“That’s what I figured,” Nathan said. A pause while the other person spoke, and then he said, “Oh no, nothing like that…. Okay, I’ll have her follow me.” He hung up and smiled again. “Good news, Malachi says you can follow me to his place and he’ll hear you out.”
Wait…what? “I can’t trespass. I’m human.”
Nathan nodded. “That’s the custom, yeah. Thanks for honoring it by the way.”
Thanks? What in the world? “Right, so, um, I can’t follow you to someone’s house. I need the alpha’s permission first.”
“He gave permission. Just now on the phone.”
“No, I—I have to speak to Alpha. I can’t speak to some random wolf about this. And I can’t drive down your road if Alpha hasn’t—”
“Hey.” Nathan set one hand on the roof of her car.
April’s body curled away from the window as she cried out.
The wolf leaped back. “Sorry—shoot, I’m sorry. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I’ll stay back here, okay?”
His words seeped in slowly.Sorry.That one weighed more than all the rest. A wolf apologizing to a human. She straightened in her seat. She nodded.
“I’m taking you to the alpha,” Nathan said. “He’s the one who gave permission. He’s the one I was talking to.”
“But you called him Malachi.”
“That’s his name.” Nathan’s brow furrowed.
“You don’t…you don’t call him Alpha at all times?”
Nathan gave a short laugh he quickly stifled when she flinched. “Sorry, I’m just picturing his face if I tried that.”
April’s thoughts splintered. Maybe the drive to Tennessee had sent her through a portal into another reality. Maybe hunger and thirst and terror had sent her into a delirium.
“Come on,” Nathan said. “He just got back in from the woods, that’s why he didn’t answer me the first time. He’s at his cabin now, waiting for us. Unless…are you okay to drive?”
She’d driven this far, and she wouldn’t leave her car here. It was all she had. She nodded, and after a moment of scrutiny Nathan nodded.
He returned to his truck and pulled out, around her car, onto Lunar Lane. April’s heart hammered as she drove behind him. Time to learn her fate. If this alpha threw her out onto the road…well, she might not live long. But she’d keep breathing as long as she possibly could.
Two
Therewasnosensein mulling the puzzle until he had all the pieces, yet Malachi mulled anyway as he leaned against a beam of his covered front porch and waited for Nathan and the human woman to arrive. Was she trustworthy? Could she bring danger to his pack? What sort of help did this human need from wolves? The odor of exhaust came nearer along with Nathan’s signature eucalyptus, blended with the gamey scent all wolves shared. The woman’s scent came too, all citrus, bright and sweet, a blend of mandarin orange and lemon. He walked out into the yard, crossed the gravel driveway, and stood by his truck as they pulled in and parked side by side.
The woman smelled tired and scared, the opposite of a threat. Still Malachi’s instincts insisted he meet her out here, keep her off his porch and out of his home. She was human and a stranger, and his home was…his. Safe and sacred to his wolf heart.
Nathan got out and waved to him, then walked around to the woman’s car. “Hey, he’s right here. Come on.”
The tang of adrenaline spiked in her scent as she opened the door and stepped out. She was fairly tall for a human female, five-foot-eight or even -nine. But she kept her head bowed, and the visor of her blue ball cap hid her entire face from Malachi’s vantage of six-foot-seven. She glanced up so quickly—locating him but not really looking at him—he still got no glimpse of her features.
“What brings you here?” he said.
She gave a jump upon first hearing his voice, but most people reacted to it one way or another. Humans often assumed he smoked.
“My name is April McVie.” Her voice was even, firm, the accent Southern but not local. Then she dropped to her knees in front of him, and Malachi’s pulse notched up. This was wrong.
She said, “I’m here to seek sanctuary from you. I’ll repay this favor in any way you—”
“What are you doing?”
All of her froze—voice, body, breath.
