Shadowed Instincts (5 page)

After Darren sent a couple of men to get their luggage from
the car and take it up to their rooms, Melanie found herself standing in a long
hallway upstairs. She frowned when her mom’s things were put in Darren’s room,
two doors down from her own. The thought of them sleeping in the same bed made
her really uncomfortable.

I’ll just have to get used to it, I guess,
she
thought as she looked back and saw Jeremy standing in front of a door at the
other end of the hall.

He was as far away from her as possible, with her parents’
room between them. She smiled at him, gave a little wave then walked into her
room. Her mouth dropped open as she looked around with wide eyes.

It was beautiful. There was a king sized bed, placed in the
center of the wall directly across from the door, engulfed with a sheer, white
canopy. The walls were painted a light shade of sky blue and large paintings of
wooded glades graced them. To the right was a walk in closet almost as big as
her bedroom at home, complete with a dresser, hanging rods and a shoe rack.

After exploring the monstrous closet, Melanie walked to a
huge bay window with a padded seat. She sat down and stared in awe at the view
in front of her. Rolling hills of green grass led down to a small pond, with
the thick woods directly behind it. Flower beds lined either side of the huge
yard, bright with spring blossoms.

Movement in the trees beyond the pond caught her eye. She
stared for several moments until she saw it again. There was a white blur in
the darkness of the forest, then it was gone. Further to the right, she saw a
darker form move. As her eyes zeroed in on it, a large brown dog emerged from
the tree line for a moment, looked around and sniffed the air, then disappeared
back into the woods.

“The sentinels,” Melanie whispered to herself as the
realization dawned on her.

After staring for several more minutes and seeing nothing,
she gave up her post by the window and decided to explore the house. She had
three hours to kill before dinner, where she’d be introduced to the rest of the
pack. She went to find Jeremy, to see if he wanted to explore with her.

Melanie walked down the hall to Jeremy’s room and knocked,
but there was no answer. She turned the knob and cracked the door open, calling
out to Jeremy as she did. Swinging it fully open, she walked inside and
realized it was empty.

His room was just as large as hers, and similarly furnished.
Since his bedroom was on the same side of the hall, Melanie assumed he had the
same magnificent view as her room did. Looking through his window, she took in
the vast landscape, confirming her hunch.

She started to turn away to resume her search for Jeremy
when a large black dog burst from the woods and came to a halt on the grass.
The dog sniffed the air and turned back quickly just as another dog, this one
solid white, flew from the tree line and landed in front of him. Melanie gasped
as they started circling each other, heads low to the ground and teeth bared as
if they were growling.

“Ace,” she whispered, then turned and raced from the room.

She took the stairs two at a time and when she reached the
bottom, she ran straight through the open front door. She jumped off the porch
in a single bound and raced as fast as her legs would take her around the side
of the house.

“Ace!” Melanie yelled as soon as she rounded the corner into
the back yard.

Ace took his eyes off the other animal for a brief second to
look over at Melanie, who was running hell-bent toward them. The white dog took
advantage of his distraction and pounced, jumping onto Ace and knocking him to
the ground.

Melanie reached the pair just as the pale beast was
attempting to clamp his jaws on Ace’s throat. She didn’t slow down, using her
momentum to strengthen the kick she landed square on the dog’s ribs. With a
pained yelp, he rolled off of Ace and staggered to all fours several feet away.

Melanie advanced on the animal, anger building inside her
that one of her father’s pack would dare assault a guest. She felt hot all
over, the rage causing a tingling in her hands and a creepy crawly feeling on
her scalp. She was breathing hard, both from her mad dash from the house and
her rising anger.

Just before she reached the white dog, who stood unmoving
where he landed, something moved in front of her and blocked her path. She
tried to shove it out of the way, but a familiar whine pulled her from whatever
trance her anger had put her in. She glanced down and saw those dark brown eyes
she loved so much.

She dropped to her knees and threw her arms around Ace’s
neck as she asked, “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“He’s fine,” a somewhat familiar voice called out from
nearby. “We were just doing a little sparring.”

Melanie looked toward the sound of the voice and froze in
shock. Declan stood there, panting heavily, a large bruise blooming across the
left side of his torso. A torso that was bare. It was bare because he had
shifted where he landed and stood buck naked in the bright light of the sun.

Ace moved quickly to block her view and barked at Declan.
Melanie closed her eyes and leaned into his side, dropping from her knees onto
her butt. Her face was red again, this time from embarrassment instead of
anger. She heard footsteps retreating toward the house as Declan walked away.

Oh my God,
she thought as she squeezed Ace tighter.
I
saw my first naked man. Oh Lord, I saw my first naked man and it was
Declan!
Oh, God.

She was mortified, but that quickly turned to anguish when
she realized what she had done. She ran into the yard like a madwoman and
kicked the crap out of the beta’s son. She had probably embarrassed Jeremy,
too, making him think that she didn’t believe he could take care of himself.

“Jeremy,” she whispered into Ace’s neck, “I’m sorry. I don’t
know what came over me. I’m so, so sorry.”

Ace pulled away and gave a little yelp before licking her
face until she fell over in a fit of giggles. He jumped on top of her and
continued the torture. When he wouldn’t stop, she grabbed him around the neck
and jerked so that he rolled off and landed with a thud beside her.

Melanie turned her head to look at him. He lay on his side
beside her, panting heavily and licking his chops. She scratched him under the
chin, then let her hand drop. She turned her eyes back to the sky.

“I love you, Jeremy,” she whispered.

Ace gave a light whine and a chuff, then nuzzled his snout
into her neck.

“I don’t know how I am going to do this.”

Melanie was pacing in her bedroom, wearing a track in the
dark beige carpeting. Her father had tapped on her door a few minutes earlier,
calling out that dinner would be served in half an hour.

She was a nervous wreck. Not only was she going to be
meeting several new people, but she was also going to have to face Declan and
his parents. She had no idea what to say or how to act after that spectacular
display of nudity in the back yard.

“Chad. Willow. So nice to see you again. By the way, I saw
all your son’s goodies earlier,” she mumbled. “Oh God, I can’t do this.”

There was a light knock on the door and in her distraction,
Melanie called “Come in,” without thinking. The door opened and there stood
Declan in all his angelic and, thankfully fully clothed, glory.

“What are you doing here?” Melanie asked in an accusing
tone.

Declan took one step inside, but left the door open behind
him. He looked around the room, his eyes shooting from one object to the next,
looking everywhere but at Melanie. He cleared his throat then caught her eye.

“I just wanted to apologize for earlier. You know, for the
whole shifting and being nak-”

“I know what you meant!” Melanie said, cutting him off.

“Yeah. Well, I wasn’t really thinking. You attacked me and-”

“You attacked Jeremy!”

“Melanie, we were sparring. He said he needed to shift and
stretch his legs, so we went for a run and it got competitive. You’ll
understand, once you go through the change.”

“Okay. I get it. I’m sorry I overreacted.” She rubbed her
hands up and down her arms and shifted her weight from foot to foot.

“No need to apologize, Mel. Can I call you Mel?” At her nod,
he continued, “We all know what it feels like when you approach your first
shift. We all experience the crazy emotions. The anger. The fear. So you really
have nothing to be sorry for. I get it.”

He smiled and held out his hand for her to shake. She
stepped forward and took his hand in hers, shaking it firmly. When she tried to
pull back, he squeezed her hand and pulled her a little closer to him.

With hooded eyes that suddenly seemed to smolder through
thick lashes, he said in a deep, sultry voice, “As for you seeing all my
‘goodies,’ well, that was an accident. I got caught up in the moment and
shifted without thinking. Won’t happen again. Unless, of course you want it
to.”

Melanie felt a light shock in her palm and warm sensation
flowing up her arm. She started to relax and leaned toward him. Declan slowly released
her hand. He took a step back and walked through the door, shutting it quietly
behind him. Melanie’s hand burned where he had held it. Her face burned worse
from embarrassment.

Oh, God, he heard me talking to myself,
she thought,
careful to keep her mouth shut and her thoughts to herself.

Melanie resumed her pacing, across the room and back, over
and over, trying to expend her nervous energy. She didn’t know how she was
going to face everyone and dinner time was fast approaching.

A while later, a knock sounded at the door. This time she
called out, “Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

She ran to the door and flung it open, rushing into Jeremy’s
arms before he could move. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him
hard, coaxing his mouth open and slipping her tongue inside.

“Um,” Jeremy managed to get out between kisses, “Mel, we’re
in the hallway. Right next to your parents’ bedroom.”

That brought her to her senses. She pulled Jeremy inside her
room and slammed the door shut behind him. Her face was red as she stammered
out an apology.

“Uh, sorry about that. I guess I got carried away.”

“Hey,” he said softly as he pulled her in for a hug. “Don’t
be sorry. There’s nothing I want more than you in my arms. And when you lose
control like that,” he growled softly, “it does things to me. You have no
idea.”

After a few moments of silence, Melanie pulled back and
looked at his face with a wry smile on hers, saying, “So, should we talk about
the pink elephant in the room? Or should I say the
white dog
in the
room?”

“He’s not hiding under the bed is he?”

“Shut up,” Melanie said, elbowing him lightly in the
stomach. “It was a figure of speech.”

“Mel, you can’t un-see what you saw, no matter how much I
wish you could. You should just try to forget about it.”

“Yeah,” she chirped. “Forget about it.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“Well, it
was
the first naked boy I’ve ever seen.
It’s kind of hard to forget your firsts.” She said this with a smirk, so Jeremy
would know she was teasing him.

“Is that a challenge, Ms. Johnson? You think I can’t make
you forget about it?”

As he asked those questions, he was stalking Melanie,
backing her slowly toward the bed on the other side of the room. Her legs
bumped against the edge and she came to a stop. Jeremy kept walking until his
body nearly touched hers.

“I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to you trying,” she
whispered.

Before she knew what was happening, she was on the bed with
Jeremy laying on top of her. He nibbled lightly at her lips, pulling back
slightly when she tried to deepen the kiss. After several attempts, she growled
with frustration and let her head fall back to the mattress in defeat.

Jeremy kissed his way down her neck and chuckled lightly by
her ear. “Bet you’re not thinking about Mr. Angel Face now, are you?”

Melanie huffed. “Well, I am now!” She rolled him over and
laid her head on his chest. “How can I face his parents at dinner?”

“You’re not worried about seeing him again? Just his
parents?”

“He stopped by here earlier. To apologize.”

Jeremy sat up quickly and pulled her up with him. With his hands
on her shoulders, he stared into her eyes and frowned.

“He came here? To your room?”

He lifted his nose in the air and took a deep breath.
Declan’s scent wafted to him and he let out a low growl. He had been so focused
on Melanie, he didn’t catch it when he first walked through the door.

“Yeah. It was no big deal,” Melanie said, a nervous hitch in
her voice. “He said you asked to shift and stretch your legs, and that he was running
with you and things got competitive. You were just sparring.”

“Sparring, huh? That’s not exactly how I remember it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I saw him outside and asked if there was somewhere I
could shift and stash my clothes so that I could have some privacy when I
shifted back. He showed me a shed that the sentinels use and said he’d run with
me. As we ran through the woods, he tried to exert his dominance over me. It
wasn’t as simple as sparring or being competitive.”

“Maybe you misinterpreted his actions?”

“Maybe,” Jeremy conceded doubtfully. “Let’s go to dinner,”
he said, pulling her from the bed.

As Melanie followed him out into the hallway, she thought,
Jeremy
has to be wrong. Why on Earth would Declan feel the need to exert dominance
over him? It just doesn’t make sense.

Shaking off her thoughts, she smiled at Jeremy and took his
hand as they descended the staircase.