Chapter 6 Chapter Six

“Your eyes are red and puffy.” Dad says watching me with narrowed eyes. Shaking my head, I laugh “I just didn’t sleep much last night.” I pull dad in for another hug, before making my way to my seat at the table.

Normally I would sit on my dad’s left, with Malakai across from me on his right. Today I chose to sit directly next to Malakai. He sucks in a deep breath, as he glances at me. For a split second I see his eyes darken before he quickly recovers. I flash him a flirty smile.

“Dad, can you drive me to school today?”

“I have a meeting this morning mija. Malakai is going to take you.”

Malakai smiles. I grit my teeth, “are you sure you can’t drive me dad? I can go early if I need to.”

My father narrows his eyes and sighs. “Leilani I can’t, Malakai will drive you, okay?” Irritation grows in my father’s voice.

“Fine.” I snap before heading towards the front door.

“Where do you think you are going?” My father snaps.

“To school.” I say without turning around.

A chair scrapes across the floor, and loud footsteps follow behind me. Stepping through the front door, I immediately shiver as a cold breeze caresses my body. The thin material of my dress doesn’t provide much protection from the cold.

I make my way through the ankle-deep snow, with each step my teeth chatter more. Malakai’s dark blue SUV is parked behind my father’s silver truck. I walk past both, if my father doesn’t want to drive me then I will walk to school. Close behind me I hear heavy crunching in the snow. Quickening my pace, I try to get away, when my foot slips on ice. Shit.

Strong hands grab me and yank me up. I squeal as I smack into Malakai’s chest, my hands landing on his hard abs. My eyes darken as I feel his muscles tensing beneath my hands. “Are you okay Angel?”

I shake my head, bringing myself out of my trance. “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” I say coldly as I jerk my hands away from his abdomen. Malakai smirks.

“Can I please take you to school now?” Malakai asks.

“I’m not going to school. I don’t feel like going I’m tired and irritated.” I say annoyed.

“Where were you walking to then?” Malakai asks with confusion.

I continue my walk down the driveway as I respond, “None of your damn business.” Crossing my arms over my body I try to block out the cold.

I feel strong arms wrap under my legs as I’m tossed over Malakai’s shoulder. “Put me down” I scream as I kick and punch trying to get away. Malakai chuckles but doesn’t put me down, instead he tightens his grip. The car door opens, and I’m slowly dropped into the seat. “I told you I’m not going to school. So, you better just let me go.”

Malakai says nothing as he buckles my seat belt and gets in the driver’s seat. He starts the car and backs out of the long driveway. We rode in silence for about ten minutes, the school is about thirty minutes from the pack house. This is going to be a long drive.

Malakai takes a sudden right, onto an unfamiliar gravel road. The road is covered with trees on both sides. It looks like a scene from one of the murder shows I love so much.  I anxiously glance around looking for something familiar, maybe a landmark in case I have to call the pack protectors to come find me. Tightening my grip on my cellphone I take a quick look at Malakai.

His eyes remain on the road ahead of us. Taking a deep breath, I say “You do know this is not the road to my school, right?” Malakai stays silent, I glance again he is smirking. “Why are you smiling like that?”

A quiet chuckle escapes his lips. “I thought you weren’t going to school remember.”

My eyes narrow at the arrogance in his tone. “Then where the hell are you taking me?” I snap. Malakai smiles but ignores me. That’s it I’m going to have my dad come get me, Malakai has officially lost his damn mind. My luck he is bringing me out here to kill me. He doesn’t want me, and he doesn’t want me to be with anyone, so the only solution is murder.

Unlocking my phone, I click on the phone and dial my dad’s number. ‘Emergency Calls Only.’ Fuck. No signal of course, you can’t murder someone if they can call for help. Malakai breaks the silence in the car startling me “You won’t get any signal out here.”

“No shit sherlock, you don’t think I figured that out when my call didn’t go through.”

Malakai slams on the brakes, slinging me forward in the seat. My seatbelt snaps me back against the car seat, knocking the breath out of me. “What the fuck did you do that for? Are you trying to choke me?” I ask as I hold my neck where the seat belt snapped me.

“I don’t know where your little attitude is coming from all of a sudden, but you need to lose it.” Malakai scowls. 

“And if I don’t lose my attitude, are you going to kill me? Or is that your plan no matter what I do?” I snap back, glaring at him.

He laughs catching me off guard. “Why would I kill you?”

“Because you obviously don’t want to be with me, and I overheard you with dad last night you don’t want me with anyone else either. So, the only other option is to get rid of me.” I stare down at my hands, losing my confidence.

Malakai laughs again. “What makes you think I don’t want you to be with anyone else?”

“Last night when I went on my run, I just circled the house a few times, I was listening when you asked dad what kind of mate, he wants me to have. He described Lucas, and your eyes filled with hate. You don’t want me to be with someone because you don’t want me to be happy.” My eyes fill with tears. Malakai sucks in a deep breath but says nothing. A single tear drop escapes, and lands on the sleeve of my dress. I knew he didn’t want me, but I didn’t think it would hurt this bad. Tear after tear escapes despite my best efforts to hold them in.

“Hey, look at me.” Malakai says in a quiet voice.

I shake my head vigorously, if I look at him, I will lose whatever control I have left. Malakai gently cups my chin forcing me to look at him. My eyes meet his and the tears stream uncontrollably. “I want you to be happy angel. I want nothing more than for you to be happy. I…”

Cutting him off I ask “Then why don’t you want to be with me? That is the only thing that will make me happy. I have wanted to be with you since I was fourteen. I just don’t understand.”