Chapter 24 Malachar
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Malachar
It had been a day since the worst day of my fucking life, and I still felt trapped in a nightmare I could not wake from.
Wen was healing. The cut on her arm had stopped bleeding and the healers had applied a special cream made by a coven of witches we had to track down once a year to obtain.
It was rare and expensive and reserved exclusively for royalty.
I had made them use the entire jar on her.
I would not accept anything less than the complete healing of every injury she had sustained.
I had not slept since finding her in that library being strangled by an assassin.
Could not close my eyes without seeing her bleeding on the infirmary bed.
Wen had told me this morning that I looked like what she called a zombie in her realm.
A beast who was dead but still walking. That was exactly how I felt. Hollowed out. Barely functioning.
I did not know how to handle this. Did not know how to protect her when every move I made seemed to put her in more danger.
I had sent Aurion to investigate who had sent the assassin.
He had found proof linking the attack to Councilman Matthias, one of Andreas’s most vocal supporters.
But what I needed was evidence to destroy all of them.
Not just one corrupt councilman. I needed to cut out the rot at the root, and the root was Andreas himself.
A knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. Aurion stood in the doorway and jerked his head toward the corridor. We needed to talk outside.
I looked back at Wen sleeping in my bed. Her face was peaceful in sleep despite the bruises still visible on her throat. My wolf whined at the thought of leaving her even for a moment.
But I forced myself to stand and walk out into the corridor. Aurion closed the door behind us quietly.
“What did you find?” I asked.
“The proof only links Matthias directly,” Aurion said. His expression was grim. “We can arrest him. Execute him. But it will not solve the larger problem.”
“Andreas.”
“Yes. And there is only one way to truly protect Wen from future attacks.” Aurion met my eyes. “You are not going to like it at all.”
I felt my wolf rise to the surface. My eyes began to glow. A growl rumbled in my chest. “No.”
“Malachar, listen to me-”
“No. I know what you are going to suggest and the answer is no.”
“You are being selfish,” Aurion said bluntly.
“Making her stay here is putting her life in constant danger. She will never stop being a target as long as people believe she is your weakness. And if you move against the council before we have concrete proof against Andreas, you will face a coup. The kingdom will fall into civil war.”
I felt my heart cracking in two. Felt rage and anguish and desperation flooding through me in equal measure.
I knew he was right. I fucking knew he was right. And I hated it so much I wanted to tear the entire castle down with my bare hands.
“There has to be another way,” I said. My voice came out raw. Broken.
“There is not. Not one that keeps her safe.” Aurion’s expression was sympathetic. “You need to reject her publicly. Send her back to the human realm. Only then will Andreas and his supporters leave her alone. Only then will she be safe.”
I turned away from him and braced my hands against the stone wall. My claws extended without my permission and scraped against the rock. Everything in me was screaming to refuse. To fight. To keep my mate by my side no matter the cost.
But the cost would be her life. And I could not bear that.
I sighed and tore at my hair with both hands. Pulled hard enough to hurt. The physical pain was easier to handle than the emotional agony ripping through my chest.
“I know Noctherion is doing fine under your rule,” I said without turning around. “Your council is filled with good men who are loyal to you. After all, it is your birthright.”
“Where are you going with this?” Aurion asked cautiously.
I turned to face him. “I am begging you to go with her. To the human realm. It is the only way I can let her go. The only way I can force myself to push her away. If I know you will be there to protect her, to watch over her, then maybe I can survive this.”
Aurion studied my face for a long moment. “You are asking me to leave my kingdom.”
“I am asking you to save my mate. Because I cannot do both. I cannot protect her and secure Ravenor at the same time. So I am choosing Ravenor because that is what keeps her safest. But I need you to choose her.”
“You love her that much.”
“More than my own life. More than this throne. More than anything.” My voice broke. “Please, brother. I have never asked you for anything. But I am asking now. Go with her. Keep her safe. And when this is over, when I have destroyed Andreas and secured the kingdom, I will come for her myself.”
Aurion nodded slowly. “I will go. I am curious about this Earth realm anyway. And I will send word to Noctherion so my council can manage affairs in my absence. Mother can oversee things there. She has always been good at politics.”
Relief flooded through me even as my heart continued to shatter. “Thank you.”
“When will you do it?”
“Tonight. Before I lose my nerve.” I looked back at the door to my chambers. “I need to tell her I love her one more time. Need her to understand that everything I do is for her. Only for her.”
“She will not understand at first,” Aurion warned. “She will think you are choosing the throne over her.”
“I know. But eventually she will understand. She has to.” I swallowed hard. “Because if she does not, if she hates me for this, I do not know how I will survive it.”
***
That night, when Wen woke from her nap, I was sitting on the edge of the bed watching her. She smiled when she saw me. That beautiful smile that made everything worthwhile.
“Hey,” she said softly. “You look terrible. Did you sleep at all?”
“No.” I leaned down and kissed her deeply. Poured everything I felt into that kiss. All my love. All my desperation. All my goodbye.
When I pulled back, she looked confused. “Mal? What’s wrong?”
“I love you,” I said. My voice was steady even though my heart was breaking. “I need you to remember that. No matter what happens. No matter what you see or hear. I love you more than anything in any realm. Everything I do is for your betterment. It is about you and only you. Do you understand?”
“You’re scaring me,” she said. Her hand came up to cup my face. “What’s going on?”
“Just remember what I said. Please.” I kissed her one more time and then stood before I lost my nerve. “I have to go. There is a council meeting I need to attend.”
“Mal-”
I left before she could finish. Before I broke down and told her everything. Before I changed my mind and doomed us both.
I walked through the corridors toward the throne room. Nobles bowed as I passed but I barely registered them. My mind was focused on what I had to do. On the lies I would have to tell. On the mask I would have to wear.
The throne room was already full when I arrived. Noblemen and councilmen stood in clusters, whispering amongst themselves. They fell silent when they saw me.
I walked to my throne and sat. Let my expression settle into the cold mask of the Wolf King. Buried every emotion deep where no one could see.
“Thank you all for gathering on short notice,” I said. My voice carried through the room with authority. “I called you here to address the attack that occurred in the library yesterday.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd in waves of curiosity and concern and calculation. I nodded at Aurion, who stood near the doors, and he slipped out quietly to fetch Wen.
“Someone thought the human whore was truly my mate,” I continued. Let a sneer curl my lip. Let disdain drip from every word. “They believed attacking her would wound me. Would weaken me. Pathetic.”
The murmurs grew louder as confusion and surprise spread through the assembled nobles.
“I want to cut these rumors short before more violence occurs based on false assumptions.” I leaned back in my throne. Projected boredom, disinterest. Everything I did not feel. “The human has been useful, a curiosity from another realm. But she is not my mate. She never was and will never be.”
The doors opened and Wen walked in with Aurion behind her. She looked around the room with confusion clear on her face. Her eyes found mine and I saw the moment she registered my expression. The coldness there.
Fear flickered across her features.
My heart screamed at me to stop, to go to her, to explain everything, but I forced myself to remain seated and kept my expression frozen in cold indifference.
“Your Majesty,” Lord Corvei said. “What exactly are you saying?”
“I am saying I used the pet for my own entertainment. Brought her here because I was bored and wanted something novel to amuse me. And oh, she served that purpose well enough. Humans can be…Very entertaining and energetic.” I looked directly at Wen and watched her face pale.
“But she is nothing more than that. A plaything I grew tired of.”
“Then why did you claim she was your mate in the last council meeting?” Darius called out with smugness coating every word.
“Her hormones were messing up with my head. As you all probably know, she was in…A very particular time in her month. I’m free from her spell now.
” I let my eyes glow red as I turned to face him fully.
“And I do not appreciate being questioned about my decisions, Darius. I am king. I do what I want, when I want, for whatever reasons I deem appropriate. Do you understand?”
Darius paled and bowed his head. “Yes, Your Majesty. My apologies.”
“Good.” I turned back to the room at large. “She was useful for studying the portal, for learning about her realm, and for fucking. But clearly pretending she meant anything to me has caused more problems than it solved. So I am correcting that mistake now.”
Wen was staring at me with betrayal written across every feature. Tears gathered in her eyes. I wanted to die.
“If she is not your mate, then what are your intentions regarding marriage?” Corvei asked. “With all due respect, the kingdom needs an heir. A queen.”
I fucking hated this.
I gestured toward the crowd. “Lady Amaia. Please join me.”
Amaia stepped forward with barely concealed glee lighting up her face. She walked to the throne with exaggerated grace and stood beside me, placing her hand possessively on my shoulder. “My king,” she purred.
“I will marry Lady Amaia in two months’ time,” I announced. “She will be your queen. The alliance between our families will strengthen the kingdom.”
Amaia leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I am so honored, my love. I promise to be everything you need.” She looked directly at Wen as she said it with vicious satisfaction in her eyes.
The throne room erupted in conversation as some nobles expressed pleasure at the announcement while others looked confused and all of them were clearly eager to gossip about this development.
But I was only looking at Wen. Her face had crumbled completely as tears streamed down her cheeks. She clutched at her chest where the bond pulsed between us and I felt her pain through that connection so strongly it was agony.
“And the human?” Matthias called out. “What will you do with her?”
“Send her back through the portal.” I stood from my throne and walked down the steps toward Wen even though every step felt like walking toward my own execution. “She is no longer needed or wanted here.”
Amaia laughed behind me. “Good riddance. The little pet was becoming tedious anyway.”
I stopped in front of Wen and looked down at my mate. At the woman I loved more than my own life. And prepared to destroy everything between us.
“You disgust me,” I said. My voice was cold and cruel. Each word felt like driving a knife into my own chest. “Did you actually believe I could love you? A weak human with no power, no status, no value? Please. You’re delusional if you ever thought so.”
“Mal, please,” she whispered. Her voice was breaking. “I don’t understand-”
“There is nothing to understand. At least nothing your little mind can wrap around of. I know humans can be slow sometimes.” I looked at her with all the contempt I could summon.
“Let me be clear with this at least: I reject you, Gwendolyn Woods. You are not my mate. You never were. I reject the bond between us. I reject everything about you, human filth. I reject you completely.”