“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” I murmured, aiming for somewhere in the neighborhood of jovial, but it came out strained. The whole situation was incredibly awkward, but it needed to happen. There was a reason Melton had sent thatletter to me, and there was a reason I’d answered. Clearly, we both still needed closure.
The question was, what did closure actually mean for the two of us?
“But to answer your question, yes, I absolutely did. I’d be insane not to.”
Melton let out possibly the driest, tiniest laugh I had ever heard, but at least it was something.
“Good.” More silence, but I was beginning to get used to his rhythm. It was clear to me that he wasn’t the most social of wolves, which wasn’t exactly surprising considering what Giselle had told me of his upbringing, and it was so strange, but my heart ached for him. Because not only did he remind me of myself, all raw edges and unhealed wounds, but he also made me think of young Charles, who had come to our pack and jumped at the slightest noise while apologizing for everything and anything. God, what a sad and awful home they had endured. So much pain. So much agony.
Did their father haveanyidea of the evil he’d put into the world? If the first years of Charles’s life hadn’t been filled with such intense, pervasive abuse, Charles wouldn’t have fallen in with that roving group of thugs and murderers. The deep scars from that toxic situation had not only ruined his sons’ lives but had also stolen my entire pack’s lives.
I supposed that was inherent to abuse and violence. They were virulent, powerful, twisted forces that infected everything they touched, growing, festering, and spreading until someone broke that cycle. Until someone ignored their tempting whispers and urges and chose something else.
Was I going to be that person?
“It’s probably a sign of how fucked up I am, but I don’t think anybody or anything else could have stopped me other than her.”
“Oh?”
Melton nodded.
“One moment I was ready to kill you. The next, it was like my head exploded and I was in lava. When I could see again, there was this tiny little thing under me, looking up at me with this… this…” He shook his head, and I realized that I’d never really thought what that whole situation had been like from his perspective. I knew if I was in his shoes, I would be in pretty deep shock from being wolfhandled by a tiny human who was only just out of the hospital.
“I don’t know how to explain it. She was staring up at me with those big eyes, and there wasn’t any hate there. Not even anger, really. I couldn’t understand because with the way she was driving that bracelet into my skull, it felt like shehadto hate me.”
“But she didn’t.” To be honest, I couldn’t really imagine Giselle hating anyone. Sure, there were people who occasionally pissed her off, and people she didn’t like. But purehate?I couldn’t picture it.
“She didn’t,” Melton agreed. “Sure, she looked scared—who wouldn’t be in that situation?—but there was this calm sort of determination in her gaze. Like she was being forced to do what she had to do but took no joy in it. Like she felt bad for me.”
“You saw all that?” I didn’t doubt him, but I also didn’t know what to think about it. Suddenly, a memory that was very much a turning point in my life was being explained from the opposite perspective. And while it was fascinating, it was also… weird.
“Yeah. You could say it was all in my head, but I just remember lying there, screaming. All the while, she stared at me as the emptiness started to spread through me. And that’s when I realized that to anyone looking in on the scene, Giselle was the hero, and I was the bad guy. I was the big, evil villain who hadpushed this sick, powerless woman to such an extreme that she literally attacked a giant, magical wolf to defend herself.”
Well, I could certainly see why that was a come-to-Jesus moment. Although I was well aware of how intensely strong Giselle was in so many ways, I also understood how most of society perceived her.
“I gotta admit,” Melton continued as we took a sharp turn around a series of large, jagged boulders sticking out of the ground. “It hit me hard, which was why I ran. But that night, when I was in my hotel room, I was so fuckingangrythat she dared to make me feel that way, that I’d failed my brother yet again… I wanted to punish her for it. The urge was especially strong when I had to rip her bracelet out of my eye.”
I rumbled again, even though I knew that he hadn’t even tried to hurt Giselle. “What changed your mind? She told me you weren’t aggressive at all when you were waiting for her at the school.”
“Heh, I’m sure she said it real flattering-like. Seems like the type to see the best in people.”
“Always.”
Another little huff, but it was appreciative as opposed to derisive. “Figured. But as for what changed my mind, that was actually the only other adult I saw you interact with regularly.”
“Natalie,” I said with the slightest chuckle. “AKA the baseball bat assailant.”
“Hah, of course her name is Natalie. It fits her. You know, I always heard that horse shifters are supposed to be docile and flighty. Not like a mobster ready to take out a kneecap.”
Another chuckle, this one much stronger. “You must not have known many, because her herd was absolutely vicious. That’s how she and her sister ended up associated with my pack.”
“Her sister? I guess I’m lucky both of them didn’t show up armed. Is she the nicer one?”
“Her sister married into my pack and was there when Charles attacked,” I answered flatly. Maybe I could have been more gracious about it, but why? If we were being real with each other, that required beingreal.
“Ah. That puts some things together.”
“But for the record, yes, she was the sweeter one. Which was why Natalie fought so hard to get her free from their herd.”
