Melissa's Acceptance (12 page)

“I know you guys said that you were born werewolves and I wouldn’t go all furry if you claimed me, but is it possible for a werewolf to change a human to be the same as you?”

“Why do you ask, honey? Are you interested in becoming like us?” Luke asked.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but no, I don’t want to become a werewolf. I’m quite happy with the way I am. Just put it down to…curiosity.”

“If it was necessary for a werewolf to change his mate then she would need to drink the blood of all her mates.”

Melissa hoped the revulsion she was feeling didn’t show on her face but wasn’t sure she had pulled off a blank mask when Damian and Luke frowned at her. The thought of drinking blood turned her stomach. And even though she wasn’t sure she really wanted an answer to the next question rattling around in her brain, she found the words coming out of her mouth anyway.

“What would make such an event necessary?” Melissa didn’t realize her agitation was showing until her mates held her hands again to stop her wringing them in her lap.

“There isn’t any need to get upset, honey. We wouldn’t force you to become the same as us,” Luke said.

Damian gripped her hand a little firmer, as if trying to offer her comfort or a little strength to hear the answer to her question. “The only time a werewolf would ever give his mate his blood is if her life is in peril.”

“What Damian is trying to say is that we would only give you our blood if you were dying,” Luke clarified. “A werewolf can’t live without his mate and he will do anything to save his or her life.”

“Okay.” Melissa exhaled as the tension in her muscles eased. She was glad that werewolves weren’t changing humans willy-nilly, at the drop of a hat, just because they could. “Thank you for clearing that up.”

When she looked at Damian, he nodded and then lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. Just as she turned to look at Luke, he sat up a little straighter, his eyes got this sort of glazed look, and he tilted his head. She glanced back at Damian again and saw the same expression on his face.

“What?” Melissa asked as the tension returned. “What’s going on?”

“One of the other Omegas thinks we’ve had a breach on the property. We need to go and investigate,” Damian said.

“How could you know that?”

“We can communicate with our pack members using our minds,” Luke said as he stood up. He tugged her to her feet and then kissed her lightly on the lips. “We can also talk to each other the same way.”

“Wow…that’s…just…wow.”

Damian gripped her shoulders and turned her to face him. He took her mouth with hunger, but just as she started to respond—she’d been too surprised to react at first—he broke the kiss. He cupped her face in his hands and stared deeply into her eyes.

“I want you to go up to the main house. I’ve already contacted our Alpha and Betas. They are expecting you. I don’t want you here alone until we know what’s going on. Okay?”

“All right,” she answered. The words barely left her lips and her mates were guiding her to the door. Luke pointed to the main house through the trees and the pathway. Before she even had the chance to tell them to be careful, they were off. Her men disappeared amongst the trees and when she could no longer see them, she headed toward the main house.

Even though she was expected, she didn’t feel right just walking in, so when she arrived at the front door she knocked and was glad to see it was Tessa who answered.

“Lucien told me you were coming.” Tessa stepped back and beckoned her inside. “It will be nice having another woman to talk to. There are so few here and the testosterone can get a little overwhelming. Come on into the kitchen. I can introduce you to more of the pack.”

Melissa followed Tessa into the kitchen and was surprised by the huge room as well as the massive table, which was currently full of men. The talking stopped and every man seated at that table turned to look at her and Tessa. A least she hoped they were looking at Tessa, too. The looked like they were sniffing, too.

“Everyone, this is Melissa Wise, she is mate to Damian and Luke.”

The men all nodded their heads and smiled at her, so Melissa did the same.

“I won’t introduce you to everyone because there are too many of us to remember. They can all introduce themselves later, but for now I’d like you to meet Alice.” Tessa grabbed her hand and then pulled her into the kitchen section.

“Alice I would like you to meet Melissa, she is Damian and Luke’s mate. Melissa this is Alice, our wonderful cook and housekeeper,” Tessa introduced.

“Pleased to meet you, Melissa. My, you’re lovely,” Alice said with a smile.

“Hi Alice.” Melissa held out her hand and hoped she wasn’t making a muck of werewolf protocol, but Alice took her hand and shook it, the smile still on her face.

“Could we please have some coffee, Alice?”

“Certainly, my queen.”

Tessa rolled her eyes, but then led Melissa over to the large dining table. When they were both seated and Alice had supplied them with coffee and biscuits, Tessa began to speak.

“So, what have they told you?”

“Um, quite a bit, actually, but I’m sure there is a lot more I have to learn,” Melissa replied. She was glad that she and Tessa were seated at the end of the table and no one seemed to be paying them any attention, and relaxed back in her chair.

“Okay, here is what I know,” Tessa said, and then continued on. “They seem to be compelled by their wolf to claim their mate the first time you have sex together. I don’t think their human side has a choice in the matter, although they put up quite a struggle to keep their wolves at bay, but eventually the urge to claim their mate becomes too strong and nature seems to take over for them.”

“Uh, okay.”

Tessa paused to take a sip of her coffee. “If you leave them, they will eventually die. They can’t live without their mate, it would be like having their heart ripped out. They don’t have to change when the moon is full.”

“Yes, they told me that.”

Tessa smiled at her. “Good. You will not turn into a werewolf just because they mate you, and when you get pregnant you have babies, not puppies.”

“Thank God for that,” Melissa muttered.

Melissa and Tessa turned toward Alice when they heard her snort of laughter.

“I had to find the last one out by asking when I became pregnant. I was terrified,” Tessa confessed as she placed her hand on the slight bump on her lower abdomen.

“You’re pregnant?” Melissa asked, and then she smiled and covered the hand Tessa had resting on the table and squeezed it.

“Yeah,” Tessa replied with a dreamy smile on her face.

“Congratulations.” Melissa was a bit envious at the look on Tessa’s face, but when she thought about her mates, she was sure she probably looked just as sappy. Her head came up at a sudden thought. “So if you’re married, mated, to the Alphas of the pack, that makes you queen. Why do you not like being called by your correct title?”

“Um, uh,” Tessa hedged and she looked uncomfortable.

“Tessa keeps telling everyone she’s no better than anyone else around here,” Alice said. “But let me tell you, we couldn’t have asked for a better Alpha female.”

Melissa turned back to face Tessa and saw the embarrassed scowl on her face.

“I
am
no different than anyone else, Alice.” Tessa sighed.

“Yes, my queen,” Alice said with a smile. Tessa just groaned, then turned to face Melissa again.

“So do you have any questions, Melissa?”

“Um, no. I think you’ve covered everything for the moment. If I think of anything else, I’ll let you know.”

The two women spent the next hour chatting and getting to know one another. They were so analogous to each other, Melissa felt as if they had been friends for years.

Melissa stopped talking when three large, very handsome men walked into the kitchen. They ignored Melissa until they had greeted Tessa with mind-numbing kisses.

“I’d like you to meet my mates. This is Lucien, whom you’ve already met, and this is Raphael and Gabriel. This is Melissa, Damian and Luke’s mate,” Tessa introduced them all to each other.

“We’ve met. How are you, Melissa?” Lucien asked.

Melissa stared at him, trying to figure where she’d seen him other than at her mates’ cabin, then the light popped on. “I’m fine, thank you. It was you in the forest?”

“Yes. Rest assured I would never eat you, Melissa,” Lucien said and then laughed.

Melissa nodded her head. Embarrassment tinged her cheeks a bright red, she was sure.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to insult you Lu…uh, Alpha. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” She looked from one man to the other.
God, what is in the water around here?
All the men in the pack were absolutely gorgeous.

The three Alpha males took their places at the table close to their mate. They tried to cajole Melissa into opening herself up to them and by the time she started to relax, she felt like she fit in here, like she was meant to be a part of this family, just like she was meant to have met and mated her men.

Damian and Luke entered the room half an hour later and instead of taking a seat at the table, they each came over to her and took her mouth in passionate kiss. She was a little uncomfortable showing affection in front of so many other people, so Melissa refused to look at them. She lowered her head and hoped the hair covering her face was hiding her hot cheeks as her men took seats at the table. She and Tessa continued to talk and then even more men entered the dining room. She tried to ignore her men but it was impossible. Every time they were near her, their delectable scents surrounded her. Finally, she turned to face them.

“Did you find where the breach was?”

“No,” Damian answered, and then sighed. “We still have people working on it.”

Alice served a scrumptious lunch of steak, vegetables, salad and warm dinner rolls and after eating her fill, Melissa decided to go for a walk outside.

She wasn’t used to being around so many people and was feeling rather overwhelmed. She didn’t bother to tell her men what she was going to do and was sure she would get into trouble for her oversight, but she just needed a little time alone. There was so much going on in her head she was getting a headache.

Melissa carried her plate into the kitchen, rinsed it, and put it in the dishwasher. Then she moved toward Tessa, stopped behind her and leaned down to whisper in her ear. She didn’t get the chance to speak.

All she heard was the sound of glass shattering then a searing pain radiated from her back through to her chest before she fell to the floor.

Luke howled with fury and Damian’s roar of pain joined his. They sprang from their seats as their Alpha and Betas surround their mate and ushered her from the room. Luke knelt down next to Melissa, Damian at his side, and when they saw the amount of blood covering their mate and still pouring from her chest, they knew the wound was life threatening.

Damian ripped open Melissa’s shirt and after elongating a claw, he shredded her bra. The hole in her chest was big and Luke didn’t know if they had enough time to save her. Damian removed his shirt, placed it on Melissa’s chest and applied pressure. Luke called to his wolf and his own claws erupted from the tip of his fingers. He slashed his wrist and held it to Melissa’s open mouth, watching as his life’s essence dripped into her mouth. When he thought that he’d given her enough of his blood, he covered Damian’s hand and took over trying to stem the flow of blood seeping out of his mate. His brother clawed open his own wrist and gave her some of his life-saving blood, too.

Luke didn’t even realize he was crying until a teardrop plopped onto Melissa’s breast. Her breathing was shallow and he could hear that her heartbeat was sluggish, but there was nothing more he and Damian could do. Now it was just a waiting game to see if their mate accepted or rejected the conversion.

He was only vaguely aware of the pandemonium around him, but he never took his eyes off of Melissa. The other Omegas had shifted and bolted from the room, no doubt to find and eliminate whoever had shot his mate, but he didn’t think that Melissa had even been the target. Now that he thought back, he remembered that she had been standing between their queen and the large bay window.

“She wasn’t supposed to be the victim,” Damian said in a voice hoarse with pain.

“I know,” Luke replied, and cleared his throat when it came out a little tremulous.

“Lift the shirt. I want to get a look at the wound. If our blood has done what it’s supposed to, it should be starting to heal.”

Luke glanced at Damian and then slowly lifted the cotton shirt from Melissa’s chest. He nearly collapsed with relief when he saw that the wound was a little smaller. Their DNA was now coursing through their mate and she was starting to heal.

“I want to get her back to our house as soon as possible,” Damian said.

“Me too, but we can’t move her until both wounds have closed completely. Hopefully the one in her back is already closed, but I’m not willing to risk moving her to look. She can’t afford to lose any more blood.”

“We’ll wait.” Damian brushed the hair back from Melissa’s face.

“She looks so damn pale and fragile. We can’t lose her, Damian.” Luke again lifted the shirt to peek at her injury and saw that it had closed a little more and he finally realized that he wouldn’t lose the woman he loved more than his own life.

“Her heartbeat is increasing and her breathing is slowing,” Damian whispered. “We’re not going to have to live without her.”

“Thank God.” Luke looked at Damian and saw that his brother was also crying. Neither of them said another word to each other. They didn’t have to tell each other how they felt or how scared they had been, or still were. It was there in their expressions for anyone to see.

Luke and Damian sat beside Melissa on the floor for an hour, until her flesh was completely closed. Luke removed his T-shirt and between the two of them, they got it on Melissa without jostling her too much. When she was covered, Damian carefully lifted her into his arms and would have headed toward the front door to take her back to their cabin, but Rafe was just coming down the stairs and stopped them.