Page 45 of Of Blackened Blood (The Blackened Blade #3)

Drips of blood trickle down my hands, my claws biting into my palms as my shift pushes forward, wanting to descend on the academy and find those responsible. My anger swirls inside me like a snowstorm, my body rigid and tight and ready to shift and cause carnage.

The link with my beast rings out, his voice trying to tell me something, but I can’t focus on anything other than Micai’s words right now.

And I only need to know one thing. “Who?”

Micai trails her gaze up and down me, taking in my new form and the shift pushing forward. Her eyes slightly widen as they meet mine and I quickly look away, realising how I must appear to her.

“Monster.” The word whispers in my ears as panic slices through me.

I didn’t want her to see me like this ... I don’t want her to fear me.

What if she rejects me? What if she’s scared?

I try to take a step away, but she moves forward and takes my bleeding hand in hers. Her eyes fill with worry as she carefully brushes her small fingers across my hand, trying to unravel my tightly wound fist and bleeding palm.

Her touch does something to me, and eases the growing rage, slowing it to a simmer. With each brush of her hand against mine and her sweet scent tickling my nose, it dissolves my anger piece by piece until my shift quickly recedes.

My heartbeat begins to calm, her scent swirling around me as she steps even closer into my space and soothing both me and my beast.

Her soft blue eyes meet mine, worry still laced in her gaze as her lips part.

“It was Ivy, Alice, Jeremy, and Jake ... Seria’s cronies.”

And that short sentence has my anger building once again and my glare facing the direction of the academy. But before I can take a step toward it, Micai places a hand on my chest, stopping me.

“I’ll get my revenge for that day, Mallyn, I promise.

” Her soft voice pulls my gaze back toward her and I’m rewarded with the most beautiful smile.

“I have every intention of making every single one of them pay. But the most important part in all of this is that they’re Seria’s pawns.

They wouldn’t have done this without her. ”

Micai’s brows furrow. “I didn’t realise it at the time. I always thought they were just cruel assholes who liked tormenting me, but now I think she might have been behind it all. Behind everything I’ve suffered and had to endure in this academy.”

“Then let me make her pay for it.” My voice comes out in a low growl, gritting out the words.

“Not right now,” Micai begins before another growl vibrates through my chest. Neither my beast nor I like the idea of keeping a threat to our Mate alive. The bitch deserved a slow death, but the sooner she left this world, the sooner the threat to our Mate would be eliminated.

She’s already tried to harm Micai multiple times and tried to take her life using that bracelet. We won’t let her get another chance.

We move forward, but Micai stops me again, this time using her body to block our way to the academy.

“Listen to me, Mallyn.” Her arms reach out, spanning both sides of my face and pulling me toward her.

“There’s a bigger picture here. We need to know if Seria and her pawns were the ones that fed that black substance to the magical beasts from the shelter.

If they did, then they could also be involved in the attacks behind the academy. ”

My eyes wander from the academy in the distance and back to Micai. “You’re only giving me more justification for killing her, Micai.”

Her fingers brush across my cheeks tenderly, her gaze softening as a sweet smile tilts her plump pink lips, drawing my attention straight to them.

“But you won’t kill her.” A knowing grin widens her cheeks as she continues her soft strokes up and down mine.

“I will kill her?—”

“Not now though.” She cuts me off, softly sliding her fingers down my jaw. Her touch soothes both me and my beast.

“Why would you think that?” I ask, my hands itching at my sides to reach for her and pull her in even closer. “I could easily shift and rip your sister to shreds in seconds.”

“ Half -sister. And that’s why.” She raises a confident brow. “Because if you really wanted to, you wouldn’t be standing here listening to me. But you are.” Her fingers stop, her hands gently leaving me as she turns to look in the academy’s direction.

“We need answers and unfortunately, keeping Seria alive is our best bet to getting them right now. We know she’s connected to The Facility and our attackers because of the bracelet .

..” She glances in the direction the shelter would be.

“And now this just proves that she and The Facility might have been involved in the attacks on the academy. How else would she have gotten that strange substance? They have to be connected ... And she could hold a bigger part with them than any of us know.”

Frustration and anger swirls in her blue eyes as she continues. “We need to find out what that substance is.” She glances toward my hand, the blood almost dry and the wound healed. The tiny black liquid must have washed away in the drops of blood that fell to the forest floor.

A heavy sigh leaves my lips. I should have been more careful.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do much with a drop, Mallyn.” Micai grins, glancing around the forest floor. “Maybe if we retrace the steps of the beast— and with a few more eyes —we can locate some more.”

Micai takes a few steps, glancing around the area as I nod, reaching up to drag a hand through my hair before realising how filthy and bloody it looks.

I wipe my hands in my hoodie, a heat creeping into my cheeks as my eyes lift up to meet Micai’s watching me.

Trying to distract her, I begin talking about the first thing that pops into my head.

“It’ll be better with a couple of the guys to help if any beast appears too ...” I kick myself internally. What was I saying?

“Not that me and my beast wouldn’t be able to handle things easily.”

My beast throws me a light growl as a little laugh slips from Micai.

“I can handle myself with any beast easily too ...” Her grin grows mischievous. “Or did your beast not tell you that.”

“My beast?” My brows furrow as my beast perks up inside me, his attention rapt on Micai with the mention of him.

“He and I have met on multiple occasions,” she says with a knowing glint in her eyes.

My brow raises into my hairline with the light playful growl ringing out in my ears.

“On what occasions?” I ask, my mind trying to glean any images or memory from my beast who simply huffs, not wanting to share.

“The first encounter was brief and involved a little scuffle between us.”

I internally groan while a toothy grin appears in my mind, my beast pleased as Micai continues.

“Your beast stalked from the trees, an icy mist surrounding him as he attacked. He took round one of the battles between us”—she shrugs nonchalantly—“but I was less experienced then.”

A smirk tilts her lips as she peers my way, probably seeing the beast watching her through my eyes as she moves, recalling another memory.

“The next time we met was during the detainment shelter kidnapping. Two pretty little feral beasts appeared while I was still groggy from the drugs they fed me.”

Kidnapping? Drugs? What the hell does she mean? Who the hell drugged her? The pawns that took her to the detainment shelter?

My fists tighten again, and a small sting grows in my palms.

Micai continues talking, oblivious to my confliction as my brows pinch downward and I feel my expression darken further.

“I managed to take out one, but another appeared from nowhere. And just when I thought it was going to attack, out jumps your big beast, ripping it apart and helping me?—”

Micai meets my gaze again, her smile fading as quickly as the memory from her lips.

My body is rigid, my knuckles white from clenching my fists, and the tension and rage seeping from every pore as I understand more about the gravity my Mate suffered at their hands.

My skin begins to feel tight again, my body wanting to shift and taste blood, but one look at Micai tells me that’s not an option.

My Mate might not forgive me for taking her revenge and answers away.

And no matter how much they all deserve to die for hurting her, my Mate deserves to get her answers, even if I believe the opposite of it right now. Micai’s opinion matters more.

I close my eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to calm my shift. I take another slow inhale and then another, when I suddenly smell my Mate’s sweet scent growing closer.

I open my eyes and find Micai standing in front of me, her eyes tracing my face as worry glints in her soft stare.

“What can I do to help?” she asks, her cute brows knitting together.

I shake my head. The only thing that would calm me now would be to either shift and rip her enemies to shreds or to run from here. Run as fast as my legs will take me until I’m exhausted and can’t think of exacting revenge for her.

I take a step back, pulling my hoodie over my shoulders. “I need to go for a run.”

I’ll head toward my favourite spot. It is past town and a far enough distance by foot that I’ll be able to exert some energy and wear the shift down.

I throw my hoodie to the nearest tree, letting it catch one of its higher branches and then I ready myself to head off.

But before I leave, my path is suddenly blocked, my beautiful Mate standing in my way as a grin tilts her lips playfully.

“Micai—”

She begins to take off her own hoodie and throws it toward mine, landing it right beside my own.

“We’re heading to your spot, right?” She rolls her shoulders, a sexy grin stretching her lips as she takes a slow step away and turns toward the direction I was planning to go.

“You’re coming with me ... on a run?” My beast instantly rises inside me, excitement thrumming through the both of us.

Our Mate is going to run with us? It is the dream of every shifter, especially wolves and canines alike. It is something primal and soul-deep ... and Micai wanted to do it with me.

I don’t think she realises what this means to us.

She looks my way, her mischievous smile reappearing.

“I’ve always wanted to see how fast I can go ... and if you can keep up.” Her grin grows seductive, her eyes gleaming brightly before she quickly whips around and begins running. Her small beautiful chuckle leaves a trail behind her as her sweet scent fills my nose.

Micai heads toward my secret spot, away from the academy and toward the town and the forest and mountains behind it, her speed and agility faster than any shifter I’ve seen before.

Excitement and desire builds in me, my beast roaring to quickly join her.

My beautiful Mate ... you don’t know what you’ve done.

My eyes home in on her direction, her soft delectable scent taking over all my senses as I take off after her.

The world around me becomes a blur as I take chase and follow my beautiful Mate. And when I catch her, I’ll claim her fully as ours .