Traded To The Lycan King



*Kyra*

“Oh fuck. No, no, no!" Hayes mutters behind me as I rush toward Teiran. My legs feel weak and my arms shaky as I try to climb the tree to get him down.

“Leave him!” The wood fae screams, but I ignore her. What she doesn't know is that once I am done getting Terian freed, I am going to tear her throat out. "I said to leave him!"

"You can go get fucked, you tree humper!" I growl at her. She scoffs and then chuckles, breaking into a manic laugh.

The branches start to bend and twist under me, my feet losing their footing as I fall, crashing into the ground with bruising force. Pain radiates up my thigh as I shove off the ground, sprinting toward Teiran, reaching up and swinging off the lowest branches, launching myself up as I grip the next one. Teiran groans, turning his head to look at me as he tries to breathe. He is in rough shape, and if I don't get him down soon, he won't heal the right way. Shit. I grit my teeth, jumping onto a branch that sways out, my fingers gripping the moving bark. As I try to use it to move myself closer.

Instead, it consumes my hand, growing around it and gripping me tight as my fingers crunch.

“Agh!" I grit out, as something wraps around my ankle and pulls on me. Twisting me upside down as I try to fight against the restraints.

"Hayes!" I cry out, looking for him to see if he, too, is trapped. Instead, I am shocked to see him on his hands and knees, struggling to breathe. The wood Fae must have hurt him somehow and my heart aches knowing he is in pain. "If you hurt him, I swear I will "

"Why would I hurt him?" She asks innocently, tilting her head as she looks at him. "I don't want to hurt you, but you insist on fighting me for that man's punishment."

My brows furrows in confusion, my eyes stuck on Hayes as he seems to have some sort of meltdown. He groans, holding his head as he grimaces, His eyes unfocused as if he is lost. My eyes slide to Teiran, who continues to bleed from the branch through his shoulder.

"What the fuck do you want?" I grit out. She frowns, shaking her head as if she is a parent disappointed in her child.

"Did we not already discuss this?" She asks, titling her head.

"Yes! We told you we didn't fucking do it!" I screech.

"But you planned to eat her." She says low, her eyes growing dark and her lip sneering. "Leaving nothing left for me to return to the earth."

"I wished only to honor her death by making use of her instead of letting her go to waste." Teiran says, barely audible.

"That doesn't make sense." She scoffs, throwing her hands up. "Both your kinds just kill, and maim and devour. All you do is fight, mate, and kill."

I cry out in pain as the branches tighten over my ankle and hand, my fingers snapping as my muscles quiver and I try to fight the tears. This is why I hate the Fae. All of them are so high and mighty thinking since they live so long, they have a better understanding of life.

"No," Hayes mutters, pushing back onto his knees, his eyes finding me, but he isn't in the present. I can see the ache in him, the way he is locked in the past, in a memory of what has happened. Hayes is having a mental breakdown, a trauma response.

"You need to let me down," I whisper, watching the pain in his eyes turn to murder as he slowly rises to his feet.

Hayes is not there as his lycan takes over, his body creaking and cracking with violent force as he lowers his chin and growls at her. I watch the fear in her eyes as her mouth falls open. Fae are strong with magic, but like us, they grow tired from overuse, growing weaker with each time they do too much. And she has done too much.

"Let us down now, or he will kill you." I hiss as she takes a step back.

Hayes lunges forward, letting out a feral howl as she drops to the ground, her hands sinking into the dirt as roots rise and twist around her, creating a barrier just as Hayes tears into her. He snaps his teeth, his claws striking all over, bark flying and green fresh roots exposed.

Ever so gently, I am released along with Teiran. The moment my feet touch the ground, I rush to Hayes in order to stop him. As much of an ill- informed brat as this fae is, she will be useful in trying to locate Ezrah. Or even in immobilizing him.

"Kyra, don't." Teiran whispers, his eyes filled with concern as he sits on the ground gripping his bleeding shoulder.

"Hayes," I whisper, clutching my injured hand to my stomach as I reach out to him.

I hesitate for a moment as fear comes over me. What if he doesn't recognize me? What if he thinks I am the enemy, or he is in such a rage he can'tNôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

be controlled? Just as I reach out again, my fingers shaking, someone grabs me from behind and pulls me away.

"Hayes will kill you. He is out of his mind," Teiran growls, his eyes dark as he looks down at me, something undistinguishable in them as he holds onto

me.

"He won't," I say, exhaling. "Just trust me, okay?"

"It isn't trust in you I lack." He says, taking us a few steps back as Hayes rears his head back and roars, his hand breaking through the roots as the woman shrieks in fear. "He is not in his right mind. Hell, I don't even think he is in our year at the moment."

"His mate was murdered this way." I whisper. "He couldn't save her, so I have to save him from this memory,"

“Let me try. I can hold him down until he comes back to us. In my dragon form—”

"He is my mate, Teiran," I grit out. "Okay? We are second chance mates, so I am the only one who can help him."

He frowns and shakes his head. "Or the only one who can make it worse."

But I step away from him,

determined to stop this. It has

nothing to do with the Fae at this point. Right now, I need to rescue Hayes from the place in his mind. He seems to be trapped. No one should have to live through what he did, let alone twice. Even if it hurts me, I have to at least try to release him from the hell he must be currently living in.

I rush up to him, shoving at his side hard, pain burning up my arm from the force as he stumbles and shakes his head. He looks at me, his muzzle bloody and splintered as his chest heaves up and down.

“Come back to me, Hayes.” I whisper, taking a cautious step toward him. He snorts, shaking his enormous head from side to side, stepping back. “It's just a memory, okay?"

He blinks, tilting his head as he looks at me before he charges me. My eyes fall closed as I brace for the impact, but he doesn't touch me. I can feel his heated breath on my face as he grunts and snorts like an angry bull.

The air around me swirls with his scent and I lift my hand, blindly feeling for his chest as I press my palm to it, feeling his erratic heartbeat.

"It's okay, I'm here," I whisper and I feel his muscles move beneath my hand, his body coming down to regular size as I open my eyes and look at

him.

"I'm sorry," he says in a hoarse voice. "I'm sorry I let you die..."

My heart breaks, my hand reaching up for his cheek as my breathing stutters and my eyes water.

"It wasn't your fault. It never was." I breathe.

"Leandra," he murmurs, yanking me in for a hug, those sparks overwhelming me as I gasp in shock.