Her Cursed Monster (Mad Protector Series #1)

~Chapter 24~

AN: Hello, wonderful people!

The slim shady hamster is back and still alive after exams! Thank you for all your well wishes <3. Though I still have some bits of work to finish, I have decided to upload early. It is also my birthday, yaay, so you guys get a Zachary's PoV. :D

Your Fearsome Hamster

He returned from the kitchens to bring his mate the glass of warm milk only to find her already asleep in their shared bed. Putting the glass away, he silenced his steps as he crouched before her and tugged a stray lock of hair behind her ear. 

She was so beautiful. 

The beast in him was purring in delight at finally seeing her in his den, where she belonged. Curled into the covers, Margo looked small. Human. Fragile. Even in sleep, her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, burdened by unknown sorrows. She needed to be protected. But how could he fight something he could not understand? It had gutted him to see Margo so terrified, just moments after they found pleasure in each other. He could only stand helpless as she fought her own demons in her head. It had been torturous.  He vowed to pry more into the matter – he would get to the bottom of it. 

Zachary swiftly discarded of his robes and joined his mate in bed, carefully bringing her closer to his naked chest. Margo whimpered and snuggled closer. At his age, sleep did not come easily. After centuries of bitter survival, it was often impossible for his paranoid mind to quiet down and unwind. One did not become as ancient as him by not taking any cautions. Enemies lurked in every corner, as proven by his capture and later imprisonment.

Even now, his wrists felt the weight of those shackles.  

Remembering how his lungs had burned for air underground, Zachary inhaled. His nostrils flared– only his mate's presence was perfuming the air. His scent on her appeased the darkest parts of his twisted soul.

Margo's presence had washed away the horrors of his past ordeal and brought a sense of peace into his life. He pulled her closer. His terrible journey had led him up to her, and for that he would do it all over again. Nothing mattered but the person in his arms now. He was no longer trapped. 

He closed his eyes and for the first time in decades, sleep came.

.............................

A creak in the wooden floor awoke him. 

His eyes snapped open, senses on high alert. Who dared disturb their sleeping quarters? His fangs erupted painfully from his gums, realising the other side of the bed was empty.

Pure reflex had him catching the arm of the intruder, the blade one hair's breath from his chest. Instinct had him ease his grip from crushing the bones of the hand he was holding. He could not believe what he was seeing.

The one holding the weapon was his Margo.

"Margo?" No response.

He tried again louder. Nothing. Instead, she lunged for his chest again. He quickly deflected the move, pinning her under his body. He ignored her trashing and caught her hands in his grip, throwing the damned blade as far away from her as possible. The one more likely to get hurt because of it was her not him.

"Margo! What is wrong with you?" he hissed. Concern was mounting inside of him. Her pupils were wide, her faraway gaze scaring him. Wrapping a steel arm around her, he subdued her writhing form and pulled her in his lap, locking his knees against her. Someone had done this to his mate. They had just signed their death.