Alpha Zaelah | Book One: Realities Demise

NINETEEN

Z A E L A H

I entered my room with the newly obtained clothes and my eyes welcomed the view of Malik who was sitting against my bed with a towel wrapped around his lower half, leaving his slightly wet chest exposed as he waited for me.

As tempting as it was to trace every part of his body he permitted me to see, I made sure to keep my orbs on his face while my feet took me toward him because I knew if I allowed my eyes to stray I'd never be able to stop them.

"I got the clothes," I announced and he gently took them from my hands with an appreciative smile.

"Thank you, did you guess my size?" He inquired, rising from my bed, quietly reminding me of how tall he was.

"My head Alkebulan, Nina, already had it in her closet, so I'm guessing she saw me coming," I explained, making his brows greet each other with curiosity.

"Is she a Lauhe Alkebulan?" He asked me and I gave him a nod of confirmation.

"Yeah, she is. You can change in here, I'm gonna take a shower," I told him, giving myself the opportunity to enter the bathroom and strip out of my clothes before stepping into the shower.

Now that I was finally in my right mind, I was given the chance to think about all that occurred last night.

The kisses.

The touches.

And the desires.

I shouldn't have let that happen, I should have pulled away but I found that task difficult with every moment that passed between us because there was an invisible force pulling us together against our will and as much as I wanted to complain about it, I couldn't.

I enjoyed this force between us and I enjoyed how it made me feel, despite knowing how wrong this whole thing was.

-

I soon left the bathroom in my towel because I had forgotten to take a suit of clothes with me, so when I entered the room Malik, who was cuffing his shirt, lifted his gaze toward me and I watched as did his best not to let his eyes fall from mine, but the more he looked the harder it seemed.

I decided to make it easier on him as I went into my closet to search for the perfect outfit and when I did I quickly changed into it.

I wore a violet dress that fell past my knees and hugged my body along with some black sneakers, but before I left the room I fixed my braids into a low bun after tying my laces.

Once I stepped out of the closet I met Malik's eyes again, this time he allowed them to take me in and the smile that appeared on his lips said enough about what he thought.

"You look magnificent." He complimented me, putting his thoughts into words and achieving a light grin from me.

"Thank you." I replied and he wordlessly made a gesture with his two fingers that said 'come here'.

I walked over to him with the same grin on my lips as he gently held my face, "You are..." He trailed off and I chuckled, displaying my amusement at his speechlessness.

Malik glanced at my lips for a split second, telling me what he wanted to do and like always, despite my better judgement, I was already leaning in like a magnet to metal.

His free hand held my waist, drawing me into him as he leaned down to close the distance between us and I suddenly forgot how to breathe, as once again my mind had me convinced that he was the only source of oxygen I'd need.

"Someone's coming." He told me, removing his hands that were on me, causing disappointment to rise within before spreading throughout my chest like fire.

"Zaelah?" Darrelle called out on the other side of the door while knocking.

"I'll be right back."

Malik didn't say another word as he watched me answer the door to reveal a smiling Darrelle.

"Why do you look so happy?" I questioned him, hoping he'd spread light on the reason for his current mood while I stepped into the hall so he wouldn't see Malik inside.

"The soldiers made it back." He notified me, allowing the same happiness to greet me, demolishing all the disappointment I had earlier as I pulled him into a hug.

"I'll get the cooks to prepare a feast for them."

"Thank you, I should get back to them, but I just wanted to tell you." He communicated while pulling back from the hug with a huge grin.

"Before you go, I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have—" I began but he didn't allow me to finish.

"Z, it's fine. Don't worry about it." He assured me, permitting the weight of the situation to be lifted off my heavy mind.

"Alright, have fun."

"I will."

That was the last word spoken between us because he began his journey down the stairs at the end of the hall.

"As much as I'd love to stay here all day, we should probably get going," I declared, diverting my attention from Darrelle's leaving figure to Malik's eyes that were switching from black to violet.

"Are you—"

"Yes, my Lycan is extremely possessive of you so he wasn't exactly fond of that interaction, but he'll get used to it." He explained while stepping in front of me and before I had time to react he took my hand in his, causing the violet in his eyes to immediately disappear.

"Is he fine now?"

"Yeah." He replied.

"Good and before we go, I should probably tell you, you can't hold my hand or do anything that shows any type of romantic affection between us," I disclosed and my statement had a frown appearing on his brows.

"Why not?"

"I think it's better if everyone doesn't know about this bond yet because the wound of the war is still fresh. It will only cause more problems than I can handle right now." I explained and he kept his frown while removing his hand from mine.

"Okay."

"Are you mad?" I asked him and he shook his head, but I wasn't convinced.

"No, I understand. I'm the bad guy in their eyes."

"You won't be forever," I assured him even though we both knew that wasn't something that could be guaranteed, "While we roam the castle, is it okay if I asked you a few questions?"

"Yeah, that's okay." He answered and I smiled faintly when I realised the frown on his brows began to lessen.

"My father told me you killed my grandfather, is that true?" I asked him and he didn't hesitate to nod.

"It is."

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