Malika (#Short, Incomplete)

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The beta lurks against the banister enclosing the balcony of Adir's office, having left the chaos in the guest room to get some space to think and breathe. The wolf entity within him was also beginning to bother the skin side, its attention hurled at a particular female, desperate to give into the subtle lull of the siphon bond.

The skin side just wanted a place to breathe, to exist by himself for a moment, without having to be wound up with what his wolf was feeling.

The last few days had been busy enough, and after the theory that Faiza suggested becoming true, his mind was overloaded, yet to digest this new information and what it meant for him.

He sighs, lifting his chin up to the sky that leashes snow once again, the soft flakes melting into the bare skin of his arms, as he only bore a simple grey tee and sweats. He hadn't thought about the cold, but in this moment relished in the icy sting, providing a sensation different to the muddle he was feeling right now. His eyes are cast to the courtyard of the palace, aimlessly watching wolves shuffle in and out of the front gates.

His head dips, eyes curving, trying to break down the broken puzzles in his head. They hadn't confirmed anything just yet, but they had all decided to agree with the following hypothesis so far.

The female was a Fallen, who must have crossed over around the same time Mason was attacked. During the ordeal, she must've summoned her power – a thing that should be impossible considering she was no longer in her realm – to save Mason. Using so much power in a different realm to hers, one in which she should've essentially been human, her body had forfeited, rendering itself into some form of magical unconsciousness.

It didn't stop there.

She must've almost completely obliterated herself by summoning such energy in a realm that was not hers, to the point where she could've died, but in that moment had found him. Faiza suspects that the Moon must've gifted the female a siphoning bond with him, to help heal her. Again this is something which should be impossible – siphoning was something that happened within mate bonds most of the time, and only between Fallen themselves, or Witches themselves.

Which led them here, to this point.

A lot of questions were unanswered, with a lot of grey and blurry areas, but it was what they had.

For now, until they had more answers, they were to keep this quiet, to avoid any complications with their own or the rest of the Kingdoms.

But it was now a fact that Ezekiel had a siphon bond with her, regardless of the fact that the circumstances leading them to it were again unnatural and not established yet.

He could feel it within him. It was something soft and subtle, a bare caress against his form, barely noticeable when he wasn't thinking about it. It had felt a little more intense when he was in the room with her, but again it wasn't something that would overtake him completely. He had the ability to enforce a lot of control on it.

In most pairs, the siphon bond would completely be overridden by the feelings of the mate bond. But Ezekiel didn't share that with her. His brows furrow in thought.

He knew the siphon bond wouldn't mean anything to him later on, that it was only flared up now because the female was weak and healing. But it still irked him, that even though it was the smallest part of his soul, some small part had been given to someone else.

What would happen when he found his half? They wouldn't be pleased to know he shared a siphon bond with someone else. Would the siphon bond affect the mate bond? Was he to have a siphon and a mate? And was the female mated herself? What would her half say?

And what of the female? Would she return to the lower realm? Would that affect their siphon bond? What if she was caught in battle? The siphon bond wasn't something he knew a lot on, nor what exactly would affect it.

They lived in peaceful times now without war, so its something not heavily relied on either.

What would happen when the other Kingdoms found about it? When they find a bond formed against nature, unworldly? He can't imagine there would be kind reactions.

But truly, Ezekiel's concern doesn't really sit on that, but rather forming scenarios of what could happen with his mate. He had spent his entire life saving every part of him for them, every millimetre of his soul, his emotions all for them, and now he had a siphon.

It doesn't sit well with him, nor does the fact that his wolf is so comfortable for it.

A hand to his shoulder steers him from his thoughts, the wolf having been in deep thought for so long, he hadn't noticed that the King had entered the office not too long ago. Adir's eyes are warm, a little concerned for his beta.

Ezekiel's confusion was perfectly reasonable though – this was a strange circumstance, with the impossible becoming possible. Adir knew the male must be reeling with different thoughts right now.

Ezekiel doesn't really want to show his concern or distress about the situation right now, his head turning to the grass that is once again blanketed in white.

He takes a few deep breaths, a finger swivelling a thick band of silver around his middle finger, the ring having been passed through the males of his family for generations.

The Moon had her reasons for everything, and if the beta kept faith, perhaps everything wasn't as bleak as it seemed. Without the siphon bond being formed, the female would be dead and Mason too. If anything, this has only served greatness so far – lives had been saved.

His personal worries were something to be dealt with later; he couldn't fret with what hadn't happened yet. In doing so, he'd compromise his own duties as a beta.

The King let's Ezekiel take a few moments to himself, clearing his head. The glass green orbs settle, the beta turning around with a grin.

"Akila and Faiza are both still with Malika," he murmurs, turning Ezekiel by the shoulder and bringing them to the warmth of the office.

"Malika?" Ezekiel knows it's the female's name.

It's a short nod from Adir, who leans to flame the coals of the hearth. The beta makes himself comfy in the lounge chairs, across the room from the desk.

"Did you get your answers?" still playing with his ring, eyes lifting up to the King.

Adir sighs, wolf within still a little frustrated with all the uncertainty in his Kingdom recently. His wolf didn't sit with it well, didn't like there were things imposing without a set answer.

"The female knows nothing. She barely remembered her own name," the King mutters, lips curving in thought, a hand stroking the scurf beginning to surface on his jawline.

"What do you mean?" Ezekiel leans forwards, eyes narrowed.

"The healer's have deemed it as amnesia. The cause is what they cannot figure out. She knows nothing, barely having murmured her name. She knows not a thing about who she is, where she has stemmed from, the attack. She's no useful source of information at the moment," Adir tells him.

It makes a little sense to the beta – the female conjured immense power whilst being in a different realm. She'd pay a price, and paid she did.

"Its strange though," Adir murmurs. Ezekiel only cocks a brow in question.

"The scars, the red burns – she's clearly got a past, either in battle or at the hand of someone else. Considering the nature of her situation – she's just woken up with no recollection of anything about herself, in a strange bedroom, I had expected a different reaction. There's no confusion, no disorientation, no fear," Ezekiel only shrugs when hearing this.

"We all react to things differently. It could be her nature protecting herself, she in general might be a person not to show such things straight off the bat," the male responds. Adir's lips curve, tugging on the string of his hoodie.

"It's not just her character. It's the way my wolf responds to her. Maybe it's because she a Fallen, a different creature of a different realm, but he reacts differently. He sees something, but I'm not sure what," Adir sighs.

Ezekiel doesn't say anything.

"And Mason?" asking the King directly.

"I visited once again before seeking you out. The male is fine, recovered well. He's discharged, and seemed competent to answer. It's the same thing, he remembers nothing of how he was in the woods, only the fact that Malika was involved in saving him. He only said he remembers the sensation of something splitting him open, but then the doctors said it was nothing physically done – they couldn't derive how the wounds happened," the beta listens closely.

"When Faiza and I had gone out in the woods, to do those energy locator spells, she mentioned something was blocking the energy in those locations. Someone is covering them up," he starts, treading his fingers with each other.

"It seemed magically affiliated, and if Mason has chunks out his memory, as well as wounds not done physically-," he raises his brows, prompting Adir to put two and two.

"The Witches or the Fallen," and the beta agrees.

"Faiza was hesitant to frame her own, as they are her people. Now, I know that this information puts Malika as our prime suspect," Ezekiel begins.

"But then, why would the Moon gift her a siphon bond with me? Siphon bonds are gifts some say even greater than the mate bond, gifted to individuals the Moon wants to survive, prosper and strengthen. That's the sole purpose of them. Why would the Moon allow Malika's survival, if Malika was behind these attacks? The Moon knows all," Ezekiel says.

Adir sighs.

"This is true. And as we've seen, her doing her own magic her induced her into a coma. She couldn't have carried out the other attacks, unless those were other Fallen. We don't know her motives, but my question is why not finish Mason off? If she had the power to "save" him, then she could've killed him. I want to trust my wolf, trust Mason. The circumstances are weird, and the Fallen and the Witches will be looked into," Adir says.

"But regarding Malika, innocent until proven guilty," he deems. Ezekiel doesn't comment.

"How long are we to keep Malika's presence quiet? I presume most of our own will know of her being here," the beta questions.

"I suggest we'll keep it quiet to avoid questions for now. Again, we need to look into your siphon bond with her, the fact that she was able to access her power here – which is unsettling in itself, and the lack of her memories. Perhaps until these are answered, she'll stay in our sanctuary," Adir murmurs.

"She's very weak. I can barely feel anything mystical on her, no scent, no power. She's essentially human and will need long to heal. She won't be able to cross back to the lower realm regardless," he also adds.

"Faiza intends on leaving later on. She wants to spend a night in the Witch Kingdom. She believes there are some herbs in her family home that can give us some insight on Malika, maybe potentially even revive all of her memories back," and Ezekiel nods. The male stands up.

"I need to go meet with Roman. I'll guess I'll see you for dinner," Ezekiel murmurs, stretching out the muscles in his shoulders, heading out of the office and hoping for normality to come his way.

He really needed it.