If Only

28.Malachi

"Turn it off." Emily whines, pulling me from sleep, rolling in my arms, throwing the blanket over her head, blocking out the world. My fingers hit the alarm, turning off the high beeping; five-thirty in the morning, time to train. I roll over to Emily, pulling the blanket down over her head.

"Good morning, sleepy head. Are you coming with me?"
"Do I have to?" She mumbles, reaching out for the blanket again,
"hm. Yes. You won't be training with me today, so please dress for the weather." I scoop her up in my arms,

"Malachi! Put me down!" She screams,
"nope. You need to get up. Do you want to shower now or after? Or both?"
"After." She wiggles out of my arms, dropping gracefully to the soft gray carpet,
"after sounds good." my tone grumbles, playfully tugging at the sheet wrapped around her "yeah, what am I doing then?" She laughs, walking into her closet.

"You know, I've seen you naked, right? You are meeting your Beta and your Delta. They want to take you into town, so hurry up." I call out as she closes the door behind her.
"Showers are different!" I lean against her closet door, laughing,
"How?"
"Because you are standing in a shower!"
"And?"
"And you look different standing than you do laying down. It is different."
"Well, sweetheart, you wouldn't be standing. So it should be fine."
"What? Malachi, I don't want to go shopping. I have more clothes than I know what to do with." Her head popped out of the closet, her hair in a high ponytail falling over her shoulder, and her green eyes narrowed at me.

"I'll show you later, baby. You need something business formal to wear to the Alpha council meeting in a week." I laugh, forcing myself to walk away from her and the images of her pressed against my glass shower. Get a grip, Malachi. Get a grip. We aren't doing this.
Half an hour later, we are finally out of our room. Emily walks with her fingers laced through mine, her mid-calf gray boots, tight blue jeans tucked in showing off her long legs, an ivory sweater dress stopping at her waist, pulled down over her fingers, keeping her right shoulder bare as her braid falls over her left. She is showing off my mark, her rank, and her title. I feel odd handing her over to who would be her Beta and Delta, but she needs them. She needs people who aren't me, and I have to trust my people with her. I have to. Sooner or later, she will officially be their Luna.

The chill in the air hits me as we set outside onto the training field. Ben and Graham are standing in the early morning with Kat and Racheal. Their voices travel over to us, the excitement in Racheal's voice building.
"Alpha will let us." I hear Rachel laugh,
"yeah, he doesn't even let me have that. So don't get your hopes up." Ben answers back,
"yeah, but your not his girl." Kat teases back.
"Malachi, I don't need a Beta or a Delta. I'm no one." Emily sighs, pulling her fingers out of my light grasp.
"You do. Emily. You need a Beta and a Delta. You are Luna, you are most defiantly not a no one. Ben and I picked two girls that I trust and feel you would get along with. You need people, baby." I sigh. Maybe she should have had some say in this.

"Don't I get to pick them?" She pulls back further,
"you don't know anyone here, love." That should be the end of this. I take a step toward her, "And? I'm not your love."
"And what, Emily." I choose to ignore her comment. She was, even if I couldn't tell her those words yet.
"Don't I, or do I? Am I your Luna or not?" She answers back in a slight grumble, her bright green eyes holding tight to mine as she looks up at me, she's hot when she's being assertive. Flashes of her being in control, taking what she wants from me, wash over my eyes, filling them with the desire that lives between us. I don't know if it was the demons being washed away last night, or the small amount she let me in, but the craving for her is burning in my belly deeper, and hotter than last night. Maybe because this time it was me, not my Alpha that pushed for her. It wasn't a joint effort even though I knew he ached for her the way I did, but this was a calmer need, a more justifiable wanting.

"No. Malachi. No." She warns, holding her hand up to me, pushing lightly on my chest.
"you are, Emily." My tongue runs over my canines,
"Then tell me things, Alpha."
"Deal, Luna." I lean down, sealing our deal with a kiss, my hands pulling her hips against mine, lifting her on her tiptoes to get closer to me; she pulls away, her hands pushing at my chest when I run my tongue over her bottom lip.

"Malachi." She hisses at me,
"what." I shrug laughing,
"Nothing, just people are waiting for us." Emily sighs, shaking her head, stepping out of my arms, and walking toward the small group in front of us.
"Hi," Emily says awkwardly as I walk up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her into my chest. I give her mark a quick kiss, enjoying how her head tilts, fighting back a shiver. She turns to be Ben quickly, pulling away from me, shifting her weight,

"Ben, I'm so.."
"Don't, Luna. Not your fault. He gets all protective Alpha, and part of my job is to get his head clear." Ben clears his throat "Anyways, Emily. Met Rachel and Kat." Ben gestures to the girls standing next to us. Rachel is a small petite with wide blue eyes and long brown hair straight down the middle of her back. She stands with her left hip cocked out, tapping her pink and blue acces against the dying winter grass. Rachel dresses as if it wasn't the middle of fall outside, high-waisted fringed black shorts stopping at her tan thighs, with a white crop top showing her bare waist.

"You good, Rachel? You know it's fall, right?" I ask, glancing at the warm-ups in the next section; the forms are horrible.
"Graham, go correct those." I tilt my head towards the group. They should know the forms by now. But, man, am I that far behind? Being out for the month while Emily was in the hospital really did its number.

"I'm good. Alpha. It is only like sixty outside."
"Yeah, it is cold."
"It's not that cold." She shakes her head,
"thank you. That is what I said." Emily chimes in,
"well, Rachel, when you get sick, I don't want to hear it. As for you, Emily.." Kat cuts me off, jumping in between Emily and Rachel.

"Anyways, nice to meet you. I'm Kat." Kat is a hyper, fun-filled child. Well, she is twenty, but she acts like she is the baby of the bunch always. Her short pixie red hair fluffed and styled against her forehead, hiding her hazel eyes covered in a dark eyeliner. Kat might be the child, but she at least has the sense to dress for the weather. Black ankle boots, bright yellow tights, with a black sweater stopped at her rib cage, showing her pale belly.

"Hi. Nice to meet you too, officially." Emily holds out her hand; Kat pulls her into a hug. Emily laughs; maybe Kat will make Emily act more like the eighteen-year-old she is about to be.
"So can we?" Kat hops, spinning quickly at me,
"can you what?" I ask with a smirk.
"Ah, Alpha, come on." Rachel pipes in,
"I don't know why you are asking me. Emily is your boss, not me." I nod at Emily, who is looking at me as if I have grown another head.

"I'm their... No."
"Yes, Luna. Rachel is your Beta, and Kat there will be your Delta. They listen to you. They listen to you, then to me. There are some finer points, but that is how it works, Emily. They do what you need them to do to make your day run smoother. " I turn to Ben, "did you go over everything with them?"
"Yeah. The girls are all set."
"We want to take you shopping. Do you want to go?" Kat laughs.

My fingers wrap around her wrist, pulling her into me, my fingertips trailing over her jaw, bringing her eyes to me.
"Have fun. Don't let those two go crazy. Every shop has my account; use it."
"Malachi... No.."
"Yes. Go have fun."
"We will! Thank you, Alpha!" Kat giggles, pulling Emily off with her.
"Bye, Alpha!" Emily calls back to me, throwing me an air kiss.
"Keep your coms on!" Goddess, please, keep her safe, I pray as I spin on my heels, going over to the disaster in my team. 

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