Chapter 4 Corrosive Intentions

Winter

My arm felt like it was trapped in a heated iron vise.

Malakai didn't just drag me out of the elemental lab. He hauled me down the narrow, dark stone stairs leading toward the lower archives. His grip around my wrist was merciless, radiating a suffocating wave of heat that made my skin prickle through my heavy uniform sleeves.

"Let go of me!" I demanded, keeping my voice sharp and clear even as my heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.

He didn't even slow down. His broad shoulders barely moved as he yanked me along behind him, completely ignoring my words as if I were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

"Shut up, Snowflake," Malakai growled, his voice low, gravelly, and tight with suppressed rage.

My inner wolf was pacing frantically inside my head, her sharp white claws digging into my consciousness with every panicked step we took. "He's too strong, Winter. We can't overpower him physically. Look at him, he is pure thermal muscle!"

I know that! I snapped back at her internally, fighting the instinct to let my eyes swell with terrified tears.

Panic threatened to choke me as the dark corridor grew narrower and colder. Malakai threw open a heavy oak door, hauled me into an abandoned, dimly lit lecture hall, and slammed the wood shut. The heavy iron lock clicked into place with a definitive, horrifying sound.

The moment the lock turned, Malakai spun around and grabbed my shoulders, his massive hands pinning me in place.

"Get your hands off me!" I screamed, instinct taking over completely.

I threw a hard fist straight at his jaw, putting all my body weight into the strike.

Puff.

My knuckles slammed into his cheek, but it felt like hitting a solid wall of iron. Malakai’s head didn't even flinch. His neck muscles barely strained. I gasped out loud from the sheer pain radiating up my own wrist, but I refused to stop. I grabbed his heavy leather jacket, shoving him with all my strength, pounding my fists against his broad chest in a desperate frenzy.

I swung again and again, kicking at his shins, clawing at his wrists, trying anything to break his grip. But it was like fighting a mountain. My strikes didn't move him a single inch. I had spent my entire life protected indoors, safely sheltered from real combat, and now my complete lack of fighting ability was glaringly obvious. I was a helpless twenty-two-year-old girl flailing uselessly against the most lethal Alpha in the academy.

Malakai just stood there, letting my blows land on his chest without a single grain of pain on his face. He watched me struggle, his grip on my shoulders as firm and unyielding as granite.

"Are you finished?" Malakai asked softly, his voice dripping with dark condescension.

Breathless, panting, and with my knuckles aching, I stopped hitting him. I forced my posture straight, clenching my trembling hands into fists at my sides, and lifted my chin high to glare straight into his eyes.

I am the future Luna of the Frost-Vein Pack, I reminded myself, forcing every drop of my royal pride into my stance. My father was the Alpha. My brother is the head commander of our forces. I was raised to rule, not to look pathetic in front of a Crimson brute.

If I couldn't physically overpower him, I had to play this smart. I had to fake being bold and unbothered.

"Are you done throwing your little temper tantrum, Alpha Malakai?" I asked, keeping my voice smooth, even, and deliberate. "Or do you usually kidnap noblewomen and hold them hostage when you fail at brewing basic lab potions?"

Malakai stared down at me, taking in my rigid posture, my raised chin, and the sharp defiance burning in my gaze.

Then, a low, deep sound rumbled from his throat.

Malakai threw his head back and laughed.

It was a dark, mocking laugh that echoed off the cold stone walls of the abandoned room. He slowly released my shoulders, taking a step closer until his massive chest was hovering right above mine.

"Look at you," Malakai sneered, his copper eyes glittering with dark amusement. "Shaking like a leaf under that uniform after throwing those soft little punches, yet trying so hard to play the brave little Luna. You really think that frosty posture scares me, Winter?"

My cheeks burned with a sudden flush of heat, but I refused to drop my gaze. "I am the future Luna of Frost-Vein. You will treat me with respect, or our packs will go to war."

"Respect?" Malakai leaned down, his face inches from mine, his thermal heat washing over my cool skin in suffocating waves that made it hard to draw air. "You stepped onto my land earlier today. Your brother threatened me in the hall with an open blade. And now you stand here in a locked room acting like you hold any power in this Citadel."

"I hold more power than you think," I spat, my voice tight as I forced myself to match his piercing stare. "And my brother will tear this entire building apart brick by brick if you don't unlock that door right now."

Malakai didn't look bothered by Derek's name at all. His copper eyes darkened further, dropping slowly down to the center of my chest.

Underneath my shirt, the golden thread flickered back to life, pulsing with a painful, intense heat that made my breath hitch in my throat. Malakai's jaw clenched so tight the muscle pulsed beneath his sharp skin.

"You know what that golden light in the corridor was, don't you?" Malakai asked softly, his voice dropping into a harsh, dangerous register that sent a shiver straight down my spine.

I kept my mouth shut, locking my jaw tight and refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing me say it first.

"It's the mate bond," Malakai stated coldly, forcing the truth right out into the open space between us, stripping away any last bit of denial.

"He said it," my inner wolf whimpered inside my head, curling up into a small ball in the dark corners of my mind. "He knows. He feels it too."

"The Moon Goddess tied your soul to mine," Malakai continued, leaning in closer until his hot breath tickled my cool skin, but there was no affection in his posture. There was no warmth in his copper eyes. Only deep, poisonous hatred. "She gave me a Frost-Vein. The exact pack of murderous scum that sent rogues to slaughter my family."

My breath caught in my throat, a sharp pang of outrage cutting through my calculated composure. "Your pack sent the rogues that butchered my parents!" I shot back, raw anger flaring through my fear as years of bitter grief spilled over. "You carry the blood of murderers, Malakai!"

"Lies!" Malakai growled, his Alpha aura flaring so hot that the temperature in the room spiked instantly, making the air feel thick and heavy. He stepped even closer, completely overshadowing me, his voice cutting straight through my heart like a serrated blade. "Listen to me very carefully, Snowflake. I don't care what the Moon Goddess wrote in the stars. I don't care about a stupid golden string connecting us. I will never acknowledge someone from the Frost-Vein Pack as my mate. Never."