Page 25 of Malek

Twelve

Malek

Malek had surprised himself when he’d growled at his brothers. That had never happened before, but right then, he’d seen them coming close to his mate and his reaction had been instinctive.

He knew they wouldn’t hold it against him, that wasn’t how they worked, but he still felt bad.

As he walked to the kitchen with Axel still in his arms, he realised he probably looked ridiculous carrying his mate around, but the truth was he didn’t care. He meant what he said to Axel, he liked carrying him around, knowing Axel was safe in his arms.

He set Axel down on a chair in the kitchen and Malek was surprised to see his brothers had waited for them to arrive before they started eating.

And it was a full English breakfast spread. There was bacon, sausages, eggs – both sunny side up and scrambled, mushrooms, baked beans, toast, grilled tomatoes, and the option of tea or coffee. His brothers had also picked up different options of pastries – brioche, croissants, and even freshly baked cinnamon rolls. That meant they had gone over to the resort kitchen to collect them. They could all manage a nice fry up, but none of them were bakers.

Malek made up a plate, putting a bit of everything on it, then served it his mate before going back for a plateful for himself.

Malek took his seat beside Axel, but his wolf wanted to be closer to his mate, so he scooted their chairs even closer together. It was the closest he could get so they could both eat without him picking up his mate again.

At first, no one spoke, digging into their breakfasts. He knew his brothers would be famished if they waited for them to arrive, although they probably already had their first breakfasts too. The shifter metabolism meant they ate more than humans.

When he looked over at his mate eating, he realised he’d probably overfilled his plate since Malek’s was almost clean and Axel’s still had most of the food still on it.

Malek scooped some beans off his Axel’s plate, and Axel met his gaze and mouthed thank you, making him smile.

Even though there’d been a mountain a food, between the five of them they managed to finish it all, well, mostly Malek and his brothers. Axel had stopped eating a while ago and Malek had eaten the rest of his plateful.

“So,” Malachi, Malek’s immediate junior spoke, “you have a mate, huh?”

Malek took his eyes off his mate and glanced at his brother. He saw the wistfulness in Malachi’s gaze, even though he knew his brother was pleased for him. He also knew that there was a little bit of envy in there too.

“I do,” Malek grinned, “the goddess brought him to me. Who knew?”

“If you’d known he would literally show up on your doorstep, you could have done way less travelling searching for him.”

“Right,” Malek said.

“Where have you been?” Axel spoke up, “I always wanted to travel, but, well, I never got around to it. My brother says it’s because I have no sense of adventure.”

“I’ve been all over the world. If you want, we could travel some too,” Malek said, his attention focused on his mate again.

“Really?” Axel’s face lit up.

“Of course,” Malek replied.

Axel bit his lips, “I have to get a job around here though. It’s summer now. I should start looking at what schools have a vacancy in the area. Oh, and I have to go home and get all my stuff down here too.”

Malek grinned as he listened to his mate babble. He realised it was something that he did sometimes.

“We can do all that. I can drive you home to get your things,” Malek said, “And you don’t have to work, angel. At least, not immediately, not unless you want to.”

“Also, he’s probably pregnant since you guys mated, and he can’t exactly get a job while pregnant,” Mikhail pointed out.

“Yeah, that will be an interesting conversation, right?” Marcellus snorted.

Malachi laughed and Malek smiled, until he realised his mate's heart was racing.

“P-pregnant,” Axel stuttered.

“Shit, you did explain that to him, right?” Mikhail asked, sounding stricken, but Malek couldn’t focus on him right now.