Werewulf Journals 2: Trolling for Love (19 page)

“But what can we do? How can we help?”

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Melody started smiling. “Let’s look at this logically ... Here’s a female who’s looking for a mate. She’s so desperate, she’s even supplied the house -- such as it is -- and she’s singing out with all her heart. What’s she feeling about now?”

Rosa scrunched up her nose and held her breath, thinking hard. She let it out with a loud whoop. “I would be feeling pretty low, self-esteem shot to hell ... and then along comes some bozo who beats up on her.” She pretended to just notice Melody’s warning glare. “Sorry about that! Then some unsuspecting, blind, takes-female-bashing-seriously wulf comes along and beats up on her ... she has to be at an all-time low.”

Melody decided to ignore Rosa’s teasing. After all, Hunter deserved it. “Okay, so we have a depressed female. What are the number one and two remedies of choice when we women are depressed?”

“Shopping! Oh, and a trip to the spa.” Rosa’s eyes widened. “Melody, how on earth do you plan to get her to go shopping?”

“Obviously, we can’t. She won’t leave the bridge. We’ll have to take the spa and the shopping to her.”

A slow smile spread Rosa’s generous lips. “The boys are going to kill us!”

Melody’s answering grin stretched so wide it hurt her cheeks. “The boys can kiss my big, black ass. I’ve had a pissy day, and I need something to take my mind off it. I can’t think of a better way than helping out a fellow female.”

“Hey, I’m with you a hundred percent.”

“Good. Let’s collect all the make-up we have. She’s pretty big -- I don’t think anything of mine will fit her. We’ll stop by the mall on the way. Oh --!” Melody stopped in her tracks.

“I just thought of something. We have to take the kids with us.”

Rosa’s brows creased. “Do you really think that’s safe?”

“Well, I think it’s better than leaving them here alone. Besides, judging by the video, the troll only messed with the cars containing men that crossed her boundary. If we park down the way, we should be all right.”

“Okay, I’ll go round up the kids. Andrea should have fed Blair by now.”

“If not, we can do a quick stop at Burger King. They won’t mind in the least. Let me get Blair’s jacket so you can put it on him before bringing him out. It’s growing chilly now that it’s getting dark.” Melody hurried to her son’s room, grabbed his parka and headed back to the living room.

When Melody returned, she found Rosa standing at the bay window, staring at the street. Eyes vacant, the shorter Hispanic woman leaned against the cold glass, her mind obviously somewhere in a galaxy far, far away ...

Rosa jumped, giving an embarrassed little laugh when Melody came up behind her and touched her shoulder. “Gracious, you startled me!”

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Camille Anthony

“I’m sorry. You looked lost in thought, but I didn’t think touching you would frighten you.”

“You didn’t, not really. Course, you’d think I’d get used to people sneaking up on me with Tio Hunter and Fort doing it all the time.”

Melody sighed. “There are some things that simply take more getting used to than others, don’t you agree?”

Rosa tilted her head to the side, meeting Mel’s gaze head on. “Why does that sound like the intro to a more serious discussion?”

Clutching the small coat, Melody unconsciously twisted the cloth as she wrung her hands. “Could I ... do you mind if we ... oh, hell, Rosa ... can we talk?”

“Of course we can.”

A soft expression glowed in Rosa’s dark brown eyes, and Melody was glad she’d finally garnered the courage to speak with her about some of the things that bothered her in her relationship with Hunter. She really had to take this opportunity to see if the same things bothered Rosa in her interactions with Fortrayn.

Rosa dropped down on the window seat and patted the cushion beside her. “Sit down and tell me what’s bothering you. You know, sometimes I forget I’m older than you are. I guess because you carry yourself so well and act so mature. I know you were orphaned at an early age and really didn’t have anyone to talk with. I should have offered my help before now. I’m really ashamed that I didn’t. Please, Melody, consider me your friend and confidant. We can always talk. In fact, I think we two should stick together. As strong-willed as our men folk are, we should have someone in our corner.”

Despite Rosa’s reassurances, Mel didn’t know where or how to begin. “It’s not so much being bothered about a particular thing ... well, yes it is, but it’s ... damn, this is hard to get out.”

Taking Mel’s hand in hers, Rosa looked at her, a smile dancing about her lips. “Come on, Melody, this is me, Rosita. You can’t possibly be shy of me! We’re like family.”

Oh, yes, but will you still feel that way when you discover my dark desires? Melody mused, guarding her thoughts carefully. “It’s not that I’m shy, Rosa. It’s that I was raised not to bring up certain conversational topics in public.”

Rosa glanced around the empty room. “You consider this public? Hon, honestly, you can ask me anything. In fact, why don’t I take a wild stab at guessing what it is you want to ask me?” She stood and placed her hands behind her neck, rubbed as if she worked tension out of the cords. “Do I let Fort make love to me while he is in fur form?”

That’s what she wanted to know, all right. Melody looked everywhere but at Rosa, too embarrassed to meet her gaze. “I don’t know ... do you?”

“Yes ... he always takes me that way after what he calls the turning moon, but not so much during other times.”

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Melody shifted on the cushion, angling her body to face Rosa. “How does it make you feel ... if you don’t mind talking about it?”

Rosa’s eyebrows lowered. “Are you telling me you and Hunter haven’t ...” She waved her hand in a vague motion. “... done the dirty dance in fur?”

“He promised me time to get used to the idea.”

“What is there to get used to, Mel? He’s your fiancé and your mate ... oh, hell’s bells.

That’s why Chase felt justified --” Her gaze considering, the shorter woman came over to Melody. Placing her hands on Mel’s shoulders, she said, “You know this puts another face on Chase’s actions. You haven’t mated with Hunter yet. According to wulf culture, you’re up for grabs to the first wulf who takes you in fur. What he tried to do can’t equate with rape in their society.”

“I know that,” Mel answered quietly. “Hunter explained it to me. He wasn’t angry that Chase tried to fuck me, he was angry because he attempted to do it without the proper challenge and response.” She made a face. “You can imagine how that made me feel.”

Rosa perched beside Melody on the window seat. “Whew! I had no idea you weren’t already mated and just waiting for the official ceremony. No wonder Hunter keeps you secluded here. I thought at first, he was leery about people seeing him in public with you because of your race, but Fort disabused me of that real quick. I was grateful he did, ’cause I really like Hunter and it’s hard for me to respect someone who has such racial biases.”

She sat up straight and dusted her hands. “Well, that does it -- no trip to the mall for you. All we need is for some wulf to catch wind of you without Hunter around to keep him off you.”

Melody frowned in thought. “Chase said something about me giving off ‘fuck-me’

vibes, but I didn’t honestly take him literally. After all, Fortrayn is a wulf, and he lived here with us for over a month. He never came on to me like that ...”

Rosa’s eyebrows flew into her hair. “Are you kidding? My poor Fort had blue balls for that entire time. He told me your scent drove him nuts. Hunter used to fuck you in the living room, and Fort would go outside that window --” She pointed to the long, narrow glass pane on the far side of the room. “-- and watch while he jacked himself off. Fort said watching Hunter take you reinforced his cousin’s claim in his mind. It helped him keep his sanity and not challenge for you.”

“The hell you say!” Melody couldn’t believe Fortrayn used to watch them. Damn it, I can’t believe Hunter let him, without saying anything to me about it!

“I swear I didn’t know any of this! I would never knowingly hurt Fortrayn. He’s like family. I love him. He helped rescue my son. In fact, he was the one who brought Blair to me that night.” Tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered living through the hellish pain of thinking her son killed. The joy that had exploded in her chest at the sight of her boy cradled in the massive arms of Fortrayn would always endear him to her.

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Camille Anthony

“Hermana, I know that.” Rosa patted Mel’s thigh. “So does Fort. He holds none of it against you. I tell you so you will know your danger is real. Until Hunter mates you, it is not safe for you to ... uhm ... wander free. Mel, tell me something -- what’s lacking in Hunter?

Where does he fall short of your standards? Why do you refuse to mate with him?”

Melody swiped at her cheeks with one hand, removing the evidence of her tears. The other still clutched around Blair’s jacket. Her voice shook as she denied any lack in Hunter.

“Are you kidding? That man is a knight. He is so freaking chivalrous he scares me. His honor is a part of him. He can’t help the way he responds to someone in need. Take the way he reacted when he found out that troll was female. I thought he was going to hurl ... it literally made him sick to think he had hit a girl.”

Rosa laughed. “Yeah, I had fun teasing him about that.”

Mel’s lips tightened. “You were not nice. I meant to talk to you about that ... don’t hurt him, Rosa. Don’t hurt his feelings.”

Rosa snorted. “Look who’s talking! I fuck my mate any way he wants me. You’re the one holding back, rejecting Hunter, and you tell me not to hurt him. What’s wrong with this picture?”

“I’m afraid.”

“Of what?”

Melody curled forward, bunched the coat at her face to hide her features. “Of giving myself totally to Hunter and someday seeing in his eyes that I’ve been found lacking.” She sucked in a shuddering gasp of air. “I’m fat, you know -- not pretty at all, and dragging a child in tow ... What could a man like that -- a rich hunk built like a damn brick house --

find to love in me?”

Rosa lifted Melody’s chin with her hand. Brown eyes stared at Mel in disbelief. “Are you drunk ... or just out of your mind?”

“Huh?”

Rosa clicked her tongue. “Woman, that male worships the ground you walk on. He doesn’t hide it, and he’s not ashamed of it. Do you have any idea how rare that is? Never mind, I can see you don’t.”

As if she couldn’t sit still, Rosa jumped up and started pacing. “Let me tell you something ... I’m half in love with Hunter because he raised Fortrayn. My man is a chip off your man’s block, and I thank heaven every day and twice at night for that.”

“But they’re not human. Not really.”

Rosa stopped in her tracks. “What, Miss Afro-American is a species bigot? My first husband left me for another man. My father abused my sister night after night while I lay shivering with fright in the bed next to them, wondering when he’d get around to me. On the flip side, Fortrayn risked his life to save mine, and Hunter threw in with him when he didn’t even know me. On top of that, Fortrayn is ready to walk away from his family and all Werewulf Journals 2: Trolling for Love

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that he knows to keep me at his side.” Rosa planted her hands at her hips in her signature stance. “Baby, humans haven’t been too nice to me. I don’t give a fuck if Fortrayn glows in the dark. If that man wants to fuck me upside down in the rain in the middle of Golden Gate Park, he’s got it!”

“You don’t feel ... strange ... making love to a ...”

“Oh, for godssake, Melody, stop trying to make them conform to human norms.

They’re aliens ... shapeshifters. Once you get past that, everything else is easy. I’ll admit, at first, I was leery, but Fort talked me through it. Literally.” She laughed. “The idiot sounded like a damn first grade primer in my head. See Fort! See Rosa! See Fort fuck Rosa! Fuck, Fort, fuck ...” Rosa shook her head, still smiling. “I don’t know how he can make me laugh in the middle of making me scream. All I know is I’m going to hold on as tight as possible. If anything ever parts us, it won’t be roadblocks I’ve thrown up.”

A half grimace pulled at Melody’s mouth. “Gee, Rosa, don’t feel you need to hold back or anything ... don’t worry a bit about hurting my feelings.”

Rosa cocked her hip, doing the neck thing almost as well as a black woman. “Mel, I am determined to be your friend if it kills you, and right now, I’ve got to tell you that this shouldn’t all be about you. I mean ... look at you -- living in the man’s house, letting him support you, letting your son call him Daddy, and yet you won’t commit to him.”

Melody felt stricken. It hurt that Rosa thought she was a user. “It’s not like that!”

“Looks just like that from where I’m standing. I bet it looks like that to Hunter, too.

You know what you need to do?”

Reminding herself she’d asked for the input, no matter how hurtful, Melody swallowed her pique. “Obviously, I don’t.”

“You need to piss or get off the pot! Stop jerking Hunter around and give him more than lip loyalty ... and do it soon, because the longer you waffle over this, the more you’re going to end up hurting not only yourself, but Hunter and Blair, too.”

Melody hung her head. “I’ve told myself the same thing over and over. When I think about living my life without Hunter, I want to curl up and die, but when I think about everything else ...” She stared at Rosa, trying to see into her heart and soul. “Tell me honestly, Rosa -- don’t you have any qualms about having to let Fortrayn fuck you in front of his entire pack? While he’s in fur form?”

Rosa shrugged. “Truthfully ... yes, it bothers me a little ... okay, a lot.” She came back and sat back down beside Mel. “Listen, a lot of cultures have different marriage traditions and ceremonies. Hunter and Fortrayn belong to a race that honors and celebrates community openness and honesty. When Fort fucks me, I can barely remember my own name. I trust him to guard my embarrassment, to make sure I enjoy the experience. Bottom line ... if it makes me Mrs. Fortrayn McCallum, I’d lick every witness’ feet after the fact.”