Intro to Malcom -

Chapter 2

“What does it matter?” she challenged her brother. “Excuse me if I shower my ass, or if I do not tell you every second of my life. I am a grown woman, an alpha; I can handle myself, brother.”

“It matters because you are supposed to be here! Where I can protect you and I can’t do that if you continue to go rogue. The vampires are cutting our numbers down and I cannot have you going off on your own without a guard!” He walked over to his baby sister and grabbed her face in a tight grip. “I need you to be safe.” The words should have brought her comfort but instead it panicked Stephanie. She was nothing more than property to her brother, something he could keep around so he wouldn’t feel alone in the chaos he had created.

“I am safe, brother, I’m with you.” She said in a soft tone. It was better to soothe the beast than to agitate it more.

“And you will stay with me, forever!” He snarled before he released her face and pushed her back onto her bed. She tried to get up before he could make it to the door but he was outside and slamming it. She heard the lock and she couldn’t believe he had actually done it. He’d threatened to lock her away plenty of times before but she’d never thought he’d go through with it. She banged at the door but it was no use. It had been reinforced “for her protection.” She was trapped; a prisoner in her own home and her brother was the warden and would most likely be her executioner.

~*~

Malcom had packed his bags with as much as he could take and hit the road leaving his cabin abandoned. He would return, eventually, once he could be sure that Vincent’s pups hadn’t located him. Seeing Stephanie had affected him much more than he was ready for. Her presence reminded him of a world he wanted to forget and a time that he wished he could erase. As he hiked across the woods and tried to clear his mind of the betrayal that he felt at the hands of his best friend, he thought about the girl who had just visited him. Stephanie. She had always been the levelheaded one of that family, which is the reason they were always so close. Before Serene, they had been a bit more than close, they were something of a couple. Even in the early stages of their courting. Malcom felt the pressure to be with her from every direction.

The thing of it was, he would have taken interest in Stephanie had they not been on him. She was a great catch, beautiful, strong, and yeah she was young, but she had the potential to become a great alpha female. Most of the men wanted her and he felt honored that she had obviously chosen him, but it hadn’t been his decision, he was never given the option. Shortly after Vincent became alpha, their father approached him.

“Malcom,” The burly old wolf came to greet him not 24 hours after Vincent had announced that Malcom would stand by his side. “What an honor it is to be second in command, and my son couldn’t have made a better choice.”

“Thank you sir.” Malcom spoke with pride.

“No, thank you, I can now rest easy knowing that my son will be carefully watched over and protected.”

“I will do my best; give my all to my alpha.” Malcom beamed as he shook the hand of their former Alpha. It was a great thing to have gained his trust and respect.

“Glad to hear that, but enough about your official duties to the pack and my son, I am here to speak to you about other things.” He smiled. “More important things…”

“What things might that be sir?” Malcom had a gut feeling about what the topic was; he’d been expecting it, just not so suddenly.

“Stephanie.”

“Stephanie? I will protect her sir, you have my word.” He chose to play dumb for the moment. He knew Stephanie’s dad wasn’t there to secure a personal bodyguard for her.

“Protection is great but I am talking along the lines of things more…permanent.” His smile broadened as if he were offering Malcom the world itself.

“Permanent sir?”

“Yes, I want you to be with Stephanie, mate her and keep the bloodline strong.”

“Oh, well, I…” Though he knew it was coming, he didn’t know how to respond. Stephanie had been like a little sister to him for so long.

“Do you not like my daughter? Do you not believe that she is beautiful?” The man mocked the expression of one who might be insulted. He knew that no one could say that Stephanie wasn’t beautiful and it had nothing to do with who her father was. Stephanie was gorgeous.

“No, sir, I never meant that. Stephanie is wonderful, I just believe that this is something for her to decide, she is an alpha female. It is not my place.”

“But I am her father, and it is mine.” The man stared at Malcom, it wasn’t a request, he didn’t have another option and he knew that about their former Alpha, when he wanted something, he took it. If anyone got in his way…well, he dealt with him or her in the best way he could. Or so he said. Vincent was a lot like his father. If only he had known, years later, his son would all but order his execution.

“Yes, sir.” Malcom agreed because he knew there was nothing else to say. All he could hope was either that he’d fall in love with her, or that she would simply reject him for another.

It was still many years before any of that came to fruition. Stephanie was a late bloomer when it came to her interest in the opposite sex. It was nearly two decades after the conversation with her father and she had just begun to look at Malcom in that way. She wanted him, and after spending so much unsolicited time with her, he admitted his desire for her as well. He had no idea that Serene would enter his world only a few months later. He would never have fathomed hurting Stephanie in such a way.

They spoke about it, before he made it public. He told her that he couldn’t help the way he felt and she seemed to understand it. Obviously, she was hurt, but she told him that she was happy for him, and that she supported him. That apparently was something that would only occur behind closed doors because when it all came to light, she wasn’t on his side. She mocked him and openly showed her hatred for Serene. He couldn’t blame her, she was taking a lot of heat for his actions and he had to defend her name more than once. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, but he knew in his heart that there wasn’t one thing he would have changed. Serene was the love of his life no matter how brief their time together had been.