Chapter 49: The one who can restore him

There was silence at first, accompanied by pain for a while.

Finally, he felt enough relief to begin opening his eyes. His vision was blurred as his eyes fluttered open, and as his every sense got focused, he could hear birds chirping around them...and the gentle movement of water around him.

His back and head were lying down on a flat surface, but from his chest down felt particularly warm.

As his eyes finally adjusted, he realised he was inside a small river and was leaning directly on the rocks surrounding it. He was naked from head to toe, and the water stopped just around his belly.

Malachi looked around, wondering how he had gotten here in the first place when he noticed someone a few feet away from him, standing in the river.

Della.

She was in her underwear and was walking around searching for something in the flowing water.

He didn’t want to break her concentration and kept watching her for a few more seconds. She suddenly leaned over into the water and plucked out a small plant growing from its depths.

Her eyes brightened as she held it up, and she muttered something like, "I knew it!’ under her breath before she turned around to him.

Her eyes widened when she saw him looking back at her, then an expression of relief crashed into her eyes, "You’re awake!" She cried, then dragged her legs through the water back to him.

She brought a hand up to his forehead to feel his temperature, then nodded at herself, "It’s gone down even more. How are you feeling?"

Malachi just continued staring at her. The water in her hair, the water running down her beautiful, smooth pale skin and the twinkle in her eyes kept him from saying anything. He’d thought to himself that she was beautiful before, but it was a whole new experience now that she was drenched.

"Malachi?" She tilted her head to one side, wondering if he was going to say anything.

When he didn’t respond, she started to panic. Was his mouth no longer working? Did he suffer memory loss and cannot remember who she is?! If not, then why was he staring at her like that?!

"Don’t worry okay," She assured him, "You can trust me. You see this?" She held up the flower she pulled out seconds ago, "It’ll give you more strength. Wait here and keep soaking in the warmth of the river while I crush it into a paste, alright?"

The moment she turned to leave, he reached over, wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her back into his chest. Her back sat flat against his chest, and her breath quickened as the heat from him surrounded her.

Then, he leaned his head down till his chin was resting atop her shoulder.

He made a satisfied noise from his throat, settling deeper into the hug till his eyes were closed, and there was no escape for her.

"I don’t need you to prepare any herbs for me," He murmured against her neck, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine, "You’re enough to cure me completely, so don’t move,"

Della nodded.

He nuzzled his face into her neck, breathing her in. Her usual scent of earth after rain had become even worse than before, and his hands instinctively tightened around him, pulling her harder against him.

Della tried to relax, but she couldn’t help herself from drawing in a sharp breath whenever the man kissed or inhaled her like that.

"A...are you sure you don’t need the herb? I’d really help with whatever remains of the poison is left in your system," She managed out, but the man only nuzzled more into her.

Della blinked again.

Right now, the most powerful man in the world was behaving like a big baby that cannot let go of his favourite toy. If any other wolf ever saw this side of him, they would probably lose their minds for a little while.

They remained that way for a while, and Della tried to distract herself by focusing on the sound of the flowing river and insects and animals walking and climbing in the forest surrounding them.

It didn’t work.

Malachi would inhale twice every minute, and that always messed with her head...and her body down there.

Malachi could feel his chest clenching, unable to let go of her.

When the mate bond had first cried for his help, he brushed it off thinking she was intentionally channelling fear into it just to bring him back to the dungeon, instead of the usual hate.

But as the doomed man that he was for her, he had stood up after a while to go and check up on her... but her cell was empty.

The feeling that she might actually be in danger came crashing into him again, and he couldn’t even push it away or not. Whether it was true or not, he quickly tracked her down, ready to find out.

And when he had come across those rogues, and had also come across her blood that had dripped down on a few leaves and branches, he almost went feral.

Fuck! He thought he had lost her.

He thought they had already torn her apart.

But there she was, kneeling with Gideon.

Alive...and breathing.

His heart clenched again, and he hated every single moment of it. He shouldn’t be like this.

She was...

She was supposed to be easy to hate!

Not the fucking opposite!!

"Uhmmm, Malachi," She called softly, already settled in his touch.

"Hm?"

"What happened between the three of us?"

He was inhaling when she asked that question, but it was so intense that he made sure he got to the very end of his self-assigned assignment before he paused.

He knew exactly what she was talking about. It was that... strange occurrence that had happened between the three of them, through her.

"I don’t know," He answered sincerely, "It’s...the first time I’m experiencing something like this too,"

Malachi remained quiet for a long moment.

"But I felt him," He admitted eventually, his voice lower than before. "For a few seconds... Gideon wasn’t outside of me anymore."

Della slowly turned her head, trying to look at him over her shoulder, "You...felt him?"

"I heard him."

Her eyes widened.

"He said my name."

Silence settled between them again, broken only by the river flowing lazily around their bodies.

Della lowered her gaze to the water, then also said, "I could feel something moving through me." She shivered despite the warmth of the river, "It wasn’t just power... it was alive."

Malachi nodded once, "I know."

"I thought I was dying."

"So did I."

She blinked, "You... did?"

"When you screamed..." His jaw tightened a bit, "I thought using you as a bridge was tearing your soul apart."

"I don’t understand why it happened." She said, looking down at her own hands.

"Neither do I."

"You touched me..."

He nodded.

"I was touching Gideon at the same time..."

Another nod.

"And somehow...our bond connected all three of us." Della frowned deeply, "But why me? I get that we are mates, but I’m wolfless. I don’t have the kind of strength to Chanel something as big as Gideon back into you,"

"I’ve asked myself that question every hour since I woke." Malachi said, and his eyes drifted toward the forest surrounding them, "Gideon has been chained there for years, and no one knows about that. You’re the very first person he’s actually interacted with, because I can’t even spend a full minute with him because I know I can’t survive his radiation,"

She reminisced on everything that happened last thing, taking some things into account, "I had no idea he could speak, then he called me Moonfire,"

"He did?"

"Yes,"

"That’s what I call you," Malachi thought about it for a second, "But it’s very possible. Despite us being separated, I always feel what he’s feeling. I share his pain as much as he shares mine. So maybe he learnt that nickname through...my pain,"

Della stiffened.

She already knew she was his pain, but it was much more painful hearing it out loud like this.

"He feels my pain, and he also feels you,"

Again, he had just taken another piece of her heart.

"Can I ask you something?" She said after a while.

He didn’t answer immediately, and she got the feeling maybe he didn’t want to be disturbed again. Then, she felt his lips pressing against her neck and then he groaned something that sounded like a yes.

"It’s a bit... personal," She added.

He paused, and his hands squeezed, then he nodded once.

"How did you get separated from your wolf in the first place?!"

The silence that followed told her she might have asked a little too deep right now, and she instantly cursed internally. She was moving too fast!!

Take things slow.

Cherish this moment of... temporary peace.

This river was probably like his room, where their closeness and warmth and mate bond prevented him from hating her, enough for other feelings to slip through.

"I’m sorry," She muttered a little while after.

The answer came unexpectedly, "It was Katherine,"

Della felt a knife go through her heart. Katherine had separated Malachi from his wolf? And she had also been a rotblood as she had discovered before...which made even more sense why Malachi hated her with every bit of his fire.

"I’ll try," She finally whispered.

"Try what?"

"I’ll try and get stronger," She said to him, and looked back into his blue eyes, "And when I’m strong enough, I’ll touch you and Gideon again...and you’ll have your wolf back inside you again,"

"That’s one hell of a promise," He argued.

"I know you don’t believe me," She smiled and hid back the pain, "But that’s fine. I believe in myself, and I will not let you down,"

They kept staring at each other, then he asked something else, "Why, Moonfire?"

"Why...what?"

"Nothing," He looked away. He was getting sucked in fast into those big, round eyes of hers.

"Are you sure?"

"Some other time, Moonfire," He suddenly purred against her neck, and his hand on her waist slipped between her legs, "But now...how about you let me focus on other things...!"