Page 58 of The Protector’s Heart

He lifted his head and howled, the sound piercing the silent night in a way that shook her to her very soul. Brynn smiled and hugged her and Jack as Malachi and the other pack members joined in the howling. To her surprise, and everyone else’s, Jack howled too, although his howl sounded more like a playful yip than the deep-throated cry of the others.

Malachi curled his hand around her neck and gently pulled her to his mouth. The nearly-chaste kiss made her smile as he pressed his forehead to hers and whispered, “My mate.” Then he kissed Jack on the top of the head and said, “My son.” He smiled at her, eyes brimming with love. “I love you, Nila. My life wouldn’t be the same without you and Jack in it.”

“I love you, too, Malachi.”

Acksel called for the wolves to shift and Eveny appeared on the deck with Luke, offering to take Jack inside while Nila remained with Malachi. Nila glanced around surreptitiously as the wolves began to strip. Malachi took her hand and gently pulled her down the steps onto the snowy grass and around the corner of the house.

“What are we doing over here?” she asked as the shadows closed around them and the sounds of the pack were muted.

“I don’t want you looking at any other guys.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course I am. The only naked guy I want you ogling is me.”

“Did you just say ‘ogle’?”

“I did, woman.” He growled the words at her, jerking her close until they were pressed together.

“I can’t see you in the dark,” she pointed out.

He kissed her hard, delving his tongue in her mouth like he was staking a claim, making her toes curl with the intensity. With a grunt, he released his hold on her and took a few steps back until he was out of the shadows and began to strip. She’d seen Damien shift once, but he’d been showing off. Malachi wasn’t showing off for her, he was shifting because he needed to, and keeping it between them because he wanted it that way. This was their time.

She caught his shirt as he tossed it to her. He toed off his boots and stood barefoot in the snow with his fingers at the waistband of his jeans. Warmth snaked through her, and his lip curled up in a snarl.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to want to stay here.” His voice was gruff, and she could see his muscles were bunched and tense.

“You’re gorgeous, Mal, and you’re mine.” She let the word roll around in her mind for a second and smiled at the possessive way it made her feel. He didn’t own her, and she didn’t own him, but they belonged to each other all the same. “I’ll be here when you get back, and then we can go home and celebrate.”

He shoved his jeans down and stepped from them, tossing them to her as he straightened. She was tempted to ask for a quickie, or to drop on her knees and lick him like a lollipop, but for one, her son was in the house waiting for her, and for another, Malachi needed to hunt.

“Have fun hunting, Mal,” she said, smiling and hugging his still-warm clothes to her chest.

He winked and dropped to his knees, the shift overtaking him quickly. He shook himself out and she closed the distance between them and knelt next to him. His fur was thick, coarse along his back but soft on his belly. He nuzzled her cheek and made a soft sound, a cross between a purr and a growl, and she looped her arm around his neck and gave him a hug and kiss on his muzzle. Wishing him a good hunt, she walked to the deck, and he followed her to where several wolves were waiting. Nila joined Brynn on the deck, and they watched the wolves head off into the woods.

“I’m jealous of them getting to shift, but I’m glad that I can’t because I don’t really have to let Acksel boss me around like I would if I was a wolf.”

“I’m sure he bosses you around enough as it is,” Nila said as she folded Malachi’s clothes and set them on the top step of the porch. She walked into the house with Brynn. Luke was sitting on the couch and Eveny was on the floor with Jack, stacking blocks.

“Acksel tries,” Brynn winked. “How is Diane doing? Kammie stopped by while you and Mal were around the corner and said that everything was going well, but I didn’t know if you’d talked to her or not.”

“I went to see her yesterday, and we talk every few days. She’s healing fine, and having fun with Kammie. Malachi said the repairs on Diane’s house are finished now, so she can go home as soon as she’s able to take care of herself.”

“I think it’s been good for Kammie to have someone to take care of. She likes to be helpful.”

Eveny looked up from the floor. “She told me it’s easier to be around humans than wolves because humans don’t expect as much from her, not like the pack does.”

“Mal said that all females are automatically omegas except for the alpha female. Why aren’t females ranked like the guys?” Nila asked, joining Eveny on the floor.

Jack handed her a block and she stacked it on top of another. Eveny said, “Packs are still very male-centric, even ones that are as progressive as ours is becoming. I heard there are a few packs where females are also ranked, but even in those situations, the females are a separate ranking from the males and not a truly cohesive ranking of everyone together.”

Nila thought of Ren and Sam and the other males she’d met in the pack. “I don’t suppose there are many guys who would like having a woman be higher ranked.”

Brynn snorted. “That’s an understatement. As alpha female I get away with the authority because of Acksel. His power, in essence, is mine. The pack knows if anyone messes with me, he’ll beat them within an inch of their lives. No one wants to be on the receiving end of one of Acksel’s bad moods. My authority is like an extension of his, I suppose. What I say goes, unless it’s in conflict with something he’s already said, and then his word is law.”

Eveny looked thoughtful. “If it weren’t for me falling in love with Luke and Brynn getting preggers, the pack would still be the way it was before that stuff happened. Everyone is happier now that the pack’s laws are less restrictive. The omegas enjoy being useful to the pack, and the way that Acksel has them working together now—like with the monthly parties for the full moon and working for pack members around town—it’s like heaven compared to what it was before.”

“Working for pack members?”

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