Page 13 of Bound to Four Alphas

He knew it wasn’t his fault, not really. He had just never spent so much time so close to so many others. There were the monsters, the nightmares, but the ones that hung around him were closer to shadow than sentience, drifting through their infancy at his feet. As soon as they matured, they slunk back into the woods, and he would only have cause to see them again if they decided to make trouble.

And his nightmares were all too fond of making trouble. His only prior contact with any of the other three alphas bonded to him had been when Kaelen presented him with the ruptured head of one of his monsters, throwing it at his feet with a warning snarl tocontrol his fucking creatures.Or when Ronan growled, remaining stubbornly in his wolf form, hackles raised and teeth bared until Malek backed away from the border.

He’d never actually met Elian before. But that was only because he didn’t relish the idea of ending up as some kind of specimen in a bottle.

Malek spent most of his time in his true form, unused to long stretches of time forcing his skin into what he hoped was close enough to human to put the others at ease. He wasn’t like Ronan or Kaelen; he couldn’t choose between two predetermined forms. Neither was he like Elian, born in one form and blessed with magic enough to don others as it suited.

His true form had grown out of darkness, out of the rupture left when the magic of the Forest God retreated. He felt the loss as keenly as a missing limb, even though he had spawned from its absence. He supposed he was rather like areflection, only able to exist because of the light shining on some mirrored surface, but never able to be a part of it. As for his body, the shadows that made him were fickle, often choosing the features of whatever creature’s carcass they pooled from.

It had taken decades for him to grow, and decades more to begin to understand what he was, what his place was. He was the oldest, the strongest of his kind, and the magical beings of the forest had received his presence with fear and violence. They thought he wanted to take over, to claim power.

But he never wanted that.

The forest was his cradle, his home, his domain. He had decided long ago to protect it, keep the land safe so that if the Forest God ever returned he could offer himself as a dark blade to wield against the human threat. Some of the younger monsters didn’t understand what needed to be done, couldn’t restrain their bloodlust, so Malek was happy to take the name of king to keep them under control. His own bloodlust was his constant companion, but that never troubled him. Who did he have to protect?

And then the girl came.

Selena.

She was brought to the forest as a sacrifice. An offering. And her arrival struck Malek like lightning. It was the sudden understanding of his own existence, the pieces of himself slotting into place so that the mystery ofhimsuddenly became clear.

And it was her. All for her.

He didn’t know whyheryet, but he didn't particularly care. He had found the one meant to wield him, and he was only too happy to be the shadowed reflection to her radiant light.

“We’re getting close now,” Kaelen called. He had stubbornly remained in his human form, but his speed spoke to the dragon within. Or it would, if Selena had not insisted on walking some of the way.

Malek didn’t respond. He knew that Kaelen knew he was there, even though he stuck close to the shadows beyond a human’s ability to sense him. All of them, bar Selena, knew where he was at all times and were reluctant to keep their watchful gaze from turning to him.

He didn’t resent them for it. For whatever reason, they all felt protective of the girl, and didn’t know enough about Malek to know that he would never willingly harm her.

But that was just the problem. He wasn’t always in control of himself, of his bloodlust. Sometimes, when the sun disappeared and the moon was obscured by clouds, a haze of animalistic un-being crept through him.

And the girl smelled tantalizing.

So he kept his distance. He knew he scared her and was reluctant to cause her any amount of distress. If he had had his way, he would have released her to return home, even if those spiteful villagers attacked her again. He would be there to protect her, if she wanted him. Her happiness, her safety, her contentment was his guiding star. It always cut through the violent rage that howled for a taste of her blood.

And thank the Forest God that it did. The other three would cut him down in a heartbeat if he turned on Selena, and he would let them.

“Malek,” Kaelen called, and instinctively he flinched deeper into the shadows. “Come out.”

He considered disobeying. It would be his right; even Kaelen could not force a command on another king.

But the dragon had appointed himself the leader of their tenuous little pack, and Malek was reluctant to cause any upset. Ronan was the only other who arguably could claim leadership, but he seemed content to concede to Kaelen. Privately, Malek mused it was because Ronan couldn’t be bothered to try and keep Elian in line.

Materializing out of the shadows, forcing his form into the clumsy limbs of a human, Malek fell into step next to Kaelen.

He ignored the sharp intake of breath from Selena behind them, the sudden spike of terror in the air. One day, she would learn that she had nothing to fear.

She was in pain; he could smell that, too. The shoes Elian had conjured for her didn’t stop the tumbles and twists of her aching limbs, but the omega had caused such a fuss that the alphas had had no choice but to concede to her wishes to walk.

“I swear to whatever stupid Forest God you all worship, if you don’t put me down this instant, I’m going to tell the priestesses to turn you all into frogs.”

His lips curled upwards at the memory, at the indignation on Ronan’s face as she finally managed to scramble out of his arms. Since the first day, she had been swapped between the wolf’s embrace and Kaelen’s, with Elian briefly permitted to carry her until he had thought it amusing to whisk her in a whirl of shadows into the branches of a tree.

Malek hadn’t even bothered to offer. He knew she would refuse him, and that Ronan and Kaelen would never have allowed him to take her from them while she slept. For all their tension towards each other, the dragon and the wolf had developed some kind of unspoken agreement when it came tothe girl, bearing the responsibility of caring for her evenly. They never stopped to make camp, and Selena reluctantly slept in their arms, waking with a confused scowl.

It seemed sleeping spells were within Elian’s arsenal. Selena had barely been awake for most of their travel.

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