But the lore. He directed the thought toward his wolf, which should cringe from April’s gaze, should howl with a sense of encroachment.It’s forbidden for any human to see my moonbound form.
Alphabound!came the wolf’s reaction, almost a word this time.
Malachi had known his wolf was stronger, more aware, the contained will that fourteen-percent wolves never experienced. But this… Not moonbound. Bound instead by the will of the alpha. So April could look on his wolf form, and no wolf custom was broken.
He must tell her. She’d been right. Trevor had been right to encourage him to let go of the leash. Arlo and Rebecca had been right too. Malachi lowered his head and bumped April’s chest, and she laughed.
“I can’t wait to talk about this,” she said. “But maybe you should give yourself a night in this form. We want those scars as good as gone. What do you think?”
He cocked his head. She could be right about this too. The idea didn’t worry him anymore. He could curl up on the floor out here while she slept in his bed.
“Do you feel any better yet? Like…not so weak? Not so hurt?”
He couldn’t tell right now. His wolf body did ache, especially his leg. He huffed and gave his fur a shake.
“Is that wolf for ‘I don’t know’?”
He nodded.
“Okay, cool. Although I guess it’s not ‘wolf,’ since you’re always a wolf. You’re just, in this form,extra…” Her blue eyes grew wide. “Wow. You’re a wolf.”
She said it as if it were new information. He cocked his head.
“I mean,lookat you. You’re magnificent.”
He yipped as his shoulders quivered. His mate was ridiculous…and sweet and beautiful.
“Oh, you’re laughing!” She laughed too, a long pealing sound. “I didn’t expect that. Well, it’s a fact, Malachi. And I get to see this part of you…because you’re mine.”
He lowered his head in acknowledgment. That much at least was true.
A little while later, April sat on the couch, and Malachi lay beside her. She was readingWatership Downyet again. Could he read in this form? He had never attempted it. Nothing to read out at the paddock, under the moon. He lifted his head to peer at the words. A few of them made sense, but anything more than a few letters took huge effort to decipher, and the wolf quickly grew frustrated. It wanted only to be near April. And to sleep. A long, long sleep. Its usual drive to run and hunt with pack was blunted by aches and fatigue.
Malachi hesitated to push too far. When he lifted his head and gazed at her, she looked up from her book. “Do you need something?”
He dipped his head. Not a need, but…a want. If she wouldn’t feel wrong about it. He crept forward one inch, then stopped and met her gaze again.
“Your eyes are mesmerizing, in case you didn’t know,” she said.
He huffed. Not what he was getting at.
April eyed the slightly shrunken distance between them. “Would you like to come closer?”
He nodded.
“I’d like that too.” She smiled.
Malachi covered the distance slowly, so she could set a boundary if she chose to. But she allowed him to curl up against her. When he rested his head on her lap, she gave a little sigh, and contentment seeped into her scent. He closed his eyes, suddenly unsure he could move again tonight.
April stroked his head between his ears. “You’re really exhausted, huh.”
He sighed, and his breath lifted a few pages of her book.
“See, this is what happens when you don’t consume enough nutrients, spend the night reading about wizards, and then spend a whole lot of energy turning into a magnificent wolf specimen.”
He sighed again. Her voice held music that soothed the wolf as it had never been soothed before, never in his life. He poked at its presence in his thoughts, tugged the leash as a test. The wolf perked up inside him, questioning.Change back? Later?
Yes. Later.
