Traded To The Lycan King by MG Wattsons

"No," Teiran says with a small frown. "This has nothing to do with what my birthright is and everything to do with what is right."

I watch him for a moment, weighing the truth of his words, searching for anything I may construe as a lie. But I find nothing, as if he has nothing to hide. Maybe he is being honest, and perhaps he is someone I could trust. But that does not mean I should or will. "Why do you want to see the Alpha and Luna?" I ask him.

"I trust your Luna, and I believe she can help me." He says like it's such an obvious thing.

"But the question is, does she trust you?" I arch a brow and he looks away.

"I see we will make no headway with this. So instead, I will be the one to go out on a limb and extend trust first." He says, his intense eyes landing on me.

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"I will share with you all the Information I have at my disposal. Dragons can not breed hybrids." He says, walking away from me, his back turned before he groans as he lowers himself to a log beside the fire. "How do you know if no one has ever tried?" I ask, following him. He exhales and then shakes his head.

"The first-born child is and will always be the strongest dragon. A dragon can not exist where there is another being. It is why vampires have no effect on us when we are bitten. Our beasts are territorial and they do not allow for sharing of minds."

"We used to believe no one could have hybrids in general," I remind him. "And now we have a Luna who is a hybrid with a siren. Things that have not been tested can't be confirmed as impossible until it's been tried."

"That egg is a dragon." He says, a look in his eyes telling me he truly believes that. "It is not only just a dragon, but it is my sibling."

"It could be a Phoenix. Or a dragon or some crazy version of the two. It is fantastic that you want to believe that there is nothing amiss with that egg, but the truth is that you can't know. No one can until it is hatched and we see what it is." "Once I have the egg, I will be able to tell." He says, and I scoff.

"Like you all could tell that Giselle wasn't a dragon? Forgive me for sounding pessimistic, but I am highly doubting your ability to tell."

"I could tell." He whispers, looking into the fire that seems to burn yet emits no smoke. "Through the haze of magic and thread of lies, I knew she was not what she claimed to be."

I exhale, my shoulders heaving up before dropping.

"Look, I can't take you to Luna Colette or Alpha Hayes because we are not headed in that direction."

"There is a high likelihood you will need to head back sooner rather than later, with or without what you are looking for." He says, leaning forward, his eyes boring into mine. "Dragons are at your doorstep, eager for vengeance and what they think you have stolen from them."

I swallow the lump in my throat, knowing he is right. If we don't speed things up, there is a chance we will have no home to go back to. The pressure of everyone's lives rests on my shoulders, our shoulders, and I can't even focus long enough to track or fight the way I should.

"My kind is safe for now," I tell him, trying to convince myself as well. "With the help of the sirens and the occasional other species jumping in to take sides..."

He arches a brow, looking amused. "I don't mean to speak down to you or ill of your kind, but have you seen a dragon in true form? We are not small in mass or numbers. Vampires do not scare us and no other species can rule us. It is why the treaty was so important. We value structure and laws almost as much as we value beautiful things."

"And yet here you are claiming to be on my side?" I say, making him smile.

"I am on the side of the dragons.

Don't misconstrue my words for lack of loyalty to my kind. But my kind needs saving just as much as yours. They are following a demented king who needs to be removed from his throne, as his choices are no longer

made in the interest of our kind but his own personal vendetta."

I mull over his words and our interaction. Hayes would never in a million years want to team up with a dragon. Especially not the son of the person who led to so many horrifying deaths. But then again, who better to track a dragon egg than a dragon? And when we come across his kind, maybe he could be of use. "I have killed dragons." I tell him, making sure he looks me right in the eyes.

"And I have killed lycans," he says with ease. "We must do what we have to in order to survive. Not all dragons are decent."

A scream breaks out in the distance, making my skin crawl as it dies out in a guttural sputtering. I am on my feet before I realize it, taking steps toward it, passing Teiran. A rough, warm hand touches my arm gently and I blink at it before looking at his large frame as he shakes his head. "You will survive longer if you don't rush after the sound of death." He says, nearly pleading.

"It could be someone in my group that needs help." I say, my brows pulled together, confused by his lack of interference.

"That sound? The silence? That is the sign that you are already too late. What has happened can't be undone."

"No, but I can still investigate." I tell him, pulling away from his touch. "Tell you what, you can sit here and contemplate your next move or you can prove to me that you can be trusted. Then, perhaps, I will find a way to get you to Luna Colette to speak with them."

I take two steps away, still facing

him, before I spin on my heel and break into a sprint, heading toward the noise see a column of smoke through the treetops and I realize that this is the scent I had been following before I ran into Teiran. His flame distracted me, but now that I think back, it had no smoke, no smell.

What would have happened to me had I missed his little camp? Would I have run into whatever is further in the woods? Is it truly an enemy or one of the groups I came with, or am I overthinking things? There is no doubt the scream was feminine, yet my heart pounds in my ears at the thought that maybe it is Hayes. Or at the very least, maybe he is in trouble with this person?

My foot slips on a root, causing me to twist my ankle and stumble to the side, my shoulder ramming into a tree with a small protruding knot. My skin breaks open the second I hit and I bite back a groan. "Shit." I mumble, clutching my shoulder tight with my opposite hand. Peeking under it briefly to see a blooming of red through my sleeve as blood dribbles down my arm and to the crook of my elbow.

I grit my teeth together as I drop my arm and run again, the red hot pain searing through my ankle and up my calf muscles into my thigh. My arm will heal, but running on an injury like this? I risk it healing this way. Another cry breaks through the air, making me snap into focus. The masculine voice roars in fury, less of a cry the more I listen and more of a warning of what is going to happen.

My skin goose bumps when I determine how close I am. No more than one hundred ahead of me are bodies fighting around a smoky flame that has lost control, burning into the treeline to the right. "Dragons," Teiran says behind me, making me freeze as I look over my shoulder at him.

"I thought you weren't coming?" I snap at him and he shrugs.

"You may be my only chance at getting what I want. What better way to prove I am on your side than to fight next to you?"

I open my mouth to answer but before the words can even be formed, my attention is drawn to a scent mingling with the flame and my heart stutters.

"HAYES!" I hear Marcos roar, "Behind you!"

My eyes find him like a moth to the

light and I take a step forward, my lycan calling me to him. He can't get down intime, his body remains upright as he parries and throws razor-sharp claws with his opponent oblivious to everything around him. At that moment, a blistering blue light whistles in the throat of a smaller squatty dragon. His sights set on my mate's back.