3368 words
My eyes close, the force of the wind pushing my lashes flat against my skin.
I am breathless, my limbs flailing in the freefall that has enveloped me like a scorned lover.
In the fraction of a second I have to think, I know this will end badly. No one falls head first off a sixty foot cliff into a solid pool of glassy water and survives. If I had jumped myself, I could have angled my body to enter with my feet, breaking the surface tension and thus protecting my fragile body.
But I was not given that choice. I was pushed, left grappling for traction, slipping before I could even utter a cry of alarm.
A rough and throaty howl startles me, and I open my eyes in time to see a dark form looming above me, coming closer and closer as they have thrown themselves off the cliff after me.
Malachi!
His black hair is rushing back with the speed at which he reaches for me, his determined eyes riveted on me.
Time seems to disintegrate. I don't know how long I have been falling, all I am aware of is my mate falling towards me like my own saviour from heaven.
My own angel.
For as I watch him, I see in the sunlight around him the outline of silver wings, so light and transparent, yet strong and graceful as he angles his body towards me. When his arms wrap around me, caging me against himself, I know I will be alright.
I can survive this in the arms of my mate.
With a snap of the wings on his back, he twists us around, so when we reach the water it isn't my skull that takes the impact.
Water engulfs us, traps us like an icy cocoon, but all I see are the crystal blue eyes of my mate. He keeps our gazes locked as we plummet down, deep under the water, a rush of bubbles surrounding us like moonlit fireflies on a summer night.
We stop descending, and we float suspended, lost in the mystery between us.
My body realises I have no breath. My lungs begin to scream in echo of my earlier scream. A painful heat sears my insides as I thirst for oxygen.
We don't reach the surface fast enough. My cold fingers tighten on Malachi's shoulders, clawing at him as if he can give me relief from this watery prison even as he kicks upwards in swift strokes.
Malachi must notice my desperation as he wraps his hand behind my neck, pulling me closer, then places his mouth over mine.
And breathes into my lungs.
A riot of emotions tumble through me as I suck in the much-needed air. The spark of his lips. The simultaneous beating of our hearts. His large hands that have slipped under my shirt and hold my waist firmly and warmly.
I think we have reached the surface as a coolness wraps around me, presumably the late afternoon breeze. But I don't notice. My arms are holding Malachi in a death-lock as I keep my lips pressed against his, receiving sustenance like a starving man in a desert.
Like a drowning girl in a swimming hole.
When I feel him smile into the kiss, I dare to pull back. I blink the water from my eyes, stunned by what just happened.
"You okay?" Malachi asks, and it takes a moment to register the question as I can only stare at the beautiful face that is millimetres from mine. A part of me thought I might never see him again. A part of me thought my skull would crack and my organs explode as I hit the crystal surface of the water.
Instead, my mate saved me.
"You... you jumped from the cliff... to save me. How?" We are treading water, slowly gliding in circles, Malachi's arms around me and my legs around his waist. This beautiful dance between us has drowned out the rest of the world, and all I feel is the Alpha's strength holding me safe.
"You really think I would let my mate fall off a cliff and perish? I would jump off a thousand times to save you. And I would catch you, every single time." He places a warm kiss on my forehead before giving me a wide smile. "But I want to know what you were doing so close to the edge of the cliff?"
I flinch at his rebuking tone. "I was about to jump off. I did it before, but this time I was accidentally shoved—"
"You jumped from the cliff?" His eyes widen and blink. "Only wolves who are either brave or stupid do that."
I tilt my head, watching a drop of water slide from his hair, down his cheek, and along his square jaw. Mesmerising.
"And which one are you?"
"Hmm?" He, too, seems enraptured by something.
"Are you brave or stupid? Because you just leapt off that cliff..."
He throws his head back and laughs, the water around us sloshing against us with the motion. "I think I was bravely stupid. Or stupidly brave, I don't know. I can't figure out just what you do to me," his rich voice rumbles from his chest as he whispers lowly in my ear, sending shivers of pleasure racing up and down my spine. "Goodness, Ariella, you are so te—"
"Are you two love-birds done kissing yet?" Hamilton interrupts us from the water's edge.
I glance up, and see a crowd has gathered, watching us with keen interest. I feel my cheeks flush with heat despite the water that is cooling my skin.
We swim to the edge and climb out, Malachi keeping his arms around me, as if afraid I'll fall over my own two feet. My lips are tingling from the aftershocks of his on mine, and I lightly touch my fingers to them, my heart leaping and a giddy smile tugging on my face.
"You could have told me he is your mate," I hear Hendrik mutter and shake his head with a wistful expression.
Malachi's grip tightens on me, and I feel a pulse of jealousy wrap around his heartbeat. I look up and see him glowering darkly at the warrior.
"I want to know exactly what happened. How did she fall from the cliff?" Malachi looks over everyone with a dark stare, his powerful stance making them shrink in obeisance.
"From what I saw, she was accidently shoved and lost her balance," Hamilton takes charge when everyone else remains silent.
"And who shoved her off the cliff?"
Two male wolves hang their heads. "Sorry, Alpha, for being so careless. We didn't mean for anyone to be hurt. We didn't even see her near the edge until it was too late."
"We will discuss your punishment tomorrow."
"But Malachi," I grasp his fingers in mine where they curl tightly into my hip. "It was just an accident."
"And accidents can cause deaths. I won't allow my men to be so careless and irresponsible, endangering others' lives," he growls.
I nod, subdued by the swirling darkness in his eyes.
"Sooo, Alpha Malachi. Are you gonna explain...this?" One of the girls waves her hand, motioning between the two of us.
Malachi takes a deep breath, forcing the stormy expression on his face into something more pleasant, more content. "Yes, well. I suppose now is the time to introduce my mate. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Ariella, daughter of Beta Charles and Lexi, from ForgedHearts Pack. Your future Luna," he lifts my hand in his, a winsome smile tugging his lips upward.
I am met with mixed expressions. The wolves who have made fun of me and played tricks on me bow their head, not wanting to bring more trouble on themselves by disrespecting me any more.
Hendrik wears a pout on his admittedly handsome and rugged face, but he quickly looks elsewhere, his shoulders shaking in a chuckle.
Harlow... Well, Harlow is expressionless, her keen eyes appraising me with that signature stare I have seen many times, yet still can't decipher. It troubles me, though for Malachi's sake I brush it off.
"Let's get out of here," he faces me and wraps his other arm around me. "You're freezing."
I hadn't noticed that I'd begun shivering, but with the sun now sunken below the horizon, the temperature has dropped many degrees.
I am glad when we reach the warmth of his house, and step into his bedroom. Quickly grabbing some clean clothes, I hop into the shower after Malachi assures me he'll use another bathroom. He is cold, I can tell, though his masculine pride won't show it.
After defrosting and washing myself under the steaming hot water, I dress in warm clothes and head out to find my mate. Our bedroom is empty, but I can feel he's still in the house. Invisible threads are tying my senses to his, and even with thick walls and furniture separating us, I can feel him.
I find him in his office, shuffling through paperwork and typing on his laptop.
"Hey, you hungry for some dinner? I could make us some soup or something," I come up beside him and drape my arm around his shoulder before leaning in to press a kiss to his temple, right above his glasses frames. He looks so nerdy and handsome sitting here like this, concentrating hard.
"No, actually. I don't really feel like eating," he sighs heavily and slides his arm around my hips, drawing me closer for a moment before releasing me.
"Same. I'd be happy to skip food." I perch on the edge of his desk. "Anything I can help with?"
"Not unless you know much about accounting. I'm just going over the financial records here. Pretty boring stuff," he gives me a wry smile.
"Oh, please no. I nearly failed math in school. Mom let me take art and language instead."
"Lucky you. My dad insisted I pass all the math and sciences, as well as business and economics, before picking any electives I would like."
I share his bemused frown before saying, "But that makes sense, though, being an Alpha. I bet you're happy now that you took all those business classes. I'm sure it helps you run the pack smoothly, right?"
"True, in some ways," he offers agreement and scratches his chin before turning to me again. "I guess there is a lot I can be thankful for about my dad, despite... despite everything else..."
I grasp his hand between my own and smile. "Even the worst teachers can teach us something, like how not to do it."
We both chuckle at my spontaneous wisdom, then he sobers.
"But seriously now, I'm fine here. If you want to head up to bed... I'll be there shortly."
"Okay," I nod and squeeze his hand again.
Once I'm back in our room, I pull out my art book and pens, then settle in comfortably on the bed. With pillows propped behind me, I curl up my legs and begin sketching the events of this afternoon.
Specifically, my hero from this afternoon.
The cliff face towers high on the left of the page, the perspective exactly as if I were falling once more. Then I draw Malachi, his face set in steely determination to save me, his arms outstretched to catch me. His body is streamlined like a swift, swooping to reach me quickly.
And spreading from his back are the transparent and silvery wings that gave him perfect control over his descent. He didn't just fall towards me.
He flew towards me.
An angel with a sole purpose to rescue me. My soulmate who would always protect me.
"You're still awake."
The pencil falls from my hand when I hear Malachi's voice. "Yeah, I- I...I wanted to draw. It calms me down. You know, after such the crazy day we had..." I trail off and casually flip the page to a less fantastic picture I'm working on.
The mansion, with the trailing vines and beautiful pillars, and a princess in one of the gilded spires.
Malachi joins me on his bed and looks over my shoulder. "Nice work. You can draw so well."
I shrug. "Yeah, I'm not bad I guess. If you don't mind these kind of surreal sketches," I add more detail to the magnificent blooms that aren't really growing in the courtyard of his mansion.
"I like it. It's beautiful." My mate takes strands of my hair, of the lavender and magenta coloured tips, and twirls them between his fingers.
I am beginning to realise he likes playing with my hair. "Thank you." A satisfied smile tugs on my lips.
"You are truly beautiful, and so strong and amazing. Like no one I've ever met before," my mate murmurs in a silky voice.
I continue drawing, unsure how to respond to his compliments. My face grows warm from the fuzzy feelings blossoming inside.
Malachi goes on, "When I marked you, it's no wonder your father looked ready to die protecting you from me and anyone else."
My hand freezes, the pencil coming to an abrupt halt on the paper. "Actually, he did," my tongue feels foreign as I say the words.
"I don't understand—"
"My dad was killed, along with my mom, protecting me and our pack." I don't even look up as I say it, but I feel Malachi stiffen beside me.
"But Charles..."
"Isn't my real dad. He and Lexi adopted me after the massacre, after the rogues destroyed everything." There's no emotion in my voice, not like I expected there to be. I am beyond that. I am older than the little girl who used to cry to sleep, then found myself wrapped in Charles' or Lexi's arms when the sun rose on another day, in a world without my true family.
At least, I like to believe I am beyond the pain. I think my heart is dead enough in places to not recognise the pain anymore.
"I'm sorry. I had no idea," Malachi shifts on the bed and pulls me into his arms. I rest my head on his chest and fold my art book closed.
"There's no need to be sorry for me. I've been given many blessings since, so much love from my adoptive parents. The... the attack happened when I was young, and I don't remember much."
Just the blood beneath my fingers, and the empty eyes staring up at me.
"Okay, but still. It's never easy losing family. It tears your heart apart, no matter how little you are," the Alpha strokes my hair gently, his fingers soothing.
I close my eyes and memorise every nuance of his touch, storing it away in my memory. I am drifting in his comfort, floating on the softness of his warm body beneath mine. Vaguely aware of the light being flicked off, I feel Malachi lie down flat, his arms remaining around me snugly. I fall asleep to to the rhythm of his heart beat.
And awake some time later to emptiness.
Beside me, the bed is empty, barely a warm spot left.
I sit up. "Malachi?"
There is no answer, so I rise in the darkness and pull back the curtain, allowing the silvery moonlight to brighten the silence around me.
I wander out of the bedroom and down the hall, searching for him, feeling for him, but I don't find him. The house is empty, the shadows scurrying to hide once more as I pass by. All I can hear is my heart thudding in my chest and the incessant ticking of the grandfather clock that seems to echo through the entire four storeys of the Alpha's mansion.
When I reach the front door, I hesitate. But only for a second. Faint traces of Malachi's scent draw me out, down the courtyard path, and towards the open field near the forest.
I am struck by how silent and cold the night has turned. Something crunches underfoot and I realise it is snow. Soft blankets of white snow shimmer dully in the wisps of moonlight. It falls on my hair and shoulders, illuminating my silhouette, and making the path easier to see.
The black trees crowd up around me, their stark, leafless branches pointing towards the stars as if my destiny is written there.
But I know my destiny is Malachi, and I track his scent that is slightly different, slightly off. Burnt chestnuts trampled in the ashes.
My heart beats erratically when I see a figure up ahead, its lone form standing surrounded by white snow. A long cape of pure black rests on their shoulders and drapes to the ground.
"Malachi?" I whisper as loudly as I dare. Clicks and hisses of bats reply from the trees, and I repress a shudder of fear.
He turns, the cape billowing, and that is when I stop still, a part of me screaming to run.
My mate's eyes are empty, black. Lifeless.
"You dared follow me into the darkness?"
I'm not exactly sure I know what he means, but I reply, "Of course. You're my mate."
He chuckles a raspy, utterly disgusting chuckle. "Poor, poor little girl," he clicks his tongue while shaking his head. The bats around us seem to hiss in agreement.
The Alpha's obsidian black fringe sways over his eyes, but there's no mistaking the black voids I am looking into where not even the stars can reflect.
He looks like Malachi, even sounds remotely like him, but it couldn't be him. This dark stranger can't be my mate. "What is going on? What happened to Malachi? The Malachi I know?"
His eyes narrow on me. "Nothing happened to me. I'm the same as always," he spreads his hands, and the cape lifts also.
Only... it is not a cape.
It is black wings, controlled by him, by his muscles. The feathered structures stretch outward on fine membranes, and unfurl to reveal such darkness it nearly crushes me.
"No. No, this isn't you! You're an angel, not a demon. I saw you! You saved me," I rush forward and reach out a hand. Daring to lift my fingers and brush them along his face, I nearly pull back in shock.
He is ice cold. Colder than the snow around us, that continues falling in the late Autumn night.
"You don't know what I am, do you, Ariella?"
The way he says my name sends shivers down my spine.
"You, who sees angels in the sunbeams and demons in the shadows. Just what goes on in that pretty mind of yours? I'd love to know." He leans closer, his cold breath fanning wisps of hair away from my face, his even colder fingers sliding around my neck and settling on my spine. He applies pressure until I feel his sharp nails against my skin. Digging, probing, forcing me to bow my head.
"Stop, please! You're hurting me," I place my hands on his chest and push him away.
He stumbles and clutches his chest as if I have just shot him, his cold smirk twisting into something like painful recognition.
I look down to see my hands covered in something...something black and sticky.
Malachi pulls back his own hand, a black mess coating his fingers, and whatever colour was in his face has now completely drained. "You need to leave," he rasps, his voice oddly strained, his muscles tight with agony. "Leave, and never come back."
"Malachi, no! I can help you. I can save you!" I don't know why, but I rush forward again, clutching his shoulders and holding tight, holding myself together. I need to. I need to stop my heart from breaking.
"It's too late. You can't save me now..."
My head is shaking in denial, my hand searching on his chest for something, anything. But I feel nothing.
No rhythm, no beat, no blood surging with life as my hand sinks into his empty chest.
And when he speaks again, I don't even feel the vibration of the words.
"Not when I am already dead."
I just love making quote images 😍🥰 The one above is one of my faves ☺️
So tell me... how is the next chapter going to go? Malachi sinks to the ground in a writhing heap and dies, Ariella can't live without him and the pack goes to the dogs as all hell breaks loose 😱
Jokes 😂😂
But a good plot idea I might save for later ..😏😉
Anyway! what do you think of this chapter? honestly? Ariella is finally introduced as his mate, after an almost kiss 😘😘❤️😘
Goodness, I love that part so much...underwater...hot and steamy... 😏👌🏼
Oh and I started watching TVD (don't ask me why, I hate vampires 🤦♀️)
I will admit it was mildly interesting but I've given up partway into the second season after watching my favourite character get killed by my most hated character 😭😭😭😭
So yeah 😏 Imma stick with wolves 🥰🥰
Enjoy the weekend!
Kiana 🌹