Chapter 176: Mate Mark Fading

Calix Pov

The heavy wooden bar dropped across our bedroom door with a loud thud and I pushed my back straight against the logs. Down the hallway, the low murmurs of the WolfTrail elders were still echoing through the floorboards, but I did not care about the pack rules right now. Maddie was standing by the small window frame and her silver hair was hanging limp over her shoulders.

"They think I am going to kill the old female tomorrow," Maddie muttered and she did not turn around to look at me. Her voice was very low and her fingers were resting flat on the dry wood of the sill. "I can feel the thoughts in their heads, Calix. They look at my face and they only see the high peak armor."

"We are staying in this room until the sun comes up over the ridge," I told her and I crossed the floorboards with slow steps. I reached out and caught her wrists from behind, pulling her back against my chest. Her skin was not burning hot like last night, but it felt cool and dry like mountain stone. "The elders do not know about the reverse code yet. We still have time to fix the anchor line."

"Look at the mark, Calix."

I moved her hair to the side and my fingers touched the skin right below her ear. The golden lines of our mate bond were usually bright enough to show through her shirt collar, but tonight the edges were blurry and gray. The shape looked like a faded leaf on the dirt.

"I can still see it," I whispered.

I dropped my face down and pressed my lips directly against the pale skin of her neck. I shut my eyes tight and forced all my Alpha energy straight through my teeth, trying to drive the strength of the valley earth into her veins. My heart was pounding hard against her back and my hands tightened around her waist until the leather of my coat creaked in the quiet room.

"It is cold," Maddie whispered and she tilted her head back against my shoulder. "The gold light feels like a small needle poking my neck, but the gray is like a big wall blocking the path."

"Push against the wall, Maddie."

"I am trying."

A single hot tear dropped onto my bare wrist as she turned around in my arms. Her gray eyes were completely clear for a second, and the yellow light was not sitting behind her pupils. She reached up and grabbed the front of my shirt with both hands, pulling me down toward the mattress.

"Do not talk about Kai anymore tonight," Maddie pleaded and she unbuttoned the top section of her coat with shaking fingers. "Just hold my body before the morning comes, Calix. I want to feel your skin while I can still remember the sound of your voice."

I did not answer her with words. I pulled her down onto the gray wool blankets and my mouth found hers in the dark. The kiss was hard and fast, and we did not care about the noise from the hallway or the dry timber dust that rose up from the mattress. Her fingers dug deep into the muscles of my shoulders and she pulled my weight flat against her hips like she was trying to lock me inside her skin.

We moved together on the old bed while the wind rattled the window pane outside. There were no grand thoughts or pack laws left in the room, just the sound of our deep breathing and the wet heat of our skin sliding together in the dark. Every time she made a small sound against my neck, I pressed harder, pouring my whole spirit into her body until my legs went stiff and my chest felt like it was going to split open.

We lay there afterward for ten minutes without moving. My arm was tucked under her head and her silver hair was spread across my chest like a wet sheet. The room was totally silent, but then my eyes went down to her neck.

The golden mate mark was almost completely white now. The lines were disappearing right into her skin, leaving nothing but a smooth, pale patch under her ear.

"He is laughing, Calix," Maddie whispered and her body did not move at all against mine. "I can hear him inside the dark room in my brain. He is sitting on the floor and he is holding the keys to the gate."

"I am right here, Maddie," I stated and I reached up to touch her jaw.

"The girl is gone, valley boy," Maddie announced.

The double voice came back with a huge crash and her eyes snapped open, blazing with that bright yellow light again. Her right arm shot out like a piece of iron timber and her fingers locked tight around my throat before I could even lift my elbows to block her.

The strength in her fingers was completely unnatural. She threw my weight off her chest and slammed my back hard against the headboard, pinning my neck down until the wood cracked behind my skull. Her face was inches from mine and her lips were stretched into that wide, dry mountain smile.

"You spent your energy on a dead bond," Maddie jeered and she raised her left hand, her fingernails turning into long, sharp points under the yellow light. "Now I am going to take your head back to the peak gate."