Usually, Malik waits back or checks the outside camps surrounding this one, but I can see his excitement about new pack members.
Jonah looks around with a huge grin on his face at all the children running around when a group of them stops and stares at him curiously.
“Do you know him?” Asks a little girl with blonde ringlets, looking up at me.
“Yeah, he’s my dad,” Jonah tells her.
“I’m Lia. Do you want to play?” She asks Jonah.
“No, I have to help my dad, maybe when we all get home,” Jonah tells her, and she nods, rushing off after the rest of the kids.
“Ah, they are finally coming back,” Malik says, pointing to the trail leading off into the trees across the other side of the clearing where the river runs through.
The wind shifts, the scorching breeze caresses us, and the trees sway from its abrupt assault when Malik suddenly growls, making me look over at him. Everyone near us suddenly stops and stares at him. His entire body is tense, and his eyes are as black as his wolf as he comes forward.
“Malik, control yourself,” I tell him, and he shakes his head, staring off across the camp’s clearing, the rogues staring at him are frightened, and they have reason to be. Malik’s wolf is huge for a warrior, he is bigger than Zane’s. But he is a huge softy. However, if he shifts, he might spook them out of coming with us.
“Uncle Malik!” Jonah says, gripping his arm.
Malik growls, his eyes not leaving the spot he is locked onto, but he calms hearing Jonah’s voice. Turning, I look in the direction he is staring.
A woman is standing there with a baby perched on her hip, and my stomach sinks.
Please don’t have a mate already.
Malik turns his head to the side, watching the woman. Her dark blonde unruly hair suddenly blows into her face when she looks up and, in our direction, her eyes pinned on Malik while the person beside her keeps talking to her.
The baby in her arms appears only to be a few months old. The little girl Lia comes over again, seeming to want to play with Jonah, who is tugging on Malik’s arm.
Lia hesitates as she approaches Jonah, her eyes stuck on Malik warily.
“Is he ok?” she asks.
“Yeah, he is nice, but his wolf is being naughty,” Jonah says, trying to get his attention. Lia nods.
“You want to meet my sister and my mom?” She asks Jonah, pointing at the woman Malik is staring at.
“That woman is your mother?” I ask her and her eyes dart to me, and Malik’s eyes snap down to look at Lia.
The woman, obviously having overheard, rushes over with a frantic look on her face. Malik goes to speak to Lia when a feral growl rips out of the woman as she snatches her daughter’s arm, ripping her away from Malik’s outstretched hand that is about to grip the girl’s shoulder.
The woman growls threateningly at him, handing the baby off to the girl and placing herself between her children and Malik.
“Mate or not, I will knife you in your goddamn sleep if you lay a hand on my kids.” She steps forward threateningly, her finger jabbing him in the chest.
“I would never hurt your kids,” Malik snaps at her, appalled at her words. Shit, if only she knew he is raising sixteen-year-old twin boys that aren’t even his by himself. She pulls her hand back and takes a step back.
“Hmm, well. My kids stay. I won’t get rid of them because they aren’t yours.”
“Never asked you to,” Malik says, an amused grin on his lips as he watches her.
She seems surprised, which I understand. Of course, most mates wouldn’t be happy about finding their mate has kids that didn’t belong to them, but our pack is not like most packs. We are a rogue pack, we understand what it is like being rogue, and we also know that a lot of rogue women don’t get to choose the life they are given.
Lia groans under her sister’s weight, who she is clutching. “Mom.” She gasps, and the woman startles, glancing back at her daughter. ”
“Oh, sorry, dear,” she says, grabbing the baby from her. I sniff the air, noticing the two children don’t smell exactly the same, and I notice Malik does the same thing.
“Half-sisters?” Malik asks, and the woman nods as Lia rushes off with Jonah, and another boy that approaches them.
“Their fathers,” Malik asks, and the woman blushes before shrugging, looking down at the baby in her arms. “You don’t know?” He asks her, and she glares at him.
“Don’t judge me,” she snaps at him, and Malik cuts her off.
“Didn’t say I was, just a simple question.”
I am tired of watching him beat around the bush instead of asking outright, it is obvious the reason she doesn’t know – she is one of the working girls
To get it out of the way, I, however, am not so polite. “Have you got a mate, a boyfriend, a husband? Does he need to go kill someone to claim and mark you?” I ask her.
She jumps, her hand goes to her throat, and I know she only just sees me standing there. “Name would also be good,” I tell her.
“Heidi, Alpha, and no, no mate or anything,” She says, looking over at Malik.
“Oh, thank the Goddess,” Malik says, grabbing and ripping her to him, careful of the baby clutched in her arms.
His lips crash against hers, and she squeals before relaxing and kissing him back. I walk over and grab the baby from her arms, but the woman refuses to let her go.
“Not kidnapping her, just let you two talk. I will be over there with Lia and Jonah,” I tell her, pointing them out.
“He would never hurt her. He is a good Alpha,” Malik tells her, and she lets me take her child. I nod to her before walking off. I hear Malik introduce himself as I walk off toward my son.
“Hello, cutie,” I tell the little girl, who gives me a big gummy grin.
“Jonah said we are Pack now?” Lia asks as I sit on the grass next to the kids, watching as everyone packs up and takes stuff to the buses.
“Yep, everyone is Pack if they want to be,” I answer with a smile nearly as wide as hers.
“And can we all come?” She asks.
“Yes, everyone in your camp can come home with us.”
She nods her head, thinking. “And you won’t kick us out?” She asks.
“No, Pack is family, family is pack,” Jonah answers, and the little girl looks over at me.
“Will you make my mom leave for a night like the other Alpha?” Her eyebrows furrow and I can see the worry flash in her eyes.
“Definitely not,” I tell her, shaking my head.
“Then why are you helping us?” She asks curiously, glancing at her mother behind me.
I can see those little eyes have witnessed more than they should have at her age. They hold worry for the woman she calls mother, worry for the little girl in my arms. Something I will ensure none of them have to worry about again.
“Because I used to be a rogue. My entire pack was rogues once, and now we are family, Packs are family, and we wanted to invite everyone here to be a part of it.” I tell her.
“He must be a good Alpha,” Lia says, looking at Jonah.
“He’s an even better dad,” Jonah says, smiling at her.