Traded To The Lycan King by MG Wattsons novel Chapter 51

“When did you become a smartass?” Merikh asks with a frown, but I see the glimmer in his eye. The one that says he is amused even if he is still upset with me for coming when he demanded I not.

“I’ve been taking lessons from Penny and Percy.” I say with a smirk, the mention of my sick gamma bringing me back to the reality of our situation as abruptly as someone flicking on the light in the dark.

Merikh is injured and not just a little bit. He hasn’t even tried to move his arm that looks to be broken and he isn’t putting any weight on his other leg. Not to mention all the blood and bruises over his exposed chest and abdomen. My hands shake and my eyes water as I reach out to touch him, so afraid of causing him more pain.

“Where is Percy anyway?” He asks like he is in no pain, but when I press my icy fingers to his heated flesh, he hisses.

I flinch, pulling my hands back in shock, and he grabs my hand with his good arm and drags me closer. My eyes meet his and my mouth goes dry, the world falling away around us as he places my fingers over his heart and then removes his hand to wrap his arm around me as he pulls me close.

“Your touch is the only thing that doesn’t hurt me,” he whispers, leaning down and rubbing his stubbled cheek against my smooth skin. My eyes fall closed, craving his touch, my skin needing the contact just as much as his.

“Merikh…” Hayes says behind us, the uncertainty and quiver in his voice one that puts me on alert and I pull back, looking at him. His eyes are focused on his older brother, a plea within them as he seems to dance between his two feet. He reminds me of an anxious child waiting for permission to use the bathroom at school.

“Go,” Merikh says with a nod. Hayes spins on cue, sprinting through the trees like he was just given an alphas order he can’t resist. “Where is Percy?” He then asks again.

Penny clears her throat and straightens her shoulders.

“He is locked in the bathroom.” She says. He looks down at me, confused, and then back at her.

“Which bathroom?” he asks.

“Ours,” I say. He seems to think for a moment before he nods and sighs heavily.

“Good. At least we know where he is. We need to get back to the mansion.” He says, groaning as he limps past me, his hand latching onto mine, tugging me along beside him.

“Should you be moving?” I ask him and he chuckles. “Maybe you should lie down for a bit?”

“In war, staying still will kill you. Moving is the only option.”

“But you are injured.” I say, shocked.

“Correct, injured, but not dead or dying. Which means we need to move.” He says, taking another step forward.

Caspian moves to his other side, sliding Merikh’s arm over his shoulder as he provides stability. Merikh groans as they take a step forward, and then another me at his other side, holding his hand.

“My arm and leg will be mostly healed by the time we make it back,” he assures me.

“Can we discuss what the hell happened now?” Caspian asks, anger and concern in his voice.

“They were expecting us. We were ambushed.” Merikh explains as he hobbles along with my father. Penny falls in behind us, and I look over my shoulder at her, only for her to give me an encouraging smile.

“Who ambushed you?” Caspian asks, and Merikh scoffs.

“The fucking red-eyed dickheads, only this time they brought a whole other species.”

“You were only supposed to be looking around,” my dad says with a frown. “Not fighting.”

Merikh sighs heavily and shakes his head.

“We made it to this area and realized our lycans were being repressed somehow. That is when we turned back and ran into a group of red-eyed wolves. They were easy enough to defeat and then the fucking trolls came in and we had to run. They drove us to where we would be at our weakest.”

“That is why you sent Hayes for reinforcements.” I say on a breath and he nods.

“Yeah, though he was supposed to bring Percy and not you,” he grumbles, frustrated. “He will have to answer for that once we get back.”

He grumbles along with Caspian for a moment about Hayes and how he is too distracted and obviously in a panic and though I am interested in why he thinks that. I can’t let Hayes get in trouble for my decision. He isn’t my keeper, nor is he able to control me.

“I refused to stay back.” I tell him truthfully. “Hayes told me to stay, and I told him no,” I say with a shrug, not caring if Merikh gets mad about it. He left me and swore he would come back when everything I witnessed pointed to him, likely not coming back at all.

Merikh frowns as he hobbles along with my father.

“Yeah, too bad for him. That doesn’t negate the fact that he put his Luna in harm’s way.” He says.

“He didn’t. I wasn’t safe there,” I scoff. “You left me and then I felt your distress. When we tried to leave, Percy told me I was no longer safe.”

“At least he is smart,” Merikh scoffs.

I stop walking, indigent that he is being such a hard ass right now about me coming to help. I may be weaker and still training to fight, but damn it, I actually did something. When all he could do was be a rag doll, I was able to save him. Me. Not Hayes or Penny or even Caspian. It was me.

“You are lucky I can look past my anger and still come to save your stubborn ass.” I growl.

Merikh sighs and stops, leaning heavily on Caspian as he looks at me with annoyance.

“No, you are lucky they didn’t capture you. You walked right out into the enemy’s territory and didn’t think twice.” He shouts.