37.

The salty and metallic taste of the Alpha's blood dancing on Madeleine's tongue evoked a revolting sensation within the pit of her stomach, forcing her to bend over and dry-heave for a few times as she didn't exactly have anything to regurgitate anyway.



She violently coughed, spitting out that horrendous liquid tainting her mouth, almost losing balance and falling to her knees as bits and bits of that looming dizziness kept poking at the edges of her mind again, threatening to cloud her vision.



Feeling so unsteady and weak, she wobbly straightened herself back up and staggered her way towards Emerick as she struggled to recover her wits and make sense of everything that just happened at the same time.



The Alpha...



"H-he did something to me...I don't know what happened," She anxiously sputtered out, tucking away a wild strand that had clung against her damp skin as she rose her sight to look up at Emerick's partially smeared face.



"He used compulsion on your mind," He was quick to explain, those violet galaxy eyes now seeming even brighter as they contrasted that dark red splattered over his flawless cheek.



"He took advantage of your feeble state and used it to compel you," His hand stretched out to offer her his physical support as his gaze roamed over her distraught and generally disheveled appearance.



"Let's move. We don't have much time," He said to her as soon as she placed her hand in his gloved one, the girl throwing one last glance over her shoulder at the Alpha's sprawled and completely motionless body lying over the floor into a puddle of his own blood.



"Y-you...you k-killed him..." She finally realized, shock taking over her entire being as she continued to stare at it.



"Y-you managed to kill him,"



"I didn't. I just had him momentarily incapacitated,"



"What?!?" Her head snapped back in Emerick's direction, throwing him a look of utter disbelief and horror.



"He cannot be killed that easily," He quietly said, his gaze shifting to peer at the motionless Alpha for a moment too, a somber look crossing his beautiful features.



"He will regenerate very soon,"



"That is why we need to move as fast as possible," He urged her, mildly tugging at her hand and coaxing her to move and follow his lead as they exited the chamber hand in hand.



"How did you escape all those guards? And where is Meoni?" She breathlessly asked as they ran down a corridor, trying to hold the front part of her dress as best as she could as she most definitely did not want to trip over it.



Emerick abruptly halted and took a sharp turn, causing her to stumble and slam against him. Yet before she could even try and regain her footing she suddenly found herself pressed against a wall into a rather gentle way, feeling that scorching heat radiating from Emerick's still half-bare body as he steadily held her by the arms as if she were the fragilest being to ever exist.



"We fought every single one of them," He absently said whilst his galaxy eyes proceeded to attentively scan her from head to toe, his closeness and that oh-so sweet scent of his fastly bringing back to life all those intense sensations brewing up within her everytime he was around, making her forget about anything else.



"You are far too weakened. You cannot continue this journey in your state," His brows furrowed as he peered into her eyes with evident concern, seemingly oblivious at the way her limbs started to slowly tremble, her rebel mind starting to conjure up various scenarios where he would do all those things the Alpha did to her and so much more.



"I'll have to lend you some of my energy. Are you okay with that?"



"Huh? What?" Her voice sounded a little breathy, almost failing to hear what he'd just said as she could slowly feel herself getting more and more intoxicated by him.



Damnit, Mads. Focus!



She lightly shook her head.



"I must warn you that it will hurt. If you don't want to do it I will not force you to but I strongly advise you to accept it, otherwise your body will not last long until collapsing," He continued to talk as she stared up at him, entirely entranced by that soft lilt of his masculine voice and the way his luscious lips moved, mindlessly nodding to everything he said.



"Do you agree to let me do it then?"



She simply nodded again, blowing out a soft and dreamy sigh as she looked back into his starry eyes.



He was indeed very beautiful, for a non-human creature.



So he started leaning closer and closer -as their difference in height was pretty big- also noticing the way her eyes immediately grew wide with alarm.



"Wait, wha-"



"I will make it as quick as possible, I promise," He assured her, not wasting another moment as he tucked away those wild strands covering the side of her neck and wrapped an arm around her waist, preparing to hold her still for what was about to come.



She didn't get to utter another word as he unexpectedly pulled her up against him and latched his mouth onto the side of her neck, making her let out a breathy gasp before he suddenly plunged both his sharp and thin fangs into her.



She loudly cried out in pain, feeling like a bucket of ice cold water had just been dumped on her as she immediately started to squirm and mewl, futilely pushing at his chest as he firmly held her in place.



Thrashing and struggling, she abruptly stopped the moment a scorching hot liquid started to fill her veins, her pupils dilating and her heart beating stronger, but slower, her core pulsing as well as she let out a long and gratified moan.



What the hell was going on? What was he doing to her?



Her hands stopped pressing against him, slowly travelling upwards at the sides of his neck and burying in his soft and short hair, trying to pull him even closer as she could not help but enjoy what she was currently feeling.



She let out a pleased sigh, barely aware when he'd abruptly retracted his fangs and pulled back to look into her misted eyes.



"How do you feel?"



"Alive..." She mindlessly breathed out, her lashes fluttering as she could still feel the thrill of that weird yet satisfiying bite.



"Good," He didn't waste another moment and took ahold of her hand again, coaxing her to start moving and follow him.



"What did you actually do to me?" She questioned whilst gathering the front part of her dress.



"I've lent you some of my vital force. I actually gave you some of my blood,"



She weirdly peered at the side of his face, not knowing how to feel about that.



He gave her some of his blood. She actually had his blood now running through her veins, flowing in and out of her very heart.



How was that possible? Was his alien blood even compatible enough not to freaking kill her?



And if it was, how was it supposed to help?



Did it have some weird magical alien effects or whatever?



Or did it actually work exactly like a normal human blood transfusion, and nothing else?



Well, either way it did feel good. She couldn't deny that.



In fact, it felt so damn good that she'd actually consider doing it again, if it didn't affect him in any negative way of course.



She blew out a sigh, once again taken by surprise as he unexpectedly stopped and wrapped an arm around her waist, twirling her around and making her stop right in front of him with a swift and flawless move, her breath coming out in short and rapid puffs as she found herself staring back into his purple galaxy eyes.



"You wanted to end your own life in exchange for my freedom. Why?" He suddenly asked, his brows furrowing as if she were the most complicated puzzle he'd ever seen.



Her eyes widened, her lips parting and closing back again as she just stared at him for a moment, completely lost.



"Because I-"



...love you...



The words echoed in her mind, surprising and scaring the hell out of herself at the same time.



What in the actual...!



She wanted to scream out loud, her heart beating faster and her breath turning irregular again as she suddenly started to feel suffocated by his touch and closeness.



"Well that was fast," She suddenly heard Meoni say from somewhere close, their moment thankfully interrupted as she quickly took a step back, her gaze cast downwards as she occupied herself with the senseless task of smoothing out her dress.



"You were the one to question my abilities," Emerick answered, tangible mirth lacing his tone as he watched the illyrian princess cross the remaining distance between them.



"We will have to travel back to Earth. It's our only chance at survival," He was quick to inform her, his attention diverting to catch Madeleine’s reaction, unsurprisingly noticing the way her earthian eyes glittered with emotion.