Page 38 of The Rabbit's Foot
“No.”
“Alp, you need—”
“What Ineedis for you to stop treating me like I’m helpless.” He huffed a breath, and then it struck him. He lifted his arm. “Is it because of this?”
“Yes, of course it is!” Mal snapped. “They’ve already taken something from you, and I’m afraid when I think about what else they could take.” He rubbed noses with Alp. “I’m terrified I’ll lose you.”
“Maybe now you understand how I feel about you going in there without me. If I’m fighting alongside you, I’ll know that I’ve done everything I can to keep you safe.” He nuzzled Mal’s chin. “Please, don’t try to take this away from me. You’ll waste more energy doing what you can to convince me to stay behind than you will if you accept I am going to be there.” He smirked. “Don’t fuck with me on this, First. You won’t win.”
Chapter 13
There were so many things Mal never imagined in his life. To consider settling down in one spot to take care of the second thing he never figured he’d have, a mate. And what a mate Alp was. So beautiful in his submission to his First, but also so fucking fierce when he refused to back down because he had firm beliefs.
“Alp, I—”
His mate held up a hand. “Not discussing this anymore with you. I’m going, and that’s final.”
“You’re going,” Mal conceded, and even his wolf seemed happy with the decision.
“Really?” Alp’s eyes were huge. “You’ll let me come?”
Mal frowned. “Let you? Could I have stopped you?”
“Sure. You could have said, ‘Alp, I love you, and it would kill me if something happened to you, so please stay behind.’”
Mal gaped. “You lying little shit.”
That earned him a grin. “Okay, maybe I would have tried to persuade you to let me come anyway.”
“Uh, I think you spelled bullied wrong.”
“What was it you said to—oh, wait, I remember. ‘Stupid autocorrect.’”
And Mal couldn’t help it. He burst out with a laugh unlike anything he’d done in a long time. Since leaving his pack, he’d been a broody loner. Alp dragged him back into the sunlight, showing him that life was still there and was still beautiful.
“We should get up,” Mal said. “I need to go scouting. Damon is going to want to know everything there is before he’ll commit people to helping us.”
“Okay, I’ll get dressed, and we can—”
“No.”
Alp rolled off him and stood. “No? We’re going to start this shit again? What’s the problem this time?”
“I’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and you’ll slow me down.”
Alp sneered. “Because of my hand?”
Sliding off the bed, Mal towered over his mate. He reached out and cupped the back of his neck, drawing him close. “No, not at all. If it was your hand, I wouldn’t be letting you come when we go in to cleanse the place. I’m going to be moving fast, taking in all the scents I can. If you’re there, all I’ll smell is you. All I’ll want is you. I need my head clear, and you will screw it up big-time.”
“Then why can I come with you when you go in?”
“Because I’ll be fighting for you, and knowing where you are will help keep me focused. I’m not going to want to pull your pants down and fuck you during a firefight. Well, probably not. I’ll bring lube, you know, just in case.”
Alp pressed his naked body against Mal’s and kissed his chest. “You say the sweetest things.”
“Can I trust you’ll stay here?”
“Oh, of course,” Alp said, and his entire expression told Mal it was a total lie. He was nibbling on his lip, his ears twitched, and he kept staring at Mal’s chest, refusing to look up.
