Dead Mate || K.TH

The Supposed Death

"Yes, I should definitely take you with me." Arzhel's irises shine with gold, and his warm body appears bigger than it was before she entered this room with him.

Y/n stares, dazed eyes doeing out a bit as his words slowly register in her foggy head. Take her away..? Dark lashes flutter against soft cheeks when she blinks, trying to make sense of his intentions.

It doesn't help that he doesn't look away. No, golden dust flakes in his foxy sharp eyes as he stares intently as if waiting for her to do something, dilated irises studying every squirm of her body.

The way he said it hints that he is not waiting for an answer. She is at his mercy, and he has decided. And he will take her whether she likes it or not. And with the way his broadening figure sits relaxed on the couch, he knows she will not put up a fight.

She's too weak for it. And he knows cause he has been watching her since the moment she entered the gathering with the seven brothers.

Y/n tries to remember him and tries to skim through her memories in search of his purpose. She knows she has seen him. His face is quite familiar. But her blank mind is making it hard for her to remember what connections he had with Jihyun.

She has always felt uncomfortable attending parties and gatherings, so Jihyun made sure he never put her in that position. But she did join him on a few private ones which only close people to Jihyun attended, and she wanted to meet the people her mate trusted and cared about. Though she did stick to his side all night the first few times, she did eventually get close to most of them.

That is what he is referring to. He must have seen her in one of those gatherings. And if he was present there, then that probably meant that Jihyun trusted him in some ways. The people attending those gatherings were the only ones who had seen her.

But could she trust him now? Most of those people now blame her for his death. Everything has changed.

His elbow, which rests over his masculine thigh moves, and she is too numb to flinch away as his hand moves towards the open space between them. He opens his palm and her round eyes move from his face down to his hand.

Thick fingers trail up towards well-kept trimmed nails, and his hands are free of callous and about the size of her face. Jihyun's hands were much bigger and had callouses on them. But that was because he was an alpha hunter and always brought back divine meat for her to eat.

He didn't have to do it. He was the king of the wolves. He had enough alphas and betas under his command to provide food for all omegas and children in the packs under his care. But he always said she was only his to care for. He was dripped in fine leathers and jewels, but never failed to put food on the table himself.

His wealth and title did not change him. He was a simple man following simple rules. That was why it was so easy for her to fall.

Years of abuse and survival in the woods have hardened her. But all it took was one dimpled smile from him that one precious night five months after he rescued her, and something shifted in her.

And before she knew it, she found herself melting in his warm arms a few months later.

It was so easy to let him in, and it's the hardest to let him go.

There is a sudden intake of breath near her, and she stirs at the noise in the silence of the room. Her doe eyes shift up to the man she has forgotten the existence of and find him staring down at her with his head tilted up.

"Are you thinking of him?" His deep voice vibrates the sparks in the air around them. "You're engulfed in roses."

Y/n blinks, taken aback. Does she still smell like roses when she thinks of Jihyun? She thought she could smell like nothing but death now.