Page 39 of Dragon King’s Bullied Mate

Lyra pressed her eyes shut. Safe. The word alone nearly undid her.

“We found him hiding behind the storage shed beside the candy shop shortly after the soldiers took you away,” Lovisa continued gently. “Poor thing was terrified to come out. He thought they were coming back for him too.”

A sharp ache tore through Lyra’s chest so fiercely she had to brace herself against the counter.

“He watched them drag me away,” she whispered.

“Yes.” Lovisa hesitated sadly. “And I think he believed he’d never see you again.”

Lyra covered her mouth hard with her free hand as emotion surged dangerously close to breaking her apart entirely.

Sherrell moved beside her and rested a steadying hand against her shoulder. Lovisa quietly explained that Beckett had refused to leave the upstairs apartment over the candy shop despite repeated reassurance that he was safe. He had barely spoken at first, only cried himself sick and kept asking whether Lyra had been hurt.

The image alone made Lyra feel physically ill.

“We’re coming now,” she said quickly, already reaching for her coat. “Please tell him I’m coming.”

“He won’t believe it until he sees you,” Lovisa replied softly.

They ran down the block until they reached the little candy shop, its warmly lit windows glowing like tiny lanterns against the faint dawn light and deepening snow clouds.

The bell above the candy shop door rang sharply as she rushed inside. Warm sugary air immediately surrounded her with familiar scents of cinnamon candy, melted caramel, and peppermint bark, yet none of it fully registered because her eyes were already searching frantically.

“Over here.”

A woman she assumed was Lovisa stood at the bottom of a flight of stairs. She led Lyra and Sherrell to the apartment upstairs. She squeezed Lyra’s shoulder and pointed.

And there he was.

Beckett lay curled tightly on a small chair near the front window wrapped in one of Lovisa’s knitted blankets. His little face pale and blotchy from crying, and the instant his eyes lifted toward the doorway the entire room changed.

“Lyra?” His voice broke before he launched himself toward her.

Lyra dropped to her knees just as he collided with her hard enough to nearly knock her backward. He clung to her with desperate force while sobs tore violently from his tiny chest.

“You came back,” he cried against her shoulder. “You came back.”

The words shattered something inside her.

“Oh, sweetheart,” she whispered brokenly and wrapped both arms around him so tightly she almost feared hurting him. “Of course I came back. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Beckett buried his face against her neck while she held him there on the floor as though she could somehow shield him from every terrible thing in the world simply by refusing to let go.

For several long minutes neither of them moved.

“I saw the guards again yesterday. They were here, Lyra. They were here again.”

She kissed his forehead. “They were here to look for you, sweetheart. Remember the king? He sent them to make sure you were safe.”

“I was safe before they came and took you away!” Fresh tears ran down his cheeks.

She crushed him in another hug. Lovisa quietly turned away to give them privacy while Sherrell wiped discreetly at her eyes near the doorway.

Lyra could feel Beckett tremble beneath her hands even after his crying finally softened into shaky breaths. Every small frightened sound he made carved deeper guilt into her chest because she had promised him safety. Promised he would never be alone again and yet soldiers had still dragged her away while he watched helplessly from the crowd.

Eventually Beckett pulled back just enough to look up at her, his eyes still red and swollen. “They said bad things about you.”

Lyra forced herself to smooth damp curls back from his forehead. “People say foolish things when they’re scared.”