Moonfire Bride: The One they all betrayed...till she awakened

She was awfully quiet tonight.

Good.

As I once again sat on that old chair staring at the Moon hidden by the clouds, thoughts drifted in and out of my head fast.

They weren’t nice ones. They were memories of the past, memories of Katherine, memories of Gideon when he was still inside me before turning into a mindless beast, and memories of the little girl I once held.

All of it that was taken from me.

The Mate bond was a real pain in the groin, because it kept silently tugging at my senses and making me pull out of memory lane and glance at the quiet woman wrapped up completely in a blanket.

Something terrible must have happened to her today, probably worse than the other one. The gripping fear that had struck me during the council meeting today that had come from her...had always made her lose sight of everything and rush to her.

Rush to a rotblood?!

Not in a million lifetimes.

Whatever had happened to her was her fate. Just as mine did. If it happened to crush her tongue, then good. If it didn’t, maybe the next one might be successful.

Rot-bloods have never been innocent, and the Moon Goddess would never see fit to keep punishing someone innocent. They seem innocent, look innocent, and even have the power to make their thoughts and minds seem innocent to their mates.

It was disgusting.

How could someone be disgusting enough to send a knife through a child’s throat? He could never forget that sight. His hands still shook to this day whenever he recalled.

The bond stirred again, urging me to go check on her...to want to check on her. Unfortunately, I was stronger than it this time.

I felt a familiar itchy sensation around my tooth as his canines began growing out on their own. They’d been doing that all the time, a way of my senses asking me to complete the ritual and mark her.

Like I had almost done this morning.

If Rowan hadn’t knocked, the Rotblood would have been walking around the castle with my scent covering and protecting her, telling everyone what had happened.

That I had finally accepted her as my wife, as my mate.

That would never happen.

I heard her sniff under the blanket, but she didn’t move.

Her problem, not mine.

Speaking of problems, Cassian was going to be one. The fact that he didn’t return to Nightveil proved it. He was here to make sure that the investigation was carried out promptly to prove that the Rotblood didn’t tamper with the banner.

Cassian had always been stubborn, and dealing with him would be a bit tiring, especially without a wolf.

I looked at the blanket again.

She had figured out my secret. I had expected her to use it against me on the night of the ceremony, but she had done the exact opposite.

She was probably playing the long game. Only this time, I would break her completely before it gets to that stage.

Gideon had reacted to her that night, further proving that she was my mate. And if I remember correctly, she had helped me out of the tunnels and didn’t escape while she had the chance.

A pure heart? No, more like a scheming one.

The mate bond stirred again.

The annoying thing was pissing me off.

If only it hadn’t existed in the first place. If only after everything, I had the heart to look her straight in the eye and reject her.

If only. But the weak thing would die on the spot, and that would not be enjoyable in the slightest.

Rot-bloods are the worst.

Weak, but filled with evil.

”Malachi,”

I let out a disgruntled groan. I had thought the silence would last but unfortunately, no level of trauma was able to completely shut the slave up.

”You’re bleeding,” She said, her voice trembling.

I looked back and saw she was now peeking out of the blanket and staring at one leg. I had suffered a deep cut while wandering in the woods this evening and encountered a rogue.

Rogues were getting stronger every day, and much in number.

Without Gideon, every injury would take longer to heal. I had stitched the wound and taken care of myself, but it seems I would have to redo everything.

”Go back to sleep,” I murmured back to her dismissively.

Instead, she crawled out of the blanket and sat up, still staring at the leg intensely, ”I’m not sleepy. Your emotions wouldn’t let me,” She said softly.

She had squeezed her body into a tight ball, and her face, especially her eyes were swollen and red. Plus, she seemed a little more...wary of her environment.

”Not my problem,” I said.

”You fixed my ankle last night,” She said again.

I didn’t even wanna think about it. That act had simply been a grateful one for stepping between her fight with Cassian, regardless of the true intentions behind it.

Before I could say something, she had begun crawling closer till she was sitting right under my feet. Then, she leaned in and looked closer at the leg.

Concern.

Probably fake. How disgusting.

”I’m good with stitching and dressing injuries,” She looked up at me with those large eyes of innocence and curiosity.

It always reminded me of how Katherine looked at me once. It reminded me of her smile, her laughter...her everything.

It pissed the living daylights out of me.

”Of course you are,” I replied sarcastically. The Rotblood had spent all her life living with wounds and curses following her all around.

To my annoyance, she didn’t rise to the insult. She simply lowered her gaze back to my leg.

The room became quiet again, and outside, the wind brushed against the castle walls. Della continued staring at the blood seeping through the bandages.

”You stitched it too tightly.”

I frowned, ”What?”

”The wound.” She pointed carefully. ”You stitched it too tightly.”

A laugh almost escaped me.

The audacity.

”I’ve been stitching my own wounds since before you were born.”

She nodded, ”I can tell.”

That made me narrow my eyes.

The little brat!

She immediately looked away, ”I didn’t mean—”

”You did.”

”...Maybe a little.” The corners of her mouth twitched, and to my horror again, mine also twitched before I could stop it.

I hated that.

I hated that lately she kept doing things that almost made me forget what she was.

Almost.

The bond pulsed warmly again.

Disgusting thing.

Della shifted awkwardly and the blanket had slipped from one shoulder, exposing part of her neck.

My gaze landed there before I could stop it.

The mark.

The ones I had left.

The ones that should not have been there.

The ones I had almost completed.

Something dark stirred inside my chest, and I immediately looked away before it overwhelmed me, and I dragged her back to bed to complete what I had started.

The reaction only made me angrier at myself.

At her.

At the bond.

At Katherine.

At everything.

”Why do you keep looking at me like that?” she asked quietly.

”What?”

”Like you hate me.” She paused, ”But like you always stare like you hate me, but tonight’s a little more...extra,” She stopped again, then continued, ”I didn’t do anything wrong today to make you hate me even more, in fact I—” Tears suddenly filled her eyes.

Huh?

She hugged her knees tighter, and neither of us said anything. Once her emotions settled, the bond also followed.

Then her gaze drifted back to my leg, ”You’re still bleeding.

I looked down and saw that the bandage was indeed darker now.

Damn it.

The rogue must have torn deeper than I’d thought.

Della hesitated, then slowly extended her hand. She didn’t touch me, but kindly offered instead... like she was trying to offer food to a wild animal that had bitten them before, ”Let me help.”

I stared at that small, scarred hand of hers that still trembled slightly. And for some reason, all I could see was another hand.

Smaller.

Chubbier.

Covered in sunlight.

A little girl laughing as she reached for me.

The memory hit so suddenly that my chest locked.

My daughter.

My little girl.

Gone.

My vision blurred for a second, and when it cleared, Della was still there.

Still waiting.

Still offering.

”Don’t touch me!” I snapped coldly, but she didn’t pull away almost as if she had seen it coming. Instead, she slightly flinched but recovered instantly.

”You think I’d hurt you?” She looked up at me, a hint of anger in her eyes, ”Or I’d curse you?”

”Go back to bed,” I dismissed.

”Why? So I could wake up tomorrow morning again with you right next to me and stupid, stupid hope somewhere in my fragile heart only for it to be crushed... when I’ve done nothing to deserve it?!” She was getting angrier.

The mate bond said everything.

I glanced at her once more, and that was when I also noticed she had new injuries.

A tear in her ear.

Swollen wrists. Like someone had squeezed for too long.

Something surreal slammed into my chest, and I flew up from my chair.

Someone had touched her.

Someone had TOUCHED my Moonfire.