by M. L. Briers
The damn vampire had set his mind on spin speed and piqued his beast’s interest. His mate — Pah!
What were the odds?
Brook had said that Donna had a child and not to scare the hell out of it. He could do that. He hoped.
What if she was his mate? That would mean that he already had a child to care for — his beast, the big, bad, mean bear with the sore head, practically rolled over and played dead at the idea.
Damn, he was tempted to sniff the air.
Malachi shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and his palm rested against her phone. He remembered the reason that he was there — those texts.
It wasn’t his place to demand answers — unless she was his mate — but he still felt damn protective of her anyway.
Maybe that was a sign that she was his mate.
Maybe that was just a sign that he’d lost his clan and was looking for someone to protect.
Maybe he was going to drive himself insane if he didn’t walk up to the damn door and find out what the hell was going on.
Damn it, but he needed to sniff — and now his beast was unsettled, urging him on, and he knew one thing — he really needed to shit or get off the pot. Easier said than done. He felt damn constipated where she was concerned.
What if she was his mate? Then they’d both be outcasts in a town that had rejected him. The child too.
They’d have to move. Settle somewhere else as a family — family — he liked that idea.
“Take the damn plunge,” he growled to himself. “Sniff the damn air.” He wanted too, but he couldn’t seem to do it.
“Just go and give the woman her stupid phone back,” Brook’s voice came from all around him.
He had the urge to scent the air just to see where the vampire was. He’d almost forgotten about him – almost.
“I’m…”
“Procrastinating?”
“Considering…”
“How long you can procrastinate?”
“Bite me.”
“Thanks for the offer, but there are so many more tasty options available,” Brook’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Malachi had the urge to tear the vampire a new one. But that was just deflecting from the issue at hand.
The vampire was right. He was procrastinating. He was being a dick.
He was also getting carried away with himself. He’d listened to the vampire and imagined himself a mate.
A mate.
The one.
Everything.
Malachi set one foot in front of the other and started towards the cabin. He had to know.
CHAPTER SIX
~
The sound of tapping on the front door gave Donna a rush of panic. She slowly pushed up from the rocking chair and made her way toward it.
She found herself reaching for the baseball bat that she’d leaned against the doorframe in case of emergencies, and wrapped her fingers around the sturdiness of the solid wooden handle. That gave her a small sense of security, even if it might have been something approaching false hope.
“Who is it?” She called after a moment of debate as to whether to ignore it or not.
“It’s Malachi. We met…”
“How did you find me?” She knew that she’d been cagey when she’d spoken to the man earlier. There was no way in hell that she’d told him where she lived.
“Someone in town said…”
“What do you want?” She scowled at the back of the door. At least he’d offered a reasonable explanation as to how he’d found her.
“To finish an answer would be nice.” The tone of his voice said he was amused, but she couldn’t be sure without seeing his face.
She could already picture it in her mind’s eye, but she had the feeling it would look better in person. She tried to push those kinds of thoughts away. Complicated.
“You just did — now what do you want?”
“I have your phone…”
“Haven’t we been over that?” Donna tossed back. She’d told him that she didn’t want it back, so why was he still pushing?
“You got some texts…”
Donna closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the back of the door. She could imagine the kind of texts that she’d gotten — that he’d seen — and she grimaced.
Now her business would be all over town. So much for a new start in a new place.
“Wait…” Donna pulled her head back and scowled at the door. “I thought you binned my phone?”
There was a long moment of silence and then she heard a low rumble like thunder.
“Well…” Malachi said no more.
That wasn’t good enough for Donna. She flicked off the lock and yanked open the door.
She’d almost forgotten just how big the man was. Standing there in her doorway, he filled the frame, and with the darkness of night behind him; he seemed a little more imposing.
“Are you like some kind of creepy stalker guy who shows up on people’s doorsteps when they least expect it?”
“Err, no.”
“You had to think about that for a moment,” Donna tossed back.
“It was unexpected. I was expecting an ear-bashing for keeping your phone,” he said and shrugged his large shoulders.
“Good point. Why do you still have my phone?” She narrowed her eyes at him and offered him a look that questioned his sanity.
“I really did think you’d want it back,” Malachi said.
He hadn’t thought that he would have had such a hard time with seeing her again. But there it was — he found that he was almost desperate to scent her.
“For a guy with superhuman hearing, you don’t listen to well.”
Malachi noted the baseball bat in her hand. He’d read the text messages, and he knew what it was that she was so worried about and not him.
She seemed more than okay with standing up to him. He liked that she wasn’t nervous around him. A lot of people were.
He guessed that if he sniffed now, then he’d sent fear, but not for him. He still didn’t want that. That would only make his beast worse, and ramp up the need that burned within him to protect her.
He was grateful for one thing — she knew what he was, she’d said as much with the super-hearing jibe, and still, she hadn’t recoiled from him – yet.
“I guess not,” Malachi offered her an apologetic look.
“You’re not coming in,” Donna scowled at him.
“I didn’t ask. I didn’t expect…”
“You didn’t?”
“I’m not very sociable,” he didn’t have to lie about that.
“Me either.” Not anymore. She thought.
“A match made in heaven,” Brook’s disconnected voice made her jump in place.
She hadn’t seen anyone with him, and it had taken her by surprise, but then there wasn’t a lot that she could see around the large frame that filled the doorway.
Still, she tried her best. Her eyes tried to scan the area over the tops of his broad shoulders, but she very much doubted that she’d see much of anything.
“Shut up,” Malachi growled.
“You brought company,” Donna said.
“Unfortunately, he’s like a stray — he followed me.”
“I reject that analogy,” Brook said.
“Reject away,” Malachi tossed back over his shoulder without turning around.
He couldn’t seem to take his eyes from Donna. He was consigning every inch of her face to his memory.
“Are you two a double act?” Donna asked.
He noted the way her stance had changed; it had become a little more at ease, and her shoulders weren’t all bunched up around her ears. That was a good thing.
“God no, he’s more like a bad smell,” Malachi growled.
“Why don’t you just go the whole way and call me a stinky stray mutt with fleas?” Brook’s voice was filled with sarcasm, and Donna couldn’t help but smile.
Malachi didn’
t know why or how, but the sight of her smile lifted a little weight from his shoulders. He guessed he had something to thank the vampire for after all. Not that he would, but still.
“So you decided to rush over here, at night, and hand me my phone?” Donna asked as she narrowed her eyes at him again.
“Not exactly,” Malachi said as his eyebrows tried to meet over his nose. She found that oddly intriguing and damn sexy to boot.
“Then what, exactly?”
Malachi reached into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out her phone. He hesitated for a moment before holding it out to her.
“I want you to explain these.”
“I’m sorry?” Donna really didn’t understand what he was asking of her.
When she reached for the phone, and her fingertips brushed his fingers — there was a long moment of hesitation as she felt the strangest sensation, almost like tingles, but they chased over her skin and became the new normal for her body.
For one long moment, Malachi seemed reluctant to let the phone out of his grip. He’d felt it too – that rush of knowing that she was his.
His eyes were locked and loaded on hers, and a low, deep rumble sounded inside his chest. Then it was as if someone slapped him around the back of the head as he jolted back to reality.
Donna couldn’t see behind him, but she had to wonder if his friend had nudged him. When he finally released the phone and gave her a moment to check the texts, Malachi tried to steady the beast within him.
Mine…
“None of your damn business.” Donna didn’t feel the need to explain herself to him. She didn’t even know him beyond a hello and a few words.
Did the man really expect her to hand him an explanation on a platter just because he’d asked?
Fat chance.
CHAPTER SEVEN
~
“I can’t protect you unless I know what’s going on,” Malachi tried to reason with her, but she looked at him as if he was insane.
“Protect me?” Donna wasn’t sure exactly what this guy was putting in his gym juice, but she wouldn’t willingly take a swig of it.
“Who is this guy threatening you?” He demanded.
“Are you for real?” Donna had to wonder if she’d just entered the twilight zone, a new and different reality.
“I don’t think you understand how shifters…” Brook started, but Malachi cut him off.
“Shut up — this is between her and me,” Malachi growled.
“You’re going about this in all the wrong ways,” Brook offered back.
“When you two have finished bickering, please leave,” Donna said and brought Malachi’s attention right back to again.
“Now hold on…” Malachi started to protest, but Donna wasn’t having any of it.
“If you’ve forgotten how to get out of here just backtrack your steps,” Donna demanded.
She knew what the man was, and admittedly, she didn’t know much about him or his people. But, hellfire, was the man insane?
Protect her…he didn’t even know her.
“I don’t think he’s…” Brook started to explain.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Malachi growled.
“Yep, that’s what I was going to say,” Brook offered.
“Look, you two need to take your double act off to somebody else’s doorstep. I neither want nor need your help.” Donna spelled it out for him as plainly as she could.
“Tough,” Malachi growled back.
He couldn’t really understand why the female was rejecting his help — she obviously needed it — threatening texts were one thing, but she was his mate, and there was no way in hell that he was going anywhere.
Mine…
“Excuse me?” Donna’s eyebrows made a dash for her hairline, and she tightened her grip on the bat. She wasn’t entirely sure that the man was playing with a full deck of cards.
“Shifters are very…protective,” Brook rushed out so that he couldn’t be growled out, shouted down, or told to shut up before he got out what he needed to say.
“That’s nice — I’m not interested,” Donna informed the man that she still couldn’t see.
“Would you just let me handle this?” Malachi tossed back over his shoulder to the vampire.
“Because you’re doing so well?” The sound of sarcasm dripped from Brook’s tongue.
“No, maybe not, but this is none of your damn business,” Malachi growled back.
“Oh, now you know how that feels,” Donna offered him just as much sarcasm as the vampire had.
“The difference is; this is my business,” Malachi said as he motioned between them.
“How the hell do you work that one out?” Donna tossed back.
“Let’s see you explain this one,” Brook offered a taunting chuckle that stomped all over Malachi’s last nerve.
“It’s complicated…” Malachi said.
It wasn’t a lie; it was damn complicated. He didn’t think he needed to throw any more troubles into the mix by trying to explain it to her on her doorstep.
“And not important for now,” Brook added.
“That’s right,” Malachi agreed. As he flicked a look back over his shoulder and turned back to see her looking unimpressed.
“Humor me.” Donna wasn’t about to let the matter drop.
“A nun walks into a bar…” Brook started, and Malachi’s elbow caught him square in the gap between his ribs. There was a loud groan of pain that caused Donna to narrow her eyes on him.
“As I said before, please leave,” Donna started to push the door closed, but she found that Malachi’s boot was firmly wedged in the gap.
“As I said before, not going to happen,” Malachi tried to hold on to the growl that rolled through his chest, but his beast was on alert. The bear wanted to protect their mate, and he felt the exact same way.
“Okay, that’s it. The person that’s standing behind the guy that’s not listening…” Donna had had enough.
“That’s me,” Brook informed Malachi.
“Can you tell Mr pig ignorant…”
“That’s you, and I think she did a fitting job capturing your personality,” Brook chuckled.
“Although, she seems to have missed yours completely,” Malachi growled back. “He’s not a person; he’s an abomination.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Donna sighed.
“I wouldn’t,” Brook warned the shifter.
“He’s a vampire,” Malachi informed her and watched as the ramifications of the information that he’d just handed her sunk in.
“Did her rosy cheeks lose all color?” Brook asked.
“Kind of – yeah,” Malachi admitted on a low growl of annoyance.
His annoyance wasn’t with the vampire, but for himself. Maybe he should have paid more heed to the vampire’s warning, and not heaped more stress onto his mate.
“You both need to leave,” Donna managed to somehow get the words out.
It was probably bad enough that a shifter had turned up on her doorstep at night. Now there was a vampire as well. Malachi grimaced at his own stupidity.
“Now would be a good time to tell her why you’re here,” Brook offered. “After all, you just scared the hell out of her — what’s left to lose?”
“I don’t think now is a good time,” Malachi grumbled.
“Oh, now you’re selective with the truth,” Brook groaned.
“Can you move your boot from the door?” Donna asked. But it was the kind of asking that wasn’t really a question but more of a demand.
“Not if you are going to close it,” Malachi offered her a small shrug.
“He needs to explain,” Brook said.
“No, she needs to explain,” Malachi corrected him.
“I think you both need to just bug off,” Donna tossed back.
“I need answers…”
“You need your bumps felt,” Donna tossed back on a small shake of her head that was filled with disbelief th
at she was even having this conversation with him.
Maybe moving to the middle of nowhere without any neighbors living close by had been a big mistake. Nobody was going to hear her scream in the middle of nowhere.
Nobody…but Stacy.
“I don’t know what that means,” Malachi grumbled.
“Well…” Brook started, but Malachi growled a warning back over his shoulder at him and cut him off.
“And I don’t need to know,” Malachi growled.
“Somewhat touchy, but okay,” Brook said.
“What the hell do you want?” Donna demanded.
“You,” Brook said.
“That’s not…” Malachi gave a small shake of his head in disbelief.
“Excuse me?” Donna’s voice had pitched somewhat higher.
“Look,” Malachi didn’t know how to approach the situation with her. Hell, he hadn’t even gotten his head around the fact that she was his mate yet himself.
“You’re his mate — there, I said it,” Brook offered, and Donna’s world turned upside down on its head.
CHAPTER EIGHT
~
“That’s not possible…I mean…okay, look,” Donna stopped talking the moment that Malachi tipped his head to one side and gave her a curious look. She opened her mouth once more, but she only huffed out a breath as she tried to comprehend what she’d been told.
“There, aren’t you glad that’s finally out the way?” Brook said, and Malachi didn’t need to turn around to know that the man wore a smug smile on his annoying face.
“Thrilled,” Malachi’s tone was about as bland as he could make it.
“I have a daughter,” Donna said.
She wasn’t sure how the whole mate thing worked, but she didn’t think that a mate came as a ready-made family.
“Yes, congratulations!” Brook slapped Malachi on the back, and the shifter’s eyes practically rolled in his head.
“Could you give us a minute?” Malachi bit out.
“No.” The vampire was quite happy where he was.
“Go away,” Malachi growled as he shot a look back over his shoulder that told Brook he wasn’t messing around.
“Fine. I can take a hint,” Brook backed up, and not before time.