His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Jax shoved me through the study door hard enough that my shoulder struck the frame.

My hands were tied behind my back, and the collar around my throat had been burning steadily since we left Moonhaven.

Malachi sat behind his desk. He looked up from the papers in front of him, and his gaze moved from my face to Jax.

“What happened?”

Jax smiled. “She happened.”

I turned my head toward him. He had been waiting for this since the tunnel.

Malachi leaned back slightly. “Explain.”

Jax stepped farther into the room. “She warned the girl.”

“I did not.”

His smile widened. “You told her to run.”

Malachi’s eyes returned to me.

The room seemed to shrink.

Jax continued before I could answer. “She brought the girl down there, got her close enough for us to take her, and then decided she’d grown a conscience. Told her to go back and tried to give her an opening.”

Every word was close enough to the truth to be dangerous.

“I had to make Abby believe I was still afraid of you,” I said. “She would never have come otherwise.”

Jax laughed under his breath. “I suppose punching me was part of the performance too?”

“That happened because you moved too soon.”

His smile slipped.

Malachi tapped his fingers once against the desk. “Did Abigail escape?”

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“Yes.”

Malachi looked at me again.

I held his gaze. “Then I did what you asked.”

Jax scoffed. “She nearly made it back to the packhouse.”

“Because your men were too elose.” I looked at him. “I told you how far back they needed to stay. You ignored me, crowded the tunnel, and almost ruined the only reason she trusted me enough to

come down there.”

Jax took a step toward me. “You little-”

“Enough.” Malachi didn’t raise his voice.

Jax stopped.

For several seconds, Malachi said nothing. He looked between us, weighing both versions without offering either of us the satisfaction of knowing which one he believed.

Then he turned to Jax and gestured toward the door.

“Leave us.”

Jax frowned. “Boss-”

“Did I stutter?”

The smile disappeared from his face. He glanced at me once before walking out.

I hoped he hated it.

When the door shut behind them, Malachi came around the desk.

“Turn around.”

I didn’t move.

“Sloane.”

Something in his tone warned me not to test him on this particular point.

I turned.

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I rubbed at them. “So that’s it?”

What were you expecting?”

“I brought her to you, then Jax says one thing against me, and I come back tied up and collared.”

His gaze dropped deliberately to my throat. “You are collared because I have reason not to this

you.”

Anger rose hot and immediate. “You’d rather believe some trash like Jax than your own mate?”

Something shifted in his expression at the word.

“My mate?”

“Yes.” I stepped closer. “You felt it the second you saw me. So did I.”

“That does not make you loyal.”

“No. Apparently bringing Abigail Hayes here doesn’t either.”

“You tried to give her a way out.”

“And she is still here.”

His eyes narrowed.

I reached for his hand and pressed his palm against the center of my chest.

“You think I’m lying?”

His fingers tensed.

“Feel it.”

My heart was beating far too quickly beneath his hand.

“I brought her to you, exactly as I promised.”

For a moment, neither of us moved. Then Malachi pulled his hand away.

“You are forgetting your place.”

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“Why?”

The question stopped me.

For one stupid second, I had no answer.

Because he was my mate seemed obvious inside my own head. Rhea had recognized him before knew his name. My body reacted to him whether I wanted it to or not. Somewhere beneath alle anger, some part of me had assumed that had to mean something to him too.

Malachi stepped away. “You came to my bed willingly.”

Heat climbed into my face.

“I never promised you anything in return.”

“That has nothing to do with this.”

“It has everything to do with what you seem to expect from me now.”

My anger sharpened. “I expected you to trust me enough to recognize that I succeeded.”

“You succeeded,” he said. “And then you tried to undo it.”

My hand went to the collar. “So this is my reward?”

His eyes followed the movement.

“You wanted proof that I could be useful. I gave it to you. I went back into Moonhaven, contacted the girl who had every reason to hate me, convinced her to come underground, and delivered her to your men.” I stepped closer again. “And before we even left Moonhaven, you put this back around my

throat.”

Malachi went very still.

That was when I understood.

Whatever the mate bond meant to me, it meant nothing to him. Sleeping with him had changed nothing, and neither had bringing Abby here. He would take whatever I gave and still keep the collar ready.

Something cold settled beneath my anger.