Chapter 28 Malachar
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Malachar
I had been having the worst fucking month of my life.
Every single interaction was a performance.
Every smile was fake. Every conversation required an amount of energy I did not possess.
I had to pretend in front of the council.
Pretend in front of the nobles. Pretend in front of everyone that I was fine.
That rejecting my mate had been easy. That I was moving forward with my plans to marry Amaia and secure alliances.
All of it was a lie.
I could not sleep. Could not close my eyes without seeing Wen’s face as I destroyed her in that throne room. The way she had looked at me with such betrayal and pain. The way she had crumpled to the floor. The sound of her sobs as guards dragged her away.
I barely ate. Food tasted like ash in my mouth.
My mother kept having meals sent to my chambers but most of them went untouched.
It took a horrifying amount of willpower just to get out of bed each morning.
To take a shower. To put on clothes and pretend to be the Wolf King instead of the broken man I actually was.
People had started to notice despite my best efforts at deception. I was thinner. The bags under my eyes had turned purple. My clothes hung looser on my frame. Nobles whispered when they thought I could not hear. Guards exchanged concerned glances when I passed.
I was fucking miserable and only my mother knew the truth.
But even she could not be here to support me.
She was stuck traveling between Ravenor and Noctherion because my brother’s kingdom also needed oversight while he was gone protecting my mate.
Poor Sorcha, caught between two kingdoms in turmoil, though Noctherion was doing far better than Ravenor thanks to Aurion’s council being actually competent and loyal and efficient.
Unlike mine. Fuck them all.
The worst part was Amaia and her constant need to push the wedding forward. She appeared at every meal. Every council meeting. Every public event. Hanging on my arm. Talking about venues and flowers and guest lists for a wedding that was never going to happen.
I had no intention of going through with it. The engagement was just another barb designed to hurt Wen. To make the rejection more believable. More devastating.
I wanted to exile Amaia. Wanted to never see her face again. If I went the rest of my life without hearing her voice, it would still be too soon.
But I could not. Not yet. Not until Andreas and his supporters were dealt with permanently.
The good news was that I had finally found the proof I needed.
Financial records showing bribes. Letters detailing plans to undermine my rule.
And most damning of all, a witness who had seen Andreas meeting with the assassin moments before the man had met with Matthias.
Direct evidence linking him to the attempt on Wen’s life.
I had called an emergency council meeting to present the evidence. To finally end this nightmare and start cleaning house.
That was when they ambushed me.
Andreas and his allies had brought their personal guards.
Hidden them throughout the castle. The moment I started presenting the evidence, the throne room erupted into violence.
Guards loyal to Andreas attacked guards loyal to me.
Council members who supported the coup drew weapons.
The beautiful throne room became a bloodbath within seconds.
They knew the proof would obliterate their chances of getting the throne through political maneuvering. So they had resorted to taking it by brute force.
Which was exactly what I had been hoping for. If we managed to beat them, I could execute or imprison them immediately without any more political games or waiting for them to make another mistake. Just clean, brutal justice delivered swiftly.
I was smiling as I fought, feral and vicious with my wolf close to the surface demanding blood.
But the rejection had weakened me more than I wanted to admit.
Having Wen in another realm, having the bond buried deep where I could not access it, drained my strength in ways I had not anticipated.
I had received too many strikes already.
Cuts on my arms and sides. A gash on my thigh that was bleeding heavily.
Bruises that would not heal properly without my mate nearby.
My guards were slowly diminishing Andreas’s men. We were winning. But I did not know if I would last long enough to see the victory.
I was fighting five of them at once. Two swords in my hands. Dancing between their strikes. My blades found flesh again and again but they kept coming. One caught my side with his sword and I felt the cut open deep. Another nearly got my throat but I deflected at the last second.
That was when I suddenly felt a rush of energy pour through me.
I was confused as to why. The bond was buried. Wen was in another realm. There should be no connection feeding me strength.
I used the burst of energy to press my attack harder. My right blade caught one attacker across the chest. My left took another in the throat. But there were still three more and I was tiring despite the mysterious energy boost.
I spun to face the next opponent but heard a growl from behind me. Too close. I would not turn in time to dodge. My muscles were screaming. My reflexes were a fraction too slow.
This is it, I thought. This is how I die. Without ever seeing her again. Without ever apologizing.
But then something massive and black crashed into my attacker from the side. Aurion in wolf form. His jaws closed around the wolf’s neck with crushing force and twisted viciously. The crack of breaking bone echoed through the chaos of the throne room.
My brother had just saved my life.
Relief flooded through me for half a second before my brain caught up with what his presence meant. Aurion was here. In Ravenor. Which meant he had left the human realm. Which meant he had left Wen.
Panic set in hard and fast.
No. NO. What was he doing here? If Aurion was here fighting beside me, that meant Wen was unprotected in that bookstore. It meant someone could sneak through the portal while we were distracted. Could find her alone and vulnerable. Could hurt her. Kill her. Take her from me permanently.
My mind literally shut down at the thought of her being injured. I could not breathe past the terror flooding my system. Could not think past the image of her bleeding and alone with no one to protect her.
I punched a wolf in the snout hard enough to send him stumbling backward. But my movements were mechanical now. My thoughts were spiraling. Why would Aurion leave her? What could possibly be important enough to abandon his post?
That was when I felt it. A tug on the bond. The mate bond I had buried deep but never actually severed because I could not bring myself to cut that connection completely.
I froze entirely as panic hit me harder than any physical blow I had taken today.
The massive doors to the throne room opened with a bang that somehow cut through the sounds of fighting. Which was madness. Pure madness. Given the violence occurring right now. Given the bodies on the floor and the blood coating the walls.
I was expecting backup but not for another ten minutes. That was how long it would take for the guards in the barracks to reach us after the alarm was raised.
But when I turned to look at the doorway, my heart stopped.
Gwendolyn. My Wen. Standing in the entrance to the throne room. Back in Lytopia. The place I had exiled her from. The place she was not supposed to return to until it was safe.
Time seemed to slow as I took her in. Her familiar face. Her dark hair. The way she stood frozen in the doorway with shock written across her features.
Fucking AURION. I was going to kill my brother. Slowly. Painfully. What had he been thinking bringing her back here? Bringing her into danger?
“Wen?” Her name came out as barely a whisper. Shock made my voice weak and broken.
Then my eyes traveled down and the panic and horror that had been building doubled and tripled and became something that threatened to destroy me completely.
She had a bump beneath the loose dress she wore. A round, unmistakable bump that spoke of life growing inside her.
It could not be. My mind refused to process it at first. Surely it could not be possible. She could not be...
But one deep breath confirmed what my eyes were showing me. Her scent had changed from what I remembered. Sweeter and richer and layered with that distinct maternal quality that made my wolf whine with the need to protect.
She was pregnant. Not just barely showing. Heavily pregnant. Months along from the size of her belly.
How much time had passed for her in the human realm? How long had she been carrying my child without me there to protect her? To provide for her? To take care of her the way a mate should?
My heart ached with a pain that had nothing to do with my physical injuries.
I remembered the last time I had seen her in this throne room.
She must have been pregnant then. Just beginning.
Too early to show. When I rejected her in front of the entire court and called her worthless and disgusting.
When I had Andreas’s people attack her in the library.
No. The thought crashed through me and brought waves of shock and horror and terrible despair. I had rejected my pregnant mate. Had sent her away alone and scared and carrying my child. Had made her think I did not want her when she needed me most.
I wanted to fall to my knees right there in the middle of the battle. Wanted to beg forgiveness I absolutely did not deserve. Wanted to burn the entire world down for what I had done to her.
The entire room had frozen at her scent. Every wolf turning to stare at the pregnant female who had just walked into a battle. The maternal pheromones were impossible to ignore. Instinct demanded protection. Demanded safety for the vulnerable female.