Chapter 11 Malachar
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Malachar
I could not sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, the memory returned. Her warm hand wrapped around my shaft. The way she had trembled against me. Her whimpers as I bit and nipped at her neck. How she had tasted, salt and sweetness and pure female arousal.
I was losing my mind.
I had not been lying when I told her she drove me insane. The scent of her still clung to my skin. The feel of her fingers in my hair. The sound of my name, the nickname she gave me - Mal - whispered from her lips as I claimed her neck with my mouth.
And then she had touched me. Stroked me through the blanket until I had come apart in her hands, unable to control myself, unable to think of anything but her.
I paced the small living room, unable to quiet the restless energy thrumming through my veins. My wolf was clawing at my insides, demanding I go to her. Demanding I claim her properly. Mark her. Make her mine in every way that mattered.
This was not working. I needed to burn off steam before I combusted. Before I said fuck the promises and kicked down her bedroom door.
In silence, I walked to the back door. Stepped outside into the cool night air. The moment my feet hit the grass, I tore off the pants I had borrowed and shifted.
The transformation was instantaneous. One second, man. The next, wolf. My wounds pulled slightly, a reminder that I was still not fully healed, but the pain faded quickly as I stretched my legs and took off running toward the woods.
The forest welcomed me. Dark and quiet and familiar in a way this human world was not. I ran until my muscles burned, my lungs screamed, and some of the desperate energy began to fade.
I did not enjoy the attention of the females. Hated it, in fact. Their touches made my skin crawl. Their scents were all wrong. Their eyes held nothing but lust and curiosity, not the fire and spirit I saw in my mate’s gaze.
But it seemed to make Wen happy. The plan was working. Her bookstore was thriving. So I had gone along with it. Smiled politely. Handed out the pamphlets she had printed. Stood there in those ridiculous human clothes while females stared and whispered.
All for her.
I still could not believe this was real. That I was truly in the human lands, mated to one of their kind. My brother would be shocked as hell. Aurion had always insisted that waiting for a fated mate was foolish. That I should take a chosen mate and produce heirs for the kingdom.
Ha. If only he could see me now.
Longing hit me suddenly, sharp and unexpected. Everything had been so hectic since I arrived in this world that I had not had time to think about what I had left behind. Family. Kingdom. Life.
I had been in the middle of a challenge for the throne when the portal pulled me through. Andreas fucking Silver, son of one of the noble families, had decided that because I had not been born in Ravenor, I had no right to rule it.
As if I had not won the throne legally. As if I had not killed Gallahan Emwood in fair combat.
Dark thoughts filled my mind as I ran. Gallahan - my father’s best friend, the man I had trusted my entire life, and my godfather.
I had looked up to him, stayed in Ravenor for months at a time with him when I was young, and it had become a second home. Gallahan had taught me to fight, to strategize, to rule.
But it was not until I was older that I understood the ugly, terrible truth.
King Gallahan was not a good man.
My best friend had died in an attack on the eastern border.
Killed by what we thought were rogue wolves.
But I had discovered later - much later - that Gallahan himself had organized it.
Had sent those rogues. Had orchestrated my friend’s death to gain sympathizers, to rally the nobles around him against a supposed external threat.
I had walked the streets of Ravenor after that. Talked to the people. Seen the truth with my own eyes.
The kingdom was not thriving, only the rich were. The common wolves struggled, starved, and suffered while Gallahan hoarded wealth and power. So I had challenged him, to everyone’s surprise, and I had won.
My family had supported me. My father had died before he could see me crowned, but Aurion - who had inherited our family’s throne in the neighboring kingdom, Noctherion, and defended it against all challenges - had been there. And our mother, Sorcha. I loved them both fiercely.
I wondered if they were worrying about me now. How had my disappearance looked from their perspective? One moment I had been in the challenge circle with Andreas, and the next... nothing. Had I simply vanished? Disappeared into thin air?
I remembered only the blinding, all-consuming light, and then Wen’s scent filling my senses, her face hovering above me, her voice telling me to leave.
I stopped running and looked around, realizing with a jolt that I had gone too far into the woods.
Much too far from my mate. Every instinct screamed at me to return, to be near her, to protect her.
My wolf agreed, whining anxiously. We turned and ran back the way we had come, pushing harder, faster-
Her shriek cut through the night.
Adrenaline flooded my veins. Terror unlike anything I had felt in battle seized my chest.
Was she being threatened? Attacked?
Why the fuck had I left her alone?
I ran faster than I ever had. Trees blurred past. My wounded ribs screamed in protest. I did not care.
The back door of the bookstore was open.
Open.
The first sign that something was very, very wrong.
I crashed through it, not bothering to slow down. Shifted mid-stride, bones cracking and reforming as I took the stairs two at a time.
“Get the fuck out!” Her voice. Terrified. Furious.
I burst through the apartment door.
My mate stood in the middle of the living room, holding a kitchen knife with shaking hands. A man dressed all in black was across from her, pointing a strange metal object at her chest.
Rage consumed me. Pure, feral, murderous rage.
“Who the fuck are you,” I snarled, my voice barely human, “and what are you doing in my mate’s house?”
The man jumped. Spun toward me. His eyes went wide when he saw me - naked, covered in dirt and leaves, eyes glowing red.
I did not give him a chance to respond.
I lunged. Grabbed him by the throat. Slammed him against the wall hard enough to crack the plaster. He tried to raise the metal thing but I knocked it from his hand. It clattered across the floor.
“Mal, wait-” Wen started.
I punched the man. Once. Twice. His nose broke with a satisfying crunch. Blood poured down his face.
“You dare,” I growled, my claws beginning to extend, “threaten my mate? Enter her home? Dare to frighten her?”
“Mal, stop!” Wen’s voice cut through the red haze.
I pulled back my clawed hand, ready to strike. Ready to tear this male apart for daring to frighten her.
“You can’t kill him!” Wen grabbed my arm.
I looked at her. “Why not? He threatened you. He deserves death.”
“Because we have laws! Authorities! You can’t just murder people!”
“I absolutely can. I am a king. I have executed many who have committed lesser crimes than this.”
“We’re not in your kingdom!” Her voice was high. Panicked. “If you kill him, they’ll arrest you. Put you in prison. Or worse. You don’t understand how this world works.”
I did not care about this world’s rules. I cared about protecting my mate.
But the fear in her eyes stopped me. Not fear of the intruder. Fear for me.
“What do you propose?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“I call the police - the authorities. They come and take him away. But you have to shift. Hide. They can’t see you like this.” She gestured at my naked, bloody form.
I hated this plan. Everything about it went against my instincts. But I forced my claws to retract. Forced myself to step back from the whimpering male.
“Are you hurt?” I grabbed her shoulders, my hands gentler than they had any right to be given the fury still coursing through me. “Did he touch you? Harm you in any way?”
“I’m fine. I’m okay. I heard him downstairs and grabbed the knife from the kitchen. I screamed when I saw him but I’m not hurt.”
I ran my hands over her arms. Her shoulders. Checking for injuries I could not see. Searching for any sign of harm.
She was trembling but whole and unharmed.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please just shift and hide. Let me handle this.”
Every instinct I possessed rebelled against the idea. But I nodded. Shifted. Padded into her bedroom as she pulled out her glowing brick - her phone, she called it - and spoke rapidly to someone.
This went against everything in me. Hiding while she dealt with the threat. Being unable to protect her properly the way a mate should.
Within minutes, there were voices downstairs. Heavy footsteps. Men in dark blue uniforms filled the apartment, weapons drawn until they saw the intruder on the floor.
I stayed in the bedroom, forcing myself to remain still. To not growl as they questioned my mate. As they looked at her with suspicion.
“You did this to him?” one of the uniformed men asked, staring at the thief’s broken face.
“He broke into my home,” Wen said, her voice steadier now. “I defended myself.”
“With a kitchen knife?”
“I took self-defense classes. And I got lucky. He wasn’t expecting me to fight back.”
They did not look convinced. But they took the male away in restraints. Told Wen she would need to come to the station tomorrow to fill out forms. Asked if she wanted medical attention.
She declined. Said she was fine. Just wanted them to leave.
Finally, blessedly, they did.
The moment the door closed behind them, I shifted and strode into the living room.
Wen turned. Saw me. And her composure crumbled.
I crossed to her in three strides and pulled her into my arms. She sagged against me immediately, her whole body shaking.
“I was so terrified,” she whispered against my chest. Her voice was small. Broken.
I held her tighter. Buried my face in her hair. Breathed in her scent, reassuring myself that she was safe. Whole. Mine.
“I am sorry,” I murmured. “I should never have left you. Should never have gone so far. I will not make that mistake again.”
“You couldn’t have known-”
“I should have known. I should have been here. If anything had happened to you...” I could not finish the sentence. Could not even think about it without rage and terror warring in my chest.
She pulled back slightly to look up at me. “But you were here. You came back. You protected me.”
“Always.” I cupped her face in my hands. “I will always come for you, little mate. Always protect you. That is my vow. My promise. For as long as I draw breath, no harm will come to you.”
Tears gathered in her eyes. She nodded.
And when she pressed her face back against my chest, I held her through the trembling. Because that was what mates did.
They protected. They cherished. They held each other when the world became too much.
And I would be damned if I ever failed at that again.