Chapter Thirteen
Malcolm
This was, by far, the craziest thing he’d ever done in his life. And the most reckless. He’d told Emelise he was coming ‘for a visit’. What he didn’t tell her was that he’d decided to quit his job at The Inferno, pack everything he owned into an U-haul truck, and relocate to hot and humid New Orleans.
He wasn’t too worried about the heat and humidity, he knew he’d acclimate fairly easily thanks to his beast. Lions liked the heat. What he was worried about was working enough to support himself. Sure Eme had a club she just opened up, but would Venus be a hit in The Big Easy? That was the real question.
He’d played it smart, when making his decision to move. He’d gotten online, looked at real estate for sale in New Orleans, and found himself a house he liked. He had a nice little nest egg saved up and it came in handy now to help him get his own place That way he wouldn’t have to put things in storage when he got to where he was going. He just had to unpack. “Goodbye, Phoenix, hello Big Easy,” he said as he pulled onto the I-10 which would take him right to the heart of New Orleans.
Four days after he left Phoenix, Malcolm looked around the house he’d purchased on N. Roman Street. It had four bedrooms and two bathrooms and was done up in earth tones. He liked the color scheme so that was one thing he didn’t have to worry about changing. It was going to take him a while to completely unpack, but at least the truck was unloaded. Sure he had to move around stacks of boxes, but hey, at least they were organized stacks. It was time to make a call to Miss Emelise Rousseau. He could unpack more later. No, he wasn’t procrastinating. Oh hell, who was he kidding? Yes he was.
Emelise
Emelise was curled up on her sofa with a glass of sweet tea while Lily did the same in the chair across from her. “You’re sure you’re really okay?” A few days ago Gathering Grounds was robbed just as Lily was closing. The person responsible got away with several hundred dollars that she was in the process of taking to the safe.
“I’m okay, Eme. Okay, if I’m totally honest, I’m still a little unsettled by the incident, but I’m not hurt. I’m more worried about Declan than myself. He completely freaked out when I called him, after I called the police. I honestly think he was on the verge of trying to tell me I couldn’t work anymore before I finally got him to calm down. What really scares me is, I think he picked up the guy’s scent, and if he ever crosses paths with him...look out.”
“Do you really think he’d do something to the guy?”
“I don’t know. I hope not, because that would land him in jail.”
“That would definitely not be a good thing,” Emelise replied just as her phone rang. She glanced at the number. “Mal’s calling. He must be on his way to New Orleans, he said he’d call when he headed this way,” she said before she answered it. “Hey, Mal.”
“Hey to you too, sexy lady,” Mal said with a chuckle. “So, don’t be mad at me but I didn’t call you when I left Phoenix. I’ve actually been in New Orleans since yesterday.”
“What? You’ve been here since yesterday and you’re just now calling me? Do you have a side bestie I don’t know about here in New Orleans?” It was obvious she was teasing. “Malcolm Savage, what am I going to do with you? Why didn’t you call before?”
“Well...I have a little confession, Eme,” Mal started. “I did something completely crazy. I quit my job at The Inferno, sold my house...and bought one here in New Orleans.”
Emelise stared at her phone. “Holy shit! You moved to New Orleans? I thought you were just coming for a visit! This is awesome! Here I was trying to figure out a way to lure you into moving and you beat me to it. Get your ass over here, we need to talk. Oh gods, and I’ll have to take you out to meet Caine, and you’ll need to meet Declan....”
“Declan? Who is that?” Mal interrupted.
“Oh, that’s right, you don’t know about that. Long story. Come to my apartment, I’ll give you the address, and Lily and I can fill you in on all that’s happened since we talked last.”
Malcolm laughed. “Okay. This should be interesting. I’m on my way.”
Malcolm
Fifteen minutes after putting Emelise's address into his GPS, Malcolm pulled up to the curb just up the street from her apartment building. He took a moment to admire the outside of it before he hopped out and headed inside. He’d always been an architecture buff and he knew he was going to love the architecture of New Orleans. Once he reached her door he knocked and waited.
Emelise opened the door seconds after he knocked. “Mal! Get in here, dude,” she said and gave him a quick hug. “I can’t believe you took a leap of faith and moved down here,” she said. She’d already grabbed a glass for him and poured him a glass of sweet tea.
Malcolm took it and sat in the other armchair. “Never fear, darlings, I have arrived,” he said with a cheeky grin. “This place is nice, it suits you. It’s got just the right amount of quirkiness to it.”
Lily laughed. “I said pretty much the same thing when I first saw it. It’s good to see you, Mal.”
“Thanks. You too, babe. So, which one of you is going to tell me who Declan is and why I have to meet him?”
Eme laughed. “Get right to the point, why dontcha?” she teased. “Who he is is kind of a long story. You remember me telling you about Lily’s mate? That’s Declan. Okay, so who he is wasn’t really that long of an explanation after all,” Eme replied. “The reason you have to meet him is really the part that’s kind of long. When Lily and I drove out to Phoenix last month, the Pard was having trouble with a neighboring shifter group. The Red Moon Clan was trying to take over New Orleans, trying to take Pard territory, and things got really rough. There was a fight, some of the jaguars died, and Declan played a huge role in helping the Pard win. Him and his team. He was Special Ops once upon a time. Anyway, to thank him and his team for all their help, Caine split off part of Pard territory and gave it to Declan for his own Pack. So there are two shifter groups in New Orleans, which means there are two Alphas for you to meet.”
Malcolm listened intently. “Damn, that sounds like it could have gotten really bad. I’m impressed the leopard’s Alpha gave up part of his territory though. That’s unusual.”
“Caine isn’t like a lot of Alphas,” Lily put in. “He’s more open to talking through issues, whenever possible, and he honors those who aid him and his Pard.”
“Sounds like a much better Alpha than the last one I had,” Malcolm replied.
Lily studied him. “You know, since you’re not a leopard and can’t join the Pard, you should consider joining the Ghostpoint Pack. We’re a bunch of misfits but we’ve formed a strong, close-knit group. Of course the others were already pretty close-knit because they’d worked together.”
“Misfits? How so?”
“What else would you call a Pack made up of three wolves, two jaguars, a grizzly bear, and a Siberian tiger?”
He blinked then laughed. “Misfits. That definitely fits. Huh, I’ve never been part of a group that had different shifters in it. Might be interesting. It does get a little lonely being solo.”
“Yeah, it does,” Lily agreed.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Malcolm replied after a moment. There was a reason he wasn’t part of a Pride, a reason why he was an outcast who was shunned by most of his own kind. “Unless my getting to stay in New Orleans is dependent upon my being in the Pack?”
“Gods, no, you can stay regardless,” Lily replied. “I just remember how much I missed getting to be part of a group, especially on the nights I went for a run. Once I moved here I was welcome to run with the Pard but it wasn’t quite the same as being with my own Pack.”
Malcolm nodded. “I get what you mean, babe. We’ll see if I mesh with the others first.”
“Sounds good to me,” Lily agreed.
“Did you really buy a house?” Emelise asked suddenly. “Because if you lied and you’re staying in a hotel, you can just crash here.”
“No need for that. I really did buy a house.”
“Already? How?”
“I bought it even before I moved. As soon as I knew I wanted to move here and not just visit, I sat down and looked at houses online, found one I wanted, and bought it.”
“You were smarter than I was. When I got here I had to stay in a hotel for a few days until I found this place,” Eme said with a laugh.
“Well, you were still reeling from losing your mother and focused on chasing your dream of owning your own club,” Lily pointed out.
“True, there is that.” Eme waved her hands in front of her face. “Whatever, it’s kind of moot now. I’ll text Caine and see if he can come to the club tonight. You can check it out and meet him there. That way Lily can drag Declan out to meet you at the same time. Kill three birds with one stone.” She flashed a cheeky grin.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Lily replied. “I’m going to head out, see you tonight.”
“I should go too. I’ve still got a shit ton of unpacking to do,” Mal said with a groan.
“Been there and done that,” Emelise said. “I’ll text you later to let you know what time to stop by the club.”
“Alright. I hope you’re making that man work for it. You deserve to be be happy, Eme,” Mal said before he left. He was looking forward to meeting Caine just so he could be sure the leopard was worthy of her.