The mother looked skeptical but bought three children’s books anyway.
By the time my shift ended, the crowd had thinned. Only one man remained, browsing the thriller section. I’d been about to go help him when he called out.
“Excuse me? Could you help me find something?”
“Sure.” I walked over, Malachar padding silently beside me. “What are you looking for?”
“A good mystery. Something dark. Suspenseful.” He smiled. Moved closer. Too close. “Maybe you could recommend something?”
“We have a whole section-”
“I meant more... personal recommendations.” He leaned in, one hand bracing against the shelf beside my head while the other reached out to touch my arm. “What do you like? In yourbooks?” His eyes dragged down my body. “What gets your heart racing? Because I’d love to know what excites a woman like you.”
A growl started next to me. Low and menacing, building in intensity.
Malachar materialized at my waist, teeth bared, red eyes glowing. The fur on his back was raised and he took a step forward, placing himself between me and the customer with lethal intent.
The man went pale. “I - I just-”
The growl grew louder and Malachar’s entire body tensed, coiled and ready to spring.
“I’m sorry, I need to go-” The man practically ran for the door. Didn’t even buy anything. The bell chimed violently as he fled.
“Malachar!” I looked down at the wolf. “You just scared away a customer.”
He looked up at me. Completely unrepentant. If anything, he looked satisfied.
“You can’t growl at people just because they get close to me. That’s not-”
The air shimmered and rippled. I watched in awe as fur receded into skin, as the wolf’s form stretched and shifted and reformed into a man. Bones cracking and restructuring. The transformation took seconds, mesmerizing and terrifying and beautiful in a primal way that made my breath catch. Onemoment, a massive wolf. The next, a naked man crouched on my bookstore floor.
He stood slowly, all that muscle and skin and tattoos on full display, and his eyes were still red, still glowing with barely controlled fury. He grabbed my chin firmly and tilted my face up to meet his gaze.
“No man touches you but me,” he growled. The words were more animal than human. Raw and possessive. “Do you understand?”
I couldn’t speak or breathe, only stare at him.
He released my chin and stalked to the front door. Locked it. Flipped the sign to Closed. Grabbed a blanket from the reading nook and tied it around his waist with practiced efficiency.
Then he turned back to me. “Now. Where do you need help?”
“I - what?”
“You said you needed help. I am here. Tell me what to do, boss.”
My brain was offline. Completely offline. I’d just watched him shift. Watched fur become skin, wolf become man. And now he was standing there in a blanket, looking at me expectantly, as if he hadn’t just claimed me in the most primal way possible.
“Books,” I managed. “Top shelf. I can’t reach them. They need to be reorganized.”
He nodded and moved to the shelves. Started pulling down books that needed to be straightened. Reaching places I couldn’t without a ladder. His muscles flexed with each movement. The blanket rode low on his hips.
I forced myself to look away. To start picking up the books customers had left scattered around the reading nook. To straighten chairs. To do anything except stare at him.
But I was hyperaware of him. Of every movement, every breath. The way he moved with that predatory grace. The way he handled the books carefully despite his size, how he kept glancing at me to make sure I was okay.
“Thank you,” I said quietly. “For earlier. With that guy.”
He paused. Looked at me. “I will always protect you, little mate. That is what mates do.”
