Page 67 of Malcolm

Issac's nose wrinkled. “I do not know. That one smells of blood and not the good kind.”

Malcolm acknowledged his warning, returning his curious gaze to the other Alpha. He was definitely suspicious. The Dougal clan Alpha was known to be a tough son of a bitch; it was shocking that he’d been defeated and that the man before him had done it. Grimacing Malcolm’s eyes narrowed; what he hadn’t said aloud was that plenty of things could cause a man to come out of nowhere to take over a random clan, but he wasn’t sure his suspicions were right.

“Come for me when you’ve decided when the fight will be,” he said before quickly leaving. The gravel crunched under his feet as he searched for Agun.

He spotted him leaning against a wall of one of the multiple lodges and cabins in the area. “Agun.”

Agun nearly jumped out of his skin as he whipped his head around. The girl he’d been speaking with quickly left. Malcolm barely paid any attention to this as he approached him. “Agun, go to the others and tell them to come to my room.”

Agun turned around and took off to find the rest of his Guardsmen.

Malcolm watched him go; he hoped his hunch wasn’t right, but he’d do what he needed to keep his people safe, especially if Alek's warning was right. Nothing could be ignored, andthe sudden appearance of a new Alpha was definitely of note, especially with the suspicious timing of his appearance.

He sneered.

Whoever thought they could do what they wished on their land. He’d teach them, but that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t so weak as to allow maggots to grow on the land he’d been born on. He turned around and headed back to his own lodging. The quicker he returned, the quicker he could speak with his men.

“You’re sayingthere’s something fishy about the new Dougal Alpha?” Jamie, one of the guardsmen, asked.

“Yes, something about his sudden appearance doesn’t feel right,” Malcolm said from where he sat in the center. “Especially with his sudden challenge for a ‘blood price.’” Malcolm frowned. “I don’t remember ever meeting him before. It’s almost like he challenged the Dougal Alpha just to come here and challenge me.”

“It’s not that easy; his pack would have had to accept him,” Agun said from where he stood near the doorway, expression troubled. “Then again, I noticed the females and pups hadn’t come; he only brought along a few guardsmen.”

Malcolm frowned, staring at the floor before he looked up. “Heath, go and bring me Eliza”

Heath quickly stood from where he crouched, and with a short nod of respect, he ran out of the room.

“What are you planning?” Jamie asked, looking from the door Heath had run out of back to Malcolm. “The witch might not help you.”

“She’s not just some ‘witch,’ and why do you not like her? She hasn’t done anything to you.” Malcolm's jaw clenched.

Jamies glared at him. “No witch has ever been a positive thing in any story involving our kind.”

“Fairy tales aren’t reality. And when you speak about her, you better show some respect, that witch is my mate. And the next time you talk about her in that tone, I’ll rip your throat out.” Malcolm growled. As he slowly stood, the other guardsmen became antsy, and they felt tensions building between their Alpha and Jamie. “Unless you don’t think you can. I can tear it out now and save you the trouble of practicing manners.”

Just as the air grew taut, the door opened as Heath re-entered, only for him to pause at the sight of Malcolm and Jamie standing nose to nose.

“You summoned me?” Eliza drawled as she entered and paused at the sight of the two large men standing toe-to-toe. “Are you guys fighting?”

“No, just talking about manners,” Malcolm said, giving Jamie a narrowed look before he faced Eliza, “You weren’t busy, were you?”

“No,” Eliza answered, eyeing them both. “All right, what did you call me for?”

“If I tell you where a place is, would you be able to send my men there?” he queried. “I need two men to go to the Dougal land and investigate this new Alpha.”

“Well, I could create a traveling charm, but they’d have to imagine the place and know where it is.”

“Well,” Malcolm looked at the others. “Which of you have been to the Dougal's land before?”

“I have,” Derrick said, pointing at Will, “And him, we’ve been there to deliver a few stones a few years back when they needed them for placing warding charms at their border.”

Malcolm looked back at Eliza, “Can you send them?”

She nodded, “But it won’t activate again for three hours, so once you're there, you’re stuck until the charm recharges and brings you back.” She pulled two stones from her pocket.

“You're lucky I have a habit of picking up small stones,” she raised her hand palm up and placed two stones in the center and a thin blue circle before they flashed once, turning a bright fuchsia, and then once more, they turned black. “There you go.”

She walked towards Malcolm and set them in his hand. “When they turn black, that’s the sign the Magic within them has been used up, but once they are fuchsia again, they can return.”

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