Page 23 of The Protector’s Heart

He shrugged. “It’s not fun, but the pack works best when people are ranked appropriately. When I came back, I fought for the fourth rank because that’s what I was when I left, and I knew I was the best male for the position.”

“You don’t want to be theto or beta?”

He shook his head. “Their positions come with a lot of responsibility. I like being fourth because I’m still highly ranked but I don’t have the burden of leadership.”

She hummed in her throat and said nothing. He let the conversation drop, thinking over what he’d said. He enjoyed sharing pack life with her. She seemed completely out of her depth with wolves, and he could thank her asshole ex for that. Females were not treated well in her ex’s pack, and Nila hadn’t even had the luxury of being a true mate to him, protected and cared for by his pack. Malachi could admit that it was better this way, though, at least from his perspective. She wasn’t wearing her ex’s marks on her neck, and Damien’s pack hadn’t come for her.

He parked in front of Acksel’s house and turned in the seat to face her. “When I was a kid, there was a she-wolf in the pack whose mate was a real jerk. He didn’t treat her well. He had a gambling problem and wasted what little money they had at the OTB. They had young pups, and there were times when I remember my mom taking food over to her, and my and Mia’s old clothes. One night, he hit her and trashed their house. In the morning, our alpha banished him from the pack and dissolved their mating. She moved into the home of a widowed she-wolf and was taken care of by the pack.” Nila looked at him curiously but said nothing. “What you’re going through now isn’t supposed to happen. Damien abused you. His alpha should have stepped in and protected you.”

“Damien is the alpha’s son.”

“Doesn’t matter. Females are to be protected at all cost, treasured members of the pack that are never to be harmed.”

She swallowed audibly and the scent of fresh tears filled the air. “I’m human.”

He shook his head. “It still doesn’t matter. You’re precious, no matter what your DNA is.”

He hugged her, finding the seatbelt release with his fingers so she could be freed, and pulled her closer. She was here with him, and no matter what hell was going on outside, in the end it only mattered that she was his.

“When you’re free, Nila,” he said softly, “I mean really free, I want you to choose me. I want to be your mate and take care of you and Jack.”

She tucked her head into his neck and sighed, but said nothing. He was going to take her non-response to mean she was thinking about it, and that was better than a flat-out no. He knew they were a long way from really being together, but the first step could come from him setting things right in her world and making her safe.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Nila laid Jack in the playpen in the master bedroom at Malachi’s house. He hadn’t woken up when they’d taken him from Acksel’s house, or when she’d changed him into his footy pajamas and put him to bed. She looked down at him, and then around the room, sighing. The room was very masculine and smelled spicy and dark like Malachi. The furniture was dark wood, the navy carpeting plush under her bare feet. Her emotions were all over the place, her mind a riot of all the things that had happened recently.

Malachi had one of the omegas pack another bag for her and Jack, because when the protectors had gone to Diane’s house to check on things, they’d found the bag she packed for herself and Jack destroyed, the clothes and personal items ruined. Two protectors were stationed at her house to make sure nothing else happened. She probably could have argued to go home. The windows had been replaced, the entire house cleaned, and everything that had been damaged had been thrown away. But she didn’t want to go home. She didn’t want to be in a place where Damien could get to her and Jack again.

Malachi whispered from the doorway, “It’s late and I’m going to turn in. I’ll be sleeping on the couch in the family room. Call if you need me.”

She turned and looked at him. He smiled briefly and moved to leave, and she said, “Wait.”

“Yeah?”

She blinked, glancing down as Jack slept soundly in the playpen that had been brought from her house, and then letting her gaze roam to the big bed. “Will you stay with me?”

“I’m not leaving the house,” he said, his head tilting in confusion.

She grimaced. “No, I mean in here. With me.”

The silence between them made her fidget and kind of wish she hadn’t said anything. Wasn’t it enough that he was in the house with them? Shouldn’t she just be grateful for all Malachi had done?

He moved so quickly and silently that she gasped in surprise when he was suddenly in front of her. “You have a very expressive face.”

“Um, thanks?”

He chuckled. “I wasn’t saying no to the request, I was just arguing with my wolf a bit.”

“You talk about him like he’s another person inside you.”

“He is, in a way, but not a person. I have normal human thoughts, but then sometimes the more wild part of me makes itself known. The wolf can be very vocal about certain things.”

“What things?” Her voice came out breathy.

“You, mostly. Being around you makes him antsy.”

She didn’t have to ask what he meant by that, because she could see the answer in his eyes. Before she could say anything else, he said, “I’ll sleep in the bed with you, Nila, but you have to promise to keep your hands to yourself.”

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