Chapter 184: Will you burn for me?

*ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN BLOODY DAMAGED MIND?!*

Malachi didn’t say anything, even though his whole being had just been rattled to the bone by that growl.

He simply walked through the forest, watching Della move ahead in front of him like a phantom about to disappear forever.

Gideon had just seen all his memories — their memories — and he couldn’t believe just how badly Malachi had treated her. He was so furious at him, so damn disappointed, so many emotions that made him want to be separated from Malachi again.

*How could you have done all of that to her? Are you mental? Daft? Stupid? Possessed?* Gideon continued like the mad wolf he was at the moment, *How could you have punished an innocent woman because of what someone else did?!*

*Gideon,* Malachi replied, *I feel terrible. I was so lost after we got separated and I—*

*I know exactly how you felt, Malachi. I feel everything now. It doesn’t justify it. You just wanted to believe she was the villain from the start till the end,*

*Yeah,*

*And you’ve successfully broken her, harder than both of us combined. Seeing her like that...* Gideon paused, and they both stared at her retreating figure.

*I’ll carry the regret on my back for the rest of my life,* Malachi answered, *That is my punishment,*

*And hers?* Gideon shifted.

*What do you mean?*

*You’re just going to let her roam about like that? In that condition? Aren’t you going to go after her?* Gideon asked, and then he instantly understood why Malachi wasn’t moving.

They shared the same mind.

"So you’re scared of facing her. That’s why you cannot approach her. That is why—"

"Yes!" Malachi sighed loudly, "Yes! That is why!"

*So you’re just a coward, then,*

*A big one,* Malachi murmured.

Just then, the stupid mate bond stirred low in his chest and then it settled again.

He looked up again, and Della was gone. There was no sign of her again. He’d probably never be seeing her again. She’d been right there and the shame he carried had held him back.

He knew she didn’t want to see him again.

And she was better off without him.

She could live without him the way she pleased. That was what he was supposed to let her do.

*Go after her. Malachi,* Gideon whispered again, *Just...go. Malachi. You don’t have to have things figured out. You don’t have to have the right words, or be in the right mindset. Just...go,*

Something flickered in the Alpha’s eyes, and then he seemed to disappear from where he had been walking.

Malachi felt the difference immediately the moment he took off. His body seemed lighter, faster, and more alive.

His senses sharpened so violently that the forest around him almost became overwhelming—the rustling leaves, the distant movements of animals, the damp earth beneath his feet, every tiny sound reaching him at once.

Branches blurred past him, and as he closed the distance between them again he started to feel the mate bond pulsing once again.

He kept it guiding him.

Then, he started to notice things that indicated she was close by. A leaf that had been brushed aside. The cold lingering in the air where she had passed.

*Left*

Malachi turned sharply, searching through every sound and movement until something finally caught their attention.

A faint figure stood between the trees.

Della.

She slowly looked up, and the cold in her eyes was intense. She’d felt him approaching her, and as much as she did not want to stop, the goddamn mate bond was more stubborn than she was.

"What?!" She spat as he approached her.

"Take me back," He said, stopping right in front of her, "I know I deserve it all. I know my punishment is the regret, and I intend to fulfil it till my last day. But I’m also tired of being a coward. I know my actions have brought the deepest hurt your way and you have lost the people you love. So from now on, let me be your hurt,"

Your hurt?

What the hell did that mean?

"Let me be the one who hurts for the both of us. Let me be the one who loves you for the both of us. Let it carry everything. Let me carry it all, all you’ve become." He was so close now she could feel his heated breath on her face, "Please...let me,"

That was probably the stupidest thing she had heard because how was he supposed to carry what he couldn’t hold?

Her cold? Her hurt?!

He doesn’t understand what she’s feeling. He doesn’t even come close to.

"Malachi, I’ve told you before. This isn’t about you. It’s never been. It’s about me. And you don’t get to—"

"Let me get to,"

She stared at him. He looked so passionate and that was pissing her off. He looked like he would move the world for her, and that only made her wolf scoff.

She wanted to reject him.

The mate bond was the only thing that was even making her tolerate this conversation in the first place.

"Get to what?" she asked coldly. "My pain?"

Malachi’s expression changed.

"You think you can just decide to carry it because you feel guilty?"

"No."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I don’t know."

That answer caught her off guard.

Malachi swallowed and looked at her, his eyes refusing to leave hers. "I don’t know what I’m doing, Della. I don’t know how to fix what I did to you. I don’t know how to make you forgive me, and I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness anyway." His voice dropped, "But I know I don’t want to keep standing somewhere far away from you while you carry everything alone."

"You think standing beside me will make a difference?"

"No."

"Then leave."

He didn’t move.

"I said leave."

"What can I do to make a difference?" He asked.

She wanted to say nothing and be done with the conversation, instead, she thought of an even better idea, "I want you to leave everything behind."

His expression changed again.

"Leave everything behind and that would make a difference to me. Your title as Alpha. Your authority. Your pack. Your home. Your people. Leave it all and come with me," She stepped closer to him, and then a crooked smile appeared on her face, "I plan to use the Moonfire in that cave to burn down the werewolf realms. Let’s do it together. Let’s kill all those who hate me. They all hate me. If you stand by my side and we do it together, it’ll make a difference to me,"