Page 33 of Malcolm

Robert cut in, as Malcolm had already been headed towards the man, death written on his face. Gerlic turned around just in time to see it; he quickly jumped up and retreated from the long table with his hands up. “Sorry, didn’t know she was claimed by the Alpha.”

“I’m not your Alpha,” Malcolm snapped. Making his way to Eliza’s side, he placed a hand on her right shoulder. Eliza wondered why she instantly felt better than she had with him gone. She wanted to cover his hand with hers, but instead, she looked up at him in question.

“Eliza, can we talk for a minute?” he asked.

She glanced at the kid who’d obviously taken a liking to her, back to him. “Sure, but can it wait? I’m trying to get him back to his mom.”’

“Ah, he doesn’t have a mother.” This came from Robert. Eliza frowned at him; he sheepishly rubbed a hand on the back of his head. “Sorry, that was insensitive of me. I mean, Kai is an orphan.”

“An orphan?” Eliza repeated, looking down at the kid. He looked back up at her. For some reason, she wondered if he was used to hearing he was an orphan. He hadn’t even reacted to what Robert had said earlier. “Then he’s like me,” she acknowledged looking back at Robert. “Well, where does Kai stay?”

“At Hens Roost,” Robert explained. “If you leave from here and take a left, “You can’t miss it. There should be plenty of young pups playing outside.”

She nodded, and immediately stood, she put her hand out. “Come on, let’s go.” Kai stood placing his hand in hers easily, and Malcolm who’d taken a step back followed her as she left the hall.

Malcolm

As they walked together, he observed her expression before looking away. Kai ran ahead with his puppy.

“You were an orphan?”

“For a time,” Eliza casually answered. “I was adopted shortly after I turned one.”

“Was it hard?” he asked, and then winced.

Of course, it had been hard.

“It was different, being the only black girl in my family,” she said, glancing at him. “I was adopted as a last-ditch effort on my mother’s part to regain my father's love.” She shrugged. “Turns out babies don’t save marriages.”

“I’m sorry.”

She stopped forcing him to do the same and scrutinized him. “Why are you sorry?”

“I—” He paused, unsure how to answer her.

“It’s not like you’re the person who abandoned me on someone's doorstep when I was a baby,” she said, her brown eyes clear of any dark emotions. “You know, I never notice how people have a tendency to apologize when they hear about something horrible happening to you.” She sighed, facing forward. “I don’t need to be soothed; it’s a fact. I was adopted. Plus, I was loved and never treated badly.” She smiled. “So, there is no reason for you to apologize.”

He could only give a short nod. “Okay, I won’t apologize.”

“Good,” she said as she walked along. “To be honest, with regard to everything that happened to me, that life wasn’t hard at all.” Her tone changed, turning somber. “It’s nothing like being kidnapped to have your perspective on life change.”

A shiver ran down his spine, and he stopped short, watching her continue. At some point, it was like he’d forgotten what had happened to her. Not in a literal sense but more in the way she acted; Eliza acted as if everything was okay.

Malcolm couldn’t shake his worry over her. Especially since she hadn’t vented anything from that experience; Eliza barely mentioned where she’d been held. He’d told himself not to pry, not to push her to remember the horrors, because from what he’d seen of the laboratory and the stacks of bodies in the basement, there was no way she hadn’t seen horrors.

Malcolm watched as she smiled at something Kai said, as the little boy grabbed at her skirt. She didn’t show it, not at all. He frowned; her smiles were always bright. They were almost too bright, her calm a bit abrasive.

One could almost call it detached, as if she had no connection to the world around her.

He bit his lip to keep the panicked words he wanted to say from slipping out.

Now wasn’t the time. The wolf in him howled to be free, to punish the people who’d done this to her. The violence rode him so hard that he found himself turning around and walking away.

He needed to cool his head before he did something he regretted.

His mate was in pain, but she didn’t feel that he was the one she could rely on. It was abundantly clear she intended to go it alone, and intended to hide her pain to protect others from it.

Malcolm needed to clear his head, he would go home and shower.

---