Tristan growled, “I hate the Resistance for pulling you into this shit.” Melanie frowned and hurt slammed into me. I shot Tristan a warning glare while Phil stood to intercede. Everly jumped in though, “Ok, maybe we just take a beat here.”
Tristan growled, “I’m tired of taking a beat! Someone took advantage of my little sister and now they hide behind her! There were twenty cars chasing Hastein’s mate and you crashed into more than one of them. While driving like some professional racer, shooting and firing back at them. Then you JUMPED onto a MOVING vehicle and got shot. I WATCHED you get shot.”
Melanie snorted, “No, you didn’t.” Drake said, “Oh yes, we did.” I growled because of Melanie’s feelings. Addison gripped Jason’s arm hard, and Sierra jolted forward before Phil grabbed her. Melanie argued, “No…. you didn’t! You saw me take a hit to the vest.” Everyone was about to argue but I let out a growl.
I told them, “She’s not done talking.” Melanie smiled at me, “Thank you. Let me assure you all… it looks and sounds different than when you see someone you love get shot. It’s different when you see someone you love’s shirt covered in blood.”
“When you see their mouth full of blood, gasping for breath because they took a shot meant for you. It’s different watching someone you love die in front of your eyes as you try to put pressure on their wound. It’s different seeing someone you love get shot in the head. Do you know what a close range shot with a handgun does to someone’s head, T?”
Tristan was turning pretty pale and didn’t answer her. Oden snarled, “How dare anyone make our mate see this.” I linked Phil and Gage, “I want anyone and everyone who had anything to do with this! Where are fake Melanie’s parents?” Part of me was certain I heard they were dead by fake heart attacks.
Gage answered, “Dead. Gunner found that the Ring did it, but fake Melanie thought they died in their sleep.” Well, fake Melanie was a moron. Melanie said, “It tends to explode the back of the skull… brain matter gets on the walls and carpet. I still describe it as a jigsaw puzzle that I tried to put back together.” Everyone winced.
My wife continued, “No thoughts? Ok… how about watching someone you love get shot in the chest just as they were reaching you. Blood covers your face, which is honestly the least of your worries because you can see the pain on theirs.”
“Or being seconds too late and seeing a man you consider family with blood on him or your grandpa with a gunshot wound that he is actively bleeding from… because SOMEONE makes…BAD PLANS! In summation, watching me get shot in the vest is different to watching me be shot… and I hope to god you never learn the difference.”
“I will do anything, and everything, to keep that from happening. Not just to me, but our whole dang family. The sound of a bullet hitting skin… the thud it makes…. feels like everything stops and it’s going impossibly fast at the same time.”
I rubbed her back. Melanie continued, “No one is taking advantage of me. I’m not a pup anymore. If I want to go on dangerous missions…. well I can. I’m an adult.” Drake argued, “You’re my daughter and you’ll always be my pup.”
Melanie nodded, “I do know that… there was a questioning period of time… where I was uncertain about your DNA and mine… but even if I wasn’t biologically yours… you raised me asmy dad.” Drake replied, “You are mine in every single way. You scared us.”
Melanie frowned, “I didn’t mean to scare you. I had no idea you could see it.” Sam’s voice quivered, “You’d have done all that even if you knew.” Melanie conceded, “Yes, I would’ve because I had to save my friend.”
Jason said, “Addison said inside the facility you went off alone to the control room.” Melanie answered “Umm… well yes… but I always do… it’s not like they can hack. I got in and messaged Micah for help to make it go faster… and I was totally normal about other people working with us.”
Sierra scoffed. Melanie whispered, “Linking you freaking out DOESN’T count!” Uncle Gunner smirked while Micah snickered. Tristan said, “The Ring could’ve taken you again.” Melanie said, “Thanks for the vote of confidence in my abilities, big brother.” Now, my mate was offended.
Tristan slammed his hands on the table shouting, “DAMN IT! That’s not what this is about!” Melanie questioned, “How is that not what it’s about?” I sighed because I knew what this was. It was about Jason getting hurt and how Tristan saw Jason bruised and bleeding and needing to be healed.
I even got to this conclusion without Phil or Gage telling me. Tristan replied, “Because you’re right, ok? Sending Jase in with Hunters was stupid. I was a part of that decision and our brother almost died because I was an idiot.”
“All I knew then was that someone who didn’t like us, who turned out to be you, kept Jase alive so Alexander and Haley could heal him. I saw his chest struggling to move and the blood all over him. I can’t see you like that too. I just can’t.”
Melanie sighed then got up and went to hug Tristan who choked out a sob and held onto her tightly. My mate said, “I’ve been doing this for years…. and…. to be honest… I’m good at it.” Tristan stepped back and wiped his tears.
Tristan acknowledged, “So I’ve seen. I don’t like it. You may not think they are taking advantage of you, but they are. You’re so smart and they are using you. I don’t like them, and I WILL find them then they will pay for what they’ve done.”
Melanie felt confused, hurt and something I couldn’t quite decipher. My wife argued, “T, no one is taking advantage of me. The Resistance is good… which seems obvious. We’ve helped you guys a lot, and we fight bad people” Tristan snorted, “They could’ve joined with us.”
Melanie frowned saying, “Not really.” Tristan shot back, “They could now.” Melanie said, “Again, not really.” Tristan snorted, “I can put on a mask just like you can. So can anyone else here.” Melanie huffed, “Yes, but can you expect any of the partial Fairies to not use their powers in a fight? That would give it away.”
Tristan nearly screamed, “I’m not a partial Fairy.” Melanie agreed, “No… but you are a father.” Tristan was startled. Drake asked, “The Resistance doesn’t recruit fathers?” Melanie said, “Parents. Obviously, as sources of information…parents don’t go out on missions. It’s single people… or mated people with no pups.”
Jason said, “Ok, so they do some things right. They are still using you. They used your grief about us, which was a lie.” Melanie scoffed, “Again, just no. That’s not at all what happened.” I noticed none of her friends disagreed with her, which was odd.
Drake rubbed his face asking, “Can you just not jump from the hood of cars, fall into them through the sunroof, and getting shot?” Melanie shot back, “Do you think that was…. intentional? I don’t like getting shot in the vest.” Now, I rubbed my face.
Gage linked, “You’re doing amazingly well at not breaking all the glass around with your roars.” Oden linked, “Brutus and Iare having a SCATHING conversation.” That didn’t shock me. I shot my Gamma a look and in response he winked.
Melanie continued, “Jumping on cars does hurt… it’s not like it’s fun. I’d have avoided it if possible. The car I was driving needed to explode though to get the rest of them off our trail.” EJ linked me, “She made the car explode?” I replied, “That’s what I heard her say.”
I heard someone crunching on popcorn. I sighed saying without looking, “Dylan.” I knew it was him because it was always him. Dylan cooed, “Yes sir, MMSGAP? How may I be of service?” He saluted to me.
Tristan asked my mate, “You made the car explode?” Melanie nodded. Jason asked, “How?” Melanie held up her watch. Dylan squealed, “Does MMSGAP have explosives on his person too?” Melanie said, “He doesn’t have armed explosives… no.”
Phil linked, “Evasions. I see them but normal people would let that go.” I knew that because I did that a lot. Dylan clapped, “But he has them?” Melanie nodded, “Everyone with a watch does.” Dylan smiled happily asking, “And where is mine?”
