Feral

Chapter Twenty

Meleni back away before hurriedly turning around, her ears folded flat against her head in fear, and her tail tucked as her vision blurred with tears. She took off blindly running. But she slammed into something hard, knocking her to the ground. A wolf. Fear gripped her. They were going to kill her. She began to yelp and violently thrash, especially as they gripped her scruff. However, a familiar scent washed over her as they set her down, gently nuzzling her face and neck, covering her in licks. It was her mate.

She let out a relieved breath and leaned into his furry neck. Tears flowed from her eyes now. She was safe now. 

Basilius had felt his mate's terror and had immediately come running. He had not come fast enough. His mate's perfectly white coat was muddy and soaked with blood from several cuts. Who had done this to his sweet mate, who had hurt her so much? The question filled his head, but he pushed it down, gingerly licking over a cut on his mate's cheek. She whimpered in pain, before shifting back. She was still clinging onto him. He shifted as well, carefully wrapping his arms around her, taking in all the damage that was done to her. He didn't say anything yet, just kissing her head and petting her hair as she cried.

A few moments passed before her crying slowed. Finally, he asked, "What happened, my love." His hands raised to her cheek, carefully holding it as he wiped away tears with his thumbs.

His mate pulled in a shaking breath. Her hand lifted slowly, pointing off from once she came. He looked over and saw the cliff. Normally he would advise wolved from not getting close to it since it was known to be unstable ground. Basilius disregarded this fact, approaching the edge. Carefully he peeked over the edge. He found the mangled body of Alexio as well as a bloodied rock. His eyes widened a bit.

"Dear Goddess..." He mumbled. This would mean trouble.

Meleni sank into the cloud-like bed, her limbs heavy with exhaustion. She slowly closed her eyes. Once Basilius had found her, he had taken her home. He had scrubbed her clean and had her wounds treated by the doctor as well as examined. Her baby was okay, luckily. Now she could finally rest, but a part of her wouldn't let her. She wanted to wait until her mate returned. He had slipped away, needing to speak to his officers about what had conspired between her and Alexio. 

But to her disdain, she drifted off into a deep sleep. However, her sleep wasn't peaceful like she'd hoped. Instead, the event repeated in her head in an endless loop. Gradually, it got more and more twisted, more terrifying. At some point, Alexio's distorted corpse had risen up, slowly approaching Meleni, until he was over her quaking body. She could move. Blood poured from his head and mouth, dumping onto her. But as soon as it touched her, it turned into a sticky black liquid. Meleni could only scream as it would not end.

"Meleni." It said to her, but she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

"Please, sweetheart. Meleni, open your eyes." 

Her eyes shot open. Her mate sat her up, holding her close to his body as a soft cry escaped her. She leaned into his body and whined. He gently pets her hair and hushed her softly.

"Sorry to wake you. You were crying..." He whispered.

"Oh, I am sorry Basilius... I didn't mean to." She whimpered and shut her eyes.

"No need to apologize. I had Selena bring some calming tea for you. But when I came to bed you were already asleep. I guess its cold now, but will do you some good." He said, grabbing a cup off the nightstand. 

Meleni lifted the glass to her lips. It was nice. Her body slowly relaxed as she finished the tea. Meleni leaned into Basilius's warm body. His arms wrapped around her, holding her close. She felt secure with him. She allowed a gentle smile as his hand caressed her head. She lifted her head to him and he gently pressed a kiss against her lips and then her nose. 

"Get some sleep, My darling." He murmured to her.

Meleni simply nodded and sunk into the blankets, still clinging to her mate. Again, she slipped into a night of sleep. This time it was an empty sleep, no dreams, luckily. 

The next morning, Meleni woke up to feeling sore all over. However, her mate was still holding her. She sat up and looked around. Light from the window showed on her mate's perfect face. Her wolf purred happily at the sight of it. Meleni gently pets his face and his eyes flickered. A small smile appeared on his face. A happy yip somehow escaped her as she leaned in and kissed his face all over. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her over him. He held her there, his face in her neck where her mark sat. Light kisses dotted it a few times. She giggled slightly before pushing his arms off and sitting up. 

"Basilius..."

"What is it, my little mate?" He pressed kisses against her hand.

"I love you." She sat back on her knees and gently brought her hands to her stomach. "And... I will do whatever it takes to keep our pup safe."

Basilius looked down and saw that she had her brows pushed together. He knew she was referring to what had transpired the night before.

"I love you too, Meleni... And you had every right to do what you did... You were protecting your baby, yourself, and your pack. Alexio came onto our land with aggression. All you did was defend..." He kissed her head. "However, I am worried as to what Emilio will do in response. I sent Vasso to deliver the news. In terms of pack laws, you didn't break any."

Meleni whined and curled up a bit. " I feel like its all been my fault though."

Basilius sighed and took her back into his arms. "Don't say that, Meleni. It's not your fault."

After a bit more time in bed, the two finally made their way down to eat breakfast with the rest of the pack. However, Basilius noticed that Vasso and the few others that had gone with him had not returned. Worry began to creep up his spine. Emilio was not one to be trusted. Basilius made sure not to mention a thing to his mate though. She was stressed enough.

A BIT OF A SHORTER CHAPTER. THANK YOU ALL FOR READING <3