Traded To The Lycan King by MG Wattsons novel Chapter 184

Two days feels like a hell of a lot more like two years as I wake on the day of Kyra’s pending arrival. I have done everything to occupy my mind and lycan from bathing incessantly to going for runs and training. Merikh has always been the better fighter, with a quick reflex and ability to channel his lycan in a way I could never imagine.

But I have improved since losing Leandra, pouring every ounce of myself into becoming a formidable force. One that can protect what is his. Where I failed once before to protect my mate, I refuse to ever fail Kyra in the same manner. If I have to slay a dragon to do it this time, so be it.

Little giggles fill the hall, followed quickly by the padding footfalls of my niece and nephew. The ones I all but abandoned in my self pity. I never thought I would be the uncle who the kids didn’t know. But How could I love little innocent children when I couldn’t even bear to look at myself?

With a nervous sigh and an attempt to kill time until someone announces Teiran and Kyra are here. I stand and move toward the doorway, leaning against the frame.

The two little toddlers race down the hall, their little hands flailing and their knees unbending as they screech happily. The second they look up, they stop, eyes wide, before taking a small step back. Little Dylan spins on his heels and races back where he came from while Harmony blinks at me, her chubby face scrunching before she grins wildly.

“Hess!” she squeals, clapping her hands. Merikh scoops up Dylan, his eyes meeting mine as I look up.

“What did she say?” I ask, and he grins.

“She is trying to say Hayes. Colette shows them photos of you every night and tells them your name.” He explains, coming closer as Harmony toddles closer to her. Then she wraps her little stout arms around my leg.

“She didn’t want them to be afraid of me when they met me, huh?” I ask, feeling a layer of ice in my chest melt away.

“No, she just wanted them to know you existed,” He shrugs. “You aren’t quite as scary as you believe you are, Hayes.”

I look down at Harmony, who grins up at me, her puffy cheeks dimpling. My hand reaches out and I hesitantly pat her on the head and give her a smile back. Then she turns and rushes over to Merikh.

“I will be right back,” He says, the twins taking up both of his arms. “I am heading to deliver them to mommy for breakfast. Isn’t that right?”

“Eggs!” Harmony squeals and Dylan licks his little lips, prompting a grin from me as they pass by and I wait where I am for Merikh to make his way back.

I pace in the living room, moving toward the window, looking up at the sky in hopes of seeing a dragon carrying my mate. Wishful thinking turns to utter devastation when I see nothing. My stomach twists painfully and I drop into the couch with a grunt.

My hands come over my face, dragging down my skin as I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the sick feeling deep in my gut that only grows stronger. If Kyra were in danger and close, my Lycan would be spiraling out, but it’s not a lycan feeling. It’s a heaviness in my heart, a weight on my soul.

“You look awful,” Merikh says, his footsteps coming into the room as I nod my head and exhale.

“Yeah, well, I feel like shit. My stomach is in knots and my body feels…out of sorts.” I mutter.

“That’s because you are anxious.” Merikh sighs. “I promise she is okay.”

I rest my head on the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling.

“Until I see her, until I can…physically be near her, I won’t believe that. I can’t.” I murmur.

It feels strange, and yet familiar, to be here next to Merikh and opening up about things.

“When did you realize she was your mate?” Merikh asks, looking at me curiously. “I mean, it was obvious she knew from the beginning.”

“What?” I ask, my mouth dry as I try to swallow his words. “She only recently found out.”

“Bullshit. She knew it was there long before you did. Kyra struggled with that bond the whole time.”

Guilt washes over me. My idiotic ways, the things I said and did that hurt her, abandoning her and leaving her in dangerous situations. Fuck. “I’ve been so lost for so long, I forgot how to recognize anything remotely close to happiness.”

“No, you’ve been living in the past and when you finally realized you could have a future, that’s when you recognized it.”