Her hand rested on his stomach. He smiled as he watched Melody sleep. Shifting slightly, he turned toward her and slid the hair from her face showing the part of her that told him she wasn’t human or shifter. She was other. Something he’d only heard about as a child. The stories of her kin and his went as far back as the beginning of time. But something happened and the Fae created the portals that separated their world away from the humans and shifters. He couldn’t remember the whole history, but he knew that her being his mate wouldn’t end well for her. Brushing the strands of her blonde hair, he realized she was giving up a lot to stay with him. He wondered if someday she would resent leaving her home.
She sighed and opened her eyes glancing to the man lying next to her. “You’re awake.”
“Mmhm.”
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she said and turned toward him.
The sheet slid down her body revealing her breasts, and she laughed.
“Sorry,” he muttered. He couldn’t help it. He’d always been a breast man and hers were by far the most beautiful.
She looked over his shoulder to the window. “We slept a long time.”
“Best sleep I’ve had in a long time.”
Melody went silent and blushed. He wondered what she was thinking.
“It was for me, too.”
He lay next to her in silence. Everything was different now. He felt it from within. It was like he lost that part of himself that had been lost.
“Mel,” a voice said breaking the silence.
Melody sat up and gasped. “That’s Haven.”
She got scrambled off the bed and picked up her dress before picking up the necklace she always wore. “Haven!”
“Mel, he’s coming.”
“Who’s coming?” Melody replied with panic lacing her voice.
Dixon got out of bed and slipped back into his jeans. Someone was after his mate. Just like she said would happen. He growled and buttoned them. It pissed him off. He hadn’t even gotten to enjoy the bond before someone threatened it. He faced his mate and his eyes shifted seeing her panic.
“It’s going to be okay.”
Melody shook her head as tears slide down her cheek. “No, it won’t. I knew he’d find me.”
“What else did your sister say?”
Her body shook. “Nothing. She got cut off. Something happened to her, I just know it.”
Dixon strode around the bed and gripped her shoulders rubbing them with his thumbs hoping to calm her down. “You don’t know that. Maybe she didn’t have much time to say more.”
She nodded, but he could tell she was worried. He was too. He had no idea what he was in for, what if he could help her? What if she was taken from him?
‘No, we have mated. She is ours.’
The lion inside of him was ready to fight for the first time in his life, but the problem… How could he fight something he didn’t understand when he’d never even shifted before?
‘Let me out.’
“I can’t go back there.”
“Sweetheart, that is not going to happen.” Dixon smiled down at her. “You’re staying with me.”
“I want to, but I might not have a choice.”
“I won’t let anyone take you from me.”
He could see from the sheen of tears that she didn’t believe him.
She pulled away. “I have to go. I need somewhere to hide.”
He didn’t think hiding would work. If whoever was after her found her so easily it wouldn’t be difficult to track her. He realized he needed to fight this with her head on. He needed to show her that he was worthy.
He needed to embrace his lion. He needed to shift.
***
It was too soon. She wasn’t ready to have to go back already. She needed to talk to Haven, find out what went wrong. She should have had more time. Dixon was trying to make her feel better, but it wasn’t working. She knew she’d end up back in Faerie. She didn’t have defense magic and from what he’d told her he couldn’t shift. They were two defenseless Supes in a world where she couldn’t hide.
“We can figure this out,” she said more to herself than him.
“Try to reach your sister again.”
Melody nodded and rubbed the stone thinking of Hanna. Maybe she would be able to help
“Hanna.”
“What’s going on Mel, Haven’s gone.”
“What do you mean she’s gone? She told me he was coming then was cut off.”
Hanna looked to the side and then back to her. “She’s trying to throw Webb off. I tried, Mel, I really did.”
“How do I fight this? I don’t have the magic.”
“You and your mate—together.”
Then she was gone.
Melody had no idea what that meant. Neither of them had the power to evade Webb for long, if at all.
“What did she say?”
“She said we could fight it together.”
Dixon frowned. “Together. That’s it?”
She shrugged. “I guess we just have to do our best. There has to be a way.”
He closed the distance between them and gripped her hands. “You won’t go back.”
Dixon’s eyes held a glint and she wondered what he was thinking. She gasped when the magic sparked between them. “What is that?”
“Well, sweetheart, that seems to be our magic—combined.” He smiled and gripped her hands and the magic grew.
Melody felt his beast rub against her. “I feel him.”
Dixon nodded. “I know. You are a part of us now.”
“Do you think you might be able to shift now?”
“I doubt it, but let’s go. There’s a place we can stay that’s not easy to find.”
Melody had no idea where to go. This wasn’t her world. She had to put her trust in her mate. Hope that he knew what he was doing. “Okay, we should go now then. Webb won’t be far.”
She knew he was the best. Her father found him abandoned and brought him into their home. He trained him to be the best—therefore, he was. He’d grown up with them as an angry teen who’d been abused. Faerie wasn’t like the human world. There were no laws about leaving a child. An abandoned child was fair game. Whoever wanted the child could have them, and she knew Webb was lucky to have her father. He’d been just as devastated as she and her sisters when her parents passed away. That’s why it hurt so much when he started working for her uncle.
The bond between Webb and her sisters had fallen apart with her parent’s death. At first, they’d mourned together, and then he disappeared. She thought he was gone for good, but a few months later, he’d come back—but he wasn’t the same. There was a darkness to him and he refused to spend any time with her or her sisters. Hanna was the most hurt by his actions. He was older than her, but he’d always been by her side.
Now, though, he was in the human world after Melody, and it was only a matter of time until he found her and dragged her back to Faerie leaving her to her uncle and a man she wanted nothing to do with.
It wasn’t fair. She should be able to live her life the way she wanted. She was well past adulthood, and the fact that she had coward under her uncle’s demands for so long brought her to shame. If she wouldn’t have allowed it to begin with, then maybe it wouldn’t have come to this point.
She looked to Dixon and her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t let it happen.”
He pulled her into his arms while she sobbed. She hated crying, but better now than later. She needed her wits, and if she teared up every five minutes then she would get nowhere. Better to break down now rather than in the middle of something important. After she had a good sob fest she sniffled and met Dixon’s eyes.
“I think I’m good now.”
He ran his hands over her hair and held her. “It’ll be okay. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but you won’t be alone—not anymore.”
She nodded, hoping he understood what that truly met. She would allow him into her heart and hop
e that by the end things wouldn’t fall apart. “Thank you.”
He leaned down and kissed her lightly. She would never get over how good it felt to be held or kissed by him. He was all strength and hard muscle. Her body molded to his and she kissed him harder. She couldn’t hold back showing him just how much it meant to her that she’d found him. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to say goodbye before she even got the chance to know him. That would be the worst thing that could ever happen. But she refused to drag him into danger. Better to have this short amount of time, then to have never known him at all. She wouldn’t give up, but she would be realistic.
Chapter 10
Dixon gripped Melody’s hand in his and pounded on the door with his other. This was the only place he could think of that would level the playing field. He was man enough to admit when he needed help. He wasn’t sure how much help Bac would be willing to give him, but hopefully enough to give him some time to figure out what to do.
Mating with Melody had been the most amazing thing to happen in his life, and there was no way in hell he was going to let some piece of shit Fae take her from him. She hadn’t told him much, but the look in her eyes, hollow and filled with worry, was enough for him. Anything that made his mate unhappy was enough to make his lion go nuts.
“Open the door, dammit!”
He heard heavy footsteps right before the door swung open to an angry bear.
“What the hell, Dix? You coulda called.” He rubbed his eyes and narrowed them on Melody. “And why the hell did you bring an Elf here?”
“She’s my mate.” How was it his friend knew what Melody was just by one look?
The man’s eyes raised. “Your mate?”
“Yes, my mate. Let us in. I’ll explain everything.”
Bac sighed, letting out a small growl but he waved them in. He stepped out of the way of the entry to his home, but Dixon noticed his rigid form. Seemed his one and only friend didn’t much care for the Fae. “You better have a good reason for bringing her here,” he muttered.
His friend plopped down in a recliner that had seen better days. “Sit.” He ran his hands through his graying hair. “Explain.”
Dixon led Melody to the couch and they sat down. Nerves pricked down his spine when he realized she was eyeing Bac like she knew him.
When she jumped up from the sit next to him and covered her mouth with her hand, he knew for sure that his mate recognized the large man.
“Oh, my gosh, Bac!”
His mouth opened but he snapped his lips shut and nodded.
Dixon was confused. “You know each other?”
Melody nodded. “He used to work for my father.”
“Until he banished me,” Bac replied.
The look on his mate’s face was telling. Her face went pale and he could see how perplexed she was. Like Bac shouldn’t be sitting before her.
“It wasn’t him. We thought you were dead, too,” she said in a whisper.
His friend sat up straight and glared at Melody. Dixon tensed, wondering what was going on.
“You mean after my mate was murdered and your father sent his brother to do his dirty work. But Talbot let me go. Told me to leave Faerie and never step through the portals again.”
Melody’s body shook and she shook her head too fast. “No, my father loved you and Maria like family. He wouldn’t have done that.”
“That’s what Talbot said. I saw no reason not to believe him.”
She flinched. “My uncle is a thief and a liar. He’s taken over everything.” Tears fell from her eyes and she stepped closer to Bac before she went to her knees in front of him grabbing his hands as if she couldn’t believe he was really there.
“I can’t believe you’re alive. Father sent out search parties for you. We thought you died too. That’s what Uncle reported. Said it was an accident.”
Bac chuckled, but Dixon knew that laugh. His friend was not happy.
“No, he sent me here—” he waved his hand around the house “—without Maria. Talbot found her body, said how sorry he was for my loss, but then he told me everything. How your father had her killed and had sent him to end my life, too, but he didn’t feel it was necessary. That I was free to go.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Melody replied. “I swear we didn’t know.”
“Seems your uncle planned everything.”
“Yes, it seems so. He’s ruined everything and now he’s trying to force me to wed Sirk.”
Dixon rose from the couch and pulled his mate from the other beast. HIs lion wasn’t happy she was touching him. He didn’t like how familiar they were with one another. “What’s going on?”
Bac looked at him, and a sheen of tears filled his eyes. “I watched this girl grow up, and her sisters. I worked faithfully for the royal family, until Maria was killed and Talbot sent me here. I’ve never gone back.”
“You lived in Faerie?” Dixon was starting to get a bigger picture of what was going on. His friend had a whole different life before they’d met. And all this time they’d been friends, he never, not even once, mentioned that he worked for the Fae.
“Yes, and we protected the royals, seemed I failed my duties since I’ve heard they are gone now, too.”
“You didn’t fail.”
“You’re in trouble?” he asked Melody.
“Yes, I left, but Haven and Hanna are still there. Webb is after me—to take me back, but I can’t go back there. I won’t wed Sirk. But Uncle Talbot won’t see it any other way. He said if I didn’t, then he’d make Haven.”
Back growled. “That man took everything from me. But Webb—didn’t your father raise him? Surely he wouldn’t help the man?”
“Yes, he’ll have no choice but to bring me back. We don’t know how far Uncle has gotten to him. But it seems he’s been in control of everything much longer than I knew.”
Dixon let the two speak. He was learning more by listening than he could have imagined. The history between Bac and his mate shocked him, but that his friend was holding a grudge against the very man who was trying to take his mate away might work out for them better than anything. He found it strange that the one person he knew and trusted had watched his mate grow up. It couldn’t be a coincidence. It was far too close to home for that. Plus, Dixon didn’t believe in coincidences.
***
Melody couldn’t believe her eyes. At first, she thought they were playing tricks on her, but then she studied the man and realized—she knew him. He was the only shifter she’d ever been around, besides his mate Maria. He served her father faithfully until he disappeared. She knew of Maria’s death, but Uncle Talbot certainly made sure to get rid of Bac, too. Now she wondered just what else he’d done.
“Did he kill my parents, too?” The question slipped out without her meaning for it to. Thoughts swarmed her mind and she tried to remember everything. Uncle Talbot is the one who had told them.
Bac shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past him, little one, but I doubt there is proof.”
She held back her tears realizing the very person who promised to protect her was probably the same man who had taken her parents from her. She couldn’t breathe with that knowledge. Why would he kill his own family? None of it made any sense. “Will you help us then?”
Her old companion shook his head. “Now, I can’t get mixed up with you all again. I’ve already lost too much, but you can stay here, that’s the most I can offer.”
She understood. Now that she was piecing everything together, she realized that her uncle was far worse than she thought. “I understand. I’m hoping I can talk some sense into Webb. He loved my family. Maybe Talbot has something on him. Maybe he’s threatening him.”
Bac shrugged again, and she knew she was lucky he was even letting them stay. He could have kicked her out and left her to the wolves. But she understood why he didn’t want to help. He’d already been hurt too deeply by the Fae. If she was correct then her uncle had not only killed Bac’s mate Marie, but there was a strong po
ssibility he’d killed her parents, as well. She shuddered. Talbot was far more dangerous than he led on. She’d always thought of him to be strange, but never once did she think he could kill. What was the point in killing Maria and sending Bac to the human world? He had to of been threatened by the shifters. Maybe that was the only way he could gain control of her parent’s land. Piece by piece she was starting to figure it out.
Dixon listened to them talk. She knew he was confused, but she couldn’t believe that Bac was alive. Her father mourned him just like one would a brother. She didn’t understand why he hadn’t just gone to her father. He would have explained everything. It wasn’t even a month later that her parents ended up in an accident. Their bodies too damaged to heal. It all came back to her uncle. He’d been scheming all along, and now Melody realized that he wouldn’t stop, but what did he want? Their family wasn’t worth much anymore. As far as she knew, he’d used all their resources to keep their land. It was why he was trying to marry them off to other wealthy Fae from different territories. He made it sound like he was doing everything he could to make sure she and her sisters were taken care of, but now she questioned all of it. Her uncle had too many secrets.
Chapter 11
Melody rubbed her amulet hoping to reach Haven. Now that she had seen Bac, which was amazing, she needed to figure out how things were going to work. Since Bac was still alive and well she had to assume everything her uncle had ever told them was a lie. She shouldn’t be surprised, but truthfully it hurt. She didn’t like to think of her family negatively, but it looked like there was no way around it. She thought he was just arranging marriages for her and her sisters for money, but if he’d really killed Marie and sent Bac to the human world, chances were he had a deeper plan. She wished she knew what he thought to accomplish. The more she knew the better off they would be. If only she could get her sisters here now with her. She’d feel much better knowing they were safe. Instead, they were in Faerie, and she had no clue what was going on.
Dixon (Stratham Shifters Book 6) Page 7
