Marcos Domah looked at Malika curiously before nodding his head at John. The men seemed to communicate through nods and I turned my attention back to Malika. Her honesty shone from her aura and I could sense Vincent’s anger.“If you were found innocent of these charges, would you sign allegiance with the Seward Pack?” Marcos asked her.“Without a doubt,” she said without hesitation.“Who did you seek permission from to marry?” Marcos asked the next question.“My own, sir. I belong to no pack and I am nobody’s property. My allegiance ended the day Teeven stepped down as Alpha,” Malika said and Marcos nodded. He was making notes on the paper in front of him.“Did you not get permission from Alpha Sinclair?” He asked her and she looked down. I had told her to be honest, she had done nothing wrong. Neither of us had.“My husband has allegiance with the Sinclair family and their pack. He went to speak to Alpha Kiran after we were informed of the charges and he asked Kiran what would happen
Disembarking from the plane took longer than Malachi liked and he was anxious to get out of there and to find Kiran. They were cutting it close, he wouldn’t find Kiran before the tribunal started.They bypassed the luggage claim since they both had only brought a carry-on suitcase and they walked hand in hand through the terminals and headed to the outside of the airport. Jessica inhaled sharply as they stepped out of the airport and into the brilliant sunlight.The heat was sweltering and the sun beat down on their surroundings. Malachi stepped forward then and nodded at a man. He opened the car door for her to climb into the back before climbing into the front.“This place is insane, too bad we’re not here to sightsee,” Jessica said.The man driving the car didn’t wait for introductions and pulled the car into the departing traffic and merged onto the highway. Jessica sat back and stared at the man before glancing at Malachi. “He’s not human.”Malachi smiled then. “Donovan, this is
“There’s a side door around the northern corner that’s not guarded,” Jessica said.“Are you inside? Where’s Kiran?” Malachi asked her.“I’m inside. I can see Kiran, he’s standing in the middle of the room … wait, there are two more witches here,” Jessica said.Malachi headed to the other side of the building and saw the door Jessica had mentioned. That was his way in, now he just needed her to keep talking to him. “Jess?”“Kiran knows I’m here. He says Bryan’s with him but the other witch is with Vincent and she knows I’m here,” Jessica said. Her voice sounded more guarded now.“Jess, get out, please. I’m coming in,” Malachi said as he ran towards the door.“Malachi! They have guns! Malachi!” Jessica screamed.Malachi’s heart was pounding as he kicked the door down and gunshots were fired. “Jessica! Get out of here, now!”Kiran stood in the middle of the room, exactly as Jessica said, and Malachi saw the bullet hit him in the chest. It all felt like slow motion as he turned his head a
I forced my eyes open and I smelled blood everywhere. I heard screaming and I turned my head to the side. I saw Jessica hunched over Malachi, he moved his foot and I sighed with relief. If he was moving, it was a good sign.He was still alive. I couldn’t see what Jessica was doing but I hoped she was getting the bullet from his neck before he bled out. I felt disoriented. Malachi was here, he took three bullets for me and now he was dying.I felt confused as to why they were here and why he had tried to save me. I couldn’t think rationally and I looked around for Adara. I saw her walking towards me, she was smiling as she knelt next to me. Her scent enveloped me and I inhaled deeply. I just needed her. If she was here, then everything was fine and we’d succeeded. “I love you, Kiran,” she said to me and I smiled back at her.“I love you, too,” I said to her and Jessica’s voice broke through the haze and I looked at her and started laughing.“He’s hallucinating, he’s losing too much bl
“Why are they laughing?” Julien asked as he looked at Karis, he shrugged and went inside. Bryan started laughing with us. We laughed until we had tears in our eyes and couldn’t laugh anymore while everybody else looked at us with shocked looks on their faces. My chest hurt from laughing so much and finally our laughter died down.“Yup, special kind of special,” Jessica said as she went to stand next to Malachi and smiled up at him.“Clearly I’ve missed a lot,” I said as I looked at them. Karis came outside and put my bag on the table next to me. “How long was I out?”“Five hours,” Karis answered me and I frowned.“You heal slower now because of the witch stuff,” Jessica said to me in explanation. It made sense that some of my wolf powers would dwindle in favor of the magic flowing inside me.“I went to the hotel and got all your stuff and checked you out. You must leave as soon as you can. Vincent got away and we’re all marked now,” Karis said, looking worried. “John’s inside, I thin
I slept on the backseat of Malachi’s car as he drove back from Anchorage to Seward. The exhaustion wouldn’t leave me, and I put it down to the uncomfortableness of the plane. Other than that, my world was semi-perfect. I had Malachi back and he had Jessica back, I was certain that I also had Adara back.Malachi slammed on the brakes as we neared the marina and the car slid on the snow and turned sideways as we stopped and I opened my eyes. The cars were backed up on the highway leading past the lagoon.I could see flashing blue lights up ahead and Malika peered out of the window. I climbed out of the car and Malachi got out with me. Our breaths were white puffs in the darkness and I noted that nobody else had climbed out of their cars.“Probably an accident up ahead,” I said to Malachi and started walking towards the blue lights. Malachi had gone back to tell Jessica and Malika to stay in the car and he caught up to me just as I started running.The truck was laying on its side, Port
I had no answers for Malachi. I felt dizzy, nauseous and for a split-second fear had a tight grip on me.“When you use death magic it drains your life force, like I said earlier, stupid, stupid, stupid. You’re not even completely healed from the shooting and you go and jump into the marina!” Jessica said annoyed.“I don’t feel so good,” I said to Malachi.“You’ll be fine in another few days, granted you don’t try to be a hero until then,” Jessica said to me as I felt faint. She drove up the driveway and parked Malachi’s car in the garage. Malachi had to help me get out of the car as the bullet wounds started to hurt again and my head was pounding.We walked into the kitchen, Malachi supporting my weight and holding me up since I could barely stand on my left leg where I’d been shot. Adara came down the stairs, still fully clothed even though it was past midnight. She’d been waiting up for us.“I thought you said you were fine!” She said when she saw me, blood had started to run down m
I felt better after that shower and I shaved in front of the mirror. I dressed quietly in the dark of our room and closed the door behind me softly, not wanting to wake Adara yet. I stopped in the hallway and opened the nursery’s door.I walked inside their room and looked down at where Kai and Saga slept next to each other, holding hands. I smiled as I stroked each of their heads and walked downstairs after closing their door softly too. It was a feeling unlike anything else, watching my children sleep.I went to the kitchen to make coffee and I saw the divorce papers, still on the counter where I had left them. I took them with my coffee and went to the study, closing the door behind me. I sat down and moved the laptop into its correct position.Someone had used it and I moved the mouse and it opened on the print page. Malachi’s ticket to Mauritius stared back at me. I exited the browser and opened my council email. I typed in my password and I had five new emails from them.Four of
“Do you want me to climb on your back?” he asked me and I nodded my head. He pulled at my fur as he struggled to climb on but he managed and I stood up. ‘Where are your parents, kid?’ I wondered to myself as I started walking slowly forward.“My name’s Aaron and I’m going to call you Rex!” he said and I shook my head.“What about Super Wolf?” he asked me and again I shook my head as we walked through the forest. I was heading towards the lagoon where I heard distant music.“Okay, how about Chief because you’re really big and you’re a hero!” he said and I thought, ‘what the hell’, so I nodded and he hugged me from behind around my neck. I walked around the cabins that were situated just beyond the Second Lake and kept walking.He was telling me about his dog, whose name was Rex, and his school, his friends and how a wolf was now his favourite animal. I kept walking and I saw the distant flashing lights, red and blue. I felt relieved that maybe they realized he was missing and they were
It was 3 a.m. and I couldn’t sleep, I had been rolling around in my bed all night. I had left Adara and Caitlyn in the living room where they’d been talking. Adara was a little bit nicer to me with Caitlyn in the house and I wondered how long that would last once she left again.I got up and went downstairs and put the kettle on for coffee. I took my coffee to the study and put the laptop on. I opened my email and I started typing. It sounded cliché as I reread it but that was the truth.“Adara,I could say I’m sorry a thousand times and still it wouldn’t be enough to undo the hurt I caused you. To say that I regret it would probably be a good place to start, but there are some of my choices that I don’t regret. I regret lying to you and hurting you, but I truly believed at the time that I was doing the right thing for everyone.I needed to know that he wouldn’t come after you or the kids, because you are my weakness and I could put my emotions off and be able to live without you, but
After lunch, Malachi drove back to Jessica’s office to drop her off at work. He parked in the parking lot and turned towards Jessica. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”“I won’t be the one in white,” she said and Malachi smiled.“I don’t care.” Jessica leaned forward and kissed him. “I love you, Jess.”“I love you too, old guy.” With that Jessica got out of the car and didn’t look back once as she crossed the street and disappeared inside her office.Malachi drove to his own office and finished up with the last of his cases before the wedding and then he’d be on honeymoon with Jessica for four weeks and he’d given Lynne off for those four weeks as well. For the first time in twenty odd years, Malachi’s office would be closed for business.“Yes,” Malachi said at the knock on his door.The door opened and Lynne walked inside. “Mr Sinclair?”“Yes, Lynne?”“I wanted to say congratulations for tomorrow,” she said and placed a wrapped box on Malachi’s desk.“Thank you, Lynne, but this really wasn’t n
Jessica clasped her hands together on the table, her eyes twinkled for just a second as she took a sip of her drink before locking her gaze on Caitlyn once more. Malachi had a smile he was trying to hide and I knew it was coming.“Well, aren’t your legs just like a McDonald’s,” Jessica said as she stared at Caitlyn.I choked on my drink from laughing and trying to swallow at the same time as James laid his head down on his arms and laughed. Adara nudged me in the ribs and it was the first time she’d touched me in weeks. That one touch gave me hope, even though I was laughing obscenely loudly.“What?” Caitlyn asked, frowning in her confusion. “Is that a fat joke?”James laughed louder and I couldn’t control myself anymore either. Jessica’s face remained impassive as she looked at Caitlyn. I could see Malachi was fighting the urge to laugh as well.“I can’t decide which one you’d like to jump first though,” Jessica said and Caitlyn blushed.James’s face was red and he pulled on my sleev
“He’s in a good mood,” Caitlyn said as she looked around the office. I almost snorted out loud but composed my features in time. James was an asshole for letting me suffer through this alone. Some Beta he was.“How can I help you ladies?” I looked quizzically at Adara and she shrugged. She wanted to be in my office as much as I wanted to be back in the realm of death. She obviously hadn’t told Caitlyn about the problems we’d been having and I would use that to my advantage.“We thought we’d take you to lunch,” Adara said and I sat back and smiled. “But if you’re too busy we understand,” she added quickly.“I’m never too busy for you,” I said and looked Adara in the eye.I smiled at her as Caitlyn got that “aww” look on her face and I knew if she could, she would roll her eyes at me, probably strangle me. I stood up from behind my desk and grabbed my phone. I opened the door for them and led them to the elevators.“You should invite James to join us,” Adara said and I smiled. There was
I walked up the dirt road and took my shirt off to wipe the sweat from my face and I saw the car parked in the driveway. I stood looking at the rental and tried to decipher what type of man rented a flashy convertible. I tucked the end of my shirt into my waistband and walked inside, Adara’s plus one was here. I took a deep breath. I didn’t know how I was going to walk into my own house and face this other man, a man that probably already had feelings for my wife. ‘Be calm, don’t be yourself,’ I said to myself as I entered the kitchen.I stopped in my tracks and almost laughed out loud. I could hear them talking in the kitchen. Adara’s plus one was Caitlyn. I knew what I was about to do wouldn’t win me any points with Adara, but I couldn’t help it. I walked to the fridge and took out a bottle of water.I could feel them looking at me as I stood there and emptied the bottle and threw it in the trash. Adara would be annoyed because I didn’t have a shirt on and Caitlyn, well, Caitlyn w
“I would appreciate it if you could at least put your own cup away, I’m not your maid,” Adara said to me irritably as I came down the hall from the study to the kitchen. “Yeah, I was up early, sorry,” I said and smiled at her.“And not walk around half naked,” she added irritably.“Sorry,” I said to her again but she didn’t acknowledge me. I sat down at the counter where she stood on the other side looking at her laptop. She still had to feel at least something if it bothered her to see me with no shirt on. I kept on looking at her until she looked up and sighed.“I’m sorry,” I said to her. Her eyes never made contact with mine and I might as well have been invisible.She closed her laptop and looked at me briefly, then she turned around and walked to her car. I sighed. Progress was slow but I smiled, today she had looked at me, perhaps in a week she’d start talking to me.We kept up this cat and mouse game for the next two weeks until she had to talk to me. We had just finished dinn
I sat looking at James for a few moments before I answered him. He was important to me but with an Alpha Beta relationship it was like a slap in the face and me saying that I didn’t trust his abilities to have my back.“I know but I could never do that to you. Don’t you see? I love you like a brother and you just started your own family. How could I in good conscience take you away from that?” I asked him and he nodded his head in understanding.“Okay, I get that part and thank you for that, because I actually do want to live long enough to see them grow up and get married and all that stuff that I didn’t have with Garrick,” he said to me. “Why didn’t you tell Malachi at least, he’s your dad, Kiran, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for you,” he added.“Exactly, the last time he took a bullet for me in the neck, a bullet meant to kill me and he took it,” I said to him.“Isn’t that his choice to make?” James asked me as he emptied his glass and refilled it.“No, I won’t let anyone choose
Adara returned home just before dinner, much later than she normally did and I wondered if it was to avoid me or because of her plus one. It hurt to think of that plus one but it was my own fault. I had pushed her away, again and again.I was an idiot, but I had set out to do one thing and I had done it. I wasn’t sorry that I’d lied about going to Florida. Vincent had been my problem, not theirs, and I’d rather be damned than endanger her.She hadn’t talked to me when she got home and we all sat at the table in the kitchen eating dinner. It seemed to be the new routine for the twins. They ate dinner with us at the table, Norah feeding Saga and Adara feeding Kai while they ate in between. I sat at the head of the table, in my own seclusion as they sat at the other end, away from me.“Thanks Norah, I’ll be up just now to put Kai to sleep, you can take Saga tonight,” Adara said to her with a smile as Norah took both babies up to their room. She turned to look at me and her smile disappea