Traded To The Lycan King

Caspian enters the kitchen looking a little better than he had when he arrived. He rummages in the fridge looking for anything he can find to eat as I sit with a cup of warm tea, waiting for Colette to get back.

"How are Hayes and his mate?" He asks as he closes the fridge door.

I shrug. “As good as can be, I suppose we are lucky that Colette and I arrived when we did."

"Did you have as warm of a welcome as I did?" He asks, walking over with a pint of ice cream and a spoon. I arch a brow, watching him with curiosity. "Ice cream?" I ask him skeptically and he just stares at me as he opens it and spoons a bite in.

"There are many things I love about being up here. This is one of those things." He explains as the front door opens. I stand up, waiting anxiously for Colette to walk through, even though I know with every fiber that it is for sure her. But that doesn't matter. There is nothing better than physically being able to have eyes on her.

"We came as fast as we could." She says, a soft exhale when she meets my gaze, her body relaxing as she moves to me as I lift my arms. She melts into me, her embrace feeling like home as I fill my lungs with her scent.

"Are you okay?" Melody asks Caspian as she moves past me.

My lips find the top of Colette's head before I look up to watch Caspian look up from his ice cream with a look of surprise on his face, spoon in his mouth.

“Me?" He asks, removing it and swallowing roughly.

"Yes,"

“Uh, I'm okay. Nothing I couldn't handle." He says, sounding like he is trying to boast. I shoot him an amused look, and he clears his throat. "Elm is here, Colette."

She breaks our embrace too soon, as I slip my arm around her back, seeking her touch at every turn.

“Is he still here? What did he say" She asks, looking around for him.

"He will be back." Caspian says. "Right now, he is with Hayes and Leandra, trying to help them."

"What is wrong with Hayes and Leandra?" Colette breaks in, her eyes wide with concern.

I exhale, shooting a look at Caspian.

“To make a long story short, Elm has captured Lily and they are apparently torturing her. Lily still has a fragment of a hold on Leandra and through the mate bond that extends to Hayes as well. She is struggling to hold it together." I explain.

Colette's face grows pale and I can feel her worry through the bond as it grows.

"What about Percy?" She whispers, as if it is a thought for herself she didn't realize she spoke aloud.

"The healers would have told us if something was wrong with him." I reassure her, though it would be a lie if I said it didn't unsettle me to think he was struggling, like Hayes and Leandra.

"So, what do we do now?" Colette sighs heavily. "We know where Giselle is, and now we know where Lily is and heavens willing, she will soon be dead."

"You need to make the first move," Elm says, entering the kitchen with a grim look on his face as he meets Colette's eyes.

"We have the element of surprise right now." I remind him. "With you having Lily under lock and key-"

“Lily's abilities far surpass the power of a dungeon or pain." Elm scoffs. “She still has control over the wolves in the area. I do not mean to be rude, but wolves are much easier for her to control and since she has had them under her spell for so long, it is easier for them to give in rather than fight her presence."

"Hence me saying she needs to be dead, Elm." I grit out, striding toward him with a glare. Elms scowls at me as he crosses his arms over his chest as if challenging me..

“It's not as simple as slitting her throat." He shoots back at me, his eyes filled with annoyance. “There is a process when it comes to magic.” "You all were so fucking opposed to a hybrid existing and yet you can maintain this level of magic and power with no one checking in on your kind?" "Our kind has never been one with temperament issues or need for control." He hisses at me.

I roll my eyes, done with the excuses and the blame. This whole fucking war started because of Colette's existence, or so everyone keeps saying, but the truth is his own queen is the one who began all of this, not mine.

"Says the Fae King with the traitorous-" Colette steps between us, stepping me back away from Elm as she turns and looks between us, frustration growing.

"Enough." she says with a firm tone. "What matters is defeating Giselle and restoring everyone who needs it from Lily."

"The moment Lily is gone, Giselle will panic." Caspian says. "The hold on those under her spell will release, and she will lose the majority of her forces."

My lips press together as I think and look around the room.

“Let Lily go, have Ezrah follow her." I say after a moment of silence.

No one says anything, but their eyes skirting around to each other clues me into their thoughts. They all think I am crazy, but what we need right

will look for Lily eventually,

now is time to recuperate cont

especially as we get closer to the big fight that is inevitable. If releasing Lily can buy us just a few hours, then we need to take what we can get.

"Why?" Elm asks, but he seems less hostile, more receptive.

"To buy time." Colette murmurs, "So we can maintain our element of surprise and then, when we are ready, launch our own attack?" “Aren't we better off with her coming to us?" Melody asks. “Isn't the whole plan to make her go berserk and panic until she explodes?" "What better way than to surprise her where she is?" I tell her.

"And why do we need Ezrah to follow her?" Elm asks, arching a brow in interest.

"I want eyes on the enemy." I say with a scoff, "There is no way in hell I would let her go and just allow her to be free. When the moment comes that, we need her dead so we can win, Ezrah will be the one to execute it."Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

"I will be the one who ends her." Elm argues. I see a flicker of panic and anger on his face. "She's my queen, my problem."

"I thought she was your ex-queen?" I say, and he rolls his eyes, scoffing.

"I do not have the time or energy for your games and hidden meanings, Alpha Merikh. You think I will allow her to live or that I am not trustworthy, correct?" He asks, and I shrug.

I mean, Elm isn't wrong. Trust is something that is fostered and earned, and though he has done good things and my mate trusts him, I am not sure I feel the same way.

"Maybe."

"Well, I don't trust Ezrah," Elm says with a frown. "Think about it. He is everywhere all the time. In everything and he has carried all the plans out with his messages he has delivered, he is the bridge between all of this."

"Ezrah has been a friend to me, someone I trust and respect." I shoot at him.

"So then you see my point? He befriended an outsider of the council. Someone deemed the enemy he took as a friend. Perhaps he feels the same way about Giselle or even my Lily?" Elm says.

“Merikh,” Colette says my name softly, walking to me and taking my hand in hers. “I don't know that I fully trust Ezrah, either.”

I see the turmoil on her face, that she wants to trust him, but she just can't.

"Then who the hell do you think we send to follow her?" I scoff. "Or do you think we should just let her panic and charge on her tonight?"

She looks away and clears her throat before looking back.

"I think we take three hours to rest, and then we surprise her. Elm will head back to where they are holding Lily and he will finish her. It is his right, it is his duty to all of us and his people." I huff in anger, though I see the wisdom in her plan. "As hard as it was for you to do it with Lauren, you needed that closure."

"Fuck." I groan, my eyes itching with exhaustion. Her hand glides up my cheek and took into her tender eyes, reassuring me that this is the right way. And for yet another time, I defer to my wise and strong Luna to lead us while I struggle with my recovery.

"We got this, Merikh." She whispers. "You don't have to trust them. Trust me, only me."

"I do, always." I reach up and cover her hand with mine, removing it to kiss the inside of her palm. Then I turn to the others and drag my free hand through my hair.

"Elm, you do what you must with Lily to make sure she is incapacitated. The rest of you all, in three hours, we will go hunting for a rare bird. What you do with that time is up to you. I plan to spend it with my mate."