"Um..."
"What is it?"
Galileo pointed over my shoulder. When I turned around, my blood didn't just boil--it burned like the surface of the sun.
Zakariel had walked into the cavern.
I didn't think. I ran at him and grabbed him by the throat. His mismatched eyes went wide and he let out a choked sound, raising his palms to appease me.
I'd never had mercy on an alpha before and I wasn't about to start with this asshole. But... something about the flicker of fear in his eyes startled me. Even though I wasn't squeezing hard, I quickly let go of him, wondering if I'd gone too far.
"What the hell was that for?" Zakariel asked, coughing into the back of his arm. He sounded more startled than upset.
"You aren't supposed to come inside," I barked. My heart was racing and I didn't know why. I had no trouble hurting alphas. In fact, I usually enjoyed it.
"You never said anything about that." Zakariel frowned as he tapped his neck, as if making sure it was in one piece. "You just told me not to blab about it."
I opened my mouth to retort but couldn't. I must've forgotten to tell him that very important piece of information. What was wrong with me? Zakariel's presence was messing with my head and I didn't like it.
I calmed myself. There was a lot happening right now. The missing water spirit, Malke's appearance, and now Zakariel... I cut myself some slack.
"Go outside," I ground out. "We'll talk there."
Zakariel gave me a silent thumbs-up before trudging out of the cavern and into the downpour. He slumped against the rocky wall as the rain soaked his body.
Blowing out a breath, I glanced back to make sure nobody had seen. But Galileo and Malke had.
Fucking hell.
"I'm so sorry about that," I said, softening my voice as I approached them. "He never should've come inside. It was my fault."
But Malke wouldn't meet my eyes. He glanced to Zakariel.
"He won't be coming back," I assured him.
Malke fidgeted with his blanket. "Uh huh," he mumbled.
Galileo sighed and shoved me away from Malke so he could mutter something only I could hear. "He's not afraid of the alpha, dummy. He's afraid of you."
My heart sank. "What?" That wasn't possible. I'd helped him, given him a home and protected him from an alpha.
"Uh, you just throttled a guy in front of him," Galileo said. "He's understandably spooked."
"But he's--"
"An alpha. I know." Galileo smiled sympathetically. "Geez, Kamari, you know I love you, but sometimes you take your alpha hate too far. Hell, I'm scared of them too, but I wouldn't put a guy in a choke-hold for just walking around."
"I'm not scared of him," I growled. But as Galileo's other words sank in, I frowned. Had I gone overboard? The last thing I wanted to do was frighten the omegas under my care and I'd done exactly that. Shame flooded me. I clenched my fists and stared at the ground, angry with myself. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, you don't have to apologize to me. You should tell it tothatguy," Galileo said, nodding towards Zakariel. He sniffed the air. "Ew, why does he smell like wet dog?"
"Wolf shifter."
Galileo laughed. "That'll do it."
I ran my hand over my face and sighed. "I'm going out. Take care of everyone. Especially Malke."
"You got it, boss," Galileo said chipperly.
