Page 65 of Dragon King’s Bullied Mate

Beckett still trembled violently in Lyra’s arms while she sat holding him on the sofa with his face buried against her shoulder. He believed letting go of her for even a second might allow the strangers to come back and drag him away.

And honestly? Lyra felt exactly the same.

Malaya listened silently for several moments and then spoke to one of the guards before she came back inside.

“We’re leaving.” She spoke quietly but in a tone that left no room for argument.

Lyra blinked. “Leaving?”

“We’re going back to the castle.”

The words hit like ice water down her spine.

“No.”

Malaya crouched beside her. “Lyra, we need to go.”

“No,” she repeated more sharply this time and clutched Beckett tighter. “I can’t take him there.”

“You can’t keep him here anymore either.”

The words hit home and even in her denial, Lyra knew it was the best option. She stared out the window at her life that was now slipping away, maybe permanently.

“I don’t belong in a castle,” she whispered.

Malaya’s expression softened unexpectedly. “Neither do I, or half the people currently living there.”

Beckett finally lifted his tearstained face slightly. “Are the bad men gonna come back?”

The fear in his voice nearly broke her. Lyra brushed trembling fingers through his curls. “Not if I can help it.”

Even as she said it, she knew the truth. She couldn’t protect him alone anymore.

Every room suddenly felt unbearably personal once she began packing bags, as though the walls themselves knew she might not be coming back for a very long time. The go-bag she had prepared seemed inadequate when it might be a long time before they returned.

Beckett quietly gathered clothes and stuffed animals into a backpack near his bedroom. Lyra stood in the kitchen staring helplessly at the half-finished bouquet still sitting on the table from her normal life that was now gone in a single afternoon.

Her hands shook badly when she finally picked up her phone and called Sherrell.

The older woman answered immediately. “Honey? What happened? Meren said there was some kind of attack.”

Lyra’s composure shattered the second she heard the concern in Sherrell’s voice. “They tried to take him.”

“Oh my God.”

Lyra pressed trembling fingers against her forehead while she paced the kitchen. “They grabbed Beckett right off the road, Sherrell. If Malaya hadn’t shown up—” Her voice cracked hard enough she had to stop speaking for a second. “I almost lost him.”

“Honey…”

“They’re sending us to the castle now.”

Another pause followed. “The royal castle?”

“Yep, the only castle I know of.”

Sherrell exhaled heavily. “Well. That’s certainly not where I expected this story to end.”

Lyra laughed shakily despite herself before sinking into one of the kitchen chairs. “I don’t want to leave. I know it’s the safest option right now, but…” Her eyes drifted helplessly around the cottage. “This is my home.”