Traded To The Lycan King

*Merikh*

"Why is this fucking place so big?" I growl to no one as I sprint through the dying trees and over the once lush green moss under their canopy. How much further must I go to find her? Every ticking second feels like agony as panic and fear trickle down my spine, reminding me how much I fucked up by not listening to her thoughts on Ezrah.

Howls break in the distance, victorious, and for once this wretched night I feel a slight release of tension in my shoulders. I am not entirely sure what the hell is going on, but I see the dragons flying overhead, almost as if they are lost, unsure of where to go or what to do. Lily is dead, she must be. How she met her end, I do not know, but there is no world in which we would win if she still had her control.

But even that thought does nothing to quell the painful stabbing in my stomach. All it does is make the pain burn hotter, an uncontrollable pain like the feeling of loss. One where pain fades to a bleak future of nothing but loneliness and wanting to die. Shit, I need to move faster.

The woods before me explode in light, my arm coming up over my eyes, shielding them from the onslaught. The trees sway in a warm breeze that grows more steady, a warning of what is yet to come. It feels like my lips are sticky as I try to lick them, giving them whatever wetness I have before forcing my heavy legs to propel me toward it.

"No," I groan, the staggering feeling of despair washing over me. "No!"

The words are nothing against the roaring heat and the cries of agony. It can't be Colette. I would feel the loss of her. I would know if she was gone. So I do the only thing I can do. I shift and I run blindly into the light, knowing I will find her even if it brings me nothing but death.

The heat grows painful, my fur singing, the scent stinging my nose as my skin's rapid healing abilities rage against the blisters forming, trying to heal as fast as we burn, only to fail. Then, with no reason or indication of why, the earth shakes, my feet cool as tiny drops of water rise from the ground. My gaze shifts and I see her.

It's as if the world ceases in a moment of time, the way sound ceases and the water seems to hang in the air. Colette lifts into the air, a large wave forming before her as if a tide is rising and she is riding it.

Her fingers seem to glow, her hair going translucent as if she is the water. And then, her wolf appears, her clothing swirling away in the water that seems to grow taller, wider. A vast liquid wall rising to protect us all.

She is so far away still, too far away as I try to reach out to her through the mind link only to find myself blocked, as if I am underwater. The sound of her in my head is there, but almost garbled as if she is out of reach, even with being close enough to see.

The bright light of Giselle continues to grow brighter, the water only magnifying it as waves lap up against nothing but air, sending a cascading array of tiny rainbows over Percy, who fights off a dragon of a smaller stature, trying to get to Colette. Little does it know there is no touching which has no form but water.

I move toward her, drawn to her like a ship in the treacherous water, seeking the refuge of the lighthouse's guidance to shore. She is glorious as she grows larger with every passing beat of my heart.

If she sees me, she doesn't show it. She is too wrapped up in what she is doing to care about the world outside of her scope of things. Her arms hardly outstretched before her as she continues to call to the water from every source she can muster up.

Then, as if she has hit her limit, she stops. The water rises no more and a dense fog grows between her and Giselle. The heat rapidly turning the water closest to it into nothing but a steam that rolls up to the sky and over the wall as it seems to cascade down toward us. An ominous and unfortunate foretelling of what is coming.

"Merikh..." Colette whispers, her face appearing from the water, her frame immersed and her eyes swirling a vibrant blue as she reaches for me. My lycan touches her and her exhaustion nearly knocks me flat on my ass. "Help..."

The desperation in her breaks my heart as my lycan recedes to save energy and I step into the water, grabbing hold of her, pulling her close to my chest. The cool temperature of it wraps around me, like a current, protecting the two of us as she focuses solely on keeping the wall up long enough to withstand the still growing heat of Giselle who screams relentlessly.

"What do you need?" I ask Colette, my lips brushing her flushed cheek.

I stroke the wet locks from her pale face, giving her every ounce of strength and healing I can manage through our mate bond.

"Just you," she whispers, her body shaking as she tries to give me a weak smile.

"You have all of me," I remind her, and press a kiss to her temple.

"How long do you think she will burn like that?" Percy asks, running over out of breath. He looks like he has seen better days, but he remains standing and ready to protect us until the end, if needed.

"Hopefully not much longer," I murmur, squinting through the swirling waves at Giselle, who still burns in a white heat.

“I will make sure no one comes from our backs," He says, giving a nod to me and Colette. "If I don't make it, it was an honor to protect you, Luna."

There is a clamoring behind us and

a wolf flies from a tree, crashing hard into the ground, before clamoring to its feet and racing toward us. Percy intercepts it, but

the wolf lowers its head in

submission and then shifts

เอนได

ov

revealing a tired-looking Melody.

Caspian crashes through the trees just after her, scratches and blood on his face as his eyes grow wide in wonder. He steps up next to Melody, taking her hand in his as the two make their way toward us.

"You have done so well, my child. Now I will take over." He says, the water responding to his presence, as if it were a living being.

"No, I can do this," Colette demands in a quiet, trembling voice. "Please, let me do this."Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

She is drawing too much energy, not only from herself but from me as well as the damn bird, just burns and burns in a never-ending cycle. I know looking down at her, she will give everything for this. Colette with die here if it means protecting what she took on as her own.

Every ounce of me wants to yank her away, shake her back to sense, but as long as I go with her, I will allow her to choose her own fate. The water grows warm, my skin heating as I squeeze her closer to me.

Her strength no longer pulls from the source of cold water from below our feet. It's when bubbles rise and the wall slowly shrinks that I realize no amount of determination from my little luna can stop what is coming.

My skin begins to burn and Colette whimpers uncomfortably as the water rises in temperature. If it continues to heat at this rate, we will either boil to death or the water will evaporate and we will burn to death.

The rational part of me wants to drag her off and save us both. But even being rational at this point means certain death. There is only one way out of here for us now, and we all know it.

I look at Caspian and see that he has made up his mind. He cups Melody's cheek, putting her in for a grand kiss, before he presses his forehead to hers and whispers something to her. Then he steps away and walks over to us.

"It's okay sweetheart, let me give you a little break." He says with a soft, adoring smile. "Just for a short moment, okay?"

“Just for a little bit," she relents, but she misses the look in Caspian's eyes when he watches her for a moment, then he lifts his hands and the water shifts to him.