Page 38 of Dragon King’s Bullied Mate

His dragon shifted again, impatient and increasingly agitated the longer they remained separated from her. Fragments continued surfacing of Lyra’s exhausted face beside the bed, the warmth of blankets tucked around him, her fingers trembling slightly while holding medicine to his lips despite knowing exactly who he was.

She had cared for him when she believed he might die, not because of obligation or reward. Simply because someone needed help.

Mikael abruptly reached for his gloves.

Dr. Martin looked horrified. “Absolutely not.”

“I’m leaving.”

“You are still recovering from enough poison to kill three men.”

Mikael fastened the final buckle of his belt with calm finality. “Then I suppose it’s fortunate I’m difficult to kill.”

Dr. Martin muttered something deeply insulting under his breath while Malaya tried unsuccessfully to hide her amusement.

Malaya suddenly straightened. “Oh, and Mik. One more thing. The little boy that Lyra has with her, Beckett. His father is bad news and was suspected of killing the boy’s mother but it was never proven. Like I said, he’s very abusive and almost killed his own son. Lyra fought to get Beckett away from him, and he’s not very happy about it according to people I talked to.”

The fear that he had heard while semi-conscious rose up in Mikael’s mind. Now it made sense. The urgency now pulled him toward Lyra with frightening intensity.

For the first time in many years, the king would ride not toward duty or war or obligation, but toward a woman he could no longer stop thinking about.

Chapter 16

Lyra

Lyra froze and stared at Sherrell as she tried to force her legs to carry her to the phone.

“Who knows you’re here?”

“I have no idea,” Lyra replied as she stood. “Maybe Mikael?”

“The king?”

Meren shook her head and waggled the phone. “Come on, come on.”

Somehow, Lyra managed to grasp the phone. “Hello?”

“Miss Lyra,” came a woman’s voice, “this is Lovisa Odeck.”

“I’m sorry, who?”

“My husband and I own the candy store. We saw you at the farmer’s market.”

“Oh, yes,” Lyra responded as she struggled to put two and two together. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, we saw what happened to you, and we saw that beautiful little boy run away. My husband went out looking for him and he’s with us.”

Lyra’s pulse stumbled and a pause followed before her shoulders loosened with relief. “Oh, thank God.”

Sherrell rose from the table, her eyes wide. “What?”

Lyra held out the phone at once. “She says she has Beckett.”

As she said it out loud, relief hit so strongly it crashed through her body hard enough to leave her dizzy. Her knees weakened beneath her as she gripped the receiver with trembling fingers.

“Lovisa?” Her voice cracked. “Is he alright?”

The older woman’s voice came softly through the line, careful and soothing in the way people spoke around frightened animals and grieving mothers. “He’s safe, sweetheart. And I’m sorry that you were worried, but we knew you’d come back when it was safe. We saw you go into the bakery.”