Traded To The Lycan King by MG Wattsons

*Merikh*

A burst of flame shoots over my head as I drop to my stomach, the heat enough to make my skin feel as if I am standing too close to a bonfire. I roll to my left and up onto my knees, crouching low toward the massive jaded rock where Percy is hiding. Blood pours from above his right eye, but he wears a smile, nonetheless.

Not an excited smile, a manic psychotic one that says he hopes to go out in a literal blaze of glory. His fighting has been stellar aside from the few times he has left himself open to an attack of two I have had to blunder. The more I look at him, the more concerned I am that the openings are intentional.

"You are not allowed to let yourself get killed." I growl at him, watching as he responds to my command. There is a hint of annoyance in his eyes before he chuckles and nods.

"If I die, I will die doing my job." he grins, inching up the rock to take a peek over.

"We are pinned down." I murmur. "The assholes burned us into a fucking corner."

"I can distract them so you can run." Percy says immediately, and I shoot him a scowl. This kid's death wish is getting a little out of hand.

"Pinned down doesn't mean we are out of the fight, Perc. This isn't a game of chess, this is war." I say, scanning the area. "It just means we need to get a little creative."

He snorts, reaching up and pressing on the injury to his head.

"I'm not feeling all that creative, Alpha." He says.

Another blast encases the outside of the rock, flames licking around the side as we move closer together to avoid the heat. I sigh, closing my eyes as I try to process what to do next. In truth, I'm not feeling all that damn creative either. But I am feeling like I will do anything to get away.

"How about desperate?" I ask him with a smile, "You feeling that?" and he nods.

"Yea, feeling a lot desperate at the moment." Percy mutters, dropping his head against the rock. "This heat is making me fucking sweaty and irritable."

I couldn't agree more with him. As lycans, we run a little warmer anyway without faster metabolism. But this? This shit is unbearable and all I can think about is a tall glass of ice cold water and a cool dip in the healing waters with my luna. But if I want either of those things, we need to get a damn move on. And fast.

"How much time do we have between the bursts of flames?" I ask him.

The only thing we have going for us is that they want to cook us on this blasted boulder so they

tops." He mutters, "Have you not heard from Luna

a solid fucking forty-five minutes of fighting. We lost our lycans over ten minutes ago from the exhaustion and the way we are

responding." I mutter, my stomach in knots at the thought that maybe she didn't make it out, or she was knocked unconscious and hidden deeper in their fortress of ash and death. "We can't leave

this living hell, Perc.

and run. I bolt up, yanking on Percy as I drag him along, tripping over the hot terrain in our bare feet. I can feel the way the hot rocks dip into my skin with ease, like

command and he groans, kicking

more beach vacation, I'm going

preparing themselves to set us on fire like a match struck on a rock and I glance back to see them lumbering behind us. I can only be thankful

command voice.

He takes over, reluctantly, as I see someone off in distance now more than a few miles across the barren charred

lycan pushes himself harder once we focus on her.

air, a shiver running

remains unmoving. I stoop to pick him up, looking over my shoulder, begging the moon goddess for just a little more time. But there

top of Percy, shielding

feels like it may melt. I cry out in pain,

heat suddenly

I look around, realizing the cry isn't

eyes, relishing the way it feels on my heated flesh. Tears

their flames drenched and unable to ignite again. I sprint through the wall of

slide beneath him, the searing rocks tearing the skin from my shins as I jam the rock up and under one, of his scales. It squelches, and he roars, shifting back

to kill us, they turn, shift and spin on their heels, running away. I watch as the one with the rock embedded in his arm goes slack, his eyes red as he drops his hand and spins like the others, sprinting back as if he had been beckoned by their

I look up to see someone on the ground and everyone else surrounding them. I hustle toward him, meeting him halfway while

I choke on the

"Yes."

okay?" I ask, looking at him as he