Mrs Hardinger stood up. “Melody, this doesn’t have to happen. If you don’t want to accept his challenge, then you don’t have to. We can help him through this until his wolf is ready to start looking for another witch. You’re not obligated to bond him.”
“Yeah, I kinda am. I wish I could explain it,” she paused and pointed over her shoulder to the gashes in her back. She hadn’t asked Nick how many there were, she didn’t really want to know.
“Does the shifter know that?” asked Professor Whitlow.
Melody looked at her, surprised. “I don’t know. I can’t tell him.”
“May I do so then?” the professor asked.
“No!” shouted Melody, nodding her head frantically.
“I’ll go and get him,” said the provost. “I’ll make sure that he’s fully prepared to challenge you.”
She went out the door and Melody could hear her talking to Asher. There was a rumble as he responded to her, and then the provost talked for a little longer. Eventually the two of them came in. Asher looked at her with worry on his face, but he stood proud.
“Melody, of Bestia Coven, I challenge you,” he said, firmly. Then he undressed and quickly shifted into his wolf.
Conscious of the wounds on her back, and the gaping holes at the sides of her shirt, Melody raised her hand as little as she could get away with. “Shift,” she commanded, pushing her magic at him. Instantly he fell to the floor on his hands and knees.
“It’s official then, Ms Bestia. It seems that the Goddess has blessed you with two familiars.” She looked around the room. “At least two.”
“We will continue with our sessions twice a week, Melody. Two cocks can be quite the handful,” chortled Mrs Hardinger.
Melody’s jaw dropped, and the provost rolled her eyes, but Professor Whitlow sniffed, offended. Mr Phelps, however, threw back his head and roared with laughter, startling them all.
“Has it helped, Melody?” asked the provost, and all eyes turned back to her.
Melody thought about it for a moment, trying to assess her back. “I don’t think so, it might not be burning as much?”
“May I?” asked Nick.
Well, this was awkward. Melody nodded and then clutched her arms to her chest. Nick lifted her shirt to rest on the back of her neck, and then gently teased back the edges of the dressing.
“Oh goddess help her!” exclaimed Mrs Hardinger, and everyone rushed to see.
Melody sighed, when she thought about it, she still had a lot more privacy than the men had when they shifted back to their human forms. She just wished that she could be as casual about it all.
“Sorry Mel, it looks like it hasn’t made any difference at all,” Nick told her.
“Well, it was two weeks since the bond was broken, plenty of time for the curse to get a hold and do some damage. Has there been any sign of healing before now, Nicholas?” asked the provost.
“No, Ma’am. Unless you count the reduction of bleeding as healing, but that has been because she has been kept still.” He carefully reapplied the dressing, smoothing it over the unmarked part of her shoulder.
“I could see bone,” whispered Mrs Hardinger, shocked.
“Yes, Mrs H, there are several places where Melody’s ribs have been exposed,” Nick told her.
Melody winced, okay, so maybe this one was a bit worse than the worst beating she had ever had. Nick came and stood beside her, pulling her to him gently.
“Very well, Nicholas, you will continue to tend to Melody, and report your findings to me daily. I need to know if she’s healing. If not, we may need to call in outside help to try and lift the curse from her,” said the provost.
Nick nodded.
“Again, ladies and gentlemen, this is confined to my office for discussion. We will depart now and leave you to it. Melody, Asher will stay here with you from now on, as one of your bonded shifters. I will leave it up to the three of you to sort out the sleeping arrangements.”
The provost and the other staff members swept out of the door, while every shifter there stared at her. She knew what they were thinking, would Melody allow one of the shifters to sleep with her, or would she force them to share a room. It was really an awkward situation.
Melody knew that trying to force the two men to share a room would be a disaster as long as they couldn’t stand each other. One of them would end up on the couch, and there would be constant fights over who got to use the space to change, and who got into the shower first. But inviting one of them into her bed sent a message that she didn’t want to send, no matter how practical it was.
She was half tempted to invite Asher to share her bed, because she couldn’t stand him and he’d learn quickly that he had absolutely no chance to take things further with her, no matter how hard his beast was pushing him. However, to do that would be a snub to Dean, who had stood by her through so much already.
Inviting Dean to her bed would likely encourage him to try to pursue a sexual relationship with her, something that she didn’t want fogging her brain when his life was still on the line. It was the lesser evil of all the choices she had, however, so she took the plunge.
Just as she opened her mouth, Dean took the initiative. “I’m moving in with Mel, he can have my room,” he announced, striding to the other door and entering.
Ryan and Oz were right behind him, and all three of them came out with armfuls of clothes, striding into her room where she could hear them moving things around and putting his clothes away.
“And you’re fine with that?” snarled Asher, walking up to her until they stood, chest to chest. Off to one side, one of the dragons growled.
“Actually, I am. I was just about
