Page 40 of Malcolm

Eliza moved over to her. “And how does that information help me? As you saw last night, someone’s taken everything.”

“Yes, but I can find out where the book is,”she said, as the stone boulder before them made a loud cracking sound as it slowly opened, spilling light onto them.“Let’s go.”

Eliza nodded, and together, the women entered the door, letting it fall close behind them.

Just as the door closed, a person entered the clearing.

Malcolm

“What are you doing?”

Malcolm blinked, looking around himself in confusion. He whipped around, his eyes searching the line of forest for Eliza. “I—I was searching for Eliza?”

Confused, his sister stared at him, “What are you talking about? You just said you were going back in to change, to speak with the council.”

Malcolm frowned at her, at a loss. He had every intention of finding Eliza and having her assess the sight of the crime. He’d been heading towards the woods, and now he was standing on the path to the gates to the cabins. He felt a spike of pain hit him; he grimaced as he released a hiss and pressed two fingers against his right temple.

“I-I—You’re right, I was.”

His sister smiled, clicking her tongue. “We haven’t been playing fair, just dumping everything on you. Uncle should have let you rest before he tried to saddle you with the title Alpha.”

He shook his head, giving his sister a look of annoyance. “I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind. I won’t lie and say it’sbeen easy, but your brother has dealt with worse,” he said this as he started walking back towards the castle. “This definitely isn’t the worst I’ve dealt with.” He didn’t add anything else after his words; he didn’t need to fill her with the tales of his not-so-sparkly life.

“I’m sure of it. I’ve heard the stories about the northern Veil, especially Veil City. Is it true that all kinds of beings live there? Like witches and demons?”

He gave a short nod. “Aye, Kelpies and wyverns, but…” He paused and looked over his shoulder at the sky in the distance, where he saw the tail end of a Pegasus. “Every Veil has its flying pest.”

His sister smirked. “Pest, indeed. When we were nothing but pups, you bragged about getting to ride a Pegasus?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, and you were more than ready to tease me about it.”

“Someone had to keep you from sneaking off and trying to ride one. You, being the wild child you were, would have given Mom a heart attack.” His sister teased.

She also added, “Mother told me to leave you alone because you were a dreamer, and there wasn’t anything wrong with that. I told her, if I didn’t tell you the truth, you’d try to ride one. She didn’t believe me.”

Malcolm couldn’t help the warm smile that came to his lips, when he thought about his childhood. “And then she caught me sneaking off to really ride one,” he said. “I wasn’t scared about being caught sneaking out.”

She side-eyed him. “You weren’t, then I wonder why you cried so much when caught?”

He sighed. “I took the food mom had prepared for some get-together with her friends.”

“Ah,” she said before bursting into laughter. “So that's why.”

“I don’t think I ever could look at macaroni the same again.” Malcolm shook his head, his expression losing its humor. “It’s weird; when Robert said she was dead, a part of me felt like I already knew.”

His sister's eyes turned sad, and she lowered her eyes. “Yeah, I think she died happier than when she lived here,” she said, her tone wistful. “A part of me wishes she’d stayed, but after hearing the truth about why she left, I understood. Then I suddenly wasn’t so angry about it anymore.”

“Yeah,” Malcolm said before he gave a stiff nod and returned to his house, leaving his sister behind. He wanted to be able to fulfill the expectations his sister had in him, but for some reason, he felt oddly anxious, and he couldn’t pinpoint why t

It felt as if there was something simmering beneath the surface waiting to come out, but he wasn’t sure what exactly that thing was, only that it was close. His nose twitched as he paused right before the steps and glanced over his shoulder at the forest. Staring at it for a minute, he finally turned away and shook his head.

Maybe he was overthinking it. He had one clear mission: find whoever was behind the werewolves' disappearances, and then he could get on with his life. With that, he continued towards his room to change.

“Alpha Robert,why have you brought your nephew before us?”

One of the elders demanded from where they were set in a semi-circle around the fire that blazed in the center of the floor. Their bodies were in the traditional cloak of bear skin, and they were wearing their plaid, with a differing shirt. Some had braieson, while others sported bare legs. The room they sat in was circular and carved out from the high mountain a mile away from the main compound.

Only males were allowed within; the large chamber held back to their Celtic roots. When Malcolm was young, and his father had brought him here, he’d sworn he could hear the whisperings of his ancestors in the large hall. Their roots were strong here, and he could feel the wild beast in him closer. The elders often congregated there to talk over important issues; as a child, Malcolm had hidden within the shadows, listening to the old, grizzled man tell each other stories from the past.

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