Lycan Christmas Read online

  Sherry started sobbing against Piers’s chest. “Yes. I’m okay, and the baby is okay too, thanks to Mel. He’s so tiny, though. He’s too early.”

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  He pulled the blanket down so he could see his son for the first time, and the look on his face made Melony sorry for anyone who might try to harm Piers’s family. Her stomach churned when she considered that he might view her as such a person.

  “Piers?”

  He looked at her.

  “Please don’t let Lorent get hurt,” Melony pleaded.

  He turned toward Lorent and Rufus, who were still pummeling the hell out of one another. “I don’t think he’s the one that’s going to get hurt.” He looked over his shoulder. “Rose is here with the Jeep. You two get back to Sanctuary with her. The midwife should be there waiting by the time you get back or shortly thereafter.”

  He kissed Sherry on the forehead. “I love you, baby.”

  “I love you too. I’m sorry for going into town. I just wanted to get you something special for Christmas,” Sherry sobbed.

  “We’ll talk about it later. I’m just relieved and beyond happy that you are both all right.” He looked over at Melony. “We’ll talk later too. Pop the back open. Spare clothes are kept in all Sanctuary vehicles, and I need to get some for Lorent.”

  Melony fumbled around looking for a button to release the latch and finally found it tucked under the dash next to the headlight switch. The back popped open, and she heard rustling for a few seconds before the door was clicked shut.

  Piers appeared at Sherry’s window again holding what appeared to be shoes, jeans, and a T-shirt under his arm. He gave Sherry a tight smile before focusing on Melony. “Help Rose get Sherry and my son out of here.” He turned away, but stopped and looked back. “I’ll make sure Lorent is safe,” he said over his shoulder.

  Within a couple minutes, Rose, Sherry, and Melony were on their way back to Sanctuary. They’d picked up Knox about a half mile down the road, where Rose had let him out to scout the area for more rogues—which he found no trace of. Melony had been torn about leaving Lorent behind, but 146

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  Rose assured her Lorent and Piers could handle the situation with no problem.

  The ride back to Sanctuary seemed to take forever, but they finally made it. The midwife had been waiting at Sherry’s place. After spending an hour in the bedroom with Sherry and her son, the gray-haired woman had declared them both healthy. Melony went to say good-bye to Sherry. She looked exhausted—rightfully so after giving birth and being attacked—but healthy.

  When Melony returned to the living room, Knox and Rose were waiting for her. By the look on his face, things were about to get nasty.

  “What the hell were you thinking, Melony?” His voice thundered.

  “Quiet. Don’t you dare disturb Sherry and that baby,” Rose chastised him.

  Melony sighed. “I’m sorry. I made a bad decision. It won’t happen again.”

  “No. It won’t,” Knox said sternly.

  “Look.” Rose glanced at Knox. “You made a mistake today, but you are not a child. We can’t punish you or ground you. But I’m disappointed that you didn’t stop to think about the danger you were potentially placing you and Sherry in.”

  “I did think about it. But when Sherry asked me to take her two weeks ago, it had seemed so important to her. I felt uneasy about it, but I couldn’t refuse. I’m sorry. It was extremely bad judgment on my part. Believe me when I say that no one can feel worse than I do. If anything had happened to Sherry or the baby . . .” She wrapped her arms around her middle and fought back a sob that suddenly threatened.

  “And what about you? Don’t you think we would be devastated if something happened to you?” Rose said.

  “I didn’t think about myself,” Melony whispered.

  “We love you, Melony. You must know that by now. But I do believe you just made a stupid mistake. We all do at times.”

  Knox groaned and pushed his fingers through his hair. Rose gave her a hug, and when she scowled at Knox, he did the same.

  “You scared us,” Knox said.

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  “I really am sorry. I swear I will never do anything that stupid again.

  Please forgive me.” Melony hugged them back and felt relief intermingle with a sense of belonging.

  “We do forgive you.” Rose pulled back and laughed. “But don’t cut yourself short, girl. You’re still young. You’ll make many more stupid mistakes. Let’s just make sure they aren’t life-threatening ones, okay?”

  Melony nodded. “Um, I have something else to tell you both.”

  “Now what?” Knox said. “Oomph. Hey!” He rubbed his ribs where Rose had just poked him. “What was that for?”

  “Take it easy, and have an open mind. Remember everything we went through when we met.”

  He scowled and shrugged, clearly not understanding quite yet what their relationship had to do with the situation.

  “I’m Lorent’s mate, and I’d like your blessing on our relationship.”

  Knox’s hands clenched into fists. “What?”

  “Settle down, babe.” Rose patted Knox on the chest. “I’ve had a hunch about that for a while now. Besides, what’s the harm? You can’t change the fact if it’s so.”

  “Why hasn’t he claimed her?” He turned to Rose. “And why the hell didn’t you tell me about this hunch of yours?”

  “Good grief, Knox. Cut the kids some slack. You know Lorent is shy.

  He’s had a tough past. He’s trying to fit in here, meet with everyone’s approval, and then his mate shows up. It’s a lot on his plate.”

  “You sure are the generous one.” Knox raised a brow at her.

  “And as for the me-not-telling-you part, I was going to a while back, figured you needed some time to get used to the idea, but after thinking about it, I decided not to. What if I had been wrong? I would have gotten you all worked up over nothing.”

  Knox yanked her to him. “I like when you get me all worked up.”

  “Ew.” Melony rolled her eyes, and Rose smiled.

  “Melony, do you love Lorent?” Rose asked.

  “Yes.”

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  “Then that’s that. If you want him, go after him.” Rose unwrapped herself from Knox’s embrace and hugged her. “Now, let Knox walk you home.”

  Knox looked from Rose to Melony then back at Rose with his mouth open. Finally, he shrugged and muttered, “Women. Okay. Let’s go. But if he hurts her, I’m kicking his ass.”

  “If he hurts her, I’ll kick his ass,” Rose said with a fierce scowl marring her pretty features.

  “Let’s compromise.” Melony held her hands up. “If he hurts me, I’ll kick his ass.”

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  Chapter Nineteen

  Lorent finished putting the clothes on Piers had brought him, and stared down at the mangled body of Rufus. He cast a surreptitious glance at Piers when he sighed.

  “It was necessary, but I still hate it every time we lose one of our own.

  It’s a damn shame.” Piers squatted and hauled Rufus over his shoulder. “You all right, kid?”

  Lorent cringed at the “kid” label, even though he knew Piers didn’t mean it as an insult. He was, after all, an ancient, which definitely made Lorent a kid in his eyes.

  “Yeah.” Lorent nodded.

  Lorent had nearly killed Rufus by the time Piers had intervened and swiftly broken the rogue’s neck. While he had felt a shudder of disappointment at the time that he had not been the one to end the life of the bastard who’d tried to harm his mate and who he’d personally witnessed perform countless acts of cruelty and brutality on others—himself included—he wasn’t sure how he�
�d feel about taking the life of another.

  He accepted that there would come a time when he had no choice but to kill a rogue, and he would do what had to be done when it came to it. Had Piers not stepped in, he would have, without hesitation, put Rufus out of his sorry-ass misery. But he couldn’t deny that a part of him felt relief that that time was not today. Death might be easy, but it wasn’t pretty.

  He followed Piers deep into the woods and helped him build a fire so they could dispose of Rufus’s body. After the flames had done their job, they dug a hole and buried the bones. When they were on their way back to Sanctuary, Lorent knew the time had come to claim Melony as his mate.

  “Melony is mine,” Lorent said to Piers, holding his breath as he waited for the ancient’s response.

  “I kind of got that feeling when I saw how you ripped into Rufus. It appeared personal.”

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  “It was. He was going to kill her. I knew him from my past. He was brutal, did horrible things to so many people, and there was no way in hell I was going to allow him to take Melony from me.”

  “Do you love her?”

  “I don’t know. I want to, but I’m not sure I know what love feels like,”

  Lorent admitted.

  Piers blew out a long breath. “Can you picture yourself without her?”

  “No.”

  “When you found out she was in danger, did a perfect maelstrom of anger and fear like you’ve never felt in your entire life swirl inside you? Did the thought of her possible death spark an urgency to get to her so strong it felt as if your skin could not contain it?”

  Lorent thought for a moment. “Yes. That was exactly how I felt.”

  “How do you feel when she is near you?”

  “As if everything is right in the world. She can touch me, and all of my past sins seem to melt away. She makes me want to be a better man so I can be good enough for her.”

  “That’s love, my boy. That’s love.” Piers grinned. “It’ll twist you up so bad inside that no matter how far or hard you run, there is no getting away from it. It makes you think you will never be good enough for her, and while you are arguing with your own bloody self that she can do so much better, you will never let someone else try to be better than you. Because the mere thought of someone else touching her will drive you insane.”

  “Holy hell. I do love her.”

  Piers chuckled. “What are you going to do about it?”

  Lorent smiled. “I’m going to go get my woman.”

  * * * *

  It had been several hours since they’d made it back to Sanctuary, and Melony paced in her living room. She hadn’t heard from Lorent, and she was worried. She’d already taken a shower and fed Puss, and was about to rip her hair out in frustration, when her front door flew open.

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  She spun around and gasped. Lorent stood in the opening watching her, his hazel eyes glowing brightly. His hair was damp and tousled, and he looked sexy and . . . wild. He took her breath away and made her heart flip-flop. He had changed his clothes, and his T-shirt hugged his broad chest but wasn’t neatly tucked in under his waistband as normal. His dark jeans hugged his hips and muscular thighs, and a sudden urge to see him naked made a dull ache throb between her legs.

  She cried out and flung herself into his arms. “I was worried about you,”

  she said against his chest.

  She pressed her nose to him and took a deep breath. He smelled good, and he was warm. But when he remained still, she looked up at him and realized he didn’t look happy. She frowned, then worried her bottom lip with her teeth as anxiety settled in her chest.

  “You were worried about me?” One of his dark brows slowly rose.

  If she had any sense, the warning in his voice would have put her on guard, but apparently, where he was concerned, she’d lost all common sense.

  “Of course. It’s been hours. I was scared you got hurt.” She stepped back and started running her hands over him, inspecting him for injury.

  He grunted and stilled her hands with his fingers. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  She tried to back away from him, but he encircled her wrists and held her to him. She huffed in indignation. “I already got the second degree from Knox and Rose. I don’t need it from you.”

  “I disagree. Actually, I think you need a good spanking.”

  Now it was her turn to raise a brow at him. He’d never talked to her that way. Then it dawned on her. He was angry. Well, too bad. She wasn’t a child, and he wasn’t her keeper.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Don’t you ever do something like that again. Putting yourself in danger is reckless enough, but putting others in danger along with you is irresponsible. Do you have any idea what it did to me when I got your call on the walkie?”

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  “Don’t tell me what to do. You have as much to answer for—more—

  than I do. You didn’t tell me about dreams between mates, and you didn’t tell me I was your mate.”

  “What I did didn’t endanger me, you, or anyone else.”

  “How was I supposed to know that a simple trip to town would endanger anyone? I would never put anyone—myself included—in harm’s way on purpose. Do you know what it would have done to me if something had happened to Sherry or the baby? It was a bad decision. Nothing more.”

  “I stopped by Sherry and Piers’s. Sherry told me what you did for her and the baby. Piers said he’d made it clear that he was not happy with you, but after he heard how you risked your life for Sherry, he asked me to let you know all is forgiven.” He squeezed her wrists gently. “You’re amazing.”

  God, the man was perplexing. One minute he was scolding her, the next he was praising her.

  “The rogue killed my mother.”

  Lorent nodded. “I know. Rufus was always a braggart, and today was no different, but believe me when I tell you he’s paid for what he did.”

  She knew what that meant and couldn’t seem to bring herself to feel one ounce of sorrow for Rufus, maybe a general sadness for a loss of a life that could have made a difference, but she wasn’t upset that her mother’s killer was dead. In fact, Rufus’s death gave her some closure.

  “It was my fault. My scent is what got my mother killed.”

  “No, it wasn’t. It was one of those things that just happened. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was not your fault, and you know she wouldn’t want you to feel that way.”

  “No. It was the scarf I gave her for Mother’s Day. Rufus told me it had my scent on it. It’s what led him to her. He killed her because she wouldn’t tell him where to find me.”

  He tilted her chin up and looked into her eyes with those unwavering hazel pools. “Listen to me. It was not your fault. If your mother was as wonderful as you say, I believe it would make her sad to know that you are blaming yourself for her death.”

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  He was right, and in her mind, she knew that, but her heart refused to completely let go of the guilt she felt. It would take her time to fully accept the fact that she had played a part in her mother’s death. For now, she pushed it to the back of her mind.

  “Lorent, why didn’t you tell me I was your mate?” She could see some of the tension drain from him as his shoulders relaxed.

  “I’m not good enough for you. You deserve better.”

  She cupped his jaw, and the dark stubble scraped against her skin. “You are good enough for me. You came to me and told me about your past.”

  “But I couldn’t do it in person. I did it through a dream.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You still trusted me enough to tell me. And you know what else?”

  “What?”

  “You love me.”

&
nbsp; “I know.”

  “You know?” She swallowed hard.

  “When I saw you lying on that dirt road with Rufus standing over you, I thought I’d go crazy. The thought of losing you put a kind of bone-deep fear in me I’d never felt before. I don’t want to live without you, Melony. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.”

  “That’s definitely love.” She choked back a sob. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too.” He hugged her to him and nuzzled her hair. “Melony,”

  he whispered by her ear.

  “Yes?”

  “I need you.”

  “I need you too.”

  Someone started knocking rather insistently on her front door. She wanted to ignore it, but when the sound continued, she figured that whoever it was wouldn’t go away until she answered the door.

  She gave Lorent an apologetic shrug. “Talk about bad timing.”

  He nodded, and she went to the door only to find Shannon standing behind it. “Shannon, what—”

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  Before she could get the question out, Shannon ran past her and wrapped her arms around Lorent.

  “I heard what happened. Are you okay?” Shannon looked up into Lorent’s face and remained plastered against him.

  He set her away from him as gently as possible. “I’m fine, Shannon. I’m sure the others already told you that.”

  “Yes, but I had to see for myself.”

  Enough was enough. Melony shut the door and went to Lorent, reached for his hand, and was happy when he pulled her close and put his arm around her shoulders. This was her man, and it was time for Shannon to get the message loud and clear.

  “Shannon, I need to tell you something.” She smiled up at Lorent, and he nodded. “I am Lorent’s mate, and I’m not comfortable with your interest in him.”

  “She’s your mate?” Shannon’s mouth hung open in a very unappealing way.

  “Yes. I love her, and she’s the only woman for me.”

  Shannon frowned. “I thought for so long that maybe I was your mate and you were just too shy to admit it. I love you, Lorent.”

  “I’m sorry. I tried to make it clear that there was nothing more than friendship between us. I never wanted to hurt you, but please understand once and for all that I don’t return your feelings.” Lorent’s voice was strained.