to make sure those who came with me are still safe. Percy fights relentlessly, refusing to stop as I search for Hayes and Leandra, who are nowhere to be found.

“Look at me when I am talking to you, dirty mutt.” The warrior snaps, stepping closer and invading my vision.

My black eyes focus on him, narrowed and ready to fight to the death. There are many moves I can use on this fucker. All of which result in him dead at my feet and hopefully Lily out of fucking range. I crouch, readying myself to attack.

“Die,” I growl, the one syllable word rumbling through me and my lycan as my lips curl back, showcasing my teeth.

Before Lily has a second to speak through the warrior again, I am dropping my shoulder and head as I ram into his soft stomach. He lifts a few feet as I roar and hammer him into the hard ground.

The earth rumbles beneath us and the same nagging pain in my leg flares up again as I step back, losing my footing and stumbling back with a groan and a wince.

It is enough of a window for him to jump back up and crash into me with his leg, catching me in the side. Bones crack and the air whooshes from my snout, only pissing me off all the more. I slap my arm over his foot, holding it close to my side as I reach with my claw and bury it into his shin, just below his knee.

He roars, smoke billowing from his mouth as he tilts his head back before focusing back on me. I try to drag my claws down through his bone, but find them lodged in his unnaturally thick skin.

His free foot slides through the air, aimed directly at my chest to get me to release his other leg. In the knick of time, I yank my claws free and step back.

“She cries like the little weak bitch she is,” He hisses at me. “Hardly have to touch her to make her scream in pain,”

This fucking asshole is just trying to bait me. And unfortunately for him, it’s working. Rage makes my blood run cold and I snarl at him, done with this fucking shit already.

I don’t know how the fuck he is a dragon yet won’t shift and I don’t know why his hide is thicker and stronger than others. All I fucking know is he insulted my little luna’s mental strength and her integrity. Which I happen to know is fucking impeccable.

claws

He reaches out for me, trying to catch me off guard, but I duck under his incoming arm, slipping around him to the back and burying my claws into the side of his neck where he seems to be less tough.

His hands reach back, trying to grab onto me, but he fails. In desperation, he stumbles backward, slamming me into a rock as I groan in pain. twist my hand, his flesh tearing open into a gaping wound, his muscles stringy as they try to cling together.

D

He takes a step to the side, slamming me back once more as a rock pierces me in the back. I retreat my claws and he stumbles forward, covering his neck. I can feel blood dripping down my back but it doesn’t phase me, instead it spurs my fury more as I lunge for him.

He tries to dodge me, but he fails as he falls to the side and I drop onto him, shredding his body as he cries out in pain. His squeal grows quiet and all that’s left to hear is the squelching of his flopping skin as a hand lands on my shoulder. I instantly spin, leaping onto the next assailant, ready to make his face match the asshole I just finished.

“Merikh! That is enough!” Caspian yells, a flash of water tossing me from him as I roll to the side. “They are gone for now.”

I look up at the clear sky, breathing in and out as I shift back into human form and force myself up, groaning as pain prickles every part of me. I look down at my leg, my stomach falling when I notice a large burn on my skin, deep enough to have burned through a chunk of muscle.

“Alpha?” Percy calls out.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“I’m good.” I reply as he rushes over and reaches out to help me up.

“Hayes and Leandra?” I ask, worried, and he juts his head to the left.

“They are good, but they are having a moment. I thought it might be good to let them have that.” Percy says in a hushed voice. I nod, agreeing with him as I limp over to Caspian as he stands.

“Are you hurt?” I ask him, noticing how pale he looks. His lips press into a flat line as he tries to think of a way to lie to me. “Where?”

“I am fine, Merikh.” He says. “Over–extended myself with water use, that is all,”

I watch him closely before Hayes and Leandra rush over, hand in hand, a look of worry on Hayes‘ face.

“What the hell happened to your leg?” He asks, eyes wide.

“We were fighting dragons, Hayes.” I remind him, and he furrows his brows.

“Dragons would have been transformed.” Percy reminds him. “Like enormous body, crazy neck and massive wings. They were just oddly thick skinned and massive for humans.”

“No one can command a dragon, not even with magic.” Caspian says. “Not in battle,

anyway.”

“So because Lily was commanding them, they couldn’t call on their dragons to fully come out?” Hayes asks.

“Yes, something like that,” Leandra whispers. “She preferred using us, our kind, because we are easier to control, less stubborn.”

“We need to keep moving.” I say deciding none of this information is important enough to keep us in the open around a handful of dead bodies.

“You are injured.” Hayes says, and I scoff.

“So is my mate.” I growl, and he throws his hands up in a sign of submission.

I limp along three steps before I freeze, my mouth falling open as the wind is knocked from me. Fear and panic whip through me like a hurricane, tearing at my resolve as my heart feels like it is being squeezed.

Then I feel her, her emotions flooding my mind, flooding all of me before they settle and it’s just me and Colette in my mind.

-Letty–I whisper her name through the reestablished mindlink and I feel her shock, a relieved laugh tumbling from my lips.”

-Merikh–She responds, her voice breaking–You need to get out, they know you are here-

-Good–I tell her, -Be ready, I came to bring you home-

There is silence, then I feel the confliction in her. Worry settles in and for a moment, I think she might not want to come back with me.

-Is Leandra with you?—

-Yes-

-Tell her to hide you at the broken temple until I reach out. I have help on the inside–She says,-And Merikh? I missed you the second I walked away-

-Me too, love. Me too,—

I turn to the four with me, a giddy grin on my face I can’t wipe off and all of them look at me, confused.

“Colette is alive and safe. She is close enough for the mindlink to work.”

2/3

Oh, thank the heavens,” Caspian says, looking like he might fall over from relief.

“She said to have you take us to the broken temple…” I tell Leandra, who looks a little shocked. “Can you take us?”

“Yes, we will be safe there.” She says, nodding. “For now.”

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