The Alpha's Progeny [The Alpha's #3]

MALIK VLADIMIR

“What are you doing up so early?” Malik asked groggily, turning over onto his side to face his mate while he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Trinity sighed from where she was stood in front of the mirror, towel drying her hair as he didn’t own a hair dryer.

“Something on your mind?”

“Admittedly, there’s a lot on my mind,” she frowned, holding his through the reflection in the mirror.

“I never wanted you to get involved in all of this,” Malik groaned and pursed his lips as he pushed himself up into a sitting position on the bed, leaning back against the headboard. “You shouldn’t have to worry about this.”

“And you shouldn’t be going through this alone,” Trinity countered, cocking a brow in his direction.

“I’m not alone,” he corrected her. “Mars and Stassie are discussing this with the council as we speak.”

“You know what I mean,” she sighed and sent him a pointed look. “As your mate, your problems are my problems.”

“But this is a pretty big problem.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Trinity shrugged and returned to drying her hair.

“You never told me what your parents had to say about you coming all the down here,” Malik called out to her, changing the subject. It wasn’t much of a change in terms of the tone, but it was something.

“They didn’t have much to say,” she shrugged, looking away from him in the mirror. “Surprisingly, they were pretty calm about it.”

“That is very surprising,” Malik frowned, thrown off by her words.

How was it possible for her parents to be so cool with it? After his first and last encounter with them, Malik would be surprised if they warmed up to him anytime soon, let alone straight away. Judging by the guilty expression on her face, Malik knew that his mate wasn’t being completely honest with him.

“They don’t know you’re here, do they?” Malik sighed as he figured it out. “You didn’t tell you parents that you were coming to see me?”

“I didn’t even tell them that I was leaving,” she finally admitted, a guilty expression on her face. “I left before they woke up.”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Malik groaned, reaching a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration; more so at the complication situation that he found himself in rather than his mate. “Coming to see me without telling them where you were going on, or even that you were leaving in the first place probably wasn’t the best thing to do,” he spoke in a quiet, gentle voice, not wanting her to misunderstand him. “I think you should call them and tell them where you are. At least that way, they won’t have to worry.”

“I think they’ll worry more if I tell them where I am,” Trinity teased, her lips curling up at the corners.

“And then there’s always that,” he chuckled in agreement with her. “I still think that you should call them. I may not know what it’s like to have a functional family but I can only assume that any parent would worry if they wake up to find one of their children missing.

“You’re right,” Trinity made a show of dramatically sighing. “I’ll call them after breakfast. What’s on the agenda for today?” she asked, moving to take a seat on the edge of the bed so she was now facing him.

“I have a lot to do today, but I’ll be starting off my morning by going to see the old man,” Malik couldn’t help but groan at the reminder of his dad’s current situation. As they hadn’t succeeded in convincing the council to give them the back up and support they would need to get to the bottom of all this, especially since the previous head of the council, elder Malachi played some part in this, that meant that he needed to keep his father under lock and key. But with each passing day, the silver was weaking his dad. While that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially since his dad certainly deserved this, it was difficult to watch such a strong man crumble.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Trinity asked politely with just a hint of curiosity.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Malik denied, shaking his head.

“Well, we woke up later than usual today so we should probably get started on the day,” Trinity leaned over to press a soft, teasing kiss to his lips before lifting her off the bed. “I’ll catch you after you’ve come back from seeing your dad,” she called after her shoulder before heading out of the room, the bottom of her skirt brushing against the back of her thighs as she walked, an extra sway in her hips.

Our mate is such a tease, his wolf whistled, just as enamoured with the she-wolf as his human.

If we didn’t have so much to deal with already, I wouldn’t have let her walk away like that, Malik chuckled as he watched the door close behind her.

What? A prude like you? the creature snorted.

Like you’re such a player, Malik snorted before throwing the covers off him and sliding out of bed. He usually would have left taking his morning shower before his run but with his mate staying over – not to mention sharing the same bed as him – that simply wasn’t possible.

That, I would say, is the only downside of having our mate come visit.

I couldn’t agree more, Malik chuckled as he turned on the shower and jumped in; not bothering to wait for the water to warm up.

Malik would indeed go to see his dad but first, he needed to go for a run. With all the sexual between him and his mate mixed in with the stress of everything going on around him, it didn’t make for a good combination. And the cold shower didn’t help as much as he had hoped it would and for that reason, his morning run lasted longer than it usually would have.

He had surpassed his personal and even then, he felt like he could go on for a little longer. But with the amount that he had on his to-do list for today, that was simply not an option and for that reason, he turned around and began making his way back.

With the dungeon in sight, Malik purposely slowed down so he would have some time to think before he was forced to face his dad.

And what a mistake that turned out to be.

“Don’t think that I can’t sense you there,” Malik was quick to swivel around, having picked up on the multiple scents in this neck of the woods. “Peter, Griffin, reveal yourselves!” he demanded in his Alpha’s voice – not quite as strong as it would be after officially becoming Alpha, but strong enough to get his way in situations like this.

“You’re nothing like your father,” Peter spat, the first to step forward, his legs stiff. “He never would have used the Alpha command on us.”

“That’s because you’re all in on this,” Malik growled and rolled his eyes. “There’s also the fact that you wouldn’t be sneaking up on him like this. Now, what do you want? Why did you feel the need to corner me like this?”

“Because there’s a lot that we need to discuss,” Griffin spoke up, making up the duo that was Peter and Griffin. Other than their names put together making up the fictional animated character, these two were nothing but background characters in the pack. It sounded harsh but Malik could count on one hand the number of times he had spoken to either of them in all his lifetime. Counting two for this current encounter, he had still not filled one hand.

“I can’t imagine what you two would have to talk to me about,” Malik decided to play dumb, a coy look on his face.

“Stop that nonsense,” Peter rolled his eyes, a quiet growl slipping through. “Where is Alpha Orpheus? What have you done with him?”

“Did you not hear me yesterday?” he asked, referring to the mini-speech he gave after the prayer yesterday. “Dad is away on an emergency. He should be back soon though.”

“That’s bullshit and we all know it,” Griffin snorted.

“Mind how you speak to me,” Malik snarled, his lip curling up as he stared between the two idiots in front of him. “You should know better than to speak to an Alpha in such a disrespectful way. Now if you don’t mind, I have to get going,” he huffed and pushed past the both of them, not being the least bit mindful of how rude he was coming across. As far as he was concerned, these two wolves deserved the same fate as his dad but if they suddenly went missing, their families would notice.

“Looking for your mate?” Peter chuckled as he called after Malik, completely oblivious to what the repercussions of his actions would be. “It’s good that you’re going to find your mate. You don’t know what might happen if you take your eyes off her.”

Now, Malik wasn’t usually the violent type but when these two idiots thought threatening his mate was a smart idea, it was only fair that he got to teach them a lesson. Swivelling around on the balls of his feet, Malik threw his arm back but lobbing it forward, landing it perfectly on the underside of Peter’s jaw. If Griffin didn’t squeak in fear and take several steps back, he would have suffered the same fate.

“Next time you decide to threaten my mate, I won’t let you off with just a punch,” Malik growled threateningly before leaving them in the forest.

And just for that, his dad wouldn’t be getting any breakfast tomorrow. Not that Malik was the least bit concerned with being accommodating after all that Orpheus had done.

-

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Layla Knight

26.08.2021