Blacktail Deer Plateau I See Clearly Now

For a moment he wondered if she was simply being kind in allowing him to share her company. She didn't appear to hide any ills against him, but he'd been wrong before... Malachi stopped his thoughts before they could run their circuit again and shook himself of the hesitance. Pearl was a packmate brought in by Dante. He trusted the sterling man, and if Dante had agreed to give Pearl a place with them, then he would trust her, too.

If her words held any implications, they flew right over Malachi's head. His sensitivity ended at the hurting of others; if any women had flirted with him in the past, he remained blind to their advances. Pearl's question did bring a flash of sheepishness to his face, which he quickly covered with a nervous laugh. "That's probably 'cause I didn't give it. I'm Malachi." Self-conciousn awareness made him shift the conversation to her. "So where're you from then, Pearl?" He could guess, of course. The North. But he hoped she'd give him something deeper and more solid to work with, even if he would answer vaguely if she reversed the question on him.