59

Today was significant, his twentieth birthday, but so many things needed to go right before they could settle down together.

She opened the email and was no closer to knowing what to write to her parents when her eyes landed on the email at the top of the inbox.

It was from Alpha Chesca, addressed to all the Alphas in the southeast region of the continent.

Ariella clicked it open, her stomach dropping at the short but succinct message.

Urgent warning! We are urging you to be aware of Caleb Knight, former head guard of Razestone Pack. He is dangerous, and was involved in the recent attack and torture of Alpha Chesca, colluding with rogues to further injure the Alpha of the neighbouring pack.

His current whereabouts are unknown, so if you see him, apprehend immediately and hand over to ForgedHearts Pack.

We repeat, be careful and if you have information, contact ForgedHearts Pack.

Ariella stared at the screen for a full minute as the information sank in. It wouldn't have bothered her much, as in fact she was glad that her previous Alphas had sent out this alert to make people aware of the danger.

But the image that accompanied the message, the image of this traitor Caleb Knight, was what sent shivers of ice and terror snaking down her spine and winding around her legs in a paralysing fear.

She stared at it a minute longer, refusing to believe she was staring at the image of her friend, Beta Knight. His emerald eyes and black hair. Signature smirk with the touch of charm. It was all too real.

All too hard to believe.

Could Alpha Chesca have made a mistake in identifying her attacker? Ariella scurried from the office and ran down the hall, something urging her to find Knight and confront him, dispelling this irrational accusation that he could be the one to torture Chesca for revenge on his dead brother.

She found him in the kitchen, munching on a snack of cheese and crackers.

"Caleb Knight."

Knight looked up and swiveled on his heels, his eyes then colliding with Ariella's where she stood in the doorway. "How do you know that name?" He asked, his eyebrows twitching but his face remaining otherwise still.

"It's you, isn't it." Her voice came out in a cold whisper.

He rose his shoulders in a shrug. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Former head guard of Alpha Kaiden's Pack."

Leaning back against the counter, he folded his arms in a casual motion, but he couldn't steady the slight tremor of his hands. The tremor that Ariella noticed, that made her heart trip and slide into an unsteady rhythm. "Can't say I know him—"

"Don't lie to me. Alpha Chesca sent an email out to all the packs, warning them of you. A picture and everything, of the man who tortured her and nearly killed her baby." She stood her ground, and spat the accusation at him. She hadn't seen him that night after the rogues knocked him out and abducted her in the forest, but maybe he'd been acting and went ahead to terrorise Chesca.

"And you think it's me?" Knight's demeanour suddenly changed, a serious and hurt look crossing his face, twisting his features into an angry expression.

"She has a photo of you, and called you Caleb. How could you?"

"How could I what? Hurt an Alpha? A pregnant female? Is that what you're accusing me of?" He uncrossed his arms, his strong muscles and tendons on display under the sleeves of his shirt.

Ariella nodded, watching him carefully as he slowly advanced. His feet padded silently across the kitchen, opposite to the thoughts screaming in her head. "How could you lie about who you are? All this time..." she stopped when she saw fire flash in his eyes.

"All this time, I've been here for you. You know me. How could you be doubting me?" He questioned, his brows furrowed as he kept her in his gaze.

There was something familiar in the depths of the green irises, something comforting that she knew well. But also something decidedly dangerous and unknown. Perhaps he really was the man Chesca warned them about. What did Ariella really know about him? He'd been working with Seneca all this time, serving a demon after serving as Beta to a demented Alpha.

"I'm not sure what to think anymore," she eventually found her voice and whispered, despite her throat having gone dry and her heart pounding like a stampede of gazelle in the arid savannah of her chest.

"Then let me tell you." Knight was close now, a mere few inches away, his broad chest and tall body eclipsing hers against the late afternoon sun that always made the kitchen so warm and enticing. Now a coldness settled over her as he placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "Ariella, I'm your friend. I've believed in you ever since the day I met you, even when no one else would. Do you understand that?" His sparkling emerald eyes probed hers, daring her to search out the lie in his words.

What he said was true. She nodded, "Yes, you've always been here for me, but—"

"Do you really think I could be the one who hurt Alpha Chesca, and helped the rogues in kidnapping you?" He interrupted and pushed her to say the words herself.

Was she really doubting him? He'd always been here for her when she needed someone the most... "No, I suppose... I guess she was mistaken."

"Right. You know I only want the best for you, Ariella. I care about you."

"I know." She suddenly felt terrible for accusing him. Knight was a good man, so kind and caring. There was no way he could ever hurt her or anyone else.

His hand brushed along her cheek, in a comforting touch that she leaned into. He gently tilted her chin up so her eyes met his earnest gaze. Reading only sincerity, her heart slowed down and she relaxed. There was no need to distrust him.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, just as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She went to nestle her head against his chest in a hug, but he slid his fingers behind her neck and lifted her face again.

He then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a heavy kiss.

I push through the door into Malachi's office, the larger one that's currently occupied by the top three males in command of this pack. Their masculine dominance hits me with such force it nearly drowns me, if I weren't already floundering in the dominance of another male.

Knight kissed me.

His strong lips pressed to mine in a show of desire I never dreamed of coming from him. I was so shocked I couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Until a moment later as his lips moved on mine, his body pressing into me and the wall behind, I snapped out of my paralysis and shoved him back with all the venom I could muster. My eyes met his with murderous intent, and I knew.

I knew he was guilty of playing a part in my abduction, and torturing Chesca in personal revenge.

He'd been fooling me all along, pretending to care about me, when he was just using me to ... to... I had no idea what he was playing at, but I was done being played with.

I then fled to Malachi, my feet barely touching the ground as an uncontrollable need to be in the safe presence of my mate overwhelmed me. I have to get to him...

My body trembles as I run down the hallway, my hands tingling with static from when I pushed Knight off of me, and my mouth still feels numb from his invasion.

"What is it now?" Hamilton growls roughly as I burst into the room, irritation evident in his bright eyes.

For a few seconds I can only stand in the doorway, staring at him as I pant and catch my breath. The taste of Knight still lingers on my lips, making me feel the urge to vomit and purge my body of his assault against me.

"Beta Knight," I manage to say between the chattering of my teeth, "is a traitor. He's working with the rogues."

"What?" Malachi lurches to his feet, his chair spinning wildly behind him before slamming into the wall. I am already on edge, my nerve endings tingling with adrenaline, so the unexpected sound makes my body jump.

"That's impossible!" Hendrik's eyes widen in disbelief.

"What makes you say that? What did he do?" Hamilton asks me, narrowing his eyes as skepticism writes all over his features.

I clutch the door handle in my fingers, squeezing to release some of the tightly-coiled tension in my body. "An email came from Alpha Chesca. She's warning all the packs to be on the lookout for Caleb Knight, the former head guard of Alpha Kaiden's old pack." I stop to take a breath, and to let my words sink in. By the skeptical look on each face staring back at me, I can see they don't believe me.

"The email said he was the one who tortured Chesca for killing her brother. I was there when he injected her with silver. He was going to kill her if it hadn't been for...for.." For me giving the rogues the information they wanted about Malachi. My words trail off, the story coming to a grinding halt.

"And what does this have to do with Knight? Besides the fact the two wolves share the same name," Hamilton queries, furrowing his brows in a puzzled frown.

"There was a picture—"

"Ariella, there you are."

The voice sends a cold blizzard swirling down my spine and settling in my stomach. I keep my eyes trained on the comforting blue gaze of my mate as I walk slowly away from the door, keeping the man at my back out of my sight.

"Knight, can you explain this? She says you're working with the rogues," Hendrik addresses him, and I finally reach Malachi's side and reach for his hand. He holds my fingers woodenly between his as he searches my face, searching for the reason behind my sudden frazzled appearance and jumpy behaviour.

Knight chuckles, a sound that had once put me at ease. Now it makes me sick.

"Me working with rogues? Yes, I kill them to rid them from our territory," he shrugs casually, unaware of the tension that has set the room on edge. Or he is just ignoring it.

My blood begins to heat up in my veins at his lie, and I spin to face him, anger lacing my words, "You don't kill them. You worked with them to capture Alpha Chesca and punish her! You let me be abducted and tied up—"

"Ariella, don't be so dramatic. We all know you have wild fantasies—"

"That's not what this is about!" I snarl, baring my teeth at him. I hate it when people make fun of my dreams. My hand tightens around Malachi's, but he slowly extricates his fingers from mine, leaving me cold.

"Ariella, what is going on? Why would you accuse Knight of something so terrible?" he asks, his eyes looking at me intently with an accusation of their own. I shrink back, not expecting this reversal of the situation. Malachi is supposed to be arresting Knight, but instead he is questioning me.

My heart stutters and speeds up, my breath becoming light and shallow. "It's in the email. Chesca told me about the man called Caleb who was punishing her in some sick form of revenge, but I didn't know it was Caleb Knight," I point my finger at Knight, "until I saw the photo in the email confirming his identity. They warned he is still dangerous and we need to arrest him. We have to stop him."

"That is utter nonsense," Knight denies my words.

"Just read the email for yourself," I tell Malachi, growing frustrated with his inaction. I envisioned him leaping to my defence and restraining this scoundrel, but Knight's smooth tongue and charming attitude has everyone falling at his feet in trust.

My Alpha mate studies me for a moment, his face creasing in worry at the desperation he finds there, and clenches his jaw before saying. "Hamilton, pull up the email."

I wait while the Beta follows the order, logging into the same email account on the laptop they've been working with here. My heart thuds with anticipation, my fingers flexing with nervous energy as I wait for Hamilton to nod or shout or leap to restrain Knight after reading the incriminating email.

But his face just shows more confusion. "There's no email here."

"What?" It's my turn to be dumbfounded. "That can't be right. I saw it..." It dawns on me what's happened, and rage floods my veins. "Knight, you deleted it, you filthy scum—"

"That's enough!" Malachi cuts me off, his hand clamping down on my shoulder as I make a leap for the lying dog.

Knight just holds up his hands in a show of innocent defence. "Now you're saying I deleted it? Ariella, do you even hear yourself?"

"I saw an email, I swear!" I look to Hamilton who only shakes his head in denial. Hendrik rolls his eyes as if he can't wait for this to be over so they can get back to important business. "You should call them," I blurt, determined to prevent Knight from getting away with this. "Call ForgedHearts pack. They will confirm everything."

Malachi still holds my shoulder, not relinquishing his authority over me or believing my story in any way. The weight of his touch consumes me, his warmth seeping into me where his fingers rest on the bare skin of my shoulder. I'm sure he feels it too, the pull, the bond drawing us together.

"Please, you have to believe me," I look to him, willing him to remember the connection we have. Why is he treating me like I mean nothing to him? Isn't my word worth anything?

I watch as his eyes sparkle, the colour illuminating as his pupils flare involuntarily while I hold his gaze. His grip softens on my shoulder. After another moment, he picks up his phone and dials the number, but throws it down when it doesn't go through as expected. "No service."

"Of course, there's not!" I sigh and fall back onto the couch behind me, groaning and wishing for once that a miracle would occur and we'd be able to ring Alpha Chesca. I glare at Knight as he smiles smugly at me, and Hamilton clears his throat to speak.

"Ariella, what other proof do you have? If there's nothing else, then let's just drop it and move on—"

"He is the proof," I point at Knight. "If you just torture him enough, I'm sure he'd tell the truth," I say with venom in my voice. My wolf and I both want to punch the charming smile off his face for being so cruel. I still need to make him pay for kissing me so disgustingly.

Malachi casts me a surprised glance, as if he can't understand my dark tone. It only makes me more angry and frustrated.

Knight sighs and spreads his hands, "Ariella, think about it seriously. Why would I want to hurt the female Alpha? What happened to her was horrible, but you didn't see who did it."

"Is that true?" Malachi asks me. "You didn't even see him that night?"

I cast a shaky glance between them both, chewing on my lower lip. I hate the answer to have to give. "I've said before, his face was out of my line of view. But I saw what he did, and Chesca told me it was someone she knew. They kicked him out of their pack years ago for harassing other shewolves. He has a record for not respecting women," I stare pointedly at Knight, thinking of his lips on mine and a nauseating shiver runs through my body.

"And you think that same man is Beta Knight?" Hamilton asks, looking between us both.

I nod decidedly, my lips pressed in a thin line as I cross my arms over my chest.

"That's totally preposterous. How dare you continue to accuse me like this." Knight finally shows some emotion, his voice raised, his eyebrows furrowed as he looks at me with contempt. "I suppose she also told you that I kissed her, when in actual fact she kissed me?"

My jaw drops. He has successfully twisted this all around on me.

"You what?" Malachi steps forward, sniffing me and his face screws up as he catches the scent of Knight on me.

An immediate protest leaps to my lips, "I didn't! He did—"

"I just came into the kitchen looking for a snack like I normally do, when Ariella pushed me against the cabinets and kissed me," Knight interrupts, spinning his lies as expertly as a devious spider.

The way Malachi looks at me, with dark disapproval swirling in his eyes, makes me want to scream that everything is wrong. How could Knight turn on me like this?

"Is that right, Ariella?"

"It's not true. You know I would never cheat on you like that, Malachi."

"Then why can I smell his scent all over you?"

"He came onto me! I was just confronting him about the email, then he goes and kisses me to make me shut up," I say, wondering why no one is believing me.

"Knight would never kiss you, Ari. He's known from the start you're Malachi's mate," Hamilton comments. "He would never do that to you and betray the Alpha's trust. None of us would." His eyes flicker over me briefly before snapping back to the laptop under his fingertips. I wonder what he means...

"Exactly," Knight smiles with serious self-confidence, and crosses his arms over his broad chest. "I would never do that to you, Malachi."

"Then why would Ariella kiss you?" Malachi directs his question towards Knight, and I hate how he is ignoring me. I felt the subtle shift in his temperament, his body angling away from me. Now he barely even glances down at me as I grow hotter by the second. This is all wrong, and no one is listening to me.

"She's in heat, anyone can tell that. Tonight's the full moon, or did you all forget? And if you don't give her body what it needs, she'll look for it elsewhere."

I gasp at what Knight just said. For the past hour, I had completely forgotten.

Malachi also is shocked, his gaze snapping to mine, the black hair of his fringe falling over his eyes with the motion until he sweeps it back. His crystal blue eyes meet mine with a fierce intensity. It is so powerful I nearly flinch under the unreadable emotion. But I am also drawn to it, my wolf strengthened by the bond that has grown between us. Slowly but surely, I have become more confident despite everyone tearing me down. That seems to all be for nothing as I sit under the heavy and accusing stares of four males.

Malachi reaches his hand out and brushes my forehead, as if checking for fever. I feel the sparks for the briefest of moments, because he recoils, so suddenly, as if he has been exposed to a toxin. As if I am contagious with a deadly poison. His lungs expand as he sucks in a quick breath, and I hold my own as our eyes continue to stare into each other's.

"I guess that explains the crazy mood swings."

"Excuse me?" I leap from the couch and practically explode, my fists trembling and the veins in my neck pulsing as I try and grapple with what my mate just said of me. "Are you saying I'm crazy?"

"I'm saying," he leans closer, looming over me with his power and dominance, "that you've had a stressful few weeks, and with the added effect of the full moon, I can't blame you for being rather hormonal and given to delusions."

I refuse to break my stare as I glare up at him. Breathing through my nose, inhaling every note of his intoxicating scent, I realise I am feeling things other than anger towards him. Exasperation, sure. Desperation, yes. But also, desire. No matter how insulting his words are, I find myself staring at the lips they came out of and envision myself crashing mine against them. I want to wash away the taste of Knight, and drown in the ocean of pleasure my mate could give me. "Delusions," I whisper, letting the word hang between us as I process its full meaning. "I'm given to delusions? So that's it. You're really going to believe him over me, your own mate?"

Malachi's heart rate increases as I slide my hand up to his chest, placing it over his heart. I hear his breath hitch, and the vein in his temple throbs. I just want to brush my fingers through his hair and pull his head closer, reminding him exactly what a mate can do to him.

His gaze slides down me, leaving a scorching trail of heat on my skin as if he touched my physically. I see the desire swirling in his eyes, turning them navy with pinpricks of starlight. The air currents shift around us, subtle fingers teasing, drawing us together as our scents mingle. I want to be closer, I need to feel his body against mine...

Instead I keep my distance and wait, with a racing heart, for his response.

"I've known Knight for more than five years," he says with a low voice, full of power and threaded with control. "He's always been good to my mother and me. I can't afford to doubt him now."

I take a step back, my hand abruptly falling away to my side. "Yeah, that's right. He's worked alongside your mother—a demon. Who's to say she's not conspiring with the rogues, encouraging them to stir up trouble?"

"Don't you dare speak about my mother like that!" Malachi's eyes flash. Passion laces his voice, hot with loyalty to his blood. His entire demeanour becomes deadly, muscles tight with restraint. He comes forward, closing the space between us once again. "You will learn to respect her. And me. I say Knight is innocent, and we won't talk about this any longer. We have a real threat to deal with, and the longer we stand around talking, the more opportunities the rogues have of attacking us. Stop acting foolish and smarten up, for once."

I blink, refusing to believe I heard him correctly. He spoke to me like a little child, like I was a pup in the throes of a temper tantrum.

Whatever desire he felt for me is gone. I can tell he's pushing it down, suffocating it, refusing to let it dominate his emotions. For what reason, I can't figure out. And it's killing me inside. I watch as his hands tremble by his side, and the muscle in his jaw clenches as he restrains himself.

I take a deep breath and retort, "I am smartening up! I am trying to protect this pack from the enemies within. The sooner you believe me, the sooner we can stop them and no one will get hurt." I tug at my short hair with exasperation, unravelling the curls Harlow spent a half hour perfecting. But none of that matters now. I could probably wear the most revealing of gowns, and he would still withhold any advances.

"I will not arrest Knight like you ask, based on some imagined email you saw," he growls with finality, his Alpha tone rumbling into my chest and making the other wolves in the office lower their heads in submission.

But not me. I summon every ounce of strength I have and yell in his face, "Fine. Then I will. As your Luna, I should have the enhanced strength to take him on. I'll chase him down and make sure he never hurts another wolf again."

"You will do no such thing," Malachi grabs my wrist, causing sparks to tingle up my forearm and cascade over me. I can only imagine what he is feeling, for his face betrays none of it. He only looks at me with a twisted snarl of rebuke. "You should just go back to your old pack. You'll be better off there. It will be better for everyone." He releases me like I'm a bag of trash, pushing me towards the door.

"Go home? Like... to stay? You're kicking me out?" I suddenly feel small, deflated, the fight gone out of me as Malachi's touch slips from my arm. He can't really mean that, but I need to ask. I need to know what he means because I can't read it in his stony expression.

"Yes. Go home and stay home." Malachi says the words with finality, but I detect a trace of hesitation, of a battle within himself.

"But...but don't you love me?" I know I sound like a lost puppy, kicked to the kerb. But I'm beyond caring. My lungs are sucked dry from the rush of loneliness that suddenly engulfs me.

"Love?" Malachi chuckles incredulously, a low raspy sound that grates my ears and churns my already knotted insides. His hard blue eyes glitter with pity. "I could never love you, Ariella. I could never give you what you want. You're demanding too much of me."

I take a shuddery breath as I consider this latest arrow to pierce my heart. Have I been too demanding of him? Have I wanted too much, more than he could give me at the time? I only wanted a mate... "But I can't go. You've marked me." My fingers find the incriminating scar on my neck, the healed wounds of his deep puncture that claimed me as his and strengthened our bond. It tingles in his presence, reminding me every time of the way he chose me, yet has held me at arm's length ever since. His requests for more time until we mate have kept us apart, or else I would have completed the claim and marked him right back. His demands for distance have been leaching the strength out of me, right from the start, luring me in with promises that have only proven false. The bond connecting us a farce.

"Don't worry about that," he dismisses, not even seeing the way my face falls with dejection. The mask over his face, the callous attitude, is slowly causing my heart to crack into chasms too deep to repair. He goes on with no feeling in his voice, "On your way out, visit Joaquina and get her to remove it."

"Joachina?" My voice rises to a screech. "I am never going near that witch again!" A shudder of genuine fear passes through me at just the mention of her name.