Page 20 of The Rabbit's Foot
Sure, he was a First, but that shouldn’t have any meaning for Alp. They didn’t have any leaders, and yet he acknowledged to his mother that he followed Mal.
“How’s my favorite patient doing?” Lydia said, sticking her face near the cage.
Alp wanted to turn and kick the bars. Maybe, if he got lucky, he’d nail her in that smug face of….Stop. Just fucking stop. She saved your life. Why are you—no. It wasn’t her he was mad at. It was Mal, who sat there, laughing when Lydia said something, putting a hand atop hers, giving her that smile that Alp thought was just for him. What the fuck was he doing? Couldn’t he understand you didn’t do stuff like that?
Unless…. Did Mal like her? Is that why he was always smiling at her, when it seemed he only scowled or shouted at Alp? That had to be it. It was the only logical explanation. Alp’s anger surged. Well, fuck Mal if he thought Alp was going to sit here and watch the two of them screw. He grabbed the bars in his teeth and yanked hard on them, rattling the whole cage.
Lydia stepped back, her eyes wide. “What the hell?”
Mal was up and to the cage in a heartbeat. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He opened the cage, reached in, and made a grab for Alp, who sidestepped him. “Alp, stop,” he commanded.
Alp froze. Mal lifted him out of the cage and cuddled him to his chest. Alp didn’t want this. Didn’t want to feel like this. Didn’t want…. Didn’t want to lose Mal. Not like this. He needed Mal, probably more than he needed air. Mal was the center of his world, and he couldn’t stand the thought he’d walk away, leaving Alp behind.
Lydia was nattering on about something, but Alp only had eyes for Mal. Only needed Mal. He had to be closer. Shit, if he could burrow under Mal’s skin, that still wouldn’t be close enough. He was safe in Mal’s arms, always safe.
And then Lydia gasped. “What the fuck?” she shouted.
Mal let go of Alp and turned, shielding Alp from—oh, fuck. In his fear and panic, Alp had shifted! She’d seen him do it.
“Don’t look at him,” Mal growled.
“No, no, of course not,” Lydia barked. “I mean, it’s an everyday occurrence for something to be a rabbit one second, and then be a naked man the next, right? How silly of me to be surprised.” But she didn’t sound surprised. She sounded… excited.
Alp peered around Mal, who continued to try to stand between him and Lydia. In a swift move, he reached down, grabbed a blanket from the bed, and whipped it around Alp. When he finished, he snarled at Lydia.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but if you tell anyone about Alp or what you saw, I’ll—”
“So your name is Alp?” she said softly, taking a step closer. “I’m Lydia, and I am so very delighted to meet you. Well, I guess the other you.”
“You’re not freaked out?” Alp asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.
“Of course I am. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But I have to be honest, I’m more amazed than freaked.” She peered up at Mal. “I’ll never tell anyone about Alp, I swear it.”
Mal relaxed slightly. “Humans can’t know,” he said. “If they did…. If they did, they’d do to others what they’ve done to Alp. What they’re probably already doing to more shifters.”
“Shifters? Is that what Alp is?”
Mal drew in a breath, then reached for Alp’s hand. “Not just Alp. I’m a wolf. I’m his guardian.”
Alp’s heart swelled when Mal said it. He leaned in and put his head on Mal’s arm, staring up into his eyes, which earned him that smile he’d come to love so much. The one where everything faded away and he seemed to actuallyseeAlp.
“Now this whole thing makes so much more sense to me. No one would ever spend that kind of money on a rabbit, especially one missing a foot. And no rabbit could have survived what Alp… I’m sorry, is it okay if I call you Alp? I don’t want to be forward.”
“Sure, Alp is fine.”
Fucking surreal. Alp’s parents had warned him repeatedly to stay away from humans. Hyde and his assholes had enforced those beliefs. But Lydia? She actually asked Alp if it was okay to call him by name.
“What were you so angry about, little one?” Mal asked, brushing a hair out of Alp’s eyes.
“You were… I mean… I….” Well, shit.I was a jealous bastard? I hated seeing you so happy with someone else?“Nothing important. I just got annoyed because I hate being in the cage.”
“I’m sorry,” Mal said softly, continuing to touch Alp’s hair.
“I have a question,” Lydia said, breaking Alp’s focus. “What really happened to your… well, I guess it’s your hand, isn’t it?”
In this instance, he would defer to Mal. “First?”
Mal’s nostrils flared. “Thank you.” He turned to Lydia and started the story from the moment he heard the gunshot, how he’d rescued Alp from the men—glossing over the part where they were now being feasted on by flies in the woods—and about taking Alp to Lydia. Then he turned to Alp. “Can you fill in the rest?”
