Page 91 of Malcolm

Their Alpha was leaving the Veil for his mate , which was far more telling than anything else.

Malcolm walked over to Eliza, bending at the waist. He reached under her and gently lifted her into his arms. “I don’t know how we’ll be gone, nor do I know if our enemies will stay away during that time,” he said, meeting Agun's gaze. “You will come for us after 48 hours. Do you understand?”

Agun gave a short nod.

With his last order given, Malcolm walked out. His mind was far away as he held his love in his arms. She was cold, too cold. The gauze that covered her stomach was already gaining a pinkish color. He reached the transport circle and, with no hesitation, walked through it. Instantaneously, he stood in front of what looked like an old barn. Carrying Eliza as he entered, he found three trucks parked inside. Walking over to the closest one, he gently opened the door and placed her inside.

Quickly moving to the other side, he reached for the glove compartment and opened it. Taking the key out and inserting it, he quickly maneuvered the truck out of the barns and headed towards the hospital.

Malcolm hadn’t thought their time together would end so soon. He had to do what he could for her, even if that meant his safety was put into question. The minute he returned to the human world, Tiller would feel the tracker in his spine, and they would come for them. He reached over and grabbed her hand. “I got you. Trust me, love. Everything will be okay.”

The Final Decision

Eliza

Eliza's limbs felt heavy, and an annoying beeping sound went off in her ears. Step by step, she returned to wakefulness. She wanted to reach out and shut the noise off, but she couldn’t. Something was holding her arm down; the weight was heavy; she struggled to open her eyes to see a familiar head of brown and sun-kissed curls she’d found herself dreaming about more than what was healthy, leading her eyes to the sleeping face of Malcolm.

Eliza didn’t know whether to wake him up or let him sleep. She looked away from his face to her stomach, where she felt the repeated sensation of something stinging her. Using her free hand, she pushed the blanket down, grabbing the edge of her shirt. She slowly pulled it up just in time to see the last stitch pop from her stomach. She grimaced at the sight of old blood and her stomach’s skin shifting.

The wound was healing itself; she should’ve known this body wouldn’t die from such an injury.

“It healed.” Malcolm’s voice was groggy with sleep as he looked from her stomach to her face. An emotion flickered across his expression she couldn’t quite place. He pushed up, sitting straight in the chair. “You knew you would heal?”

She let her shirt fall back down and rested her head back. “No, but I had a hunch.”

“You put your life on the line for a hunch?” Noticing the strain in his voice, she looked at him. “You broke my heart over a guess?”

“Then what was I supposed to do, watch you die?” she asked in a harsh whisper. “I don’t get it. Why do men always think that if they die, everything’s fine.” She swallowed and closed her eyes in pain. “No one wants to see their loved one die.”

Taking in words, Malcolm felt some of his anger ebb away. “We can debate that another time. Are you still feeling any pain?”

Noticing his tone shift, she nervously continued, “It looks like my ability to heal doesn’t take away the pain.”’

“That’s interesting. Tell me, Eliza, does your healing ability have anything to do with you spending time inside of a tube this past year,” a familiar but unwelcome person asked.

Malcolm jumped up and turned, glaring at Tiller, who stood in the doorway of Eliza’s hospital room. The nine-tailed fox sniffed, giving the room a disdainful look. “I’ve been in plentyof hospitals for the past year, but ahumanone?” he drew his gold eyes from the room to Malcolm's face. “Never.” He walked deeper into the room. Tiller's presence signaled many things: change and danger.

Tiller’s hands rested inside his trench coat, and he was missing his ears and tail. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Malcolm. Kidnapping, leaving your duty station, and let’s not forget—lying to me.”

“I never lied to you,” Malcolm retorted defiantly. “I went to the wolf lands and nowhere else as you ordered.”

“Yes,” Tiller said, eyeing Eliza with a strange look. “You did, but you never mentioned taking a friend. Especially such an important friend. One who happens to be the witness we need most. You ran off with her and took her somewhere you knew it would be hard for me to get access.”

“She’s not your anything; she’s my mate. And I have a right to protect her,” Malcolm snapped, his stance defensive.

“Hmm.” Tiller pursed his lips; everything about the man was inhuman. “I would have to argue that, after all, her real owner has been coming to my office searching for her lost little girl.”

Eliza’s pained expression changed into confusion. “What?”

“He’s talking about me.”

Malcolm and Eliza turned sharply towards the woman who’d just stepped from the shadows.

Lanias's eyes nearly glowed with schadenfreude as she looked at them. “I’ve been looking for you, my dear.” She narrowed her eyes. “Call me surprised when I heard one of my witches had been kidnapped and was being held by some mongrel,” she complained sounding indignant.

“Don’t call him that,” Eliza snapped. “And we don’t even have the type of relationship where you can get involved in my private life. Much less insult Malcolm when he’s the one who saved me.Nothing he did was wrong, especially since I was the one who insisted he tell no one about me.”

Lanias's face lost all amusement the minute her eyes landed on Eliza after she finished with her outburst.

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