Page 23 of Malcolm (The Sunburst Pack #1)
T HE FIRST RAYS OF sunlight were just beginning to paint the desert sky in hues of pink and gold when Malcolm made his way to Anders’s apartment above one of the still-empty storefronts downtown.
The door was already unlocked for him, and he made his way up the stairs into the room, prepared to offer Anders one of the coffees he’d stopped by the diner to pick up.
But before he could say anything, Malcolm’s attention was immediately drawn to the two figures standing in the combined living and dining room—Larissa and Anders, huddled over what looked like a pile of high-tech equipment on the table.
Malcolm’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of Larissa. She glanced up as he approached, her gaze meeting his for a heartbeat before skittering away.
“Morning,” Malcolm said, his voice gruff with more than just sleep, holding out the disposable tray of Styrofoam cups. “What’ve we got here?”
Anders glanced up from the device he was fiddling with and took one of the coffees. “Body-worn surveillance equipment,” he explained, holding up what looked like an ordinary watch. “Audio and video recording capabilities, GPS tracking, the works.”
Malcolm whistled low, impressed. “Where’d you get all this?”
A small smirk played at the corners of Anders’s mouth. “Let’s just say I have some connections from my time away from the pack. Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Larissa rolled her eyes, but Malcolm saw the hint of a smile on her lips. “I suggested our cell phones would work just as well to record anything. But I think Anders is excited about a chance to put his fancy equipment to use.”
“It’s great to know we have access to stuff like this,” Malcolm said before turning to Anders. “Walk us through how these work?”
For the next half hour, Anders explained the intricacies of the surveillance equipment. Malcolm listened intently, but he couldn’t help being distracted by Larissa’s presence beside him. Every time their arms brushed as they leaned in to examine a device, her touch seared through him.
God, I want her.
He shook his head.
Stop it. Pay attention.
Once they were briefed and equipped, Malcolm and Larissa pored over a map of Sunburst, their heads bent close together. Malcolm caught a whiff of Larissa’s scent, making his wolf whine with longing.
“Let’s split up and track them down. I’ll take the north and east sections,” Larissa said, her finger tracing the streets on the map. “You take south and west. Unless we find them, we can meet back here at noon to compare notes.”
Malcolm nodded, trying to ignore the way his skin tingled where her hand had brushed his on the map. “Sounds like a plan. Be careful out there, Larissa.”
She glanced up at him then, surprise flickering in her eyes at the concern in his voice, and Malcolm thought something softened in her expression. But then it was gone, replaced by her usual determined expression.
“You too,” she said softly before turning away.
As they made their way down the stairs to the sidewalk that ran along Main Street, Malcolm’s senses were on high alert. Every sound, every scent, every movement caught his attention. But nothing compared to his awareness of Larissa walking with him, her presence both comforting and electrifying.
They had just reached the street level when Malcolm caught a scent on the breeze—one he recognized. His muscles tensed instinctively.
“Hannah,” he muttered, nodding toward the Desert Sunrise Diner across the street.
Larissa spotted the blonde woman entering the restaurant. “Let’s go,” she said, her voice tight with controlled anger.
They activated their body-worn devices and entered the building separately, Malcolm taking a seat at the counter while Larissa slid into a booth near Hannah. The diner was busy with the breakfast crowd, the clatter of plates and the hum of conversation providing perfect cover.
Malcolm ordered a coffee, easily picking up Hannah’s voice over the din. She was talking to Owen, her tone sickly sweet.
“I’m just worried about the direction the pack is taking,” Hannah was saying, her voice dripping with false concern.
“Nick’s okay, I guess, but he’s so new to being an alpha.
And Malcolm and Larissa? They’re too busy fighting each other to notice what’s really going on.
” Her tone turned malicious. “Or whatever it is they’re doing together. ”
Malcolm’s hands clenched into fists, his coffee cup creaking dangerously in his grip. He wanted nothing more than to march over there and tell Hannah exactly what he thought of her manipulations. But before he could move, Larissa touched his arm.
She had slid onto the stool next to him, her gaze warning him to stay calm. Her hand on his arm sent a wave of calm through him, his wolf settling under her touch.
“Easy,” she murmured, her voice so low only he heard it. “We need evidence, remember? Let her talk.”
Malcolm took a deep breath, forcing his muscles to relax. Larissa was right, of course. They needed to play this smart.
Malcolm watched Larissa over the rim of his coffee cup as she pulled a book out of her purse, managing to look completely engrossed in it while keeping perfect track of Hannah’s movements across the diner.
With a snort, he realized the book was one of the ones on leadership he’d seen her buy. That encounter outside the bookstore seemed like ages ago—hard to believe it was less than a month, really.
“This reminds me of when we spied on the older kids’ training sessions,” he murmured, just loud enough for her to pick it up with her lupine hearing.
“Until you sneezed and gave us away.” She turned a page with deliberate casualness. “Your stealth hasn’t improved much.”
“I was allergic to your perfume!”
“It was soap, you idiot.” But her lips curved slightly. “That sounds a lot like when you claimed you were allergic to the history books to get out of study group.”
“That was different. You were torturing us with flash cards.”
“Which you memorized anyway,” she pointed out. “I found your secret stash behind the loose brick in the pack house.”
Malcolm leaned closer, ostensibly to point at something in her book. “Going through my things even then? I’m flattered.”
“Tactical reconnaissance,” she corrected, but a faint blush colored her cheeks. “Like when you ‘accidentally’ found my training journal.”
“The one where you analyzed everyone’s fighting styles? Including my, what did you call it, ‘predictably aggressive approach with occasional flashes of strategic insight’?”
“Your coffee’s getting cold,” she deflected.
“Some of us can multitask,” he echoed her earlier words to him. “Though you never could when Jeremy Matthews tried to sit with us at lunch.”
“I did not get flustered by Jeremy Matthews.”
“No? Is that why you spilled your milk four days in a row?”
“That was because you kept kicking my chair!”
“I was trying to warn you about your hair being in your soup.”
Their whispered bickering drew a curious glance from a nearby patron, and they both straightened, remembering their mission. Hannah was still holding court across the diner, apparently oblivious to their surveillance.
“You’re pulling your ‘serious alpha’ face,” Malcolm noted after a moment.
“I do not have a ‘serious alpha’ face.”
“You’ve had it since third grade. Right between your eyes—” He reached across as if to touch the spot, then pulled his hand back. “Same look you got before you challenged Bobby Parker for pushing Sarah in the creek.”
“Someone had to stand up to him,” Larissa muttered.
“We did. Together.” His voice softened. “First time we ever worked as a team.”
“And the last, until Vincent.”
Their shared memories of recent battles mingled with childhood recollections.
“We made a good team,” Malcolm said quietly. “Even then.”
“When we weren’t trying to outdo each other.”
“Or setting things on fire.”
“That was one time!”
“The obstacle course, the pack house kitchen, Ms. Everett’s lesson plans…”
“Those lesson plans were an accident, and you know it.”
“Like the time you ‘accidentally’ pushed me into the punch bowl at the spring gathering?”
“You deserved that one,” she said primly. “You told everyone I had cooties.”
“We were six!”
“And you still haven’t grown up much.”
But there was no real heat in her words, and when their hands brushed reaching for the coffee pot, neither pulled away immediately.
“Try not to push me into any punch bowls this time,” Malcolm said, finally taking the coffee pot and pouring more into both their cups.
“No promises. You’re still insufferable.”
“You love it.”
The look she shot him was equal parts exasperation and something warmer, more complicated.
Just like when they were kids, but different now.
Deeper.
Maybe he could avoid ruining it.
Don’t move too fast , he warned himself. She needs time. Give it to her .
“Hannah’s talking again,” Malcolm said, changing the subject back to their reason for being in the diner.
They sat there for nearly an hour, chatting occasionally while their devices recorded every poisonous word that fell from Hannah’s lips.
By the time Hannah finally stood to leave, Malcolm’s coffee had gone cold, and his stomach roiled from the lies he’d been forced to listen to.
“That was…illuminating,” Larissa said, her voice tight with suppressed anger as they followed Hannah from the diner.
“Yeah,” Malcolm said, nodding grimly. “But at least now we have proof of what she’s doing. Let’s hope we have as much luck with Gregory.”
T HEY SPENT THE REST of the morning checking in with trusted pack members and setting up a network to counter Hannah and Gregory’s misinformation.
Late that afternoon, they tracked down some of the younger wolves at the rock quarry outside town.
“Listen up,” Malcolm began, his voice echoing off the sides of the quarry.
“We’ve got a situation on our hands. Hannah and Gregory are trying to turn the pack against each other.
I know some of you have heard things—rumors about our leadership, doubts about the direction of the pack.
I’m here to tell you the pack needs all our support right now. ”
A murmur of concern rippled through the group. Malcolm held up a hand for silence.
“We need your help,” Larissa said, stepping into that silence.
“What do you want us to do?” one of them asked suspiciously.
“Just keep an eye out for anything you think is off,” Malcolm said.
“Remember,” Larissa added, “subtlety is key here. We’re not starting a war. We’re protecting our home, our family. Be smart, be careful, and if you hear anything concerning, report back to Malcolm or me immediately.”
The teen shifters glanced at each other, and then another one—Una’s youngest brother, Dante—stepped forward. “I heard Gregory talking about a meeting he had planned today out by the Caledonia mine. It sounded…I dunno. Weird, maybe?”
These wolves were young, but they were loyal. They’d stand with their pack.
“Any idea what time?” Larissa asked.
“Maybe now?”
He and Larissa glanced at each other.
“Okay. Thanks,” Larissa said, already heading back toward Malcolm’s pickup truck parked outside the quarry. “You’ve been a huge help.”
The teens watched impassively as Malcolm and Larissa leaped into the truck.
They raced across town, the desert landscape blurring past the windows. Malcolm’s hands were tight on the steering wheel, his mind racing with possibilities. What if Gregory was meeting with other packs? What if he was planning some kind of attack?
As they neared the mine, Malcolm slowed the truck, pulling off onto a dirt road that led into a dense patch of scrubland. They got out quietly, searching for any signs of recent activity.
“This way,” Larissa whispered, pointing to a barely visible trail through the brush.
They moved silently, years of training allowing them to navigate the rough terrain without making a sound. As they approached a small clearing near the entrance to the mine, Malcolm caught Gregory’s scent on the breeze. He held up a hand, signaling Larissa to stop.
Crouching behind a large boulder, they peered into the clearing. Gregory stood there, talking in low tones with two men Malcolm didn’t recognize. They didn’t smell like wolves, which was concerning in itself.
Malcolm and Larissa exchanged a glance, no words needed between them. They activated their body-worn devices, recording every word of the conversation.
“…need to move quickly,” Gregory was saying, his voice urgent. “The longer we wait, the more time they have to solidify their position.”
One of the strangers nodded. “We’ll be ready. Just give the signal, and we’ll take care of the rest.”
The hair on the back of Malcolm’s neck prickled. What the hell were they planning?
As the meeting broke up, Malcolm and Larissa retreated silently, not daring to speak until they were safely back at the truck and back on the road.
“Holy shit,” Malcolm breathed. “Did you hear that? They’re planning something big.”
Larissa nodded, her face pale. “We need to tell Nick. Now.”
As they drove back into town, the gravity of what they’d discovered settled over them like a heavy blanket. This was more than just pack politics. This was a genuine threat to everything they held dear.
They found Nick at his house, little Javier playing at his feet while he pored over some paperwork. His expression grew grave as they played back the recordings.
“Good work, both of you,” he said when they finished. “This is serious. We’ll need to move up our timeline. I’ll call a pack meeting for tomorrow morning. It’s time we brought everything into the open.”