One
Malachi
Malachi pushed his wolf faster, needing to run off this feeling he had. He didn’t want to put a name to it. If he did, he would feel even worse because this wasn’t the way he should be feeling, not towards his brother.
But no matter how much he wished it away, he couldn’t shake the emotion.
He was jealous.
Chi was so eaten by jealousy it shamed him.
Hell yeah, he was happy for Malek. He was happy his brother had found his mate and they had a baby—his nephew Mason. However, there was still this horrible pit in his belly whenever he thought of the fact he mightneverfind his mate. That made him absolutely stinking envious of his brother and made him feel like dirt—worse than dirt.
He wasn’t resentful of the happiness Malek had found, or that the goddess had blessed Malek with his mate. Hedefinitelydidn’t want his brother’s mate. He was just jealous of the fact Malek had found his mate when Malachi didn’t even know where to look next for his.
Malachi felt like crap because he was supposed to watch his brother all happy and mated, and he was supposed to be happy for him—which hewas. He loved how much Malek smiled now, how much he laughed.
He even teased his brother for spending the least amount of time at work as he could. Most of the time he was happy to be around Axel and Malek, especially now that they had Mason.
Malachi loved going and spending as much time with the little guy as he could, but today when he’d woken, the jealousy had almost eaten him alive, and even though he didn’t want to be that person, it was there.
That was how he’d ended up in wolf form running through the forest that he knew like the back of his hand. He had figured maybe he could run the way he was feeling out of his system.
Malachi pushed his wolf faster and tried turning off his brain. Usually, being in wolf form could dull all the emotions for him, but it seemed like this time they were too close to the surface.
He and his brothers had searched the world for their mates, visiting extended family all over the world to see if they would catch that scent.
That fucking amazing scent that only atruemate could detect. When they were younger and just learned what fated mates were, his youngest brother Mikhail had asked their papa what it smelled like. His parents had looked at each other, sharing this smile between them that Malachi had only come to recognise as an adult, then they’d told their sons it was like everything good, everything perfect—all your favourite things in one.
Malachi had tried to imagine what that smell would be, but he honestly couldn’t.
He let out a huff, at least that was what it would have been in human form. He’d wondered and dreamed of all the possibilities, but like his parents had told them later in life, you had to experience it to understand it.
He’d noticed it first with his papa and dad when one of them got upset—especially his omega papa. He would burrow his nose in his dad’s chest and breathe in. Now, Chi had also noticed his brother doing it to Axel, and he realised it had become as natural to Malek as breathing.
The nights he’d gone over there with Malek straight from work, his brother would go up to Axel and give him a kiss. Then Malek would spend a couple of minutes holding his mate and just breathing him in.
A few weeks ago, after one of those days when everything that could go wrong, had gone wrong, Malek had been in a foul mood. He’d chewed out the contractor doing renovations on one of their resorts, one of their employees had quit with no notice and left them short-staffed, and a delivery ran late because of an accident on the motorway. His older brother’s mood had steadily grown worse through the day, and they’d left the office for home together. Malachi had gone in with Malek instead of going straight to his place—mostly because he loved spending time with Mason before Axel put the little boy down for bed.
He’d followed Malek into the kitchen and watched him pull his mate into his body, and Chi saw his brother’s shoulders slowly relax. It was almost like water draining through a sieve. All the aggravations Malek had from the day just melted away.
It had been incredible to witness, and Malachi had felt envy crawl up his spine and wrap around his heart like a vice. It had felt like a living thing, the way it surrounded him, and he’d hurried out of Malek’s home through the back door, thrown himself into a shift, and disappeared into the forest.
He had a feeling Malek had known what he was feeling at that moment. They generally respected each other’s privacy, but being brothersandpack, well… emotions were more difficult to hide.
During his run today, Malachi had muted the connection with his brothers because he needed some time to himself, but he never turned it the whole way off. One thing their alpha father had taught them was to never shut it off completely, especially in case an emergency arose.
Even though it was just their family that made up the pack, his father still insisted on some old-world pack traditions, and that was one of them.
The pack should never be cut off from each other.
Malachi felt a tugging on his bond with his brothers, like a television with the sound turned all the way down, so he increased the volume on their shared thoughts— pack members could still communicate while in wolf skin—and heard Malek calling him home.
Chi didn’t even hesitate—his brothers would know he was in wolf form. For Malek to call him home it meant something was wrong. He turned and ran back the way he had come, pushing himself to run faster.
Fuck...Malek wouldn’t just call for him. What if something had happened to his nephew? Chi ran as fast as he could not even needing to think about where he was going. With his heightened senses and having explored the whole of their side of the forest—and beyond—he didn’t have to think, he simply let his instincts lead him home.
It didn’t take long for him to get to his place and grab the sweatpants he’d left on his deck. Once he was dressed, Malachi hurried through their shared garden to his brother’s home.
