Traded

Chapter 91

I look at the determination on Percy’s face says no matter my answer; he is going to find some loophole to stay. Though he doesn’t have to convince me of anything. It is clearly what he needs, what he has to do, and for now, it is greater than his loyalty to me. Grief is strange like that. Never once the same for each person.

“Percy-” I say, pausing as he rolls his shoulders back before they slump forward.

“I need this, more than the tears I have and will continue to cry. More than I need to bury her and that part of me.” His eyes are soft, his voice close to breaking.

“Percy, I understand.” I tell him, nodding. “And we could use the extra body.”

He exhales roughly and nods. The poor guy is barely holding himself together. I can see Hayes‘ disappointed look, but I choose to ignore it for now. He is wise in so many regards, except when it comes to his own situations. Hayes didn’t mourn the same way I did. When I look at Percy, I see me.

I see the same beginning of the Alpha of Death, the determination to push aside the emotional pain and bury it beneath bodies. And having an extra fighter means better odds for Colette. I could have ordered more warriors to the fight, but once we get home, there will be a war and I need to save them for the moment we need them.

“We need to keep moving,” I say, clearing my throat.

Percy reaches down in the bush and extracts a bag full of things and pushes it up his back as he rushes to keep up with Hayes, who is walking on ahead. Leandra is the next to follow him, moving along with Percy as I pair up with Caspian. He walks at ease, but I can see the fatigue on his face and the way he shakes out his legs every now and then.

“How are you holding up, Fishman?” I ask, smirking at him.

He shakes his head, a soft chuckle breaking from his lips.

“I will be fine. Though I believe I can cross hiking off the list of mainland things I enjoy,” he admits. “I think I prefer the food, and perhaps the couch and a nice movie.”

“Makes you sound a little lazy,” I tease, and he nods.

“There is not much to do where I am from and electronics and the sea….well, it doesn’t exactly cohabitate well.” He grins.

“Yeah, we learned that up here, too.”

“Merikh,” He says, his tone growing more serious as he looks ahead, watching Leandra talk with Percy while Hayes intermittently shoots the red head dagger eyes.

“You are growing more worried.” I say for him and he sighs heavily.

“My gut is telling me something is wrong.” Caspian says, “It’s not just me, is it? You feel like something is off too, right?”

I drag a hand down my face, exhaling as I think about what he says. Caspian is right. I have noticed it since we hit the jungle, or more like my lycan did. He has been silent, almost as if reserving his strength, but every now and again my skin will prickle. I feel our presence is known, and it wasn’t because Percy was following us.

“The air is changing, the jungle is growing more silent with every mile.” I concur, leaning closer to him. “When we encountered the giants in the woods near the mansion, it felt…strange. Like the air had an electric current. I thought it was just the excitement, the itch for a fight.”

“But now you are thinking differently.” He whispers.

“No, I don’t think differently. I know differently.” I admit.

“Do you think we are being stalked?” He asks, his eyes searching before him.

I turn my head, looking around, and realize it doesn’t feel like it. It is different. This feeling is unnatural. One that isn’t someone lurking but an ominous feeling of foreboding.

“I am not all seeing Caspian.” I say, a shudder running up my spine. “But it is best if we remain closer with the rest, in case we are being followed or Lily is around working her magic.”

We pick up our speed, coming up on Leandra and Percy, who are walking in silence, and Hayes, who is holding up his hands. I push past them, all coming up to him.

“What do you see?” I ask him and he just stares in awe ahead of him.

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11:32 AM

Chapter 91

I freeze when I see the way the jungle is scorched below us. The two of us on a ledge we never saw coming looking down at hundreds of burn spots through some, even still raging with flames leading to the base of the mountain.

“Fucking hell,” I murmur, shocked.

“Looks like hell, that’s for sure.” Hayes mutters.

“Why is it like this?” I wonder curiously to myself.

Dragons have always run a little hot, no pun intended. But they pride themselves on their love of their lands, nurturing it to grow and flourish. Supernatural beings need balance, something to offset us. Lycans and werewolves have our human side and our morals, Dragons, though part human are nature lovers, or they have been in the past.

“There is chaos in their midst.” Caspian reminds us, stepping up to my side. “The phoenix feeds off of it. She craves it. The dragons are sensitive creatures. Under their scales, they have mighty and loyal hearts. This is the result of magic and mayhem. Their dragons are responding in kind.”

I feel a pang of guilt, hating that I am learning more about them and their situation. If it were as simple as the dragons wanting a war, it would be easier to go to war with them.

But if they are simply being used or out of their minds because of the bitch Giselle, well, that’s when guilt and remorse may try to offset my lycans‘ need to just savagely kill.

“This changes nothing,” I say, making my decision. “Colette is in there.”

“I agree.” Caspian admits. “I will feel no guilt in saving my daughter.”

“We need to go, we need to run.” Leandra whimpers, reaching out and grabbing at Hayes, tugging on his shirt.

“Leandra, calm down.” He says, taking her face between his hands. “Breathe,”

She slaps his hands down, screaming in his face wildly. Leandra steps away sobbing and drops to the ground, covering her ears.

“Run! Run, run, run.” She murmurs the words before she jumps up, her bones cracking and her face contorting in pain.

“Lea…” Hayes says, shocked and unsure of what to do next.

“What is happening?” I command her before her transition and her eyes train on me.

“Attack.” She growls out, “Keep mate safe.”

Then she turns and rushes off the ledge with a feral lycan cry.

“LEA!” Hayes roars out in fear as we all gape, watching her latch onto a rock below us, her teeth sinking in before blood pours out and the rock turns into a man who cries out in pain. I focus on the rocks, watching as they move slowly, trying to avoid detection and my lycan rumbles begging for release.

“Caspian, make it rain,” I cry out. “Now!”

I let my lycan take over, watching Caspian as his eyes turn ocean blue and I see water rising from every source. Then I turn, sprinting toward the cliff’s edge, much like Leandra had Hayes and Percy on my heels. The rain patters on me as I soar through the air. The rain is heavy and fast, washing away the magic used to conceal those who are trying to attack.

Seven figures are revealed and I use my claws, digging them into the rocky side to slow my descent before I catch a footing on a protruding rock and launch myself into a man with a stunning look on his face. I try to sink my teeth into his arm, but the flesh is tough and thick, making it difficult to attach myself until I sink my claw into his side.

“Get off you fucking dog!” He roars, his voice distorted and a deep grunt.

I sink my other claw into his other side, skewering him with my razor sharp nails as I tuck my legs up and drop all my weight down. My hands slide through the tension of his bones before hitting the soft, fleshy bit of his organs, and I slip through him with ease.

His blood pours from his sides, his cry lost in the sounds of the splashing of water and his insides on the rough rocky edges. I retract my claws, dropping before him further down the side, using my nails to steer my downward descent toward the next asshole waiting for their death.

I see a flash of red as Percy falls past me in human form, before his lycan takes control and he tears a body from the side of the cliff, using him to cushion his fall. As I make it down to him, more figures emerge, their eyes dark with anger and blood lust before a handful transform into wolves, and others, their scales taking over their soft fleshed areas. Not full dragons, but of that species.

I look over and see Leandra tearing through the wolves like she is weeding in a field, slicing through them with fluid movements. Hayes is behind her, making sure her back end is covered and I lick my chomps, a shiver of excitement slipping through me.

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11:32 AM D

If lycans purred that is what mine would do at this moment, relishing the scent of blood and the way the bodies crumble at our feet. I am in my element, fighting for what I love, and they do not stand a chance. They insist on calling us dogs and trying to provoke us. Now they get to experience the bite.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

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