Page 32 of Malcolm

Eliza decided to follow them silently; after all, she was still without something to do. She could watch them and make sure they didn’t do anything too reckless.

As she followed them, eventually, she heard the sound of rushing water, and two of the pups ran up a slight boulder that reminded her of a cartoon she’d watched as a kid. She frowned, trying to remember. Just as she got lost in thought, the little pup went to jump off.

“Wait!” she yelled, her hand shooting out. He stopped midair.

His eyes widened and he flailed in the air before, with a yelp, he hit the water.

She winced; she hadn’t meant to stop him. Immediately, a head covered in blond curls burst from the water, spluttering. The child whipped his head around. “What was that?” He looked up at his friends, who’d returned to their human form as well. “Did you guys see that? I stopped midair.”

Covering her mouth, Eliza dared not even breathe. Slowly, she made to leave; how could she be so stupid? Lanias had always preached to them all on how ‘not’ to use their Magic accidentally. While she, a dub witch, had been one of the weakest, she hadn’t paid the most attention, but to accidentally use her Magic in this situation, something was wrong with her. She finally calmed down as she quickly distanced herself from the children, who were still talking about what had happened.

The last thing she needed was for one of the werewolves to think she was trying to spell their children. From whatEliza knew, witches weren’t popular with many people, but the shifters, Lykans, and werewolves could be particularly hateful.

This made her wonder about Malcolm; then again, if the man was already used to Lanias and Sabina, then there was no reason for him to be weary of her, right?

She sighed; thinking so hard was giving her a headache. Something made a popping sound behind her, and she half-turned. Seeing nothing, she turned back around and heard another popping sound. Turning around fully, she called, “Hello, is anyone there?”

No one answered. She didn’t like the feeling she was getting. She went to move again; hearing the shuffle once more, she spun and pointed her finger at a tree. It bent at the center, and its branches became limber. It swooped around and plucked up whoever had been following her, and the next thing she heard was two squeaks, and two small snow-colored pups were hanging before her with baleful looks.

Looking from her hand to the two pups wriggling in the grip of the tree branches, she lowered her arm. The two pups rolled onto the ground before one of them turned into a little boy. The one next to him remained a little puppy, she realized the other was a real dog.

“Who are you?” she asked softly as the boy pulled his puppy into his lap. He seemed not likely to talk as he stared up at her with big blue eyes. His red curls were a mess around his head. She sighed and walked towards him, bending down. “Where are your parents?”

He didn’t answer, burying his head in the wriggling puppies’ fur. She looked at his shoulders and saw that he was shivering; she glanced over her shoulder. It wasn’t likely she was going to be able to keep exploring. “Hey, do you want to see a trick?” she asked, turning her eyes back on the little boy.

He leaned over and she could get a small glimpse of his eye. She smiled, lifting her right hand; she pointed up and watched as it flared with a small flame. “Now watch,” she said, seeing he’d lowered the puppy fully. The slight flare expanded and turned into a fan before it folded in half and came apart, turning into a bird-shaped flame.

The boy’s mouth fell open, as his eyes widened. “Wow.”

She smiled, snapping her fingers so that the flame exploded into little flowers. She waited until the last flower had dissipated before she spoke again.

“Well, come on. Let’s go find your mom,” she said, standing up and pulling the shawl from around her shoulders. She wrapped it around his shoulders. finished she held her hand out to him, he stood, letting the puppy finally go.

And that’show Malcolm found her, with her hands full of a puppy and a kid pressed against her side drinking a warm cup of milk. Eliza hadn’t managed to figure out who his mother was yet.

Eliza was thinking of just what she could do to escape to her cabin. Having to use Magic to disguise herself was exhausting. When Malcolm entered in nothing but a blanket, for a second, Eliza was so stunned by his lack of clothes she couldn’t say anything. The number of times she’d seen Malcolm without a shirt could only be counted on one hand. But every time, she couldn’t help being impressed.

Her thighs tightened, and her eyes drifted from the blanket that rode low on his hip, up the flat planes of his stomach to the man’s chest. His whole body looked so damn good she bit her lip, she reached his chin, and that’s when her cheeks flushed becauseshe realized he was looking directly at her. She moved her eyes away, turning her attention to the puppy in her hands.

“Malcolm, you’re back.”

This came from Morgan; the women had joined her as she’d walked to the Main building. Eliza had spent her time talking to the little kid who still hadn’t told her his name, to the wriggling puppy, and then to her about the weather and other random things. Morgan stood and put her basket of crochet in her lap aside as she got up to talk to her brother.

Before she could approach him, he gave her a short shake of the head. She stopped in her tracks and sighed before turning back around and retaking her seat. Eliza wondered what she wanted to talk to him about, though a part of her already knew it was probably related to becoming the Alpha. She’d been listening to passing people, and apparently, it was a big deal. Some openly wondered if Malcolm would try for it.

“What’s the brat doing here,” one of the men asked as he came to the long table and unceremoniously took a seat; he reached out to snatch a cookie only to pause when a fork stabbed down. He frowned, the big beard of his ruffling.

“Where I come from, usually people ask if they can have some of your food,” Eliza said gently but sternly. The man released a nervous laugh, glancing over his shoulder at Malcolm. “My apologies, I didn’t realize your mate was so fierce.”

“I’m not his mate,” Eliza insisted, jerking the fork from the table. “I’m his partner,” she said this, handing the little boy another cookie.

“Oh, is that right,” he drawled, leaning forward.

She frowned, drawing back especially at the sight of interest in his eyes.

“Then why don’t we get a bit more acquainted and?—”

“Enough, Gerlic.”

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