“You don’t have to offer it to him for him to take it,” Asher growled.
With a flick of her finger, Melody pushed him backward until he was pinned against the wall. “And I’m hardly defenseless.” The lesson was blunt, but much needed. If she let them, these two shifters would walk all over her, and the others wouldn’t be far behind.
“It’s the most reasonable solution to an awkward problem,” Trent said from one side, and Melody startled. He was always so still that she forgot he was there, despite his tall stature.
“Who the fuck asked you?” spat Asher from the opposite side of the room, and something in Melody snapped. She rounded on him, walking up to him and prodding his chest with her finger.
“You chose me, Asher, you had your opportunity to change your mind out there, you were warned, but you still chose me. So let me make something very clear, I won’t tolerate your arrogant bullshit, not one iota of it. You need to straighten your face and be civil to my friends, or I’ll make your life a living hell—and believe me, I know ways to do it that would make your wolf beg for mercy and leave not a single mark on your skin.”
She had to give him credit, he didn’t back down, but he paled. Good, let him be frightened of her, because she was a fucking monster, and was definitely worth his fear.
7. Nick
Mel’s newest wounds weren’t closing as fast as he would have liked, but at least now they were showing some signs of healing. Her earlier wounds were now almost completely gone, they were certainly sealed and scabbed at the very least, but these five scores were like nothing he’d ever seen.
They weren’t infected, which was a blessing from the Goddess. Two weeks of open wounds should have seen her covered in weeping sores, but there wasn’t a sign of anything other than the injury itself. Nick suspected a protective spell. If he was reading her aunt right, she would want Melody cowed but not dead. Weakened and malleable, but still able to do what her aunt sought.
He had lived for hundreds of years, but never had he seen anything like the kind of abuse that Melody was being subjected to. Well, at least on family members. He had seen people treat their slaves and enemies like this.
It spoke a lot about how her aunt saw her.
All of the shifters had noticed the distinct lack of kinship in her letters to Melody. It was like a ruler deigning to write to a peasant. Melody’s home life could not have been pleasant. He wondered if he would ever get to find out all of the horrors locked away in her sad eyes. When she spoke of all the dead shifters she’d had as familiars, her pain was a palpable, living thing. He could see how much it distressed her.
And then she shut down. Her posture turned in on itself, the light went from her eyes, and the life went from her voice. It was like she was retreating from him, and he didn’t know what to do about it. It was driving his dragon nuts.
Nick? sent Justin.
Yeah?
Conference in the living room. Dean says she’s asleep. He’s coming out.
Nick stood from where he had been sitting on the front steps and came quietly back inside. The others were already gathered there, except for Dean who was just sneaking out of Mel’s room.
He couldn’t believe that Mel had only bonded the asshat, Asher, yesterday afternoon. Already he was acting like lord of the manor, the only one he even vaguely listened to was Dean, although of course he followed all of Mel’s directives to a tee. Not that she was the kind of witch to order shifters around. Nick liked that about her.
“How’s she healing?” asked Oz
Dean looked expectantly at him, startling him. He had thought that the lion would have answered, Dean and the asshat were the ones who could feel her pain.
“It’s happening, but not as fast as I would like. Is she drawing strength from either of you at all?” he asked them.
Dean shook his head but Asher shrugged. “We need to know, Asher. If she isn’t, then we need to encourage it. She could actually be healing faster if she drew strength from you both. With everything going on, I want her at her strongest by the time the school year ends, because who knows what the fuck she’s going home to.”
Asher glared at him. “I’m not the only one holding back. What the fuck is that shit on her back? Who did it?”
“You did, you cunt, and I’m going to make sure you pay for it for the rest of your fucking life!” growled Dean, and the two of them stood up, standing chest to chest as they growled at each other.
Nick pulled them apart. “Keep it down you two, she needs to rest.” He turned to the wolf. “Sit the fuck down, Asher, we’ll tell you what we know, but I doubt that it’s more than you know right now.”
He drew in a deep breath and thought about all the little snippets that he had caught, and all the conclusions he had drawn. Where to begin, though?
“There are some things that I can’t tell you, the things we promised that would not be spoken outside of the provost’s office.”
“I was there for that, dipshit,” snarked Asher.
“So fucking help me …” muttered Ryan.
“Not the first time,” Nick corrected him. “When Dean bonded her, that bitch Shawna, your best buddy, protested, said that Mel cheated. It was a bit like your bonding.” Nick
