“Yes, but also…” Did he even remember saying it?
“Beloved.” His arms tightened around her. “April, my beloved.”
“Malachi. Alpha. My wolf.”
He growled and nuzzled her hair, but she wanted another name for him too. Well, there was always the obvious one. She began to quake with laughter.
“What is it?” he said, his voice shaking with humor too.
“Malpha,” April giggled. “My magnificent Malpha.”
Twenty-Seven
Adaylater,theycrossed the property on foot to join Aaron and Ember for dinner. In one hand Malachi held a glass container of chicken fresh off the grill, steaming around their foil cover. April had tucked one arm around her big bowl of cheesy potatoes. Ember would complete the meal with various other sides and a dessert. Aaron, of course, contributed not a single item on their menu.
Perhaps there were better times to say what he’d been mulling while he stood at the grill. But halfway to Aaron and Ember’s cabin, Malachi said, “I’d like to date you.”
His mate’s scent softened. “We’ve done everything exactly backward. First I moved in with you, then we saved each other’s lives, then we slept together, and now we’ll go on our first date.”
“We haven’t slept together,” he said, and she laughed. For some reason April found his determination for clarity on this topic hilarious.
“Slept fully clothed in close proximity,” she said. “We’re counting your fur as ‘fully clothed,’ in case that wasn’t clear.”
“Hmm,” he rumbled. He caught her free hand in his and swung it between them. He felt so light, so free, so easy in his mind and in his body. “All right then. So the typical order is first date, sleep fully clothed in close proximity, save one another, move in together.”
“Well, maybe we’re not typical no matter what order you put it in, but that would bemoretypical.”
“I see.”
Then her scent grew somber, and she squeezed his hand.
Guessing the trail of her thoughts wasn’t difficult. The wolf, rather than straining its leash and demanding with snapping jaws and snarls, howled in accord with Malachi’s own thoughts.Protect my mate.The words came now in two voices, his own and the wolf’s echo.
“Your eyes are blazing,” she said quietly.
“You can see it outside in daylight?”
“Oh yeah. It’s sort of your own sun, shining from behind your eyes. So what thought were you sharing, you and your wolf?”
His chest rumbled with power, and the words that came from two united wills rolled like distant thunder off the mountain. “Protect my mate.”
She squeezed his hand hard. Her feelings cloaked her scent in a way that enhanced it, sweet citrus filling Malachi’s senses until it was all he could do not to claim her mouth with his. But even if April were ready for such a thing, this wasn’t the time or the place. Ember was on her way to the door. She opened it before Malachi had to knock.
“Aaron said you were here.” Ember motioned them in and led them to the kitchen, where they added their food to the train of dishes, bowls, and condiments on the kitchen island. “How’re you feeling, Mal? You look better.”
“I’m well,” he said.
“Oh, good. I don’t suppose your sleeping companions would have anything to do with that?” She winked.
His face heated. April wouldn’t tell Ember about his breach of etiquette, would she? Wait—companions, plural?
Ember grinned as though she did indeed know something she shouldn’t. “Oh, come on, there’s no shame in hugging a stuffed animal at night, especially when a toddler loans it to you.”
He huffed with relief, then allowed himself a smirk. “Confidentially, therewasa unicorn next to me on the couch last night.”
“There was?” April said.
“The first thing those pups will ask me is whether their animals helped me sleep.”
