Page 10 of The Devil on my Chest

I’d die anyway if anything happened to Rocky.Mal nodded.

Chapter Seven

“Well, we’re in a bit of a predicament, aren’t we? That’s a life-changing decision we have to make.” Mal looked down at Rocky, who was resting his head on Mal’s knee. They were sitting out in the garden. Mal just wanted the chance to be outside, to breathe fresh air, and while he could hear the signs of traffic beyond the walls of the garden, it was enough for now that he was outside with his best friend and the person he had loved for almost his whole life.

“I hate that I’m the one who has to make this decision,” he said, keeping his tone low. He knew Rocky could hear him, and that was the only audience he cared about. “I was always thought, I always believed, that a mating decision was made by the alpha and if the partner was an omega, they just went along with it – although that wouldn’t work, either, would it? See, I’m talking myself around in circles. An omega can reject a mating bite just the same as an alpha can, so even thinking along those lines is a waste of time.”

Mal had always been able to tell Rocky anything. “It would’ve been so much easier if this was your decision. I really hate that this curse has blocked the feelings Doctor Nelson is so sure we’ve got inside. I want to believe in them so badly.”

Rocky woofed. Mal wasn’t sure if that was encouragement or not. But as he thought back over their years together, he realized that Rocky had always left most of the decision-making to him. Rocky would often have ideas. He was known for rushing headlong into all sorts. But major life decisions from deciding to follow Ra all those years ago, to settling in Arrowtown and eventually running for sheriff were the ideas Rocky had that Mal followed up on and made happen. So in a way it was fitting thatthis, what could be their most life-changing decision, would be made by him as well.

“I keep circling back to the worry that what happens if it doesn’t work? If you bite me, and I bite you, and then…then…what? Nothing except a sore neck and an open wound for both of us.”

Mal laughed. Shifters had been biting people since their beginning of existence – sometimes in fun and sometimes in the heat of a passionate moment. If the shifter and the person they bit weren’t mates, then the scars would just heal leaving no marks, and no harm was done. It was only the scars that left a mark that signified the attachment had been made.

The situation wasn’t made any easier with Rocky being in his wolf form. Doctor Nelson was right in that respect. Mal would have felt so much better if he’d been able to talk to Rocky for just five minutes in his human form. All he had to hold onto was Rocky’s rambling admission on the plane.

But he did have Rocky’s wolf form to guide him. Prior to all the issues, back when Mal and Rocky first met, and even later when they were traveling with Ra and the others, Rocky’s wolf was always laid back. Yes, he was protective of Mal. He always had been. From the moment they’d met, Rocky had stood between Mal and anyone who could harm him, even when they were still both living on the streets.

“I think,” he said, barely wanting to say the words in case they came true. “I think my biggest fear is that if we exchange the bites the way the doctor said we should, in our wolf form, and even if it does cure you and we are mates, bound together for life, that you will hate me for taking that decision away from you. I don’t think I could live with that.”

But as Mal sat there, the afternoon sun warm on his shoulders, the thought ofwhat other choice do we havekept runningthrough his head. From all accounts there was no other possible way to cure Rocky. The coven that laid the original curse was all dead, thanks to the alpha who caused the issue in the first place. The only chance Rocky had was for someone to invoke the action necessary to break it.

It wasn’t only the thought of Rocky hating him that was making Mal pause. The doctor had been quite clear that if the bite exchange didn’t cure him, but the claim took, then when Rocky died, so would Mal.

“I guess this is the time where I have to pull my big boy pants on.” Mal inhaled sharply. “I said I would give my life for yours and I meant it. I guess that’s what I have to do.”

Rocky lifted his head and growled. It wasn’t mean or menacing, like Mal knew he was capable of, but that was the soundest “no” Mal had heard from his friend since they got on the plane.

Mal shook his head at the wolf. “You don’t get to go all noble with me now. I know that tone of growl. I did wonder what you would think when the doctor said there was that possibility. But you have to understand that this is my choice.

“There has never been anybody else in my life like you. There never will be. I’m not being dramatic when I say that my life would not be worth living without you. Our friends have their mates, they have their children, they’re living safe and happy lives…” Mal’s voice caught on the lump in his throat, just thinking of their friends waiting for them back in Arrowtown.

“I want us to have a chance for our happy ever after. If there’s the remotest chance that we can have what they have, then I’m gonna take it, dammit.”

Rocky’s woof was different the second time and Mal recognized it for what it was. “I should’ve known you’d pick up on that. Yes, fine, I’m talking myself into it now, aren’t I? But goddamn it,Rocky, can you blame me? I’ve never wanted much for myself in life. Even now, all I want is for you to be well.

“I want you to be able to walk down the main street without making a beeline to that freaking bakery. You know I’ve got nothing against Fergus and Cam, for goodness’ sake. Fergus is the sweetest soul, and Cam has changed so much for the better because of their mating. But I want us to be able to walk down the road together without having to make a stop at the bakery first.”

Rocky whined, his brows down, making Mal laugh. “I know you had a thing for sweet foods before any of this became an issue. Although, are you going to be able to live with it if the doctor says you can never have sugar again? You saw those glitter bits in your blood, didn’t you?”

Rocky nodded and then tilted his head slightly to one side, his ears flickering.

“Well, there you go then. If those things thickened up like some glitter fairy sludge simply because you couldn’t stop eating sugary things, your heart would stop beating. If we’re mated, and you die, you’ll be taking me with you. Would that be enough to stay away from the sugar?”

Rocky tilted his head to the other side, and Mal got the impression the wolf was honestly thinking about it. Although Rocky could just as easily be thinking about the donuts and custard creams his human form had always enjoyed.

The problem with Rocky thinking, from Mal’s perspective, is that he knew that wolves, as animals, while very intelligent, were always rather simplistic in their thought process. They reacted rather than strategized. If they were hungry, they ate. They protected their young. They cared for their mate. But they really didn’t think about the intricacies of human life such as having togo on a sugar-free diet, because eating sugar could take Rocky’s life.

Mal wasn’t sure he’d ever heard of a diabetic wolf before, but he assumed that it could happen, and realistically because of the curse, it was possible Rocky would need to live his life as if he was a diabetic. “I mean even if we broke the curse,” he said, “even if that actually happened, I would be terrified every time you put a donut near your lips.”

Rocky laid his head on his paws and closed his eyes. He’d clearly decided Mal could get over his little freak-out moment by himself. Rocky didn’t appear worried about it. But then until the whole sugar issue became an addiction, Rocky hadn’t been worried about anything he’d eaten before. A wolf’s metabolism meant he really wasn’t the type to get fat and if anything disagreed with him – something Mal had never seen happen to Rocky before – then within a day he’d be fine again.

It was then Mal realized that he may have to still keep watching over Rocky, even if the curse was cured. Rocky had sat back up again and gave him a nudge with his nose.

“Yeah, I know, buddy. I’d look out for you anyway, wouldn’t I? And it’s not like prior to this business you didn’t eat a whole stack of other things. A plate of Brutus’s chicken wings was never safe from you.”

Rocky nodded again. Cupping the big wolf’s head in his hands, Mal looked deep into Rocky’s eyes. He wasn’t sure how much humanity was there, how much the wolf was protecting his human half from his driving addiction, but Mal needed that connection and for Rocky to know how serious he was.

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