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The purple lion lowered its head in agreement, and I exhaled, allowing my body to quake from the anxiety and sheer fear of being ripped to shreds by the white-eyed lion.
Malachi whimpered quietly, moving slowly to close the distance between us as I continued to tremble.
He nudged his head against my knee before he sat down, looking at me with sad eyes.
I gave him a little smile, reaching out with my shaking hand to pet him slowly. Once I was comfortable, I opened my arms up in the hopes Malachi would let me hug him.
Malachi got back up and moved forward till his head was in my arms. I held him tightly, not caring about the blood that stained his mane.
"You're a lion? That's why you were complaining about my father potentially cutting your mane." I remembered our conversation during my surprise birthday.
Quil had said he didn't have a beard, which was accurate, but it all made sense now that I knew he was a lion shifter.
"Grrr,” he replied, beginning to purr loudly as he continued to rub his head against the side of mine.
"Arigato. I...I didn't expect that and froze up. Sorry that you had to come and rescue me." I should have been able to protect myself or at least tried to, but instead, I stood there like a deer in headlights, which was making me feel dreadful.
Malachi moved out of my embrace to shake his head. Then he backed away and shook out his dark purple hair to remove the blood that hadn't soaked into his coat. His body was engulfed in a plum purple colored light, and then he knelt there, in all his naked glory.
He rose up and quickly checked his body for any wounds before he sighed.
"You shouldn't need to apologize, Crim. Lion shifters are rare in this country, especially at that size," Malachi explained.
He walked towards me, and I slowly stared him down, which was actually helping to calm me.
Malachi grinned and came over to where I sat.
"You like what you see, Crim?"
I took a good minute to reply, and I tugged my eyes away from his impressive length reluctantly to focus on answering his question.
"Yes...though I think, in this situation, it's a little inappropriate?"
"Not really,” he countered, brushing my cheek with his hand before leaning down to kiss me firmly on the lips.
Malachi...
I responded almost immediately, lifting my hand to brush against his face, before moving up to feel the smooth texture of his hair, which was still in its ponytail.
"Are you okay?" Malachi asked when he broke the kiss, keeping his face only inches from mine.
"I’m a little shaken up. My Kitsune isn't happy either," I acknowledged, avoiding Malachi's eyes as I felt my Kitsune curl up like she wanted to hide. I could feel her disappointment and anger at not being able to protect us.
"None of that, Crimson. You have to stop being so harsh on yourself," Malachi insisted.
He raised back up to his full height and closed his eyes, whispering something under his breath before a light gold glow covered his lower half. When it dimmed, he wore black sweatpants but remained bare-chested.
Once ensuring he was clothed from the waist down, he scooped me into his arms with ease before sitting down on the bench, lowering me to sit on his lap.
"But...Malachi. I'm supposed to be strong, right? Reports say I should be an SSS, the best Kitsune shifter ever, yet the moment a predator came into sight, I froze. I didn't know what to do other than to run and if...if you hadn’t arrived...what would I have done? I was scared. Frightened because I didn't want to die. I had just recovered the third crystal. I just got to meet Mizu...I...I didn't..." I trailed off as tears rolled down my cheeks.
I tried to wipe them away, getting angry at myself that I dared to cry like a child.
I should have been able to protect myself. How can I be valued so highly by these men when I couldn't even protect myself when I needed to the most? It made me feel that all the training I’d done was worthless, which was why I was so frustrated. I wanted to see progress! I needed to feel stronger and be able to demonstrate what I'd learned so the guys would train me to be strong like them.
"Crimson, don’t cry. I know you’re frustrated and afraid," Malachi whispered.
I continued to sob, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face into his shoulder to weep.
