𝕯𝖊 𝕷𝖆 𝕸𝖚𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖊 [√]

20

It was a week before Christmas, and Malfoy Manor was buzzing, though the air was still tense around a few of the people there.

Namely Tom and Azreal. Azreal had left for a month after Tom finally decided he wanted to talk, so they didn't get the chance.

Now, Tom was back to doubting himself. A week after he disappeared, Tom tried to call him using their connection, but he didn't get anything in return. Expect that the mark would sting a bit whenever he tried.

Draco was also in the manor with his twin mates. They turned up sporting new marks from each other and happy smiles.

Lucius had been happy for his son; he wanted Draco to have a good life with his mates.

At that moment, they were all sitting in the sitting room: Asura with his two mates, Draco with his, and Tom, who, despite the conversation around him, kept staring into the fireplace with a blank look on his face.

Asura of course knew the look was hiding the man's true emotions, he could tell Tom was a little hurt that Azreal was gone for so long, and wouldn't contact him.

Sighing, the spawn of death stood. Whispering to his mates that he'll be back. He walked over to Tom. Resting a hand on his shoulder, he smoked them away to the dark.

"What the fuck?!" Tom exclaimed as he stumbled. "A little warning next time," he huffed before he realized where he was.

He looked up at Asura and the small sliver of light shining through a particularly opened door.

"Go talk to him," Asura said before disappearing.

Tom slowly made his way to the door and stepped through into the first room he did when he first came to the dark. Death sat on the couch, his head thrown back.

"Why are you here?" Death asked without moving.

"We need to talk," Tom said, shuffling over to the loveseat across from the skeletal figure and sitting down.

"Oh, OK," Death said, sitting up properly and shifting back to his human form. "About what?" He asked, wanting Tom to start.

"Who is Lucas?" Tom started, and Azreal's head snapped towards him.

"I...he...we were supposed to be mates," Azreal finally answered, "We met while I was on earth; I was hunting down some souls that were causing trouble. We started talking, and things escalated. We dated for two years before I asked him to be my mate. He agreed, and I gave him the same mark that you have, my potential mate's mark. I left one day for a month. When I returned, he was in bed with three other people, his mates whom he met before agreeing to be my mate. I confronted him and he said all that time, he was doing it because of a dare, to see if he could really make death falling love with him. I checked his memory and he was telling the truth, I felt...stupid, I was so captivated by his beauty that I forgot to look through his memories like I normally did. And I ended up getting hurt. For it," Azreal said, and Tom sat there silently, taking it all in.

"When was all this?" Tom asked, and the other sighed.

"About a year before I sent Asura to the Potters," Azreal said, and Tom nodded. "Tom, you must understand that I want you to be my mate. I didn't want you to feel like you had to just become. I marked you, and I was also a bit worried about the outcome," he said, and Tom nodded in understanding.

"I'm sorry," Tom said, and Azreal raised a brow at him as he published his cheeks. "I...I overreacted, it's just that ever since Asura came I started to feel a bit more needed, and I felt like I was a part of your family, and then you said you wanted to take your mark back, it hurt. I felt like I was being rejected," He said, and Azreal shook his head, standing from his spot, and went over to sit beside him on the loveseat.

"I wasn't rejecting you," he said, wrapping an arm around the smaller male, "I would love to have you as my mate," he said to Tom, who leaned into his side.

"I want to be your mate," Tom said, looking up at him, and Azrael smiled.

"Good,"

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Word count: 715

Re-published: April 28, 2024, 3 pm

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