Page 60 of Dragon King’s Bullied Mate

Lyra dropped most of the bags and grabbed Beckett’s arm just as the stranger seized the little boy around the waist. He yanked him backward toward the treeline where a dark vehicle waited partially concealed behind snow-covered pines.

Beckett screamed and pure animal terror exploded through Lyra so hard it erased thought entirely. The man tried dragging Beckett away but Lyra attacked. She managed to grab one of the bags with the canned soup and swung it like a lasso over her head.

There was nothing graceful about it with no strategy at all. All she had was pure desperation. The cans thunked the guy in the head with such force that his grip on Beckett loosened. Lyra took the moment to tackle him as she put as much momentum into her shoulder hitting his gut as she could muster.

She slammed into him with enough force that it sent all three of them crashing into the snow. She clawed wildly for a better grip on Beckett’s jacket while the man cursed and tried to regain his grip on the boy.

“LET HIM GO!”

A second man rushed forward from the trees. Lyra grabbed the first thing her hands touched which happened to be a fallen branch buried beneath the snow. She pulled it free and swung it brutally into his face hard enough that he staggered backward with a shout.

Beckett was crying hysterically now and the first man still had hold of him.

Lyra snapped. She drove her elbow directly into the attacker’s throat before ripping Beckett back against her chest while the man choked and stumbled sideways into the snow.

Then another figure slammed into the second attacker from behind.

Malaya.

The princess moved with terrifying efficiency. One brutal strike drove the man to his knees before she twisted his arm sharply enough that something cracked loudly through the air. He screamed and the remaining attackers immediately faltered.

“MOVE!” one of them shouted.

Panic rippled through the group instantly now that villagers had begun yelling in the distance and people rushed toward the commotion.

One attacker lunged again desperately toward Beckett. Malaya caught him with a kick hard enough to send him sprawling back into the snow.

Then they ran.

Within seconds the men disappeared back into the trees, dragging the injured one with them until the hidden vehicle roared to life beyond the treeline before vanishing down the lower road.

Silence crashed down afterward except for Beckett’s sobbing.

Lyra sank shakily to her knees in the snow clutching him against her chest so tightly her arms hurt while his entire body trembled violently beneath her hands.

“It’s okay,” she whispered desperately, though her own voice shook almost as badly as his. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

Beckett buried his face against her shoulder crying hard enough to break her heart.

Villagers surrounded them moments later with frightened questions and rising anger, but Lyra barely heard any of it over the roaring panic still pounding through her bloodstream.

Malaya crouched beside them breathing hard, fury blazing across her face while she scanned the treeline for any sign of the attackers returning.

“They knew exactly where to find him,” she said grimly. “And exactly how to hide from the guards.”

Lyra closed her eyes briefly. Even though Boden himself had not appeared, she knew with horrifying certainty who had sent them. He was done searching quietly.

The realization settled cold and terrible inside her chest while Beckett shook uncontrollably in her arms.

Hiding was no longer enough.

Not anymore.

Chapter 23

Mikael

Mikael was already exhausted by the time the call came, though exhaustion no longer felt like a simple physical thing anymore so much as a constant pressure grinding beneath his skin. The confrontation with Dag earlier still echoed unpleasantly through his thoughts while he stood alone in his chamber, one hand braced against the tall castle windows.