“Kneeling,” he said. “Why are you kneeling?”
“I’m demonstrating necessary respect to you, Alpha.”
A wave of nausea rolled over him, and beside him Nathan stiffened in reaction. Malachi wanted to lift her to her feet, but he must not touch her. He was an alpha wolf, and she was an unacclimated human. His touch would cause uncontrollable panic.
“Please get up,” he said.
She scrambled to her feet but kept her chin tucked in, her eyes cast down.
“As for repayment, sanctuary isn’t earned, Ms. McVie.”
“Then…I can’t…?” Her scent pitched through several emotions in a moment, then steadied. The sweet citrus blend filled his senses again, and she peeked up at him from under her cap. As she really looked at him for the first time, she gasped. Yet again she bowed her head.
That wasn’t right either. Malachi was shielding his gaze, his full nature, as he always did for humans.
“You’re real,” she whispered.
His scalp tightened; his jaw clenched. “Excuse me?”
“Seventeen percent wolf, not fourteen percent. The highest class of apex in the known universe.”
“How do you know that?”
But she was shaking now. Her legs gave out, and this time when she collapsed to her knees, it was weakness, not submission. Or not only submission. Her spine curled forward, and her head remained bowed. The wrongness of her posture before him scorched Malachi from the inside out. He knelt in front of her, and she gave a startled jerk.
“I won’t harm you. Please tell me what you know.”
“Another wolf pack. Their alpha—” She shuddered hard. “Their alpha said you don’t exist. But another wolf knew things about your class. Your strength and savagery, your ability to change at will.”
A shocked little noise from Nathan seemed to remind her of his presence. The young wolf’s scent was strong with confusion. Malachi couldn’t blame him. April McVie glanced at Nathan, then turned her face down again. “I’m sorry to offend. He said your class is known by your amber eyes.”
They had left the vital topic. “You’re seeking protection from this other pack?”
“Yes. Please. He wants to kill me.”
“I won’t allow that.”
Still trembling, she pushed her cap off her head, and an abundance of dark-auburn hair fell around her shoulders. She straightened slowly, slowly. Finally she kept her head up for more than a single second. Finally she looked into his eyes, and hers were the palest blue. Blue like beach glass. Beautiful, the eyes of…
My mate.
His body sang with a sudden pure energy he’d never felt before. His pulse quickened and seemed to strengthen too. As they both knelt there in the grass, face to face, April looked at him. Straight at him as no human ever did. And in the two seconds of shock after the pronouncement of those words in his head, Malachi had allowed her to see him. All of him. The unshielded nature of the alpha. With a blink he resumed his shield, but she should have reacted in those two seconds. Unless she truly was…
My mate.The words rang with joy in his head, but joy had to wait. He had to deal first with April’s needs and safety, with the needs and safety of his pack.
Nathan said, “Um, Malachi…?”
He slid his hands beneath her arms and lifted her to her feet. At his touch, April didn’t stiffen, pull away, or scream. Instead, her trembling ceased.
“I don’t understand,” she said quietly.
“Sanctuary isn’t earned. It’s offered freely or not at all, and as alpha of this pack, I offer it to you for as long as you need.”
Nathan’s quick surprised breath was too quiet for her to hear. His scent bloomed with glad relief; he sensed the woman’s honest intent, and friendliness had defined him since he was a small pup.
“Thank you,” April said. “I owe you my life.”
“You owe me nothing,” Malachi growled softly.
