Chapter Fifteen

Thursday – Southern Maryland

Finn

It’s three o’clock in the morning by the time I make it home. When I pull into the driveway, the living room light is on. Immediately, I’m concerned something is wrong. As I get out of the truck, I instantly smell wolf. Someone has been here. Someone has been to my home and put my family in danger. She is my family now.

“Melody,” I’m calling her name as I run up the sidewalk before I’m even in the house. Panic and waves of anger surge through me. I’m struggling to maintain my control and not shift. I'm shaking when I slowly push open the front door, afraid of what I’ll find. She is lying on the couch curled into a ball. I stop and watch her for a moment, seeing the steady rise and fall of her chest, and my entire body relaxes. She’s here. She is safe.

Why aren’t you in bed, baby? I close the door behind me, locking it, even though I know. I know in my heart that it won't protect her if I’m not here. He was here. Whoever he is, the bastard was here. I can smell him in the room because he was close to her.

I walk over and kneel down next to the couch. Reaching up, I brush a strand of hair behind her ear and kiss her cheek.

“You’re safe. I’ve got you.” The puffiness of Melody’s eyes and the streaks down her cheeks tell me she was crying. My sweet Melody. I slide my arms under her, lifting her to my chest as I stand. She stirs then, with a jerk, absolute terror fills her eyes. My heart is in my throat, and I feel like I’m going to be sick. But she relaxes when we make eye contact. “It’s me, lass. I’ve got you. You’re okay, love. I’ve got you.” I drop a kiss onto the top of her head and take her to the bedroom.

***

Melody

I wake with a start and have the terrifying thought that the wolves have me. They’re taking me from Finn. Then I still, when I realize Finn is holding me in his arms. I relax into his chest and take a deep breath. It’s okay. I’m safe. Finn is home.

“They were here.”

“I know,” he growls, and it dawns on me for the first time how dangerous this man could actually be. He has been holding back from me, hiding his strength. Whether to keep me from being scared of him or simply to protect his family and their secrets. I’m not sure. But I know now, this man, my Finn is a force to be reckoned with, and he will not be taken down easily. Finn sets me down in bed then says, “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

I sit upright in one swift motion the minute he settles my back onto the bed. “What are you going to do?” He doesn’t answer me. He sits on the edge of the bed and pulls off his boots quickly. Then I watch as he removes his vest, gun belt, and uniform shirt, tossing them on the floor.

“Stay here, Melody,” he says in a stern voice as he heads out of the room. He is barefoot with nothing but his pants on.

“What are you going to do, Finn? Finn!” I yell at him, jumping from the bed and chasing him out of the room.

“I’m going to track down the son of a bitch, and I’m going to rip his throat out.”

His eyes flash black, then amber. I can tell he is struggling to keep his calm, so he doesn’t shift in the middle of the living room. His body is shaking with rage. I nod.

“Go,” I say. Finn nods back at me and turns, crossing through the kitchen. He slams the back door so hard behind him that the glass in it rattles. I take slow, steady breaths and try to slow my heart as I stand watching him take giant steps across the backyard. I see him in the light of the nearly full moon.

When he shifts, my first thought is that he is massive. This is no regular size wolf, he stands almost ten-foot-tall, and his paws are huge. As he falls forward onto them, the windows rattle. He makes it across the field behind the house to the wood line in three massive strides. If he had lost control and shifted in the house, he would have torn it apart. I move to the back door and stand, in awe, watching as he disappears into the night.

***

I watch the sunrise over the trees behind the house. I’m still standing at the back door. I haven’t seen Finn in hours. I have heard him howling throughout the night. Once I thought I caught a glimpse of him about an hour ago, but it was just the neighbor's dog. I decide to make a pot of coffee, and just as I’m about to turn away from the door, I see him emerge from the woods. He is human again, and he is limping.

I pull open the door and rush out into the yard towards him, my bare feet slipping on the still icy ground. As I fall forward onto my hands and knees, the ice cuts into my skin. Damnit! I’m so useless. I stand, angry with myself for my inability to help him, and I walk back to the door. Once I’m back in the kitchen, I leave it open. I know he is close behind me.

“I told you to stay inside,” he says as he walks into the kitchen and closes the door behind himself. I’m sitting on the counter, dabbing at the small scrapes on my knees with a wet paper towel.

“I know, sir. I’m sorry, I thought–” I stop mid-sentence, when I look up at him and see the claw marks stretching from his right shoulder down over his abdomen to his left hip. “You were hurt…” I trail off. I’m in shock, and I can’t move.

“Finn.” It’s all I can say as I jump down from the counter, holding my hands out to his chest, hovering over his skin. I don’t have the tools for this. I don’t know how to help.

“Lass. Melody. Look at me.” I look up, and tears are running down my face. Big Bad. No. Please. No. “I’m okay,” he says and takes my face in his hands. “Hey. Look at me. I’m okay. I’m already healing. It's okay. They won't be back. You’re safe, lass. I’m here. I’m going to be okay.”

Are you crazy! I can’t find the words, but I yell at him in my head. I can’t wrap my mind around the absurdity of Finn looking like he has been torn to shreds by a werewolf. Because he was! But he is comforting me instead of me helping him.

I turn from his grasp, grab the coffee pot from its place on the counter, turn on the water, and set it in the sink to fill. I turn to the cabinet. Opening it, I take out a filter and put it in the coffee maker. Then head towards the fridge and get the coffee from there. If I focus on the task, I won't scream. Just don’t scream, Melody. I can feel it building like a bubble that is slowly filling in the back of my throat. I’m afraid if I open my mouth, I’ll let it out. I have to focus on the task. I turn around with the canister of coffee in my hands, and he is standing by the sink. Finn turns off the water, then reaches out to take the coffee from my hand. Slowly I shake my head. I need this. I need to focus on my task.

“You’re in shock, lass. Look at me. Give me the coffee. You need to sit down, Melody.”

I can see his mouth moving. I hear him, but it sounds like he is so far away, underwater even. “Finn?” I listen to myself croak out his name but don’t recognize my own voice. He moves towards me slowly, like I’m a scared rabbit, frozen, staring at him. He is afraid to move too quickly and scare me away. Gently he takes the coffee from my hand and sets it on the kitchen counter.

“You’re okay, lass. We’re okay. No one is going to hurt you.” He lunges towards me then and catches me as I fall to my knees. I hear a high-pitched keening sound and realize it’s coming from me. He has me in his arms, and he holds me to his injured chest.

“Melody, it's okay. Let it out, lass.”

“I thought they were going to kill me. I thought they killed you, and you weren’t going to come back. I can’t breathe. Finn, I can’t breathe.” I’m panicking, and I know it, but I can’t stop myself.

I shoot to my feet again and spin in a circle in the kitchen, looking for an escape, I have nowhere to go, and there is nothing to run from. This is what a nervous breakdown feels like! My mind is breaking down.

“Melody, look at me. Breathe, in and out. Breathe.” My vision gets fuzzy around the edges, and I see bright silver stars in the room. I look up, trying to figure out where they’re coming from. That’s when I collapse. I hear Finn call my name one more time before I lose consciousness.

***

When I come to, I’m lying in Finn’s bed. The blankets are tucked around me. I have an ice pack on the side of my forehead and a splitting headache. “I’m sorry, lass. I caught you, but you hit your head on the counter.” He pulls the ice pack away, and I wince. “It’s not bad now. You probably don’t need this anymore,” Finn tosses the ice pack onto the bed, “you’ve been out for a while. Look at me, follow my finger.” He holds up one finger and moves it slowly from side to side, then back to center and up then down. “I think you’re going to have one hell of a bump, but I don’t think you have a concussion.”

“What happened?” I remember waking up in the night, Finn being here and following him to the kitchen. He shifted then and took off into the night. I watched him go, but from there, it was all hazy. He came back. He was hurt.

“Oh my god, Finn! Your chest, you’re hurt. We need to get you a doctor.” I sit up in bed.

“Lie back down, Mel, I’m fine. You need to rest.” My head is pounding with the movement, and the light hurts my eyes. I squint at him and listen to his words, slowly lying back on the bed.

“Remember, how I told you we are tough to kill, lass? Those were just scratches. I’m fine, see?” He motions to his chest, and I look at him in shock. I trace my fingers along the puckered pink lines of the scars marring his beautiful skin. The only sign of the massive injury he suffered mere hours ago.

“I don’t understand.” Finn puts his hand on my cheek and gently rubs his thumb across my lips.

“I heal, lass. Quickly. You got yourself so worked up I didn’t have the chance to tell you before you passed out.”

I sigh deeply. “I swooned, like some kind of idiot. I’m so sorry, Finn. I panicked. I told you, I can’t lose you, and I thought… I thought I was losing you. What happened?” I wring my hands together nervously, confused about the events of the past few hours. “Last night, I drove to Sam’s to get my car, and he was there. I thought you said the Alpha was back in Ireland, and we were safe?”

“That’s what we were told, Mel. But he was here last night, and he wasn’t alone. I took care of them, but the Alpha of their pack got away. I don’t understand why they are here. I don’t know why they would come after Colin, for one.” He settles onto the bed next to me, holding me in his arms. “I don’t understand why you or I would even be on their radar if they are here because of him. The laws, the way it works, if anyone was going to be next in line for Alpha of our pack, it would be Colin, then maybe me. But it’s like they’re not even concerned with him and seem to be convinced that I am a threat to them.” I nod slowly, trying to understand.

“So, Colin would be next in line for Alpha of your pack?”

“As the eldest child, of the eldest child of the current Alpha, yes. My da was in line to be Alpha before we left Ireland. He thought when we left the land, he removed Colin and me from the line, but they’re here for that reason. I was able to get some information out of one of them last night. They’re planning some kind of takeover. They are working to eliminate the lines of succession. But Colin doesn’t seem to fall into that category for some reason, they’re skipping over him, coming after me and you, as my mate. They were planning to eliminate you.”

“Wait? Your mate?” Finn closes his eyes and takes a deep breath at hearing my words.

“I didn’t think, lass. I put you in danger. It’s my scent on you. They can smell me,” he pauses, looking for the right words. “My scent, they smelled my scent on you, kumquat.” He smiles then, but it is half-hearted and doesn’t reach his eyes. I know he is trying to bring some lightness into the conversation, and I smile back at him. “I took care of them, so they won’t be coming back around anytime soon. The one that I sent back to his Alpha goes with my message to leave us the fuck alone, or I will come over there and decimate their entire pack.” He holds me tighter then, and I squeeze my eyes closed, running my hand down the fresh scars on his chest.

“Are you sure you’re all right? I was so afraid I was going to lose you, Finn.” I look up at him and stretch to kiss him. He takes my mouth in his and kisses me slowly, deep soft kisses. I lose track of time and relax into his arms, letting him kiss me.

“What’s my one rule, lass?” he says as he pulls back from me and looks into my eyes.

“You come home.”

“I always come home, always to you. You’re my family now, lass. When I got home last night, I knew they were here. I was so afraid they had hurt you or taken you from me. Thank God, you’re safe.”

“Shit! What time is it, Finn? I was supposed to be at work at seven-thirty.” I look from side to side, searching for my phone. The movement makes my sore head spin. I wince and lean back on the pillows.

“Hey, stop. It's okay. I called and told work you had a fall and hit your head, and you would be out for a couple of days while you recovered.” He shrugs. “It’s the truth. I want you to lie back and get some sleep, lass. I need to call Colin and let him know what’s happened. We need to make some plans. I think we are going to have to go to Ireland.”

“What? You can't. You just said they’re trying to eliminate you. You can't walk right into it, Finn. Are you crazy?”

“Melody, I will handle this. You will rest. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.” I chew on my lower lip, “Will you stay with me, please? I don’t want to be alone.” He smiles at me.

“Of course.”

Standing from the side of the bed, he motions for me to scoot to the center, then he climbs on top of the blankets, tossing a leg over mine. Tucking me into his chest, wrapped in the blankets, arms pinned to my sides. It’s hard to believe it was only a week ago that we were at my house tucked into my bed this same way after I spent the night getting drunk and blowing up his phone with texts. A week, but a lifetime of things have changed. I fall asleep quickly after the exhaustion takes over, and I can’t keep my eyes open.

***

Finn She falls asleep in my arms and is snoring softly. I look down at her and smile. Thank you, God, for keeping her safe. I cannot live without this woman. The wolves I found in the woods behind the house hadn’t been here. But I could smell their Alpha on them, so close to the full moon they were able to shift and had been posted in the surrounding area. Patrolling, they were looking for Colin or me to see if we would turn and venture out independently. I killed the first one quickly, ripping out his heart and eating it in one swallow. The second I tortured, if you hurt a wolf enough, they are forced to shift back to their human form. I tortured him slowly until he told me what I needed to know. I relished every minute of it, especially after he told me his Alpha followed Melody home. They want to breed her, their pack, all of them using her to get to me. I saw red then and snapped his neck in a rage, ripping his head off in the process. The third I sent back with a message to make sure they know who they’re messing with.

I need to call Christian. They need to know the summit is a trap. Grandda, what have you gotten us all into, and why do they think I’m next in line for Alpha? I call Colin to tell him what happened, but he doesn’t answer. I leave him a message, telling him to call me back ASAP. I’m sure he was out with Melody’s friend Sam last night, getting lucky, and is still in bed. I roll my eyes at the thought. Of course, he would be. I called off for this afternoon, and I’m scheduled off the next three days after that. I won’t be leaving her side. So, I need him to come here and come up with a plan for us to go and take down this pack.

First, I need sleep. I walk back to the bedroom. The sun is coming in through the window, shining on Mel’s face. She is curled in a ball under the blankets. I undress, walk to the opposite side of the bed, and slide under the covers. I pull her to me. “I love you, Melody.” I close my eyes and start to drift to sleep when I feel her shift back against me.

“I love you too, Finn.”