“You could never be a bother, you are family…Pack,” Malachi made sure to put as much emphasis on the word as he could, “that means so is he.”
“Pack,” Axel echoed.
He knew his brother-in-law—that was the best way he could think to describe Axel—was just learning. He didn’t know what pack meant… yet. Yeah, pack was family, but it was more. You died for pack, you killed for pack… you always protected the pack. That was how they’d been raised. And for them, it meant more because their pack was blood.
“I promise to call when I’m with him so you can speak to him,” Malachi said, trying to reassure Axel.
“Okay,” Axel released a breath, “I promise I’ll try not to call again before you do.”
Malachi laughed softly. “I won’t mind if you do.”
“Stop flirting with my mate, Chi.” Malek’s voice came through the phone, teasing.
Axel giggled, and Malachi heard him whisper,“Stop it,” and then the sound turned into a moan.
Okay, yeah, he didn’t need to hear that, so he hung up. He would bet Malek was just trying to get his mate’s mind off worrying, or maybe he just couldn’t keep his hands off Axel…
Lucky sod.
Less than thirty minutes later, he pulled up to a Premier Inn not too far from the Manchie City Centre. He parked his car opposite the hotel and saw it was a pay and display, so he quickly got a ticket.
He took a deep breath before crossing the road, hoping what he found wouldn’t make him a liar to Axel since he’d told the man he was sure his brother was fine.
Malachi said a quick prayer to the goddess that Alfie actuallywasokay… Hmm, had he mentioned that name was really cute?
Malachi walked into the hotel and headed straight to the lifts. When the doors opened, he got his phone out and made sure he had the room number right so he could select the correct floor.
The lift stopped on Alfie’s floor, and Malachi got out, then followed the signs that directed him to the room. As he approached, his wolf became more alert.
Malachi’s wolf was pushing him, trying to come to the surface, but he pushed the beast back down. Still, he made sure his nose was on alert for the amazing smell drawing him to a room at the end of the hall.
He was surprised—and maybe kind of not—when he stopped in front of the door he’d been heading to all along. As he stood in front of Axel’s brother’s room, the scent hit him full force…Mate!
Malachi had to pull himself together, and it took every ounce of self-control he had. His immediate instinct was to start banging on the door, but something told him that wasn’t the way to go. He wasn’t sure what had made his mate…fuck, he had amate!He wasn’t sure what had made his mate call his brother, but clearly, something was wrong.
He made sure his beast was under control and took another calming breath before knocking on the door.
Four
Alfie
Alfie was in that place drifting between being awake and being asleep, trying to decide if waking up was worth it, when he heard a knock at the door. He was about to hop out of bed when his body made its displeasure known.
Yeah, no jumping for you, mate.
He rolled to the edge of the bed, slowly turning his body and putting first one leg, then the second, on the ground. Alfie cursed Rupert’s stupid face with every move. He was a little disorientated for a moment and took a second to breathe, but the knocking on the door didn’t stop.
“I’m coming,” Alfie muttered.
He was about to pull the chain back and open the door, then paused as it occurred to him that Rupert could have tracked him down—not that it would take much since the hotel he was in was literally less than ten miles from his mum’s house.
“Who is it?” Alfie called out.
“Malachi,” a voice replied, “Axel sent me.”
For some reason, the voice made Alfie shiver and had him wanting to dip into the bathroom and check if he looked presentable. Since Alfie knew what he would see when he looked in the mirror, he decided to stop acting the idiot and instead went to unhook the chain and open the door. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t the broad, muscular chest he found.
Crap!Alfie would bet shirtless, his was a chest that could make the cover of GQ… Hell, GQ wasn’t even right. This man was too… rugged?
