Of course, knowing how off-beat her mother was, the woman would probably dive into the whole concept with both feet. Thinking of all the trouble her mother might inadvertently stir up, Mel shuddered. Yep, asking her mother would definitely not be a good idea. They didn’t need another round of this whole Keeping business, after all.
In the end it didn’t really matter where the genes came from. She was a werewolf now. During the night, she’d confessed to Ryne that she’d applied to the Lycan link just as a joke and hadn’t believed it when they said they’d research her background to see if she qualified. He explained how it worked and she gave a wry laugh thinking of how she and Beth had said she’d become a card carrying Lycan. Little did she know it would come true!
They arrived back at her apartment building and Ryne pulled into a convenient parking spot. He turned off the engine and stared straight ahead. Silence reigned.
Mel pasted a fake smile on her face. “Well, I’m home.”
Ryne cleared his throat and turned to look at her. “It doesn’t have to be. Your home, that is. You could live in Stump River. With me. I...I really want you to.” When she didn’t answer, he shifted closer and gently took her chin, turning her to face him. He stared intently at her, his gaze moving over her features before returning to her eyes, seeming to be searching for something. Finally, he gave a half smile and leaned closer, brushing his lips over hers. “Melody, I love you and want you to stay with me. Please say you’ll come back to Stump River.”
Mel smiled against his lips, a feeling of relief washing over her. Yes, she thought. It hadn’t been her imagination! “Took you long enough to say it.” She murmured and then she kissed him back.
“I told you last night.” Ryne had the faintest of pouts on his face.
“But I wasn’t sure if you had really said it, or if it was all part of the whole transformation thing. I was having some pretty weird thoughts.”
He wiggled his eye brows at her. “Wanna share?”
Mel flushed. “Maybe later.” Some of her thoughts had been on the erotic side. She had a feeling that her wolf was going to be a lusty creature and somehow Ryne knew it.
He kissed her again, gently at first and then with increasing passion. She returned the kiss with equal ardour, burying her fingers in his thick, silky hair, relishing the feel of his stubbly skin gently abrading hers. It was only when a group of teens walked by, hooting encouragement that they pulled apart. Ryne glared at them through the windshield and the young hooligans immediately fell silent, backing away and then turning almost as one to run down the street.
Mel chuckled softly. “I wish I could do that.”
“I’ll teach you.” He brushed the hair from her face and then moved back to his own seat. They sat in companionable silence for a moment before Ryne looked at her regretfully. “So...what about your apartment?”
She pursed her lips and exhaled slowly, staring up at the window of her apartment unit. From what she’d been told, this was where Lucy had been...injured. Her mind shied away from using a more final term, as a faint hope fluttered within her. Perhaps...
Ryne cleared his throat and asked softly, “Do you want to go in, or should I just—?”
“No, I need to do this. Lucy’s my friend, too.” She drew a shuddering breath and squared her shoulders. “I’ll go in. I imagine the police will have started an investigation and there’ll be questions to answer. What should we tell them?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. As a werewolf, you get lots of practice creating plausible half-truths to cover things up.” Ryne gently squeezed her hand, and then opened the car door.
*****
The time in the apartment wasn’t pleasant. It was cordoned off and a police officer was on guard. Ryne did most of the talking, the lies rolling out of his mouth with no hesitation. By the time he was done, even Mel half-believed the tale. The police officer allowed them in so Mel could check if anything was missing; the police were operating under the assumption that Lucy had walked in during an attempted burglary.
A chalk line showed where Lucy had fallen, in case the blood stains on the floor hadn’t been sufficient indication. Mel’s breath hitched as she stared at the spot before forcing herself to look away and blink rapidly, holding back the tears that threatened to fall.
The apartment units surrounding hers were unusually quiet, almost as if everyone knew of the tragedy and where paying their respects. As she walked into the living room, her footsteps echoed in the silence. Bits of dust floated on a sunbeam that had managed to work its way through a crack in the curtains, its brightness a stark contrast to the general air of gloom that pervaded the space.