Page 73 of The Rabbit's Foot
“That’s no problem.” Damon had given him a credit card for incidentals. True, it wasn’t the black credit card that had fascinated Alp, but that was fine. He had one for Lydia too, after saying she shouldn’t be spending her own money like that. He was going to be giving it to her tomorrow, which Mal was glad about.
“You’ll need to take my truck.”
“No, I should be….” Shit. Mal should have realized, after everything that happened with Alp, there was no way he could haul things they needed. Then he thought about the kids. What if they had to take them somewhere, like an emergency trip to Lydia’s clinic? It’s not like he could strap them to the back of his motorcycle. Still, Lydia looked shattered. Her eyes weren’t bright, and her normally artfully messy hair was poking out in several areas.
“I appreciate that, but you need some rest. I’ll figure something out.”
She gave a wan smile. “I’ll be okay for a couple hours. I still have a few kids to see before I close up for the night.” She handed him the keys. “Go ahead. I’ll need it for tomorrow.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll do that. Thank you. Be back as soon as I can.”
She nodded, then headed off toward her clinic. Thoughts were zipping through Mal’s head. He knew what he needed to do—it was a matter of getting it done.
“Damon?”
Damon turned and tilted his head. “Malachi? Everything okay?”
“I have to make a store run. Wanna come?”
Damon said something to Wiley, who looked up and waved at Mal, then headed toward the kids’ ward, probably to check in with Micah, who was hard at work sketching his designs on the walls. Once that was done, he’d paint them and give a glorious forest view for the shifters.
“What’s up, pup?” Damon said, tossing an arm over Mal’s shoulder. “Why so serious?”
“I had a realization.” He swallowed hard. “I’m about to be a surrogate father.”
“Yep, you are. Scared?”
Mal shook his head. “No, not in the least. I’m looking forward to the challenges, as well as the rewards.”
“I knew you would, especially once you got out of your ‘I’m not meant to be in a pack’ attitude.”
And that was the crux of Mal’s thoughts. He’d lived as a lone wolf for years, catching the bus or thumbing for rides until he got his cycle.
“When you leave, how’d you like to take the cycle with you?”
Damon’s jaw dropped. “Why would you give away something so beautiful?”
“I…. This isn’t a pack like yours. My people will need hands-on care, probably for years. I won’t have time to ride, and I need an actual vehicle to haul stuff and to have available for the kids. Yours are grown, and your pack runs like a well-oiled machine. I want someone I like to get use out of the bike instead of letting it sit in a garage and gather rust.”
“I—I don’t know what to say.”
“You’d be doing me a favor,” Mal told him. “Plus, I’m going to need you to help me pick out something solid and dependable to use for here.”
“Sure, that would be amazing.” He leaned in and hugged Mal, brushing their cheeks together. “Thank you.”
Though Mal would be sad to lose his bike, he wasn’t sad to be cutting the ties to his lone-wolf days.
Heh. Look at him now. All grown up and shit.
But he sure was gonna miss that bike.
Chapter 24
Mal swung by the infirmary to check on everyone. Lydia nodded as he walked in, but then went back to examining Dobie, an eight-year-old beagle shifter who’d been blinded in one eye as a result of Hyde’s experiments. Lydia said she’d been consulting with Gwyneth, and they hoped that together they could reverse the damage that had been done. Mal certainly hoped so, because there were too many people who would never heal.
Around him, workers bustled. Thankfully Lydia had some assistants now, because this job would be impossible for one person. Mal yawned and stretched as he headed out into the hall again. His meeting with Damon had gone on hours longer than expected, and Mal was worn out. Plus, it had been days since he’d been able to shift, and his body was feeling the stress. The aching back, the tired eyes, and the tight muscles that came with sitting and staring at numbers and charts until he was squinting at the screen, trying to get the numbers to stop dancing. He slipped into an empty room, leaving the door ajar, and stripped off his clothes, then shifted. Maker, it felt glorious as all the kinks worked out of his body.
He nudged the door open and stepped into the hall. He decided he could head to the ramp that led to the outside and take a quick run, maybe go down to the stream and lap up some of the ice-cold water.
