Page 27 of Bound to Four Alphas

Selena turned as Rania went to open it, her heart in her throat. For waiting, dressed in sweeping dark robes, antlers adorned with silver chains, was Malek.

Chapter 13 - Malek

The time apart from Selena had been excruciating. As she slept, the final dying sparks of her heat fading, magic compelled the four of them to leave her in the chamber. They had been silently shown to their various quarters, where they separated to bathe and rest.

Malek had never needed sleep. He could choose to, but he didn’t need to. And so instead of sleeping, he crept out into the forest, letting his human skin fall away into shadow so that his true form could roll through the trees undisturbed.

It wasn’t long before Kaelen called him back, his eyes still tight despite the week they had spent together in the temple. He had been told there was to be a ball, with delegations from the dragons, the wolves, and the Fae. Kaelen had handed him a parcel of clothes, told him to dress, and warned him to keep to himself at the ball.

Malek was surprised he was even allowed to go.

So he had waited in his rooms as the other three alphas met with their various clans, trying to work out the various adornments and trinkets included with the pack. Eventually he had given up trying to decipher a long silver chain and instead just wrapped it around his antlers in a way that reminded him of frozen spiderwebs on a dying tree.

He rather liked it.

The ball had started, and so he went downstairs, and Malek felt the old familiar stab of loneliness as he watched as the other three males mingled and laughed with their people. It would, of course, have been madness to invite any of Malek’s monsters. But still. It would have been nice to have someone to talk to.

But then it hit him. He did have someone.

He could hear Selena inside her chambers, surrounded by priestesses, all of them tittering about how beautiful she was. He nearly snorted. Of course she was beautiful. It seemed impossible to him that she could ever be made more beautiful than when she had been writhing naked beneath him, her pretty pink lips parted in breathy moans.

However, when he knocked and the door swung open, he felt his world shift.

She was resplendent.

The dress she had chosen was silver, practically lit from within, bathing her skin in glowing light. Her dark hair was a curled mass, crystal jewels nestled like stars among the inky tresses, a circlet of silver dipping low onto her forehead. The dress hugged every gorgeous curve of her, every sumptuous dip and swell. She looked like the moon shining bright against the night sky.

Her eyes widened as she took him in.

He didn’t even acknowledge the priestesses as he extended a hand, his alpha purring in satisfaction at the blush that rose high on her cheeks as she walked forward to take it. Her scent, rose and lavender, was like coming home.

“Selena,” he said by way of greeting as he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, “there are no words to describe your beauty.”

She laughed, a little nervous, her gaze dipping down. He caught her chin with his finger, crooking her head upwards to gaze into her wide silver eyes. “You are beautiful.”

He could hear the stutter of her heart as she replied, “You look very well also, Malek.”

“Come.” Je led her down the corridor towards the stairs, “the others are waiting for us.”

Selena stopped then, stumbling for a moment and he paused, looking over her with sudden panic. “Are you alright?”

She glanced between him and the staircase, fear spiking in her scent. “I … I’ve never been to anything like this. I don’t know what to do, what to say.”

Understanding dawned as he pulled her close. She was nervous. Of course she was. She was a human, raised on the outskirts of a tiny village pack. She knew nothing of the upper echelons of this world, of the scheming, the lying, the deceit.

Then again, neither did he.

“You do not need to do anything,” he said after a pause, trying to find the right words to say to set her mind at ease. “I will stay with you. The others will be there, and they will not let you falter. I often find that…” He trailed off, hit with an unfamiliar bashfulness, but she looked up at him with encouragement and he swallowed before continuing, “I often find that when I do not know what to say, remaining silent is a suitable alternative.”

She smiled at him then, radiant and warm, and heat curled through his limbs as he drank in her affection. Truly, what had he done to deserve such a gift? Every single day of his existence had been so lonely, so dark, and then suddenly she was here.

There was no need for her to fear anything. He would sooner die than let her experience a moment of discomfort. The people downstairs, the dragons, the wolves, the Fae, all of them. They were nothing compared to her.

“Thank you, Malek,” she said, her voice soft. “I am grateful to have you by my side this evening.”

It was everything he could do not to fall to his feet and worship her there and then.

But others demanded her time. And so together, they walked down the stairs and into the hall that had been decorated for the occasion. It seemed that Kaelen and Elian had spared no expense in preparing the relatively run-down temple for the celebration.

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