Della’s mate was weird. Very weird. His emotions kept faltering, kept changing. He was having severe mood swings.
Anger
Confusion
Disgust
Desire.
Irritation.
More disgust
Rage.
And just now... possession and anger mixed into a fiery ball that sent him flying up his chair like the heavens had challenged him.
She looked up at him, shocked out of her mind. He looked ready to tear every single person in the castle into pieces...for her. His eyes had swept over her ear and wrists and he had suddenly turned like this.
The mate bond’s doing.
She knew it.
If it didn’t exist, he wouldn’t even spare her a glance. She would be long dead. So of course this reaction was also an effect of the cursed mate bond, and she shouldn’t have been happy about it.
But her heart leapt along with him. After all the tears and heartbreak it had suffered, it was still... hopeful.
Della sighed and looked away. She shouldn’t be feeling like this. Or she would end up suffering it again.
"You’re gonna hurt your leg even more," She murmured quietly, looking down slowly, "If you don’t want me to stitch it up properly, I’ll go back to my space,"
He was still standing, still watching her silently. Whatever was going through his mind, she didn’t care. So she began dragging her small, weak body back to her bedding. Because right now, it was the safest place in the world. In a corner of the Alpha’s room.
"Who touched you?" The question caught her off guard, and she paused, "I told you, didn’t I? Anyone who touches you would answer to me!!"
Answer to him?! The same man that has been pushing her away and blaming her for everything right from day one?
"Nobody touched me, Goodnight," She said flatly and got back to her bedding.
She wrapped the blanket around her, lay down and faced the other side. She didn’t want to see him anymore. She had spoken before because his emotions through the mate bond had been unfiltered and made her heart ache, but right now he could go and die, and even bleed to death for all she cared.
She didn’t hear him approaching, but she did feel a surge of emotion through the bond right before the blanket got ripped away from her body, and suddenly, his whole body was hovering over hers... dangerously.
Her heart pounded ferociously against her ribcage as the man’s eyes glowed mercilessly, and he lowered his face till all she could see, feel and smell was him.
Lord have mercy!
What has gotten over him now?! Did she happen to say, or even breathe wrongly?!
"Moonfire," He actually summoned a growl that further messed with her head, so deep it might have resonated with her heartbeat.
"Malachi," She answered, unable to look away.
"WHO. TOUCHED. YOU.?!"
Her lips finally quivered in front of him, and her eyes watered quickly till a tear rolled down her face.
His eyes followed it.
She had expected this reaction from now.
When she had run all the way to the council chamber. She had wanted him, expected him to run out to her, to hold her, and tell her everything would be fine. But the enemy has proven to her again, exactly why he was her enemy.
And now he was pretending he cared? To do what? To reassure her that he would protect her and then ignore her again when she ran to him? Unfortunately, she wasn’t that stupid. She knew better.
So much better.
"I...," Her voice and lips shook, and she fought back the tears. She could still hear Garrett’s voice in her head, his teeth biting her ear, his breath in her lungs, and his hands...down there.
She remembered every feeling of disgust and raw fear as though it had happened just seconds ago.
"Moonfire,"
Della broke, "Stop acting as if you care!!" She yelled uncontrollably, the tears gushing down, "Stop saying these things to me, stop acting as if you care about me! You’re an Alpha, you can ignore the Effects of the mate bond just as you’ve been doing! Just as you’ve been ignoring my emotions and interpreting them for something else that you choose to believe!"
"Moonfi—"
"Nobody touched me! And if they did, do you actually care? What’s the meaning of this for the love of the Moon Goddess! Why did you send me to your room in the first place? Why do I have to share the same space with you?! Why?!" She cried even harder, "It was a little easier when I was in my own space! At least you were far enough for me not to know what you were thinking. Not to care about you. But now you’re here, and you’re bleeding and you’re thinking about a thousand things at the same time and it bothers me, and I don’t know what to do, and you’re bothering me now—"
"Adelaide —"
"—so just leave me alone!" She bawled so hard her chest clenched tightly, hurting beyond measure, "If you want to send me off to the Iron pits, just do it. If you want to rip out my heart, do it. If you want to torture me for the rest of my existence, you’re already doing it and I hope it makes you happy and fulfilled! I hope it brings you joy to know that you have exercised punishment on someone who cried and begged, who was innocent, who was—"
She couldn’t continue anymore, and the tears overcame her completely. She trembled, shook, quaked, bawled, and cried till she felt like she was about to die.
Till her chest couldn’t handle the overwhelming force of pain and desperation anymore.
The room echoed with her sobs, and Malachi stood frozen above her. His chest felt strange, and he almost couldn’t breathe.
Tighter than usual
Heavier than usual.
The mate bond was pouring everything straight into him.
Every ounce of her pain.
Every ounce of her loneliness.
Every ounce of hopelessness.
And Moon Goddess, he felt all of it.
And he hated it, not because she was hurting but also because he didn’t know what to do with it.
Della was crying so hard she could barely breathe.
Her shoulders shook violently, and her entire body trembled. But all Malachi could think was that none of this should matter to him.
It shouldn’t.
This was her punishment for everything she’d done.
This was the weight she would carry on her shoulders for the rest of her life. Her problem!
Nothing more.
And he had perfect control over how her emotions affected him, so why did it always feel like someone was driving a blade through his chest every time she cried?
"Stop crying." He spat.
The words came out harsher than intended, and Della let out a horrible, hopeless laugh. Then, she lifted her head and looked at him.
"That’s all you have to say?"
"What else do you want me to say?" His jaw tightened even further.
Her face crumpled, and that look made the pain in his chest even worse. God, she was dangerous for him. So dangerous.
"You really don’t understand, do you?" She scoffed tightly.
"I understand perfectly."
"No." Another laugh escaped her, "You don’t."
She then wiped her face angrily, "I cried in front of you."
His expression remained blank.
"I begged."
Nothing.
"I suffered."
Still nothing.
Della swallowed and stared at him more intently.
The bond told her everything.
He felt guilty.
Confused.
She could feel it, yet his eyes remained as cold as stone. He was so good at pretending that she was beginning to doubt what the mate bond was telling her, and that felt so so cruel.
He was cruel.
"Why won’t you just admit it?" She continued.
Something flashed in his eyes, but it was gone immediately, "Admit what?"
"That you feel bad."
Malachi didn’t say anything and only stared at her. Then his face hardened, "No."
She wasn’t surprised by his answer, although the bond still screamed otherwise. But he still denied it.
Why?
Why was he like this?
"You’re lying." She insisted.
"I’m not."
"You are."
"I don’t owe you guilt, Adelaide."
The use of her real name hurt, especially with that cold, distant and detached tone of his.
Like none of this mattered.
Like she didn’t matter.
She knew that.
"Then why do you keep looking at me like that?" She asked, fresh tears spilling down her face.
"Like what?" His eyes narrowed.
"Like you’re afraid."
That hit him again, and she felt it through the bond for like half a second.
Fear.
Then it vanished. He had locked it away once more, buried so deep she couldn’t find it. She felt his walls slam back into place, and Della laughed again.
She shouldn’t have, but she couldn’t stop.
"You’re unbelievable."
Malachi remained silent.
"I hate you."
Nothing.
"I really hate you."
Nothing.
"I wish I didn’t have to live with you. You should have just agreed on killing me that night." The tears wouldn’t stop.
Yet again, he suppressed everything and continued to glare with a stone-cold expression. His self-control was infuriating.
Monstrous, in fact.
How could someone feel so much and show absolutely nothing?
"Fine." She pushed herself shakily to her feet. "Fine." She repeated, wiping at her face, "If you don’t care, then stop pretending." Her voice cracked, "Stop looking for who touched me, and don’t ever give me the impression that you’re going to protect me. And you should damn well stop... acting like I’m yours!"
Something dangerous shifted inside him, and Della felt it. A low sound rumbled from his chest that wasn’t quite a growl or human escaped, but she was too hurt to stop.
Too angry.
Too broken.
"You don’t get to have it both ways, Malachi." She stepped backwards, "You don’t get to reject me every day and then act possessive whenever somebody else looks at me."
"Adelaide." He warned, eyes darkening.
"No." She pointed at him. "No." She repeated as heaps of pain kept pouring out, "You don’t get to make me sleep on the floor."
His jaw clenched, unclenched then clenched once again.
"You don’t get to treat me like dirt."
A muscle ticked in his cheek.
"You don’t get to ignore me."
The bond surged violently. But guess what? She didn’t care.
"You don’t get to break my heart over and over and then suddenly decide you care."
"Enough!!"
"No!!!" The word cracked through the room, "You don’t care!" She was screaming now, "You don’t care!" Another tear rolled down, "You don’t care!" Her voice broke completely, and her knees weakened from carrying too much, "And the worst part is I wish you did."
Silence over took the room, and Della froze.
She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Those parts of her thoughts were only reserved for her mind and the Insignificant hope that might still be brewing in them.
The confession hung between them, and Della felt humiliation crawling up her spine. She closed her eyes, absolutely mortified, wishing the ground would do her the honor of swallowing her.
But it didn’t.
And the rest also slipped out.
"I wish you cared." She whispered, "And that’s the pathetic part."
A much more deeper form of silence fell in the room. Malachi had also stood up. Staring at her.
Then, he took a step forward.
She opened her eyes.
He took another step closer, than another.
His expression was still unreadable.
"Malachi..."
He kept coming, and she knew she should move.
But she didn’t. She... couldn’t.
His gaze locked onto hers, now looking absolutely stormy and furious with her...or himself?!
"Say something," she whispered.
Say something.
Tell her she mattered.
Tell her she didn’t.
Tell her anything.
Instead, he did the one thing that made absolutely no sense. The one thing he hadn’t planned. The one thing neither of them saw coming.
His hand came up, gripped her jaw, and before either of them could think...
Before pride.
Before logic.
Before reason.
Malachi crashed his lips against hers.
#############
Hi, Dear Readers.
Please do leave a General Review on the front page of this book! It would mean so much to this humble writer.