FROSTBITE • mikaelson mate

chapter fifteen: chaos ensued

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
chaos ensued

Everything happened all at once. Elijah lunged for Klaus whilst Henrik ran to me and gripped me in a firm hug. In different circumstances, I would have enjoyed his embrace, but behind me I heard a series of crashes and I flinched. I attempted to turn but Henrik held me tighter to his chest. Another crash sounded followed by a grunt and I winced, trying to pull myself from Henrik's arms so I could stop the violence.

"Henrik!" I groaned in annoyance as I attempted to free myself.

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart, but they are not in control and I cannot allow myself to let you put yourself at risk." Henrik spoke pleadingly as he glanced over my shoulder with concern for his newly united brothers.

As much as I wanted to protest, I knew I'd probably already put Henrik through a lot of grief today so I nodded. Several more violent noises reverberated from behind me and I flinched again. The sound of fighting reminded me of times I would rather forget.

Knowing where my mind had gone, Henrik released me from his arms and caressed my face, forcing me to look him in the eye. His thumb gently stroked my cheek and I shivered, letting myself become distracted by him. As I looked in his eyes, however, I noticed that behind the love and concern, there was anger deep within, and that reminded me of what I had done.

For the first time ever, I had broken a promise to Henrik, and he wasn't just hurt by it, he was also livid. I swallowed. Henrik wasn't the type of person to get seriously angry unless in extreme circumstances, which this clearly was. Over the years, we'd had mild spats over inconsequential things, but we'd never had a serious argument.

Guilt flooded through me as I looked to the floor. I hadn't just broken a promise, I'd broken his trust.

Now that Henrik only gently held my cheeks, I broke away from him with ease and turned around, eyes widening at what I saw. The room had been completely trashed. There were several holes in the walls and debris- consisting of plasterboard, dust and god knows what else- covered the wooden floor.

My mates were no longer in the room. I heard a thump and rushed towards a room that ended up being the kitchen. Draws were open, cutlery spilling out, and cupboard doors were broken from their hinges. It was silent and for a moment I thought they'd stopped because I'd walked in until I realised that it was because Klaus held Elijah up against the fridge by his neck.

"Klaus, let him go!" I ordered him.

He started upon seeing me and upon my request, he released Elijah, who immediately began attacking him again.

"Elijah, Stop! He's not going to hurt me!" I yelled as he pinned Klaus to the floor.

"Then what is that on your neck?" He said snarling at his brother.

For a moment I thought he meant the hickeys that Klaus had surely left behind but then I recalled how he'd held me up by my throat upon first seeing me. My lips parted but nothing came out. Henrik came to stand beside me, his jaw clenched and I lifted a hand up and covered my bruised neck from view even though everyone in the room had already seen it.

Klaus wriggled to get out of his brother's hold so Elijah lifted a fist and punched him in the nose. There was a crack before blood traveled down his face and I winced.

"For the love of God, would you two please stop acting like animals so we can all sit down and have a civilized conversation!" I snapped.

"Calling them animals is an insult to animals." Henrik murmured from beside me and my lip almost twitched at his comment.

When the fight didn't recommence, I noticed that all my mates were staring at me. I couldn't believe that they'd actually listened to me but then I realised that their gaze fell just lower than my face. It was at that moment that I remembered that I wasn't wearing a shirt.

It wasn't me that stopped them fighting, it was my boobs.

My face flushed as I let out an annoyed huff. I left the kitchen and was grateful to hear three pairs of footsteps follow me. Henrik picked up my shirt for me but upon discovering it torn beyond repair, he removed his hoodie to cover me.

"Thank you." I mumbled, zipping it up before addressing my other mates, "If you can find an unbroken chair, I suggest that you sit down and sort out your differences with words instead of your fists. Now, I'm going to go into another room and scroll through my phone and pray to God that you're mature enough to be civil."

I walked through a door, shutting it behind me and finding myself in a bedroom. With a sigh, I fell onto the bed and shut my eyes, feeling exhausted but too much adrenaline ran through my veins to allow me to sleep. About ten minutes later, the door opened and closed. I opened my eyes to find that Henrik had joined me.

"How's it going?" I said as he sat down on the bed.

"Pretty good, all things considered." He said and although his words were positive, his words were anything but.

"Henrik," I began, a lump forming in my throat, "I'm so sorry that I broke my promise but you know why I had to."

"Do I, Morgana? Do I?" Henrik snapped, his words sharp.

"I had to protect Klaus, surely you can understand that?" I said hopefully as he stared daggers at me.

"Yes, Morgana, I can understand that. What I can't understand is how you lie to my face. You told me that you wouldn't go without me but you lied!" Henrik snapped and my breath caught in my throat, "Everything I do, everything I've done from the day I met you is to protect you! All I want to do is protect you but sometimes you make it so fucking difficult!"

"I'm sorry," I whispered, reaching out to cup his face with my hands as tears threatened to fall.

"I love you, Morgana. Every single day I am overwhelmed and exhilarated by how much I love you." He said quietly and tears began to fall from our eyes, "Promise me that you'll never lie to me again. If you want to run head first into danger, I now know better than to stop you, just please let me be by your side so that I can keep you safe."

"I promise." I barely finished speaking before his lips crashed into mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him so that he was hovering over me on the bed. He claimed my mouth desperation as his tears fell onto my cheeks.

I unzipped the hoodie he'd given me and Henrik helped me out of it, his lips not leaving mine for even a second. He unhooked my bra and threw it on the floor next to the hoodie. Goosebumps rose across my skin as he began to kiss across my chest. A sigh escaped me and I gripped onto his hair as his mouth worked wonders on my breasts. His hands trailed down my belly before reaching the top of my jeans.

"Is this okay?" He asked, lifting his head to meet my gaze.

"Yes, don't you dare stop!" I said breathlessly and Henrik gave me a wicked grin as his hand traveled below my jeans.

I let out a gasp as he touched me. His lips met mine once more, muffling my moans as I moved my hips against his hand. I was climbing higher and higher towards an exquisite peak. I was nearly at the top when Henrik removed his hand and moved off of me. I sat up and frowned at him in confusion.

"I wasn't finished!" I said accusationally, my eyes wide and body flushed.

"I know." Henrik smirked, a cruel gleam in his eyes, "This is your punishment for breaking your promise."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as I gaped at him. He stood from the bed and my face heated even more as he sucked the two fingers that had just been inside of me.

"I guess I'll just have to get one of my other mates to finish me off." I said tauntingly.

Henrik shrugged, "You could, but you won't. You know how I know that? Because even though we all belong to you, right now you only want me."

I hated that he was right.

Henrik slipped out of the room as I rolled over and growled into a pillow, cursing the lust I felt.

Originally published: July 24th 2023