Ellie realized through a haze of desire that they’d arrived. Jordan had played with her body like it was a fidget toy and she was feeling a need to climb him like a tree. But before she could do anything, he was setting her aside and ordering her to compose herself. Next time, she shouldn’t withhold vital information for her safety and others. Then he was leaving the vehicle and waiting to help her from the vehicle. To her horror, there were people with cameras, and it was loud, with flashbulbs going off and microphones being pushed into people’s faces. Malcolm was already speaking with someone, and his photo was being taken with Melody on his arm. “Yes, it’s true. My family has taken over more than controlling the interest of the firm and we are currently restructuring it. Any other questions? Yes?” 
They made it through the viewing of the auction items. Melody really did like the matching desks. It wasn’t often something like that came up. There were two lots for them and a third for the carousel horse. Now, they were mixing and mingling with other guests before the speeches started. Malcolm moved about the room and introduced Melody to so many people. Some she knew from working with him. Having met them at other functions in the past. One thing stuck out for her. No one realized she’d been the one to have caused his slip at work. They were just happy he was back. Now they understood why she’d disappeared for so long. Malcolm explained the doctor put her on bed rest and no work for the baby’s best chances. He even flashed several baby photos for them. No one batted an eye at the fact he wasn’t in the personal photos. He was the doting partner and father. She was the new moth
Nathan stood there. He must have followed them. But this was a private event. How had he gotten into the building? “Ellie, we have to go. We don’t have time for him. He had his chance, and he screwed it up. Jordan is looking for you.” By now, the crowd was thinning. Melody dialled Malcolm’s number from her important list of contacts. She didn’t get the phone to her ear, but put it on speakerphone. “Ellie, get behind me and move to the exit.” “Oh, shut it, you stupid twat. Ellie, you’re coming home with me now. Cone on.” “Nathan, you’re a walking dead man coming here. Were you lurking outside the bathroom for us?” “Shut up, bitch. You are such a disappointment to your people. Speaking to you disgusts me.” “Did you pull the fire alarm for nothing?” “Oh, I pulled it for something. To get his hands off my precious little girl.” “Okay, that’s just gross. You realize I’m not just with him but we’re permanently together like mates’, right? You can’t
Jordan returned to Malcolm’s side. “You couldn’t let me do it. Could you? Now we have a mess here and it’s going to haunt us. At least I could have been used to ease the political mess this will cause.” “Shut up. It’s done. They are a blood isolated Den that no one cares about. He attacked both women and was a walking plague beast. We did everyone a favour, and that’s going to be a known fact. Brady, the security tapes for all cameras from here to the parking garage. Get copies and wipe the masters. You know the drill. Get the cleaners in here and we’ll play it off as an attack on me. My people had to use deadly force in the process of saving my life and preventing the kidnapping of my wife and her business partner. That’s the cover story. Make sure everything matches up.” “Yes Alpha. I’m on it.” “They always say the best cover stories are the ones that are close to the truth.” “Yeah, we’ll deal with the shifter side of things later.” It didn’t take lon
Melody and Ellie went straight to see David. Malcolm’s mother was asleep on the sofa, and David was oblivious. Asleep in his crib. Jane Richards woke with a start. “What are you doing here? Where’s Malcolm? Did you have fun?” “Yes, right until we were attacked, and Malcolm killed the attacker.” “Is Malcolm alright?” “I don’t know. They shipped us out of there before I could find out. Malcolm and Jordan aren’t answering my calls.” “Why would anyone attack Malcolm?” “No, they attacked us. Malcolm killed him. There was just one crazy.” “What did you do to make him attack you? What drama did you bring with you? Is my son and grand pup in danger from you?” “Oh, good grief, woman, shut your trap. Mel, she’s crazy. You haven’t even told her what was happening, and she’s blaming you.” “Ellie, it’s fine. She doesn’t know. I’m not even sure I want to bother. It might be easier to kick her out.” “I believe my son would have something t
Malcolm was exhausted by the time he settled into the back of his vehicle. It took hours of waiting to get the paperwork secured to release him from the hospital. He was fine, and that was a waste of everyone’s time. He’d have people track the situation to make sure nothing erroneous wiggled free and into the wild. There was nothing he could have done differently. That fox was crazy and desperate. He wanted what he wanted, and nothing anyone said would have dissuaded him. He’d gone for Malcolm’s throat with no preamble. It had to be kill or be killed. No one ever discussed how horrific that saying was. The fox’s blood still covered Malcolm. But he was going home to his fox. That’s all he wanted. His fox and his pup. Yeah, he knew now it was the right time for more pups or kits. He wanted to come home to her round with their new family. Malcolm welcomed the idea of chaos pups would bring. Wars came and went. The Toronto Council of Alphas was strong, an
Malcolm and Jordan were well informed by the time they got to the penthouse level of the whereabouts of their mates and Malcolm’s mother. It didn’t take long to understand why this was so important. His mother was claiming she was being denied her due time with her son and grand pup. Malcolm didn’t have time for this, and it was clear by the reports he received, people weren’t sure which side of the argument to support. The fox shifter luna versus the disgraced former wolf shifter luna. This had to stop. He couldn’t function like this with so many distractions. “I have a question that one of you can answer me. Has my mate weighed in on this incidenyou.th you? Or was it only my mother’s side of the story?” Everyone realized Melody had kept the incident quiet while his mother told everyone she could find. It was a character assassination if he’d seen one. That was how fated mates went. Fate didn’t care if you people were good. You could end up with a horrible mate l
Malcolm just wanted to celebrate this one good thing before he had to go back and deal with all the rest. He’d handed off the fundraiser incident to his people who were trained to deal with it. The morning news would talk about the spin put on the incident and try not to put a damper on the event. He’d feel bad for them later and offer his money and time to compensate for any losses. The hotel would see business from him to help compensate them as well. His people would say nothing bad about either group publicly. “Malcolm, I need to talk to you. It’s about your mother.” Ellie and Jordan were gone now. They’d headed back to their condo so they could rest. They’d spoken of enlarging the penthouse floor eventually so that both families could share the space. Their pups and kits growing up together, living as an extended family. Not unheard of within the shifter communities. All adults parented, taught, and guided the pack’s pups to some extent. It meant there w
The investigation took weeks, and by then they’d moved into the packhouse. Life slowly got back to normal. The pack warmed up to Melody and Ellie. When they realized they were the minds behind their products. The she-wolves embraced them readily. Malcolm and Jordan split their time between the city and the Muskoka territory. Even the various construction projects were progressing well, with no more interference. The Fae were nowhere to be seen. But there were new rogues in the shadows of the neutral zones, and they weren’t living there quietly. The council of alphas were making plans to deal with them along with an ever pending war between the Toronto packs, the Scarborough Grove, and the Don Valley. It was something that cropped up again and again. They had history and family conflict. No one could blame them for the father they had. Now there’s a girl driving a wedge between them again, with her mere existence. Ellie was concerned about Jordan. He’d have to come to terms wi
“When I stepped into leadership of this pack, I made it clear we wouldn’t hold on to old prejudices. This might not be a message that got to some of the most recent pack members. This is a historic time and events have been fast and furious. So, I will state this again without naming names or telling tales out of school, as the humans say.” He paused and looked about. Several uneasy people were now relaxed. “That’s not to say those people will avoid the appropriate punishments later. Now, we are a wolf pack who recognizes fate can grant us mates who aren’t wolves. We don’t punish a person for their species, race, lack of magic, or anything like that. If you have a problem with another, you seek to resolve it without harming each other. Yes, I know for some that is a tough thing to do. But we do that within this pack. I have heard that someone has used their station and position of responsibility to force their political beliefs onto the pack as a whole. The reports I rece
“Now you’re sure we have everything. I’d hate to get there and find out we’re missing something.” Melody was checking her bags again. Malcolm could see her anxiety in her actions. Normally, she would never reveal it. Now he figured it was her motherly instincts kicking in to protect and care for her pups. “Melody, there will be other families there. I’m sure if you’ve forgotten something, someone will have it.” If looks could kill, Malcolm would need a healer, at least if not an undertaker, as the humans would say. Melody didn’t appreciate his assurances. As Jordan passed him with another car seat. They had to install three of them and that was the last. Jordan made eye contact with Malcolm, and they exchanged a sense of commiseration. Malcolm figured it was because Jordan just escaped a similar situation upstairs. “Ellie, let me get the base in the car and then I’ll come get the pups for you. I don’t want you to carry two of those heavy car seats. Just
Malcolm didn’t stay long after that at the meeting. The elders clearly had a lot to chew on and get straight. He’d gone on to remind them their job wasn’t to run the pack or tell people what and how to do things. They weren’t to threaten the pack members if they said or did anything. Their job was to advise and give council. Use their experience and list, assist in finding answers. Guide the next generation. Someone had lost their way and Malcolm would keep an eye on them. So this wouldn’t happen again. They were getting ready to settle down for the rest of the evening when the elders appeared at their door. This time they requested if we could introduce them to the new pack members. A far cry from the morning. Malcolm noticed the speaker wasn’t there, but Cathleen was. “I’m sorry about all of this, Alpha. I truly didn’t believe it. Gisselle was sent by the others. However, I spoke with her about how unreasonable the horrible words were. She agreed with me. I just ask that you
Malcolm was unhappy when he entered the elder’s meeting room to hear this information. What were they thinking, pulling this? Running on rumours and speculation. That wasn’t how he or how he expected his pack to run. Malcolm waiting rather impatiently for a response that didn’t appear to come fast enough for his liking. “Tight lipped, are we? Anyone else like to step up to the speaker’s spot and inform me of exactly what my mate, they accused your Luna of what and by whom?” “I can’t tell you who reported this to us, but I would love to fill you in on this. It’s rather disgraceful, over-the-top, and factually unbelievable.” Cathleen stood up from her seat, a look of sour disapproval on her face. “To make matters worse, they kept me out of the loop on the births that happened at the cottage. This, I gather, was to ensure that I didn’t spill the beans about what they were doing.” “Madam, if you’d please state the accusations that they forced m
Gisselle found herself basically being escorted to the elders. She was sure they weren’t pleased with her right now after the subtle stance she took. Now she’s having to tell them their information about the Luna was full of misleading or outright false information. That wouldn’t go down well either. She entered the building that the elders used for their private meeting. Cathleen was there this time. She’d been missing when the elders stopped in to see the Luna and recognize the pups. “I hear they left me out of the loop in being told the pup was born early this morning.” Cathleen cornered Gisselle about this as soon as she got there. “For that, I’m sorry. I left a message with someone, and they were supposed to contact everyone. Whatever happened, it wasn’t on my part, I had my hands full at the time.” “Tell me you found these fools were acting out of ignorance and that none of this is true.” “Truthfully, none of it was true. Not
When Malcolm woke up, his phone was inundated with messages, wanting to know about everything. From where was he, to be everyone alright, even a few inquiries about complaints from a couple of elders about him throwing tradition to the wind? Business seemed to be well contained, with only a few reassurances that he takes his time, and it would be managed for him. That meant he would need to deal with several things here at home, make several decisions, and find his footing in this new dynamic. If someone told him he’d be mated and a father of two right now, three years ago, he’d have laughed at them and asked them what they were smoking. Now he had one almost running. They needed to get some safety items set up in the cottage. Malcolm was there to catch David this time before he fell down the stairs. No one told him pups moved that fast. Now there were four! He thought he’d let Melody look after this. But with the mess in how people were communicati
Malcolm was more than annoyed with the elders. This was his family and his pack. That meant his word was law and what they did was overstep their place. He didn’t have to listen to their advice, and that’s all their words should be. A voice of experience or a different perspective. They shouldn’t be demanding anything. “What is going on out there?” “Insensitive, self-important ninnies every one of them. The elders were downstairs. They expected you to give birth and then get up and walk down to them so we can present the boys to them officially.” “Is that what it was?” Melody sighed and kissed David’s head as he cuddled. He was still trying to wake up after being woken up several times during the night. “I would have thought you’d want to get it over with.” “We don’t have a name for this little one. I’m not leaving anything to chance. They make me worry that if we don’t have a name, then they’ll select one themselves to expedite things. Are they still giving yo
Three hours after returning to the cottage, Malcolm saw his pup come into the world. It wasn’t at all what he’d expected and if they had any more, he’d gladly wait elsewhere. Gisselle believed the little male would be another pup. So, Malcolm finally made a list of the information he needed to add to the pack’s registry. He couldn’t believe that he’d not added Melody or David to the registry. They’d added Ellie along with the twins. He hoped that’s why no one was respecting them before this. Once things quieted down, it was late enough in the morning for the elders to make their appearance and demands clear. They wanted to be introduced to both pups and do it all official. Malcolm was more than annoyed by this. They expected to be catered to without thought to Melody’s health or anyone else. Why did it even have to be today at all? “Alpha, could you let me handle this as the Luna’s healer? It’s my duty to ensure she recovers. I know you haven’t said anyth