Page 44 of Of Blackened Blood (The Blackened Blade #3)

MALLYN

I push further into the forest, my senses open and listening fully for anything nearby as I move deeper inside. I glance back toward Micai, my beast’s attention flickering forth inside me, watching both the surrounding area and our Mate as we move together.

She moves carefully behind us, just a few feet away, her blue eyes alert and narrowed toward the forest around us.

She meets my gaze, and a small smile appears on her lips. My heart picks up its pace with the look before she turns away and continues her perusal of the area.

My beast perks up, relishing in every extra second we get to spend with her alone. It meant more attention for the greedy bastard.

He chuffs in my ears as if to tell me I’m no different. And I couldn’t argue with him.

I love every moment with Micai and my brothers. We are a family and a Pack. But I also enjoyed moments like these, being surrounded by solely Micai and nature. It felt right . And soothed even the darkest of thoughts and emotions in me instantly.

Micai’s eyes solely on me was an added bonus.

My beast and I both keep our focus on her as we move through the forest, the terrain growing rougher and trees more dense the further we go.

We listen to her small footsteps, the light intake of breath as she moves nearby and to the soft thrum of her heart.

We were beyond blessed to have been given a Mate, let alone someone as beautiful, strong, and loving as Micai.

A grin stretches my cheeks with the thought.

We continue on through the woods as I remember yesterday and the talk we all had when Micai, Ezra, and Creed had returned from meeting her old childhood friend, Knox . And the little information they managed to glean from him.

He had apparently seemed paler and weaker than before, which left Micai looking a little conflicted this morning.

Getting out and searching through the forest was the best I could think of to get her mind off things. And him.

My beast growls in my ears. Neither of us liked her around another male that wasn’t from our Pack. He wasn’t one of our brothers.

We trust Micai but don’t like her thoughts taken over by him.

Our Mate had enough burdens she was carrying as well. He didn’t need to be another one.

Ezra’s contacts have been keeping an eye on him and Micai’s childhood friends along with Seria ever since they all returned to the academy.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t found anything useful. But after yesterday’s talk, Ezra personally went to watch Seria today to see if anything stood out or seemed off to him.

His powers seem to have grown stronger lately, with him even being able to sense magic and energy more easily, even from a distance.

We need answers, too many in fact, for the growing list of questions we have. Which is why Micai and I are here, moving deeper into the forest and the mountains behind the academy.

Micai said she had been here before and had felt something was off. That the beast tracks and feel of the area seemed strange.

I volunteered to come check it out with her, my beast being able to scent or track someone better than anyone else in our group.

He huffs in my mind, a satisfied feeling moving through our connection with the thought.

We move quickly and with intent until we’re where Micai had been before, and I notice the tracks and eerie sensation she had described.

There was definitely something strange about the area.

I open my senses, allowing his power to take over more so we can hear, see, and scent things better.

I peer around the area and notice tracks from all sorts of creatures ... but wild magical beasts don’t move in groups like this.

My beast growls in my head in agreement while pushing our senses further.

I push more and more, seeing larger beast tracks in the distance with broken trees and crushed leaves all over the area. There seems to have been some sort of scuffle or struggle from the prints and carnage left behind.

I take a deeper inhale, smelling each scent that I can ... and a familiar smell prickles my nose. It’s faint, and would have gone unnoticed by most, but my beast’s senses are more powerful than other shifters or supes.

I make my way over to a broken tree, the majority of its trunk trampled into the forest’s floor, joining the smaller flattened trees.

I bend down, sliding my fingers across its splintered bark until I find what my senses have picked up: a thick black substance—barely enough to coat the tip of my finger.

My beast growls menacingly in my ear as my eyes narrow at the familiar black liquid before suddenly widening with realisation.

The strange black brook.

After the night of the academy’s attack and my blackout, I went back to that spot but found it bone dry. There was no clue left on what happened or who had knocked me out. Not even a scent.

It was overpowered by all the tracks and smells of the wild magical beasts that had stampeded through the area and toward the academy. There was nothing left to pull any information from.

But this black drop was here.

I glance around the area. It’s so far back from that black brook. How could this be here ?

Light footsteps pull my attention back to Micai checking the tracks and area around us. Her eyes are alert and body stiff watching for any movement nearby. She had been through more than any of us had realised. Or hoped.

Learning about that bracelet and what her half-sister was doing ... I clench my fists until my knuckles turn white and a low, murderous growl rings out in my ears joining my rapidly growing rage.

I look toward Micai and take a deep breath, trying to calm both the beast and myself.

Micai was always on guard, her behaviour always alert and defensive to those around her. Even before we were Mates, I noticed it.

But now it all makes sense. With a scheming sister like that, enemies at every corner trying to pick away at her, and not a single place for her to feel safe ... it’s no wonder my Mate was so guarded all the time.

But to know that on top of all that, her own blood tried to claim Micai’s power as her own and slowly drain the life from her ... it’s a betrayal that seems as dark and painful as my mine and my brothers’.

I shake my head and take another deep breath, closing my eyes before opening them again to watch Micai.

When we get the answers we need, that bitch Seria will pay.

We’ll help Micai take whatever revenge she wants, no matter how dark and depraved. The bloodier and more painful for her enemies, the better.

I’ll rip every one of them to pieces and let my beast run wild until there’s nothing left to find. Our Mate won’t suffer another day by our sides.

“Mallyn? Have you found anything?” Micai’s soft voice pulls me from my darkening thoughts, her light footsteps and gentle gaze calming me almost instantly as she makes her way over to me.

“Only something small.” I raise my finger, showing her the small black substance.

Her cute blue eyes narrow toward my hand, edging nearer as she inspects it.

“It looks like the same stuff from the beasts that attacked the academy.” Her gaze meets mine. “The black saliva that dripped from their mouths.”

My brows pinch together with her words. The beast’s saliva?

I remember Creed mentioning something similar before about looking into the beasts that attacked the academy. But we hadn’t picked up on their saliva. How the hell did we miss something like this?

Micai’s pinched brows smooth out before her eyes widen, her words low as she mumbles. “Wild beasts ... feral behaviour ... and that black saliva ...” A sharp inhale of breath follows as her gaze turns toward the direction of the academy. “How did they ...”

She seems lost in her thoughts, so I take a step closer, worry clawing at my insides with the expression she’s wearing. “What’s wrong, Micai?”

Her eyes trail from the academy up through the forest.

“The detainment shelter ...” Her complexion pales.

The detainment shelter? My brows furrow, my thoughts flowing to a few weeks ago with her mumbled words and to the day of the winter ball.

Creed had me check the detainment shelter that day. One of his sources had pointed toward it when we were looking into certain attacks happening around us. But there was nothing there back then. Only some strange stench and some broken ropes?—

My gaze flicks back toward Micai.

Her scent was on those ropes ... her blood was on those ropes.

A tremor works its way into my hands, my nails stabbing into my palms with the force of my grip and causing them to bleed.

Why the hell was Micai’s scent on those ropes?

My memory flashes toward the state of the area that day, the scent of scattered beasts and the horrible stench ... but why was Micai there?

I take a step closer to her. “You were there at the shelter?” My gaze meets Micai’s. “The blood on those ropes was yours, wasn’t it?” I take another step as Micai’s eyes widen and gives me all the confirmation I need. “ What happened?”

If her blood was on those broken ropes, then that only meant one thing ... someone had tied her up. Someone had restrained my Mate.

Someone tried to hurt her. And they had tied those ropes so tight that she had bled.

A growl rolls up my chest and begins at the back of my throat before I cut it short, another memory hitting me of that day by the shelter.

The beasts weren’t in the bunker that day, they were long gone. Someone had broken the magical beasts out from the detainment shelter, but back then I couldn’t figure out why.

I glance toward Micai, my eyes widening as my breath leaves me in one quick exhale, as if being punched.

They set the beasts loose on her . On our Mate.

A rage and fury I’ve never felt before begins to consume me, flowing through my veins and out toward each limb. My fangs begin to descend, my skin feeling tighter and tighter as the air around me becomes as cold as ice and matches my blood.