Lycan Christmas

Chapter Fourteen

She looked down and was surprised to find she was walking through the snow in nothing but a pink nightgown, yet she wasn’t cold. She must be dreaming again. It was the only explanation why she wasn’t freezing her ass off and frostbite wasn’t setting in on her bare feet. She’d never had such vivid, strange dreams before she’d come to Sanctuary.

She shrugged and kept walking, not sure where her subconscious was leading her, but too intrigued to care. She was in the forest again, and the ground was covered with fluffy white snow. She smiled as she looked up through the trees, the bright moon casting a soft glow upon her face. It was a beautiful sight, and it was eerily quiet.

“Melony?”

She spun around, right into Lorent’s broad chest, and gasped when his arms came around her to steady her. Why was she dreaming about him again? Wasn’t she mad at him? Yes, but “the heart wants what it wants” wasn’t just a saying. It was the truth.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as if she had a reason to be angry at the image her own brain had fabricated for this dream. After all, could she blame him when she’d been the one who’d conjured him? He wasn’t real, after all.

The answer to that was yes. She could still be angry at him even if he was only a figment of her subconscious, and she was too stubborn to admit that only meant she was mad at herself.

“I needed to see you.”

“Why don’t you go see Shannon?” She raised a brow, hoping the expression on her face adequately supported the sarcasm of her question.

“I don’t want to see Shannon. I only want to see you.”

“Didn’t seem that way to me.”

“It wasn’t what you think.”

She sighed and pulled away from him. “It doesn’t really matter anyway, does it? It’s not like we’re married or anything. You can do what you want.”

She started to walk away, but he gently pulled her back to him, nuzzled his nose against her hair, and took a deep breath while she fought the urge to lean against him.

“It does matter, and I’m not into Shannon. I never have been. She was upset, and she was crying. I was trying to comfort her. That’s all there was to it. I swear.”

“I get all confused around you, Lorent. You make me feel things I’ve never felt before.”

“It’s the same for me,” he whispered.

“It’s a little scary how much I’ve grown to care for you in such a short amount of time.

It doesn’t seem possible, and I don’t quite know how to handle the emotions.”

He chuckled before kissing the top of her head. “Believe me when I say I understand completely.”

She looked up at him. “But that’s just it. It’s hard enough trying to understand my feelings, but trying to figure yours out as well is impossible.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not good at this communication thing. Can’t you be patient with me?”

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “You need to talk to me. It’s time. It’s past time.”

When he didn’t respond, she sighed. “Look, I’ll make this easy for you. Your choice. I won’t hold it against you whatever you decide. If you care for me like I care for you, you’re going to have to trust me at least a little. I’ll admit I’m scared for the future, because honestly? If I fall in love with you, and I’m halfway there already, I don’t know what I’ll do if your mate or mine shows up one day.

“But I can’t deny what I feel for you any longer. There has to be a reason we were brought together, even if I’m not your mate. Please, Lorent, can’t you open up to me about your past?”

“I’ll think about it. There is so much I want to tell you, so much I need to tell you, but I’m not proud of a lot of it, and it won’t be easy for me. In fact, I should probably just tell you all of it, because once you hear, you won’t want to have anything to do with me anymore anyway.”

“Lorent! Whatever you did and whatever happened in your past is just that. In your past. I promise I will not judge you for the things you’ve done. We’ve all made mistakes.

We all deserve to be forgiven, and we all deserve a second chance. I don’t know how to show you I mean that unless you trust me enough to share with me.”

He shook his head. “It’s not that simple. It’s not like I was the school bully and was mean to some kids and then grew up. The things in my past are horrible.”

She reached up and framed his face with her hands. “We all have things we are ashamed of. You’re no different than anyone else. The only thing that makes you different is your obvious refusal to forgive yourself for your past. If you can’t forgive yourself, you couldn’t possibly think anyone else could, right?”

He nodded in agreement.

“Oh, baby.”

Hot tears spilled down her cheeks. He had so much pain, so much guilt, so much regret locked up inside him, eating away at him. She wanted to help him, to comfort him, to take some of the pain away from him if he’d just let her. She placed her hand over his heart. “You’re a good man, Lorent. Trust me. Let me help you heal.”

And just like that, he was gone.

She opened her eyes, surprised to find her cheeks wet with tears. Most of her anger had drained away, and her heart ached for Lorent, and flip-flopped when she realized that she’d already fallen in love with him. There was no going back now. Not for her. She’d love him forever, even if he chose not to love her back, even if they ended up going down different paths in life.

“Great.” She cuddled against Puss. “How am I going to get him to open up to me, Puss?” The cat started purring against her, and she smiled.

Suddenly, she knew she had to get him to trust her, because the dream had not just been a dream. It had been a message. She had to help Lorent.

The only way they could possibly have a future together was if she could find a way to make him understand it was okay to forgive himself.

“How in the heck am I supposed to get him to do that?”

The next few days flew by. The snow continued to fall, although it had slowed in pace and mostly fell lazily. Melony had never seen such huge snowflakes, and the longer she was at Sanctuary, the more she liked it. She’d lucked out in getting a connection on the Internet to check her order status, and was pleased to see that her supplies would be delivered in town later in the week.

She sat at her table sipping a hot cup of coffee while Puss ate breakfast at her feet. It was Monday, and she hadn’t seen Lorent since Thanksgiving.

Their lessons were to continue this afternoon, and while she was looking forward to seeing him, a part of her was hesitant about their meeting. Would she be able to convince him to talk to her? She had a plan, but there was no guarantee it would work.

She sighed and got up to pour the remaining coffee in her cup down the sink, washed it and set it in the strainer on the counter to dry.

“Well, Puss, you have a good day, and be a good kitty.” She bent and gave the cat a gentle rub before gathering up her things and heading for the door. After pulling on her coat, she buttoned up before stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

She took a deep breath of the cold air and tilted her face up toward the sky. She barely felt the soft white flakes when they landed on her cheeks, but the light caresses of each brought a smile to her face. She sighed again. No time to dawdle. She had several errands to run before she was due to meet Lorent.

Fifteen minutes later, she was fortunate enough to find all of the women, with the exception of Sherry and Shannon, gathered at Rindy and Brent’s cabin. After exchanging hellos, she was seated at the wooden table in the kitchen and was now drinking another cup of coffee with the girls.

“Is Sherry doing okay?” Melony asked.

“Yes. She’s been a bit tired and trying to take it easy since she’s getting closer to her due date,” Janine answered and then frowned.

Melony thought it seemed Janine was worried about her sister, but she didn’t want to pry. She hoped nothing serious was going on, as Sherry’s son would be the first baby born at Sanctuary. She understood what he would mean to Sherry and Piers, but also he’d mark a new beginning for the encampment. He represented what everyone had worked so hard for: a new family, a new bloodline that would uphold and protect the laws of the lycans and play an integral part in assuring their future survival.

She supposed that more than likely created extra strain on an already anxious first-time expectant mother.

“Do you think it would be all right if I stopped by for a quick visit after I’m done here?” Melony sipped at her coffee, making a mental note to ask Rindy what kind it was. It was some of the best she’d ever drunk.

“I think she would like that very much. Your visit might take a bit of pressure off Piers as well, let him get out of the cabin for a while. She’s been making him dust and vacuum since he’s forbade her to do any cleaning until after she has the baby.” Janine laughed. “Can you imagine Piers with a vacuum?”

Everyone chuckled, and Melony found the image quite amusing. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe men should take their turn cleaning—after all, it wasn’t a woman’s job just because she was a woman—but the thought of Piers with a vacuum was just funny. Melony started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Karen asked before taking a bite of thick toast slathered in what appeared to be peach preserves.

“I was just imagining Piers in an apron, holding a duster in one hand and trying to vacuum with the other.” Melony gave a sly smile. “A pink apron.”

“Oh my! That is an amusing picture for the brain,” Rindy snorted.

“Although I will tell you, while I do most of the cleaning most of the time, Brent has scrubbed a toilet or two.”

“Wow. How did you get him to do that?” Karen stopped midbite to ask.

“I threatened bodily harm first. When that didn’t work, I threatened no sex.” Rindy raised a brow and looked around before saying, “After two days of marathon sex, and Brent’s quite convincing speech on how no sex is not, and never will be, a possibility, he kissed me, got up, and went and scrubbed the toilet.”

“Oh my goodness! I wonder if that would work on Anthony?” Karen whispered before a sly grin crossed her lips. “And really, does it matter if it works or not if I end up getting two days of marathon sex?”

“I just threaten to kick Knox’s ass when he doesn’t help.” Rose stared off into space for a moment before a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

“Then he gets turned on by my threats, we have marathon sex, and I forget what we were discussing and end up doing it myself anyway.”

Melony laughed until tears streamed down her face. After sharing a few more stories and drinking another cup of coffee—she was going to be wired for her first self-defense lesson—she set up some times to do some haircuts.

She stood and walked to the sink to place her empty cup in the bottom.

“I have to get going if I’m going to have time to stop by Sherry’s before meeting Lorent for our lesson.”

“I’ll walk with you part of the way. I’m heading back to my cabin, and it’s on the way.” Rose got up and placed her empty cup in the sink as well.

“See you all!” Melony called after she took her coat from the hook by the front door and buttoned it up.

Janine, Rindy, and Karen all said good-bye to Rose and Melony before the two headed outside.

“What do you think Brent will end up doing to Reid and Reilly for that practical joke they played on him on Thanksgiving?”

“Oh, nothing too horrible, but I have no doubt he’ll make them suffer.”

Rose smiled at Melony after giving her a wink.

“I really like it here, Aunt Rose.”

“I’m glad. So how are things going with Lorent?”

Melony contemplated telling Rose what had happened with Lorent and Shannon. “About the same. I haven’t seen him since Thanksgiving.”

“Really?” Rose frowned.

“We had a bit of a disagreement.”

“So what you’re really saying is he did something that pissed you off?”

“I guess, but it’s no big deal. I really had no reason to be upset in the first place.”

“Melony, let me give you some advice. Since I don’t get the impression that you are someone who normally gets jealous or easily upset with others—

especially after the way you’ve handled Shannon’s snarkiness—I have to assume that whatever Lorent did to irritate you was more than just a little disagreement. But I have to say that Lorent doesn’t strike me as the type to do anything intentional to upset you.”

“No, I don’t believe it was intentional.” She was beginning to think she’d overreacted to the whole Lorent-Shannon thing anyway, especially after the dream.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is when you’ve only had yourself to rely on, suddenly find your life turned upside down, and smack dab in the middle is a guy that you find yourself attracted to in a way you’ve never been interested in a man before, it’s confusing and frightening. But it’s also exciting and tempting as hell.”

“Is that what happened with you and Uncle Knox?”

Rose nodded. “I hated him when I first met him. I hated lycans period,”

she laughed. “But even through the hatred, my heart knew better.”

“Thank you,” Melony murmured as Rose and Knox’s cabin came into view.

Rose made her way to the front door, but turned back to Melony before she went inside. “Follow your heart, and you’ll be fine.”

“I’ll try.” Melony shuffled on toward Sherry’s cabin mulling over what Rose had told her.

She didn’t get the impression Rose was encouraging her feelings for Lorent, but instead supporting her in whatever she decided to do. It was nice to have someone who she could talk to and trust, someone who she felt would be there for her through thick and thin.

Rose watched Melony from the window for a moment as she walked away. She was certain she understood why Melony and Lorent had such a sudden chemistry, when Lorent had showed no interest in any other woman before—not even the gorgeous Shannon, who threw herself at him on a near-daily basis. Melony was Lorent’s mate. She scowled. Of course, she couldn’t be certain, but her woman’s intuition told her it was the truth, and her instincts were rarely wrong.

She hadn’t told Knox her suspicions yet, not because she was worried that he’d go ballistic on Lorent, but until Lorent admitted Melony was his mate, she was worried about outside interference screwing up the progress Melony seemed to be making with him. Lorent seemed content since Melony’s arrival. There was a lighter air around him now—kind of like the weight of the world he usually carried on his shoulders had been lessened.

And he’d been a completely different person at Thanksgiving. He’d still been laid-back and quieter than everyone else—he probably always would be—but he’d interacted, had even laughed, and genuinely seemed to have enjoyed himself.

She sighed. Yes, she’d kept her suspicions from Knox, but maybe it was time to tell him. Melony and Lorent would need all of the support they could get once the truth came out, and Knox needed prior knowledge so he had time to get used to the idea. He’d keep the information between the two of them—she’d kick his ass if he didn’t—but he was her mate, and she was having enough trouble keeping her other secret from him.

She smiled. That secret she’d keep a tiny while longer. It wouldn’t harm anyone, and she wanted to tell him at just the right time.