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I started to walk back. This was the reason why there was no one about it. Why Mikhail hadn't bothered to keep someone outside my door or the front door. He knew I had nowhere to go even if I tried. This was all just a game. I was wrong earlier. Braving the outside for a chance of survival in this weather wasn't the lesser of the two evils. It was the greater evil.

The house grew larger as I got closer and a spark of happiness erupted in my chest. I cursed my selfish human body. The desire for an easy life was an instinct I could not ignore. I couldn't risk escaping if I were to die. This was a less painful option even if I had to walk shamefully back to the house.

I walked to the door and twisted the cold doorknob.

Click.

I twisted it again.

Click.

It was locked. Of course, it was. Was this all a trap? Pieces of ice hit my body without any remorse. My face stung. My fingers ached. My toes felt lifeless and cold. I had to get inside and warmed up before it was too late.

"You're a lot less foolish then I thought you would be". I turned in surprise to see Mikhail standing there with an unreadable expression. The rain drenched his clothes too, but the cold seemed not to affect him. "It would take a lot of courage to walk back".

I stared at him, my face void of any expression.

"My desire for survival far surpasses my loathing for you".

"I had assumed as much. You are a very intelligent woman. It is a shame".

"A shame that I am involved with Malik? I agree".

His eyes seemed to be unguarded for the first time since I met him. Gone was the cocky sadistic persona. Instead was a... person. A vulnerable one. The rain made his hair stick down to his head and the side of his face. His face was pale too making him look almost pitiful.

"It was never my intention. To go this far. I hope you understand that".

"So why have you?"

"Because he can't have everything. For once, I want everything. Everything that he has. The world is laid out at his feet. But there is only one that matters more than the world. And that is his mate. But I have you. So he will never have everything. And if he somehow manages to steal the world away from me again, he can never have you. And that is the one thing he would want the most". He threw his head back and laughed deeply. Rain trickled down his face, leisurely disappearing down his chiselled chest. His body shook but the shirt stuck to him, turning almost transparent as his body arched backwards and his head tipped back.

Pellets of ice hit his body but he didn't seem to care. The ice left small bruises decorating his skin but he didn't seem to be bothered. He stopped laughing, his voice dying down slowly. He looked at me, his eyes red. Water dripped down his face gently.

That was not rain dripping down his face. It was a tear. More followed, each hot tear mingling with the cold rain as he poured his grievances and sorrows out whilst I watched on in a mixture of detached fascination and concern.

"This is the only way", he whispered.

"No, it's not". I watched him carefully. There was something wrong with him. Some sort of mental illness. "The way he hurt you, you are hurting me".

"I want to care. I want to feel bad. I want to feel something, anything. But I don't. This need for revenge, I can't control it. I need to see him suffer. I have hurt more people. Every day I hurt people. I make people cry. I want to stop. But I can't stop".

"I can help you", I said softly. "That is what I do best. Helping people. Making them feel better".

Suddenly his fist clenched tightly. "It won't work! Nothing has ever worked! What makes you so special?!"

"Because I have to help you. If I help you, I help myself. That is my honest reason. It is selfish, yes, but I am not going to lie to you".

Mikhail ran his hands through his hair and watched me from darkened eyes. "What if I don't want help? What if I don't want to be 'fixed'?"

"Then Malik suffers. I suffer. Your real mate will suffer. Your pack will suffer. Your people will suffer. The packs future will suffer. And most importantly, you will suffer. This desire for revenge is hurting you the most. And when everyone is gone, when everyone will leave, it would just be you left. Alone".

A silent staring contest ensued. Him watching me and me watching him. Cautiously. He looked at me with a touch of melancholy at first, with a bleak aura of sadness. The cold was ignored as the adrenaline made my heart pump faster and my brain felt fuzzy. This could be it. This could be what makes me go home. A gentle smile crossed his face as he looked at me welcomingly. And then my heart sank as that smile grew larger and sinister.

Mikhail cocked his head as he looked at me, a manic smile across his face. He began to laugh, again, tremors raging his body. His laughs were so loud, I could feel the shaking from here. I stepped back hesitantly and he began to stalk towards me.

"I do admire your selfishness", he purred. I felt taken aback by how fast he switched from vulnerable to sadistic. That sorrowful look now replaced by a cruel one. "But I admire my selfishness much more. My desire to live my life exactly how I plan it comes above everything else even this 'help' you claim to offer".

I stopped and dug my heels in. No matter how scared I was, I was not going to run. People liked him liked the people who ran. The adrenaline made my skin feel warm and made me feel brave. I wasn't going to back down.

He walked closer and closer and the distance between us closed. My frozen toes grew more painful as every second passed in the sub-zero temperatures. My nose was cold and stiff. My heart frozen in fear. But I remained still.

Mikhail was within breathing distance now. His breath fanned my face gently and the heat emitting from his body was a welcome feeling. He raised his hand and I watched him unflinching. His hand gently stroked the side of my face, almost lovingly, the fingers trailing down my cheekbones and warming my face up.

"The perfect way to end this all", he said almost in reverence. "The thing I need to ruin him. Right before me. Letting me touch her. Touch her face. Her lips".

I bit back any words and sealed my lips shut. His hand trailed lower, down to my collar bone.

"Such a shame that her mouth never shuts", he whispered menacingly as his fingers closed around my throat. "What a pretty face but a manipulative little brain".

He increased the pressure on my throat, his eyes burning into my mine. I stared back impassively. I was starting to feel the restriction. The burn. But I stayed quiet. I asked him to kill me once. This would be a quick way to go.

I saw my reddening face in the reflection of his darkened eyes but oddly there was a calmness to my features. My hands lay limp and frozen at my side, dangling. I weakly inhaled, taking in my last breath, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks and my lips from the restricted blood flow. My throat pulsed under his fingers as I swallowed feebly.

I force my hands into tight fists so that they wouldn't try to pull his hands off. I wouldn't be able to kill myself, I was much too cowardly to. But this would be perfect. In anger, he would kill me and then regret it. Regret that he couldn't get revenge. And I could finally be freed of this torment.

But Malik- The voice whispered urgently in my head.

I brushed it aside. What about him? Had he done anything for me at all?

Black tendrils slowly crept into the edge of my vision, surrounding my view until Mikhail's leering face was the only thing I could see.

A weak smug smile crossed my face as I see his sneer drop to one of panic.

The cold - too much to bear - made my internal systems shut down and the lack of air was making me delirious. I could feel my rapid pulse beating frantically and my head feeling heady and light-headed.

Did he look worried or was I imagining it?

And if he was worried, why were his hands still wrapped around my throat, squeezing?

My smile spread more at the peace that awaited and then my eyes fluttered shut softly.

This is an early chapter :)

So my update day will be moving from Wednesday to the weekend and I'm going to be a little inactive for a bit (I will only come on to update when I can basically). When my schedule frees up a little, everything will go back to normal :))

I might not update weekly depending on how busy I am. It will probably be bi-weekly at the lastest because well quality > quantity  ♪~ ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

(Second) Question of the day:

What is your favourite emoji?

The first for this chapter, comment here -->

Xx

Fight me ̿ ̿ ̿'̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(•_•)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿

Also lemme know if you see any mistakes, my editing skills are not working at the moment and I'm going to fall asleep any moment now so Zzzzzzzz.