~

 

“I’d say share, but I don’t give damn.” Malachi just wanted the damn address, not psyche 101.

“Oh, I think you will,” Brook said as he folded his arms across his chest and eyed Malachi with interest.

“Can I just get the damned address?” Malachi growled again.

“Far be it from me to keep you from your destiny.”

“I’m warning you, vampire.”

“No need to thank me — I believe in true love.” Brook grinned from ear to ear.

“She’s not my mate.” He growled long and hard that time.

“Says you.”

“Says me.”

“Did you sniff?” The vampire demanded as he placed his elbows down on the top of the bar and rested his chin in his upturned hands like a dreamy schoolgirl.

“Are you insane?” Malachi looked at the man as if he’d just fed on a human right there in front of him.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“She’s not my mate.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Brook watched as Malachi’s eyes narrowed and he considered his answer.

“Ah-ha!” The vampire announced with glee.

“I can’t be sure without scenting her,” Malachi admitted.

“And that’s what you’re going to do?”

“No.”

“Then why are you going there?”

“I told you — the phone.”

“That’s your excuse, and you’re sticking to it.”

“Are you going to give me the damn address?” Malachi slapped his hand down on top of the bar and growled long and hard as he waited for the answer.

The vampire kept him waiting a moment or two longer than was entirely necessary.

“Yes.” Brook noticed that Malachi actually sighed in relief. “On one condition…”

“Damn it, vampire!” Malachy growled.

“I’m coming with you…”

“The hell you are.” Malachi scowled a death glare at the vampire.

“I can come with you — or – I can follow you. The endgame is the same.” Brook shrugged his shoulders.

“This is not bloody happening.” The shifter growled.

“No, it’s a dream — wake-up and smell the roses — she’s your mate.”

“The hell she is.”

“Sounds like she could be to me,” Sissy said with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. As all good bartenders should, she’d been eavesdropping as she polished up the glasses that didn’t need another polish.

“That’s…” Malachi couldn’t think past that one word. His mind was reeling.

Could she be his mate?

 

~

~

~

 

Malachi had left his truck back on the road. He’d stalked towards the cabin with the intention of doing what he’d come to do.

But as he stood there staring at the cabin, nestled against the backdrop of the woods behind, the flickering light from an open fire in the downstairs window, and the sense of peace that sight should have provided within him; he realized that it had the opposite effect.

He was tempted to scent the air. Boy, was he?

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.